Friday night/St Bride's Eve

It is Friday evening and the whole weekend stretches out before me.It is a time I really enjoy with two days ahead free of work. Jan & I managed this afternoon to get away for a quick coffee together ( she started the week  exhausted but has gained energy in the last day or so) at the local garden centre.Whilst there I picked up this-

I am looking forward to reading it over the weekend and hopefully inspired to do some modelling related to it...
On the wargaming front I am about to embark upon what,for me, will be a major project. It was certainly not planned for  or even anticipated but an opportunity presented itself which I could not resist. It will involve  loads of painting and will keep me going for ages I imagine.More info later.In the meantime your guesses are more than welcome.

ESF- Edwardian Science Fiction?

I am currently looking at a wee "period holiday" with regard to my gaming.I fancy a little side project involving a few figures.I have looked out my copy of the Osprey " In her Majesty's name" and some figures I have collected - enough for a couple of companies.
I fancy taking things forward a tad to the Edwardian period and wondered what differences I ought to factor in compared to the Victorian steampunk/SF period.
I have found the white undercoat work very hard ( a rather frustrating Sunday session with little to show for it)  and will "cop-out" for the  two companies and go back to black undercoat/wash...

Meissen and easy (or not) does it all the time- with apologies to the Stranglers

In a rain lashed Tradgardland I have been experimenting with white undercoats this weekend but have not got as far as the glossy varnish yet.I have found it hard after years of black undercoats and /or washes fudging my results in my favour as I don't paint well.
No photos as my eldest is in London and has her camera with her. I have been inspired by the look of Meissen Porcelain and have found the following pictures on the web, when I have been painting-

That is what the figures remind me of and I think it is a cool connection with the 18th century.
I have also been musing on the imagination potential of that 18th Century idea of the Orient-

This Meissen figure is just crying out to be modelled in 28mm or whatever scale. Nonsense yes but fun...

Another figure in porcelain hinting at the exotic east...

It is not the East as it ever was but as it was imagined in the 18th Century.Therefore just the sort of imag-ination to add a bit of colour to our battlefields,Courts and Gardens. Finally a quaint figure I could not resist-

What do you think? Just imagine a heady mix of styles,colours,armour,beasts etc facing up your Ducal armies upon any Field of Mars...

Do not miss this..

Fabby new BBC series on the Rococo which is well worth a watch-
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03sg830/Rococo_Travel_Pleasure_Madness_Travel/

Don't miss this- more imagination inspiration in one hour than you could possibly imagine. Atmosphere,aesthetics,and more...

Stating the obvious or maybe not?

This might be the most obvious post in the world or maybe not? One of my all time favourite sets of rules are the Wargames Holiday Centre  Malburian ones. My regular opponent and I adapted them for the Seven Years War quite successfully.They give a simple,fast enjoyable game.
The rules require ,for example infantry units to be  made up of normally 4 bases ,each 40mm square and each containing four figures. I am a bit off multiple basing at present currently favouring single penny basing. So what I have decided to do is to try the single figures making up the same frontage and depth and otherwise the rules as normal. Perhaps a wee stick to take the dressings and frontage/depth would help marked at 40mm and 160mm intervals.I hope to try it out soon. Single basing and favourite rules a good combo me thinks.Anyone tried similar?

Re-basing or if you can't beat them join them...

David at http://ilivewithcats.blogspot.co.uk/ is currently doing a thread upon his recent purchase of 40mm Late Bronze age Europeans. Inspired by this I have begun to re-base my Foundry 28mm Late Scandinavian Bronze Age chaps-

 Ever since I went to Denmark for the first time and saw the Lur horns,shields etc in the National Museum I have loved the period.I still remember the excitement I felt when these figures were released.

So tonight I have taken them off their stands and put them individually onto penny sized bases and added Milliput.I intend to use them for skirmishing with Songs of blades and Heroes.
I imagine them to be the inhabitants of Tradgardland  in the Bronze Age.

A (what is the proper collective noun) of perukes...

I've gone a tad peruke crazy this weekend by converting some figures to varying degrees of success-

From left to right- a show freebie of an ecw commander in armour, a converted figure whose provenience I have forgotten, a Foundry ecw officer and a Front Rank late 17th Cent officer.

The far left figure and the one third from the left have completely milliput created perukes whilst the other two have had their's heightened. On the whole I am quite pleased with this first attempt and will work on this in the future. Next project will be a couple female figures-