Almost there

Just to show that other things have been going on and that the lack of posts is not through disinterest.

The Russian foot are almost complete. This weekend saw me texture the bases and this morning apply the wash of burnt umber. All that remains now is to highlight with Dulux wheatmeal, highlight again with caramel, paint the base edges with GW Scorched Brown, and finally apply the static grass and foliage.
All that means the Russian foot are complete and now await there command figures. Any news Bill?*

The other picture is the start of yet another new project.

40mm French Indian Wars.

These figures are from Sash & Sabre (available through Old Glory UK on this side of the pond). A multi part figure with separate legs, torso & heads, along with a choice of hand weapons. For a change I undercoated these in white because I wanted a brighter look to these larger figures. I've also gone for more uses of washes then normal in an attempt to get the definition and shading that these larger figures deserve.

So why a new project and why this one?

I bought the figures a long time ago (it was a good idea at the time) and they've been in the big blue box ever since. So with me nearing completion for the GNW that I've bought I wanted a bit of a diversion.

The French Indian Wars offer a variety of choices in scenario, scale of action and variety of uniforms. Also it is the age of Montcalm & Wolfe, and a host of Hollywood movies for inspiration.
as a period it also has the advantage that I can provide figures for both sides in reasonable numbers without a great expense (relative term given the increased price of the figures I know).

The answers

Time to put you out of your misery.

1. Sam Elliot is talking about General Custer who he calls a pussy in comparison to Lt. Col Hal Moore.
2. Platoon
3. Apocalypse Now & it's spoken by Colonel Kilgore played by Robert Duval
4. You'd find the Crimson Pirate aka Burt Lancaster in the film "Go Tell The Spartans" where he plays Major Asa Barker.
5. It's Hill 937 in the A Shau Valley
6. He uses the golf courses he's played to work out his escape route
7. The title comes from Army Military Occupational Specialty Code 84C20 - a motion picture cameraman (mopic).
8. George Takei, who plays Captain Nim, missed filming the classic Star Trek episode "The Trouble with Tribbles" to be in the movie "The green Berets".
9. In "Full Metal Jacket" the ruins of Hue are actually Beckton Gas Works in Londons East End & that was also the location used for the film "Biggles".
10. As the helicopters take off in "Blackhawk Down" you hear Voodoo Child being played - the same song as in the same first scene from "Tour of Duty".

The Return of the Movie Quiz

With anew range of 15mm Vietnam figures being released from Warlord I thought it opportune to test your knowledge of Hollywood & the Vietnam War.

Ready?

1. Who does Sam Elliot call a "pussy" in "We Were Soldiers"?
2. Which film had the tag line "The first casualty of war is innocence"?
3. In which movie is it stated that "Charlie don't surf"?
4. Where would you see a Crimson Pirate in Vietnam?
5. Which hill is referred to in the title of the film "Hamburger Hill"?
6. What does "Ham" Hambleton use to plot his escape route in "BAT 21"?
7. What is being referred to in the title of the film "84 Charlie Mopic"?
8. What connects the Vietnam War & Tribbles?
9. What is the connection between "Full Metal Jacket" & the movie "Biggles"?
10. Which song connects the TV series "Tour of Duty" to the film "Blackhawk Down"?

Answers tomorrow.

Painting Progress

More figures completed.

The last - the very last - new figures for the French War of the Spanish succession project. Twenty four guard figures, twelve each for the Gardes Francais & the Gardes Suiss. I decided to increase the size of the two battalions and bring them to their full paper theoretical strength.

Also finished are twenty more Russians, ten pikes and ten muskets.

That just leaves seventy four more which are featured in the last shot. A third have been blocked in and now need detail, a third have the flesh done and a third are undercoated. What chances of finishing the lot before the end of the month?

More Reading

Following recomendations from other bloggers I picked this up last saturday & finished it in three nights. A book that can be truly described as a real page turner.
Sidebottom has a good premise for a story and details the elements of a siege very well. His characters vary in the quality of their definition. Some are well defined and understandable, others are harder to pin down.
Having said that the book is a ripping yarn and flows very nicely.

Having read the book I can't decide whether Sidebottom is anti religion, any religion, or pro-Greek. At times it feels as though he is promoting a theory that all religions for Eurasia stem from the Greek myths. then again there are moments when he sees religion as a hinderance.

My only other concern is that in the appendices where he expands on the historical background he does rather seem to use his own works a lot as a basis for the reasoning. Understandable given his profession but disconcerting in the sense that it smacks of an "I'm right & others wrong" attitude in places.

Still well worth the read and belongs on the shelf alongside Scarrow.