Rain, rain go away

Work on the slum buildings has ground to a temporary halt until we have a good "going outside and cutting MDF" weather day. I've decided to go with four 60cm x 60cm baseboards of 3mm MDF covered in cobblestone wallpaper on one side (and the other side probably painted flat black with grey and white drybrushing to double as modern tarmac.) Buildings are going to be mounted on 3mm MDF bases with 25mm wide pavements also in 3mm MDF, some of which will be integral to the building base, others freestanding. After a lot of cogitating this seems to offer the most flexible setup.

I've assembled the three Scheltrum resin steamtanks, with a few tweaks. The flimsy axles on the American wagons have been replaced with plastic pipe, with some additional nurnies glued to the underside to suggest a more detailed chassis. I've also replaced the smokestack on the smaller coach with more plastic piping. I've also taken a hacksaw to the Grendel "Iron Drake" steamtank, removing the outsized dwarf driver and the black powder cannon. Next step will be to fill in gaps in the cut-off area with milliput and sand it to make a smooth surface, then fit a turret from Ramshackle's Tridlins range of parts.

The accursed painting table, which was oh-so painfully cleared during the run up to the Big Birthday Battle, has now been refilled with the 40 not-ACW infantry that will become the core of the Fenian force, plus all the additional British troops I've collected to bring the British numbers up to match the Germans. Another unit of Guardsmen and one of regulars from Ironclad, plus two units of sailors from Redoubt, one in caps, one in sennet hats. And finally a unit of regular infantry in Glengarries, which I received from Rapier miniatures. The Rapier figures are part of their Zulu War range, and the only 28mm figures I could find wearing Glengarries. They're just a little bit smaller than the Ironclad figures, but are in more of a squatting pose which could account for the height difference. At wargames table distances they seem to mix well together. Casting quality wasn't fantastic - it looked at first like some of them were miscast with misaligned moulds, especially noticeable around the faces. But on closer inspection, it was nothing that a few seconds with a needle file couldn't correct. These figs are an absolute steal at only a pound each, and the different headgear adds a bit of variety to my home service Brits.

So that's basically 90 figs lined up to be painted, about three quarters as many as were done for the Big Birthday Battle. I also went through my entire collection of unpainted Victorian civilians, basing them and transferring them to a KR Multicase... when you've filled a 200 capacity case and still have a load of children and policeman figures to find a home for, that's natures way of telling you that maybe you've got enough unpainted lead and don't need to buy more.

So I hereby pledge - from this moment onwards, until all the figures in that case are painted, I will not be buying any more white metal wargaming figures or resin vehicles.

Any loopholes in that pledge are purely coincidental, and certainly not deliberate left there to allow the penitent to pick up a couple of boxes of the gorgeous looking Perry Miniatures plastic Ansar at some point, should he fancy a bit of colonial gaming on the side.

Or resin figures & parts from Ramshackle.

Or cool looking toys for the zombie game.

Still it's the thought that counts.