End of Year Roundup

 The end of 2020 has come and gone and I am just as behind as I have been. I had planned on getting this posted a three weeks ago, but, I was really more interested in painting. In fact I have been on a tear of sorts. I closed out the year strong and have painted roughly 260 figures since the start of the year. Anyway, we will take a look back at the ones I completed in December.

First up are some Fireforge Byzantine spearmen.

These are multi-part plastic figures and they are very easy to assemble, not a whole lot to them really. Shield designs are all waterslide decals from Battle Flag, specifically made for Fireforge shields. They are a perfect fit. The instructions say that you can cut them a bit larger because the decal material is thin and will conform easily to wrap around the rim. I did not find that to be the case on the first batch. So the red ones were cut close to the edge of the image. They are such a good fit there is really no need to cut them larger. On the blue ones I ended up trimming the excess with a sharp knife. One thing to note, the shield bosses will need to be cut off and sanded down. I did try to microsol a shield over the boss but it was pulling the image apart too much. I still have a bit to learn about working with plastics as far as cleanup and what to leave off till after painting (shields). The square bases come with the figures. 

Next up is the culmination of my 15mm ACW Project. These first guys are just some odds and ends I had, a mix of Essex and Old Glory. The marching guys that are Battle Honors.

Union Troops from Battle Honors

Essex and Old Glory

Confederates from Battle Honors

I am glad to wrap up this project that I started some 32 years ago. I think I easily have enough stuff to do any ACW battle (both sides) with Fire & Fury Brigade. I'll be looking forward to getting these guys back on the convention circuit as soon as that ramps up again.

I have mentioned in a couple blog posts that I have been doing some repaints for this project as well. Here are the ones I did in December.

They are a mix of everything under the sun. Minifig, Stone Mountain, Old Glory, and a few others I don't recognize. The flags were all printed from Warflag since I did not want to buy a set just to get a few flags. I had bought these figures painted after seeing a few pics, and after getting them I decided I wasn't happy with the painting so I soaked them off their bases and went to work on them. I mostly copied the original color scheme just used the colors that were close that I had on hand. They turned out ok given the circumstances They will be good filler for the masses of Confederates.

I also got in a few samurai

These are all Old Glory 28mm. Just a mix of random stuff. The sashimono transfers are from Battle Flag. It is the Uesugi Ryu. They look too small on the sheet but are a great fit on the figures.

The last painting entry for this post is the Washington Baltimore Regiment for the Mexican American War

They are Old Glory 15's. They have a nice range of figures and you will see much more coming up in my next post, since that is mostly what I have been painting.

I am a little behind in this next part (well not if I figure it being Chinese New Year), but, I am going to review my goals for last year and set some new ones for 2021. So lets first take a look at the best laid plans.....

Finish the game room - the biggest parts will be the table (mostly deciding on size and the construction), and adding can lights, the lighting is atrocious.

Base/Rebase 6mm Napoleonics. I have piles of painted/unbased as well as based stuff that I want to base for Grand Armee.

Finish my SYW project - Need to do some French heavy horse, Saxons, and the Brits/Allies

Finish my 28mm WW2 Chinese and Japanese.

Continue my WSS project.

Continue my Mexican American War project.

Assemble 28mm Feudal Japanese Buildings

Assemble Chinese buildings. 

Ok well that was pretty much an epic fail as far as these goals go. The first three got nowhere, four is mostly done, 5 never got going, six was a success, 7 and 8 went nowhere as well.

So lets set some attainable goals for 2021

1. Continue my Mexican American War Project
2. Continue my Early WW2 Project
3. Continue my ECW project, maybe complete it
4. Start my WSS project
5. Continue my 100 days project
6. Start doing my 15mm ancient armies

Yeah I know, I have not done too well the last two years when I have set goals, but this year will be different. I have already this year made serious inroads on the MAW project, completing 8 units, and I'll have several more done by summer. I have two ancient armies in the queue already, the ECW stuff was rebased for Baroque last year, and I got a spreadsheet together showing what I needed to complete for Marston Moor (mostly Scots). I have a huge bin of primed 28mm which I'll fit in to break up all the uniforms. And who knows, I may get to some terrain. I do have several home improvement tasks for the spring and summer so we will have to see how that impacts things in the long run. That is all for this round. I hope you all have a safe a prosperous year, and lets hope we can all get back together again doing this thing we love.