Don't Throw a 1: 2023

Sunday 31 December 2023

An Adventure with Pirates - The Tribesmen

In amongst Malcom's excellent painted Pirates, were these fab figures.

I can only guess that Malcom painted these figures up generically, to represent either South American or African tribesmen?

The figures are infact Copplestone Castings and are Ngoni Tribesmen from their Darkest Africa range.

Most of the figures have a brilliant headdress

I think I might have to buy some more of the figures, I'll try my best to match them to Malcom's fab work???

Friday 29 December 2023

An Adventure with Pirates - The Pirates!

Malcom sure was a great painter, he made a damn fine job on these figures.

They are a mix of Wargames Foundry and Artizan Designs.

Malcom had them all based on Games Workshop black bases, all my Donnybrook figures are based on MDF bases, so I took them all off and based them on 25mm MDF bases from Warbases.

I based a few figures up hexagon bases, these will be used as command or character figures.

I asked a question about basing Pirates 2 posts ago?

To base them up on land or ship.

Lots of people suggested clear bases, so they could be used for both land and sea, but In the end I chose land bases, but kept them pretty simple.

No tufts, only flock, and not a lot of it either, so now they match my other Donnybrook figures.

Sunday 24 December 2023

Merry Xmas & A Happy New Year

I'd like to wish you all a great Christmas and an even better 2024.

Thank you to you all for visiting my humble blog during 2023, its greatly appreciated.

Wednesday 20 December 2023

An Adventure with Pirates!!! - Donnybrook

A few weeks ago Reject Steve sent a message on our What's ap "Is anyone interested in these?"

Steve's an electrician and was doing some work in a customers house. While chatting they both realised they have been afflicted by the drug of wargaming!!!

While chatting Dan asked if Steve might be interested in some of his Dad's old Pirate figures.

I snapped them up before anyone else could get their dirty mits on them!

Dan was invited down to Rejects HQ for a game, where it turns out the older Rejects knew Dan's Dad, Malcolm Hills who passed away over a decade ago. Malcolm played quite a few games at Reject HQ, sometimes bringing along in young son, Dan.

So I'm the proud owner of some of Malcom's Pirate figures.

What a small world we live in??

For another small fee I could also buy his two ships a scenery too???

All I need to do is base them all up in usual Donnybrook style.

Its always a trouble with Pirates, do you base them on a ship base or land?
What would you do?

Wednesday 29 November 2023

Almansa 1707 - 2mm Woods

Several months ago I started to make some woods and forests for my 2mm Almansa project. My first attempts were utter failures, I originally used different sized pompoms from Hobbycraft, (see below), but as you can see, they come in loads of different colures, so they'd need painting.

I gave it a go and made a hell of a lot of mess, I had green paint absolutely everywhere. More importantly, I had a lot of trouble gluing them down. So I gave up and the whole mess went into the bin!!!

If anyone want a few boxes of these little blighters let me know. You can have them!

So I went back to Richard's idea of using Javis tree foliage.

I bought several packs of each of the three colours.

Ripped the pieces up, so they all looked like a large tree for 2mm scale.

Lee suggested using WWS Basing glue, as that's what he'd previously used on his rivers and roads.

I bought some of the glue yonks ago, to make my own grass tufts, but as per usual I've never got round to doing it?

I found the glue very watery, so much that it soaked right through the felt base of the woods, gluing it to the mat underneath, where I'd left it to dry overnight. so that one went in the bin as well.

The main reason I wanted to use felt as the ground of the woods is so it would be flexible and hug the contours of the board I wanted to place them on. Like halfway up a hill for instance. As you can see by the photo, they are very flexible and bendy, so they should do the trick??

I dipped each tree into superglue then pushed it in place onto the felt. It's probably not the cheapest way to do it, but you know the trees definitely not coming off again, but still gives the flexibility I wanted.

With the 3 different colours all mixed together I think they look pretty effective, I just need to make a few more now, some bigger and some smaller.

Thanks for checking out the blog!

Friday 24 November 2023

The 14th Annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge

Oh Yes! Its that time of year again....

I've booked my spot and am already looking forward to the start date of the 21st December.

I've given myself a target of 1000 points which I should be able to do, but you never know?

Usually by now I'd have been busy cleaning and prepping figures for a new project, but not this year. I did have one in mind, but that will have to wait for another day.

I've decided to have a bit of a tidy up in that pit of despair, that I call my painting shed. I have over the last few years amassed a rather large hoard of figures that were already prepped and undercoated, but simply never made it to the top of the queue. So its time these poor figures got the lick of paint that they deserve.

So rather unusually from me, you may see a little more Donnybrook stuff, more from the Haitian Revolution and some 15mm LOA Spanish, to name but a few.

On the Challenge, Curt has perhaps wisely not offered me a chance to be a Minion again, after my last debacle, I swear I never pressed delete!!!!

Looking forward to it already!!!

Friday 17 November 2023

Warfare 2023 Loot

I had quite a successful spending spree at Warfare, once again I hadn't planned on spending much but......

Products for Wargaming had some very nice field bases. I was planning on making my own, but it was easier buying them. I went for 1 x 15x8 field, 2 x 12x6 and 2 x 6x4's.

They were £8, £6 and £4, so a bargain!

2 buildings from Warbases

5 small cobblestone mats from Deepcut Studio

These can be used in any of my 25/28mm periods.

A few paints.....from Sheppey Models

You can never have enough Oxen can you? These Black Tree figures were in the bargain bin from

Mill-Art

Can't remember who I bought these from, these will be used to make some 2mm woods and forests.

An impulse buy from Charlie Foxtrot, some 28mm walling for my Haitian Revolution project.

Back to Products for Wargaming. Another building, this one is from their luvvly medieval range.

If Iron Gate Scenery are at a show, I have to get something from them. Their range of bits and bobs are brilliant. This time round it was some Highland cattle, a tannery, perfect for some Native American's and a stone sheep pen.

Lastly more Highland Cattle, these 2 were from Disdain Studios, why do I need more

Highland Cattle, you ask?

Well.....why not?

Monday 13 November 2023

Warfare Wargames Show, Farnborough 2023

On Sunday four Rejects set out on another adventure, this time we drove south west down to Farnborough for our fist visit to Warfare in 4 years (no nose bleeds needed as we drove south).

This was also our first visit to Warfare's new home and I gotta say we all loved it!!

I did get some negative Anonymous comments on my previous post about the show, but can't agree with anything the/he said??? One such comment was, he thought it bad taste holding a show on the Remembrance weekend. I have to say it made me immensely proud when at 11 o'clock the whole massive area was in complete silence, it made the hairs on my arms stand up. So thank you to the organizers who did a grand job, not only on the minutes silence, but the whole event.

The Rejects will be retuning!

Not sure whether that will put people off or not???

Onto the games

Parkfield Miniatures - 28mm Vietnam

Helping play the very neat looking game was Rob from Reiver Castings.

Society of Ancients - Battle of Cunaxa

These guys always put on a simple but great looking game.

Bumped into fellow Challenger & Blogger Paul OG.

Well not really bumped, we knew each other would be there so kept an eye out for each other.

Thanks to the 2 chaps who said hello, one guy was pleased that we made it, we were a little worried as Lee was driving!! Apologies to the other chap, just as he said hello, Paul came up and spoke to me, so the guy went on his merry way, I wasn't ignoring you, so please don't think I was being rude.

Ardhammer Group - Bread and Beef ! the Battle of Domstadtl – 30th June 1758

30mm Flats

Flat's aren't my thing, but this game was a sight to see, one of my favourites from the show.

Huntingdon and District Wargames Society - 28mm ‘Early days ‘ first Bull Run ACW

Anschluss Wargames - Operation Barbarossa June 1941

Combined Ops - Battle of Isandlwana

Anglo-Zulu War

Another great looking game, most of the photos I took, including all the close ups were unusable.

The Three Musketeers - Battle of Ulundi

Anglo-Zulu War

Zulu's seem to be the in thing at the moment??

Hobgoblin – Fantasy massed battle; A Billion Suns – Deep space fleet battles – Gaslands – Post Apocalyptic car racing a variety of games run by Planet Smasher Games Unreasonably Fun Tabletop Games