Was the week before Christmas...

Almost Christmas time again! I've been busy at work and at home doing all sorts of stuff. Next year I will be even more busy.

On the workdesk/painting table are at least three different projects in three different scales. First up is the ongoing 25mm Napoleonic armies. I am working on the British Highland Brigade at the moment, with the 42nd Black Watch, the 71st Highland Light, 79th Camerons, and the 92nd Gordons. Each of these are based on six 45mm by 40 mm stands for 36 figures per battalion. The rules are In The Grand Manner. This will bring the British up to nine full battalions of infantry.

Second is an Army originally for DBM but can be used fo Fields of Glory or Warhammer historicals. They are 15mm European Crusaders. I am painting up 24 stands of Heavy cavalry, three figures per stand. There are four stands of Templars, four stands of Hospitallers, and the rest are Knights and Sergeants. Also included are six stands of light horse, and a bunch of dismounted knights, sergenats and cross-bows. This is the army of Richard I.

Third up is the 10mm French Napoleonics. I have two Chasseur regiments completed, three Infantry Brigades done, and one heavy 12lb arty battery and four 8 lbs batteries based, but not painted. Also there are three baggage wagons and six artillery limbers, three more brigades of infantry and four more cavalry regiments to go. Theya re representing Davout's III Corps in Russia.

I shall try to put up a picture soon.

Napoleonics, in two scales

First up is 10mm Chasseurs a Cheval. These are based for Napoleon's Battles and represent the 3rd Regiment with scarlet collars and cuff. Beside them is the 5th Regiment with orange collar and cuff. Fugures from Old Glory.


The start of the 1st Division, 10mm Old Glory figures. Each stand is about a battalion's worth of troops. Light Infantry in front, Line Infantry to the rear. French troops circa 1809. The Division Commander is up front on a 1 inch by 1 inch base.


Now on to 25mm British troops. These are three seperate battalions based for In The Grand Manner. In the back is a Elite Minitatures Line battalion. The second is the 92nd Regiment, The Gordons. The center companies are Peter Guilders old figures, the light company (and the missing Grenadiers) are Vitrix. The front Battalion is the color party for the 79th Regiment, The Cameron Highlanders, figures by Vitrix.

A bad close up of the Vitrix Light company of the Gordons.

Cose up of the Comeron color group. Missing from this base is the piper and the commanding officer.

That's it for today. I'mm currently working on three different armies (er...four actually), British (anf French) in 25mm for ITGM, 10mm French for Napoleon's Battles, Klingons for Federation Commander, and Epic scale Space Marines.

Painting calms me.

Painting Klingons

For Thanksgiving we had several people over for dinner, and then on Black Friday all the women went out at 0400 shopping. I spent the day working on five Klingon ships from Amerillo Design.
http://www.starfleetgames.com/federation/

The top photo is a C8, a dreadnaught class ship. The hull is painted gull grey, with a codex grey details. Red, brass, and blue have been used for detail work. The second picture is a D7, the standard Klingon ship from the Original Series. I am not happy with the symbol painted on the wing, and so I'll go over it again.

The set that I got had two D7s, one C6 (slightly bigger than the D7s, a C8, and a E4 (escort ship). All are painted the same way.

The five ships come with the stands seen and a small black and white sheet with very little info. I went to the web-site for the manufacturer and read through their painting suggestions and wasn't happy. Then a quick google search found me this:

http://www.sfbnexus.com/Gallery/Klingon_gallery.htm

I do prefer the painting style found on the TV show and so followed it as best I could.

I'll be taking more photos when I have them complete.

A Quarter Century Later: nothing but memories remain.

The Barracks. This is from 1988. We were not allowed any walkmans, nor were we allowed any hair...
The Monkey Bars- you had to navigate through them, do 20 pushups, dips, and pull-ups prior to getting into the Mess Hall

Harmony Church- sometime in the mid 1990s after training there had moved to Sand Hill.

I am at Fort Benning, Georgia for the next three weeks. I grew up here. I left home for the very first time, flew in an airplane for the very first time, and went to basic training here. Twenty-five years ago I was standing here, not far away from where I type these words, going to Airborne School.

Since then I have been back several times. It's a sad experience as everything from that time is gone now. Harmony Church is being gutted to build the new Armor School. I drove out there today and found where I spent Basic and AIT. All the buildings are long gone. They were gone sometine in the late 90s. Now, even the concrete pads are gone. The trees bullbozed down, and my company street will soon be not even a asphault trail.

Alpha Company, 9th Battalion, 2nd Infantry. Alpha 9/2. We were in fourth Platoon and my roster number was 412. The barracks were old WWII wooden two story jobs- old even 25 years ago.

Sometimes it seems just like yesterday we were all shamming on a Sunday afternoon in the barracks. I woul be laying under my bunk with my fingers slipped under the springs to hold them up. That way you could sleep and pretend to be tightening the blanket and sheets- you were not allowed on your bunk during the day.

None of us had cameras then. We got them at the end of AIT. I have one photo from that time, of three of my buddies.

I have found a few more photos from a guy who went through in 1988, and have them up above. So similar to my memories, yet jsut a bit different. E 2/2 would have been north up the road from us about a mile. Their area is already gone and new barracks are in their place.

It saddens me to see this change as it makes me feel so so old.

I'll go back out and take a picture of the old site tomorrow, as well as the OCS area.

until later...

Is Dutch really Lenin?

This all started because Frank said I look like V. I. Lenin. Now...I don't see it. Above you see the doctored photo of me (on the right) and Vlad.

Now- here I am on the left. I've flopped the picture around so we are both sfacing inwards.

No, here I am with out the facial hair.

I just don't see it.

Flash Backs.

God, I miss it.
The smell of the cordite in the darkness...
I miss the rush of combat.

it's like no rush I can explain...

Life is so boring

Birthday kilt.

At the Birthday BBQ. It was a good day.

Napoleonics in 10mm

The first picture is a Brigade of French Light Infantry, circa 1809 in 10mm. The second is a Brigade of French Line Infantry, same time period. The Rules are Napoleon's Battles III.

Out to the Ranch.

Over the 4th I and the family went back home to western Nebraska. On Sunday we traveled out to the ranch, which has been in the family since 1886. They had gotten over 4 inches of rain in the last week. Pretty good for the Sandhills.