Last day (evening really) of the old year.

    Today is my first day off in three weeks.  Flight loads have been 99%, which means each of our flights are sold out.  That is great for our airline (Jetblue) and potentially great for my profit sharing check!  Which comes out mid March just in time for Cold Wars.  But it is heavy work loads and little time off for our little station in Worcester.  As a surprise to me I was given a award by Jetblue for outstanding customer service yesterday. This is a really big deal, as it means I have had a number of customers who wrote to the company about me in a positive way.   So I end the year work wise on a very happy note.

  Today has been a quiet day, spent relaxing, walking our Yorkie Fritz and of course painting figures!

Since Thanksgiving, I have painted and based a bunch of figures.
The British 1st Regiment of Foot

8th Regiment of Foot,

100th Regiment of Foot

 Militia battalion

 24 Indians

and six gunners.

In all 126 figures.  I still have to static grass some of the bases.  And I am still awaiting regimental colors which are on order.  On the painting table is the half finished Glengarry Light Infantry and then I start the the wonderfully named Volunteer Battalion of Incorporated Militia of Upper Canada.  Once done I will finally be able to have a game.

 Lastly, I would like to thank each of you who have visited my blog.  It has been great fun to share my hobby with you.  And I greatly enjoy reading your comments.  I wish all of you a very happy New Year!

Battle of Trenton

December 18, 1776
Washington to his cousin,

"I think the game is nearly up...."


December 23, 1776

These are the times that try men's souls.  The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country, but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and women.


Thomas Paine, The Crisis.

Merry Chrismas

A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.  Thank you all who have followed my blog.   I have enjoyed writing the blog, and I enjoy hearing from all of you so much more.  And thank you to those who drop by.  I hope you enjoy it or find it fun.

Trenton and Princeton Humor

Just a little humor for the season and to go with my upcoming theme of the battles of Trenton and Princeton.

Progress

  Busy time of the year.  Not just with Christmas  and the holidays  but especially here at work.  We are bringing the planes in then sending them out.  We are dealing with irregular weather operations.  Our flight loads (passengers) are at 90% capacity which is outstanding.

  But I am still getting some painting done!  I finished up a Canadian militia battalion.  Nice mix of un
iforms (red and older green coats) and civilian clothing.



  The 1st Regiment of Foot (Royal Scots) is painted but waiting  on flags.  The next regiment, 100th Foot is block painted and now detailing.  Also finishing up some Royal Artillery crews and a hand full of Indians.

On a roll....

  Here is the first of my new British battalions for the Niagara 1814 campaign. The 1st Regiment of Foot.   Still have to add colors but it is exciting to finally see my opponent taking shape.

Next up, Canadian militia (mixed uniforms and civilian clothing) and 100th Regiment of Foot are block painted.  Then finnish up the details of equipment and such.

  I am hopping to fight out my first action in January 2017.

Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy

  Two very nice surprises in the last couple weeks. The figure is from Knuckleduster miniatures and is painted with coat d'arms paints.

   As I have mentioned before I am a great fan of the Knuckleduster Miniatures War of 1812 miniatures.  They are very nice figures, and a pleasure to paint.  I know from reading his blog that Forrest Harris put a great deal of research and thought into each figure.  Best of all it is a complete line for 1812.  They finally got me motivated to do my long desired Niagara 1814 project.  Also, Forrest is a gem to deal with.  Outstanding customer service.

  On Friday, as I mentioned I ran into trouble with my paints.  Lots of dried out bottles, and a generally unhappiness with them.  So I decided to try the coat d'arms paint.  I placed a order to Mark Severin at Scale Creep Miniatures for the military colors set.  Imagine my surprise when on getting home from work on Monday here was the set of paints waiting for me!  That is great service and next time I need something I will check his site first.  Also tried the pants out this morning.  They are great and I am most pleased with them.

Works in Progess

  Here it is December.  Back from Florida after helping Janine to take care of her mother and I am now planning out the rest of the year.  It's a very busy time of the year for me both holiday wise but especially work wise.   So here is hoping I can get a little painting time in!

  When I arrived home I had a nice box of goodies from the good people at Knuckleduster Miniatures waiting.  Finally I can start my British/Canadian forces.

   On the painting table I have three regular British battalions, one militia battalion and some artillery crews primed and set to go.

 In addition I have 24 Indians mounted on individual stands also ready to start painting.

Here is how I approach painting.   After cleaning the figures I glue 8 figures  to paint stirring sticks and prime them.  I use black gesso for priming.  Water it down and slop it on with a brush.  I wait for it to dry and then touch up where I missed.  The gesso dries skin tight and does not obscure the figure

details.  Before painting I dry brush each figure white;  so highlights are white and recessed areas stay dark.  Works out nice and helps with shading.  Not as fast as spray priming but more economical in the long run.

  One of the first and major decisions I had recently to make was on my brand of paints.  Due to age (the paint, not me) and the cold I have found most of my hobby paints dried up.  I use acrylics, and have bounced from cheep hobby paints to Vallejo.  Problem is the local craft store is not stocking the craft paints and Vallejo is getting too expensive.  I plan on trying the Coat d'arm paints.  They are the old citadel paints which I liked very much.  Ordered some and  will let you all know how it works out.