2019 in Review

2019 was busier than ever for me, but I still found time to paint 1,364 figures, or about four per day.  Very little of that painting was for me, as the bulk of my effort continues to go toward commission work.

My totals with Analogue Painting Challenge points were as follows:

40mm Foot: 343 (2,401 points)

40mm Mounted: 11 (165 points)

40mm Guns: 4 (60 points)

28mm Foot: 282 (1,410 points)

28mm Mounted:10 (100 points)

1/72 Foot: 420 (1,680 points)

15mm Foot: 124 (248 points)

15mm Mounted: 12 (48 points)

15mm Vehicles: 11 (88 points)

6mm Mounted: 60 (60 points)

3mm Foot: 87 (25 points)

That gives me a grand total of 6,285 APC points this year, a 24% increase over last year. Just for fun, I compiled all of my totals over the past 12 years, which is as long as I have been keeping records.

2019: 6285

2018: 5072

2017: 7187

2016: 5086

2015: 4506

2014: 4327

2013: 5456

2012: 5787

2011: 4081

2010: 7167

2009: 4348

2008: 8816

That makes for average of 5676.5 points per year, which means this year was slightly (about 11%) above average.

I did not get in nearly enough gaming with my friends this year.  My three young children seem to take up most of my time, but I won't complain about that!  All three are enjoying modeling and gaming with me.

20mm WWII Americans

These 206 American soldiers are ready to take on Glenn's Germans!  After much wailing and gnashing of teeth, I was able to tone down the shine AND get rid of the frosting.  I over painted the dip to get these figures to really pop.

Platoon and Company Command

Combat Engineers

Bazooka Teams

Rifle Squads

Anti-Tank Gunners

Sniper Teams

M2 Browning

M1919 Browning

Mortars

Casualties

More 40mm ACW

These 40mm figures are ready for the mail!  Here we have 60 foot and five mounted figure to fill out Carl's army.

5th New York

155th Pennsylvania

Falling Wounded

Division and Corps Command

In 2020 I will start on Carl's rebel army.  Happy gaming, Carl!

Frosting Begone!

Armed with paint thinner, a cheap toothbrush, some toothpicks, and plenty of elbow grease, I set out to undo the Dullcote frosting.  Three weeks later, this is the result.  These are the exact same figures in all three pictures.

Before

After

The good news is that the paint on these is not going ANYWHERE.  Archaeologists in 2,000 years, sifting through the rubble of suburban Chicago, will find Glenn's collection of miniatures with their paint jobs still intact.

So Frustrating!

This is what I always dread with the dip.  The figures turned out HIGHLY glossy.  I painted them with a clear flat acrylic, waited for them to dry, and sprayed them with rattle-can Dullcote.  This is the result.

I know a lot of people like that shiny toy soldier look, but it's not for me.

Next I tried spraying Winsor & Newtown flat lacquer.  The result was no better.

I have quite an arsenal of clear sealants.  I worked my way through them. Nothing was cutting that sheen.

I finally had to try out the Testor's Dullcote in the bottle.  I mixed it with lacquer thinner, donned my hazmat breather, and gave a small group of figures a spray.  Disaster ensued.

I hope I can get rid of this frosting.  If I cannot, I will have to strip the figures and start again.

Day of the Dip!

Here are about 200 20mm WWII Americans with their dip drying.  It always takes me a while to get up the nerve to slop polyurethane all over my neatly painted figures.

I'll have some pictures of the based figures by the end of next week.

28mm Achaemenid Persian Cavalry

The Commands and Colors project continues.  While I have been adding to my Greek army, I thought  I might start adding some Persians for them to fight!  These are all Old Glory figures.

I have a bag of heavy cavalry from Old Glory.  After that, I need to go shopping for more Persians.

28mm Hoplites

These Crusader Miniatures hoplites have been sitting in a box for ten years!  When Jon, Kevin, and I played a game of Commands and Colors with my 28mm ancients miniatures, I thought it would be nice to add a Greek army to the table.  Each unit consists of four bases.  With the 28 figures I already had painted, this will enable me to field nine hoplite units.

The figures are all mounted on 60mm by 30mm bases.  The spears are from North Star.  I cut them longer than you usually see on wargaming miniatures, but the real spears were 9 to 12 feet long, so this is accurate.  Shield transfers are all from Little Big Men Studios, and are brilliant, as usual.

I also painted up three bases of generals using figures from the spares box.  These are all from Wargames Foundry.

I'm starting in on a new round of commission work now, so it may be a while until I add to this army.  Hopefully it won't be another ten years!