General-purpose reiter types

Just a basic "Western" cavalry unit. Minor conversions here and there, nothing worth writing home over. Realized after basecoating that they have no holsters, oops.

Carl X Gustav of Sweden

As promised, a historicals post.

I recently realized that, while I have converted several Polish and Cossack personalities, I hadn't yet done any Swedes despite being potentially able to field a decent force of them in Pikeman's Lament. So, off to wikipedia I went!

I let myself have a bit of fun with this one. Most paintings of good ol' Carl show him as a standard dour Swede in cuirassier armor (scarcely distinguishable from a Wrangel or a Wittenberg). But this rather idealistic/allegorical work gives him a bit more panache, so I went with that, even if I don't know how realistic that weird tinsel coat actually is.

(This is mostly just a standard Warlord Games P&S cavalryman, with a Anglo-Zulu War arm, an ACW hat, and plenty of greenstuff)

Another ork update

Yup, pretty pleased with how these colors are working out. Gotta go back and fix the boss' gold toof and the one ork's tongue...

I'm Back! WAAAAAAAGH!!!

So, I've gotten basically no hobby work done since Spring. But I'm trying to get back in the groove, so here is a test mini for my big impending 40k Ork Army repaint. The one with the knife is the actual test mini, the other one is from a few years ago, my first attempt at a bare minimum army repaint.

I will also be resuming various historical projects, so watch this space even if goofy sci-fi isn't your cup of tea...

Pajama Party! (first batch of Celts)

So I'm starting on a Celt box now. Since it's the same base kit for all Warlord barbarians, I've given them an extremely contrasting paint scheme to the Germans I did earlier. No conversions except for the inclusion of a couple of old Wargames Factory heads and shields.

I can't find my tweezers, so I haven't applied the shield transfers yet, and nowhere nearby sells PVA glue, so no static grass yet either.

Last of the (first box of) Germans

A few of the wicker shields are cut-down plastic WGF Persian shields. Other than that, nothing you haven't already seen...

More Germans

A wider variety of weapons and gear here. The big fellow is Ariovistus from Warlord Games, and he needs fancier clothes (and I think his arms are supposed to be bare.)

Got 12 more Germans to paint, then either back to the 17th Century, or on to a Celt or Dacian box. 

First batch of Germans

Here are some of Warlord's Ancient Germans. While I've arranged them as a regiment for some pictures, at the moment they're more likely to be used in a Mordheim-type skirmish game. That's why I did them in four sets of four gear options instead of just arming them willy-nilly. Not too many conversions this time, just a few extra bits of greenstuffed beard or fur.

More light cavalry

Another set of Arabs-turned-Poles...

Send your armies, but they'll never be enough

His shell's too tough!

Polish Light Cavalry

Months ago, I kitbashed some Polish cavalry together, using Gripping Beast's Arab light cavalry as a base, but only got around to painting them last week. With headswaps and the occasional carbine added, I think they quite look the part of a lightly-armed noble levy, or "cossack-style" horse, or a pack of Lisowczycy, or perhaps even Wallachian mercenary cavalry. I suspect the horse furniture isn't entirely accurate, but the overall effect certainly meets my satisfaction nonetheless. Though some belated gap-filling might not go amiss...

(Maybe someday I'll invest in a proper lightbox.)

Museum Visit (early modern stuff)

Last month, the Art Institute of Chicago reopened its European "medieval" arms and armor exhibit (actually extending into the mid-1800's), and I finally got around to visiting yesterday. It was fantastic! I took a bunch of pics, and although my cell phone camera doesn't really handle museum lighting well, there are still some neat pieces that I want to share. Maybe later I'll post the random other cool stuff I saw that wasn't quite so relevant to my wargaming.

The pic is too blurry, but this helmet has pointy teeth!

I should paint a nobleman with an ivory pistol stock like this

ceremonial giant sword hilt

Emperor Ferdinand's breastplate. Wonder if I could pull this off on a 28mm mini?

This musket has two actions! Better safe than sorry...

obligatory hussar gear

Papal guard, so shiny!

Fancy yet functional armor for a wasp-waisted Englishman

plain hilt of giant sword

This one's from about 1800, but I had to include it. It's a powder tester! Like a pistol, but instead of shooting a bullet it forces an arm along the scale. Super neat!

A spider helm, essentially having "noseguards" all around, with each one hinged in case gets in the way

triple-barreled fowling piece, with striking buttstock design

triple-barreled pistol, looks like a nightmare to handle, but still probably preferable to handling three separate pistols