2015 - In Review

For my hobby stuff this year has been quite productive, with 40k being the biggest winner in terms of model throughput and ground being broken on models from a variety of miniatures ranges both new and old. Anyway, on to the specifics

Games Workshop
I've finished off two new Warhammer 40k armies, both my Astra Militarum and Chaos Space Marines are fully modelled up. I also finished off painting up my boxed set of Space Hulk. All in all I'm keen to have a break from Citadel Miniatures, though I have my Dark Angels coming up for a slow grow this year, so at very least I'll be scaling back the amount of Games Workshop plastic in the pile. Horus Heresy, via the Betrayal at Calth boxed set, is also going to get a look in at some point, though I'm torn between doing them up as the Shattered Legion, or Imperial Fists. In terms of Lords of War, I'm in the process of finishing off a Knight Titan and will be doing a Baneblade in the coming year.

Corvus Belli
My Pan-Oceania are about half way done in my current list, with the other half to do sometime early next year. After that I have my Ariadna to do, which involve stripping off some of my old models as well as a whole lot of new painting to get through. I'll probably keep my Infinity collection limited to these two factions, perhaps only adding new models if I like them. That being said, I definitely want to try out a Pan-O tag at some point in the new year, as my air brush skills are still quite lacking and I could use the practice.

Display Pieces
This year saw my first placement at a painting come, with my rendition of Indhira from Andrea Miniatures coming in second in the fantasy figure category at scaleACT. My comp schedule for this coming year is already lined up and the models purchased. I intend to enter a miniature in both historical and fantasy categories.

Malifaux

I don't intend to get any more Malifaux past my current crew. So far I've completed the entirety of the Hired Swords boxed set, and I have the Desperate Mercenaries and Convict Gunslingers to go. After that I'm going to call it quits for the Wyrd miniatures line.

Frostgrave

This should be a relatively short and quick project. I've got my Wizard and Apprentice painted up and the rest of my soldiers primed and ready for paint. Once this job is done, I expect that I'll have enough plastic to play in my upcoming Frostgrave campaign.

Spartan Games

I still have a ton of Dystopian Wars and Firestorm Armada stuff, both piles will remain deep in my cupboards for the foreseeable future as there is no scene for either game in Canberra. However, I have got the other half of the Halo Fleet Battles boxed set to go. Which I'll be starting early in the new year. With that done both my UNSC and Covenant fleets will be complete.

Other Upcoming

I also have a bunch of other projects still in the shrink wrap that I might get to this year, given time.

• Warlord Games - Bolt Action British Infantry
• Prodos Games - Warzone Resurrection Imperial Starter Box
• Privateer Press - Cygnar Army
• Steamforged Games - Guild Ball Butchers

And that is pretty much it, the only other thing I intend to do hobby wise is try out the Scale75 paint range, as I've heard it goes on matt and handles really well. I'll be picking some up at Cancon this year if it is available.

Show Report: ScaleACT 2015

There has all ways been a welcome link between the hobbies of Scale Modelling and Miniature Wargaming. In the build and prep side of things the two disciplines develop the same body of skills and techniques that allow for a better, more realistic result. Unfortunately it is a dying art, as the population of Scale Modellers overall is quite gray.

Then enter the Wargamers, they are both significantly more numerous and far less advanced in age. Yet we love our tanks and vehicles, our massed battles, and epic fields of blood and carnage. For those of us that wish to push our painting to a higher level there is much to be learned from the body of knowledge built up by the generations of scale modellers that have come before.

Indhira - My first attempt for a figure at this scale.

In Canberra the local scale modeller outfit is the ACT Scale Modeller's Association. Every November they run ScaleACT, Canberra's main model show.
After ducking in the check it out in 2014 I was impressed with the sheer scale of the event. While it is mostly a traditional military model show there are categories for figure painters. Since I want to boost my painting chops in this area I decided I'd throw in my hat into the ring in 2015. Long and short of it, the end result was Indhira by Andreas miniatures, see to the right. Anyway, fast forward to November 2015 and I am entering her in ScaleACT 2015.

After entry I began my usual lazy meander through the tables. In the main hall the real draw of the show was happening. The vendors were out in full force and the display areas were packed.

There were other areas devoted to large scale model ships, a model rail-road display, the RC tank club showing off their armour. There was this strange large scale diorama that seemed to represent an eclectic collection of Germans in the process of invading France. In this case the level of detail was impressive, though the scale and arrangement made the entire thing seem a bit weird.

 

 

To cap off the event, my entry came in second for the Fantansy/Other Figure category. I also picked up a couple of figures for my planned entry into ScaleACT 2016.

The largest showing was most definitely aircraft of various scales, with armour following close behind. Fantasy, Sci-Fi and stuff that appeals to me more generally was trailing far behind in quantity, but there was still a decent show. Anyway, on with the models.

Aircraft

Armour

Military/Historical Figures

 

 

 

Fantasy Figures and Vehicles

 

 

 


Sci-Fi Vehicles

 

 

 

 

Dioramas

 

 

What If?