Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Figuratively speaking

OK, so I have the moulds, at least a couple to get started with and here is a view on the first few castings


As you can see it is a small force at the moment but growing almost every day. The issue I now face is where to get the metal from. After a bit of discussion with Mark Dudley of http://ilkleyoldschool.blogspot.com/ I tried phoning one of the figure manufacturers I have purchased from to see if they would sell me some metal. This was despite the guys at the club being sceptical over the suitability of the metal.

As it was they were unwilling to sell me metal but were more than happy to direct me to their suppliers, Geo.W.Neale . Seems it was the same metal that I needed but they would only supply in bulk, the alternative was to go to Tiranti who they also supply and with whom I was already familiar.

The figures are interesting, essentially Tiranti and GWN are similar in price up to 25kg, being 1,000 figures at £0.375 and £0.366 respectively. At 50kg it drops to £0.285 per figure for GWN but then do I really want to commit to 2,000 figures!!!!

For the moment then it seems I will be using Tiranti unless I can find some other souls out there to split an order with. 

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Metal and Plastic...

Well there have been a couple of critical events here at Schloss Asbach. First of all my moulds have finally turned up from Prince August and I have started casting - oh joy, I just love them, absolutely love them. Took the first casts down to the club, that's Scimitar Wargames here in Coventry UK and my compatriot Bob has taken the mould catalogue so that we can purchase moulds together and save a bit of cash.

I have also decided that whilst the name of my Imagination is based on German brandy which comes from a particular place the Principality of Asbach will be based on a different location. I was trying to explain to my rather perplexed mother the whole idea with the benefit of Wikipedia to demonstrate how there were many many small states in the Holy Roman Empire and came across Babenhausen, a 25 square mile principality - that is the size of the village that I grew up in!!!!! It has a rather interesting looking watch tower and seems that there is a castle nearby. This seems to me as good as any a location to do some research into for the look and feel of my Nation.

On other fronts I have started painting up a load of Warlord Games greek hoplites so that I can use them for both Hail Caesar and Commands and Colours down at the club.

Still no sign of my new iPad so still short of a camera and no piccies for you - the new iPad will be out at this rate, sigh....

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Hurry Up And Wait, all the way to Asbach

There is a long established phrase in the Army "Hurry Up and Wait" meaning that you get yourself as ready as possible as fast as possible and then wait and wait and wait and....... well that is what it has been like here.

After a fair bit of dithering I ordered my moulds from Prince August almost two weeks ago and asked for tracked delivery. Having heard nothing I phoned them on Wednesday to be told that they were going out the following day - still heard nothing though, just hoping they will turn up this week. I am also waiting on the arrival of a new camera and this is due by the 15th of Feb. So all in all I am sort of stuck.

In the meantime I decided to get some 1/72 plastic Great Northern War figures just to get the painting juices flowing. Got a few done now out of the box of 48 and I would not be surprised if I end up having quite a lot of these little devils. They are cheap and I can compliment the 40mm with something a bit different.

I have also decided upon a name for my Imagi-Nation; The Principality of Asbach. This is in honour of Asbach Uralt which is a German brandy much loved by a Sergeant of my acquaintance 25 years ago. It was founded by a Hugo Asbach so I guess that means I should go for Crown Prince Hugo as the head of the Asbachers. Red and Black with a hint of Gold/Yellow for the brandy itself may well now form the basis of the uniforms.

Go Asbach

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Pass the Duchy.....

Well it has been a bit of a weird week.

First of all I have got virtually nowhere at all with sorting out my armies with the exception of a small bit of painting of my 28mm WWII figures. It is apparent thought that I have not got a camera that I can easily use to keep a record of what is going on. This is a vital omission since a bit of eye candy makes a HUGE difference to a blog. I for one look at the photos first and then read the text afterwards - I suspect that most people are the same. So the top priority for my blogging on minis is to get a better phone. So tomorrow I am going to be looking into which phone I need and then from mid week, hopefully I will be posting some images on here.

The next big issue is what am I really interested in. Following last weeks post I came across a couple of blogs that are dedicated to what can loosely be described as Old School. Amongst which were a few Seven Years Wars dedicated blogs. Ahh, now we are talking. Just before Christmas my mother was sorting out her attic with things that had been placed there when I moved out 30 years ago!!!! There was my old Prince August casting kit - albeit with a few of the moulds missing.

So that was that, I am now going to get the casting going and will be reporting on my progress here. This will be in 40mm semi rounds from the Seven Years War ranges - photos to follow.

Now which contract should I be going for????

Friday, January 13, 2012

Welcome

Having come back to historical wargaming after many years I have spent quite a few evenings looking at the blogs that have sprung up. I have been mightily impressed with what I see, there are many folks out there who produce wonderfully painted figures at a scarily rapid rate.

So this is my effort at contributing to the community.

My intention is to keep you up to date on the projects which I am undertaking together with any other bits and pieces that might cross my path. Not least amongst the others is the fact that I now go to the Scimitar Wargames club in Coventry, I am rather hopeful that I will be able to take photos of some of the very impressive minis that regularly make an appearance at the club nights.

Right now though I am in the process of getting together some war bands for the SAGA game sold via Gripping Beast. I have already got four point armies for Vikings and Anglo/Danes sorted out with Normans hopefully to be done in the next few days. These I will be using at the club and am hoping to go to SAGA events in the not too distant future.

As an alternative I am also putting together some 28mm WWII figures so that I can play some games with my son when he is back home from Uni. It is likely that these will make an appearance at the club sometime also.

Anyhow, I am well aware that there are no photos at present - this will change