stevothedivo's blog attempt....ohhhh.....12 or 15 I guess.......

Welcome friends!

Well then, once more a blogging adventure begins. This time mind you I have something to write about, as I have a gleefully easy trouble-free life right now and loving it.

First off, I recently came into some money. Tax return anyone? :)
Thus I paid up rent (three months buffer....why not!), then wondered what to spend on next.....savings? Bha......next lifetime.
LOL!

Put a deposit down on this lovely Delica I hope to gut and take on the road over the course of the year.

Then I bought.....well I bought a lot of miniatures, but at wholesale price I saved a bundle.....
It's always been a dream to drop 100,000c on a single miniatures order. It's now off my bucket list....

This is what I ordered
OK 1x Red Box 1/72 72037 Police & Citizens
OK 1x Orion 1/72 72001 English Pirates
OK 1x MINIART 1/72 MA72010
OK 1x MINIART 1/72 MA72011
OK 1X ORION 72039 Hussite War Wagon and Command
OK 3x Red Box 1/72 72064 Landsknechts Artillery (16th Cen.) (16 Figures, Guns, Mortar)
OK 2x Alliance 1/72 72011 Light Warriors of the Dead (Set 1) (Fantasy Series)
OK 2x Alliance 1/72 72012 Heavy Warriors of the Dead (Set 2) (Fantasy Series)
OK 2x Alliance 1/72 72013 Light Warriors of the Dead Cavalry (Set 1) (Fantasy Series)
OK 2x Alliance 1/72 72014 Heavy Warriors of the Dead Cavalry (Set 2) (Fantasy Series)
OK 2x Red Box 1/72 72040 Men-at-Arms & Retinue (Set 1 : Wars of The Roses)
OK 1x Alliance 1/72 72007 Dwarves (Set 1) Stout Humanoids Wariors (Fantasy Series)
OK 1x Red Box 1/72 72041 Town and Country Levy (Set 2 : War of The Roses)
OK 1x Caesar Miniatures 1/72 086 Dismounted Crusaders
OK 1x Red Box 1/72 72045 Mounted Men at Arms (Set 6 : War of The Roses)
OK 2x Red Box 1/72 72042 Continental Mercenaries (Set 3 : War of The Roses)
OK 1x Caesar Miniatures 1/72 087 European Medieval Knights (13th Century)
OK 1x Red Box 1/72 72043 Scottish Troops (Set 4 : Wars of The Roses)
OK 1x Red Box 1/72 72036 Gangsters Reactionary Gang Hoodlum !
OK 2x Red Box 1/72 72059 Landsknechts Halberdiers (16th Century) (20 Figures, 10 Pose)
OK 2x Red Box 1/72 72060 Swiss Infantry (Sword/Arquebus) (16th Century)
OK 1x Red Box 1/72 72054 European Mercenaries Light Horse (Set 9, War of The Roses)
OK 1x Red Box 1/72 72005 Japanese Warrior Monks (Sohei, Religious Armies)
OK 1x Orion 1/72 72005 Roman Gladiators Soldiers (Slave) Game
OK 2x Red Box 1/72 72062 Swiss Halberdiers (16th Century) (20 Figures, 10 Poses)
OK 2x Alliance 1/72 72024 Zombies (Set 2) (48 Figures, 12 Poses) (Zombies Series)
OK 1x Strelets-R 1/72 M006 Medieval Levy 2 (48 Figures, 12 Poses)
OK 2x Alliance 1/72 72008 Dwarves (Set 2) (Fantasy Series) (44 Fgiures, 11 Poses)
OK 1x Pegasus 1/72 7610 WWII German Army Trucks w/Driver (2 Trucks in Box)
OK 2x Alliance 1/72 72001 Orcs (Set 1) Dark Tough Warlike (Fantasy Series)
OK 1x Alliance 1/72 72003 Orcs (Set 3) Dark Tough Warlike War (Fantasy Series)
OK 2x Alliance 1/72 72010 Heavy Warg Orcs (Set 2) 12 Mounted Figures (Fantasy Series)
OK 2x Alliance 1/72 72017 Half-Orcs (Set.3) (40 Figures, 10 Poses)
OK 2x Alliance 1/72 72018 Warg Half-Orcs (12 Mounted Figures)
OK 2x Alliance 1/72 72015 Half-Orcs (Set.1 : Pikeman) (32 Figures, 8 Poses)
OK 2x Alliance 1/72 72009 Light Warg Orcs (Set 1) 12 Mounted Figures (Fantasy Series)
OK 2x Alliance 1/72 72022 Half-Orcs (Set.4) (44 Figures, 11 Poses) (Fantasy Series)
OK 2x Alliance 1/72 72016 Half-Orcs (Set 2, Infantry) (Fantasy Series) (44 Fgiures)
OK 1x Caesar Miniatures 1/72 088 European Medieval Foot Soldiers & Archers (15th Cent)
OK 1x Caesar Miniatures 1/72 091 European Knights (15th Century)
OK 1x Caesar Miniatures 1/72 F110 UNDEAD CAMP : ZOMBIES (40 Figures, 11 Poses)
OK 3x Caesar Miniatures 1/72 F108 RATMEN (39 Figures, 12 Poses) (Fantasy Series)
OK 2x F102 - Elves Archers & Warriors
OK 2x F103 - Undead Skeleton w/Lich King
OK 2x F105 - Goblins
OK 1x 7704 - Two-Storey Pegasus Russian Farm House
OK 2x 7702 - Pegasus Farm Houses
OK 1x 7271 - WWII Russian Infantry in Greatcoats
OK 1x 7274 - WWII Russian Support Weapons Teams in Greatcoats
OK 1x 7269 - WWII Russian Infantry (Winter Dress)
OK 1x 7272 - WWII Russian Infantry in Winter Dress Set 2
OK 1x HB08 - German Army Sturmpioniere
OK 1x HB02 - WWII Panzergrenadiers (Ardennes 1944)
OK 1x HB01 - Panzergrenadiers (Kharkov 1943)

OK 1x HB09 - German Army in Stalingrad

That's my Winter/Continuation War project sorted as well as Warhammer in 1/72 and Lord of the Rings 1/72....both of which I have been dreaming of....all my life I think (gaming life at least...)

Lastly I purchased some paints recently and these were delivered last week - they are fantastic and were on sale - I'm very happy with this as it'll give me a chance to delve into Deadzone and Robotech KS sets which I have had sitting around some time now.

Both these games will have later in depth painting posts about them.

There's a great boardgame I recently acquired called War of Kings which the UK publishers kindly supplied me with sufficient miniatures to replace the army cardboard counters with miniature ones thus I kicked that project into prep stage for when I feel like painting something a little more minute.

As the above 1/72 order won't be delivered for some time, I opted to go out and buy some FLGS overpriced sets (300%.....sigh....well overpriced to what I'd pay anyway...guess the brick-and-mortar do need to make a crust...and I support local where I can....after all when the itch itches...what can a poor simple lad do but scratch away?) 

Italeri boxed sets it was then - ironically all they had were Western Front Allies so that was a nice coincidence (having Finns, Germans and Soviets in my larger order.


Opted to have a crack at the US paras by Italeri, which incidentally despite the mohawk soldier and eagle crest on the front cover represent the 82nd, not 101st Airborne....

 As always I superglued on sticks of balsa for ease of sweatshop factory industrial-style painting.

 After undercoating everything thoroughly left to dry on the balcony (snack time!)

One coat 50:50 watered down Army painter "Army Green" then a drybrush of the same (by the time you're at the end of the second stick first is dry!)

 Weapons, skin, pouches, trousers...all the usual suspects painted next and figures based on 3mm cardboard ("HERESY" I hear you bellow - surely it will warp you cheap fool....but fear not, yee of little faith, for there is a method to the madness....)

 Strength is provided by using more superglue to coat the base before dipping in sand - which I almost exclusively the Baccus Basing System for.....I know, lazy option and there are many others available but been using it for years and I love it....why fix it if it ain't broke right?

 After a first coat of sand touching up areas the glue and therefore sand haven't adhered helps build ondulation and saves cardboard showing through.

 I gave all the figures a coat of Army Painter Strong Tone 
Then I drybrush of a Zombicide set colour which escapes me...Toxic something or other....

Which was followed by the BBS treatment - brown base, base drybrush, medium, top coat, flock.....

All in all I'm pretty happy with a painted platoon (note the black lining around the bases...or not....) done from scratch in an evening.

And given what's on the way....I need to keep my painting mojo flowing big time!

Socially I caught up with some friends in the evening, lunch with the family earlier in the day, so all in all life today was very good for me. I hope for you too.

May your dice roll high (or low...as required!) and keep that attitude of gratitude rolling every day!