Monday, December 31, 2018

After Action Review: 2018

Happy New Year to any and all. Looking back over the past year I began making custom plastic toy soldiers and action figures. I continued with toy soldier photography. Painting saw a dramatic uptick from the previous year, however battles fought saw a decline. I was able to attend ReaperCon in Denton but had to miss out on Recruits. I enjoyed my hobby in 2018 and am looking forward to what 2019 will bring to the craft.

PAINTED
2mm Foot Block: 1

3mm Foot: 73
3mm Artillery: 10

3mm Cavalry: 5
3mm Armor: 17
3mm Trucks: 2
3mm Mechs: 7
3mm Monsters: 36
3mm Aircraft: 1

15mm Foot: 19
15mm Mech: 1
15mm Armor: 2
15mm Beasts: 1
15mm Cavalry: 4
15mm Artillery: 1
15mm Aircraft: 1
15mm Monsters: 3

1/72 Foot: 2
1/72 Armor: 3

25mm Foot: 12
25mm Cavalry: 1
25mm Monsters: 1

54mm Foot: 2
60mm Foot: 1

Hill Hexes: 1
Field Hexes: 4
Game Acc: 4
Bust/Diorama: 1

Total Painted: 216

BATTLES FOUGHT
Fantasy Wars: 6
Second World War: 4
Warmachine: 1
Warhammer 40K: 1
Pathfinder ACG: 1

Year Total: 13

Sunday, December 30, 2018

Forward Observation: The Craft in 2019

As the new year is less than 48 hours away I wanted to share some of my plans for the hobby in the coming year. On the horizon I foresee a reset of my miniature war-game hobby. Far too long I've had too many projects. They tend to overlap and interfere with one another and I end up overwhelmed. Like many in the hobby I spend far too much time reading other peoples posts and planning that one day I too will accomplish X or Y. I want to accomplish things. I want to do epic level hobby things, things that are good, creative and worthwhile.

So basically I'm starting over. Going to take a step back and look at all that I have and begin from there. I have more models, miniatures, books and terrain in my war-room than I have space for. So I must scale back, reduce and reuse. This week I traded my old bookshelf for two new ones that accommodate model storage too, see photograph below. I am down to just one 3D printer now, an Ender 3, bottom picture. It is a great hobby tool for both terrain and miniatures. This past Fall my home war-game rules evolved into a set that I thoroughly enjoy and give me that feel of generalship. I will continue to expound on them for other periods.

I intend to move ahead with miniature photography and hunting. I've really enjoyed finding unique places to setup action figures and models for pictures. This past years hunting trips were exciting and in the case of the first wild hog hunt very intense.


Friday, December 28, 2018

Model Painting Over Christmas

We went down to the family ranch last weekend. I took along my paints and some models to paint. I was surprised at the amount I finished. I expected to do just a bit more but I am very happy with what I did paint.