One project ends….another (almost) begins

I finished painting the ruined version of das Rattenloch late last night.  It’s been a journey, I can tell you!  Ruined buildings always seem to take me far longer to finish than their intact equivalents, perhaps by an order of 50%.

I’ve detailed the full progress of the build in Richard Clarke’s and Nick Skinner’s “TooFatLardies Christmas Special 2012”, together with a set of thoughts and guidelines for building ruined terrain.  I thought it was only fair to post a couple of pictures here to see a small snippet of what you’d be getting before you rush out and purchase this fine publication.  Rich has told me that the “Special” should be available by next Monday (17th December) direct from the TooFatLardies site at the very reasonable price of £6.

I should add, dear readers, that I receive not a penny, euro cent or dime for my contribution to the Special.  That’s not a complaint!  But somehow I thought I’d mention it in case I was suspected at diverting people’s hard earned cash into my own pockets.  Perish the thought!!

For long time readers of this Blog, here’s a comparison shot, before the railway-artillery and after (so to speak), of the intact Rattenloch and the ruined version.

So, one project over and another about to begin.  I am talking, of course, about the exciting news that I’m taking part in the Analogue Hobbies 3^rd Annual Painting Challenge.  This should be a great deal of fun, and already I feel a bit of a buzz about getting back to painting miniatures after a slightly frustrating autumn of real life work pressures and terrain building in the hobby. 

One of the suggestions this year is that the aspiring competitors paint their figures according to a “Personal Challenge Par”.  I’ve been thinking where my “Par” is likely to land, and which painting project theme I want to follow.   It’s a tricky decision.  I have a few projects on-going at present, but the  Analogue Hobbies 3^rd Annual Painting Challenge seems a great opportunity to make a bold statement and try and paint through a whole new collection of figures.

With this in mind, and true to the fantastic spirit of the contest, I’m going to be focusing on ……  cue drum roll …….

 ……. painting up the force of French poilu from Verdun 1916 which I bought from Rob Broom at Scarab Miniatures back in (embarrassingly) December 2009.  These wonderful and characterful sculpts have languished in a cardboard since I bought them from Rob at the Gripping Beast Great war Games day in Evesham in December 2012.  And yes, it is about time I painted these figures and finally worked out how to paint Horizon Bleu!

The Analogue Hobbies 3^rd Annual Painting Challenge starts at 12.01am on 20^th December – so watch out for updates, folks, although you'll see any new painted miniatures on Curt's Analogue Hobbies blog first by a day or so.

And for those waiting for the Picts to appear – yes, OK, once I’ve done the les Poilu, the Picts are definitely next!