Stuff I want...

Should I buy some more Elf Cavalry or is 40 too many?

So I've painted all my Elven Cavalry and with my 3 personalities on horses that makes 33. Now I obviously have OCD because Im thinking 40 is a nice round number and therefore I happen to look on ebay and I find someone selling seven more Elf Cavalry troopers. Temptation get thee behind me! or Should I?

I've not really done a miniatures Top 10 like everyone else... (that would have meant spending alot of time trawling through Stuff of Legends) and I've got quite a lot of what I want already! but here is a small list of things Im still wanting! - Some of them arent even miniatures! - theres are other things in life as well you know!

Prince lolair gilandiril (which appears to be missing from my elven attack chariot! doh!)
Citadel Mutant Chaos Ogre - you know exactly who I mean. you wouldnt read this blog if you didnt know him! Anyways I've always wanted him but never got round to getting one.
80's Citadel Dwarves in general! - but definitely the 2 boxed regiments!
*Added Disciples of the Red Redemption!
*Added High Elf Maiden Guard!
A Dremel Stylus - I've never used a one but I reckon it could be useful!
A proper camera for taking better pictures of my painting!
A miniatures display cabinet - no point hiding away all my hard work!
A fellow Warhammer nut to play 3rd edition against!

and time to paint everything! - not much to ask!?

Its a dirty job...

To get the elf cavalry underway I have to clear my decks. I need to strip a few of the horses but there were already a handful of figures in the stripping bowl. I spent this morning before work, removing gungy paint from the figures with an old toothbrush. I then wash the figures with  washing up liquid. The elf cavalry are now nice and happy having their own Dettol bath. They need a few days in there, so I shall try and get them stripped by the end of the weekend. Its a stinky, gooey and dirty job, but these lovely old miniatures (citadel skeletons and chaos beastmen) wont clean themselves! 

Turning Lead into Gold?

I've been collecting miniatures since the year dot (well its probably only since 1986 or 88 I cant remember exactly), and basically my collection been growing every month since then. Some of it is pretty rubbish, and some of it is pretty decent, but small bits of it are pure gold. I have, for example, this Limited Edition figure in my collection:

LE 4 Space Marine Captain 1991

Still in blister, and looking good after 20 years of storage. Here he is on Solegends.  I wonder how much he would get on ebay now? Any Offers? (Im not selling!)

[UPDATE]
It looks like someone on ebay has been thinking the exact same thing as me, with regards to this figure! http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170699113746#ht_500wt_1361 Hopefully I'll soon get an answer as to how much this figure is worth!

[UPDATE #2]
Well I have my answer. The final price including postage was £48.56! Thats a nice profit for a single figure - But Im still not tempted to sell! (well not yet anyway!)

Slow Progress

The last few days have been spent supporting my girlfriend who was running the great North Run, so there hasnt been much time for Hobby fun. Half the elf cavalry have been cleaned up and based. I had originally cut away the supporting tabs under the front hoofs of the horses, but that has weakened the models considerably, so I've had to add some brass wire supports to each horse, which has taken quite a bit of time. Most of the other elf lancers are in the queue waiting to be paint stripped.

Im still on the lookout for an additional archer. I got outbid for one on ebay this weekend. The final bid was about £12. So I should probably insure the rest of my 30 cavalry!

The Painting Table...

Everyone likes to have a look at someone elses painting table., so here goes:

A recently finished unit of Elves awaiting a spray of varnish.

Below are pics of my Elf cavalry after a bit of a sort out. I've decided I want 2 units with Bows (so I need another bowman rider!). I also need to find 8 lances. I might have to go with some metal lances as the plastic ones are beginning to be very weak. I suppose they are nearly 20 years old, but Im surprised at how the plastic seems to be failing! Im also wondering about getting a standard bearer for one of the units...

And finally my squashed chariot, which needs some love and attention, and I think I'll put on a new base to meet todays rules on chariot base sizes...

Hope you've enjoyed...

So many boxes of old citadel miniatures...

Ok - so I'm not very good at updating my blog... but I have a new app for the phone so maybe some quick updates may start appearing. A fellow TMP'er has got me started on warhammer 3rd edition. I like the way he thinks as he's obviously looking at the battle of Forenronds Last Stand; near the back of the WFB 3rd edition book, which requires a force of 30 Elven cavalry.

Now I suggest that that is a big ask of anybody. I can't imagine what they were thinking when they drew up that army list. Anyways it got me thinking. I've got a dozen cavalry painted up for my elves already. You can just about make them out in previous blog posts. So I wondered if there's any more running around on ebay. But I didnt get much success there.

Then, from the dark recesses of my mind, a realisation that somewhere in my collection I might already have some more. An enjoyable half hour rummaging later, I pulled out a box labelled elf cavalry. Anyway the photo below shows what's inside. Not in a very good state, and I will need to get some lances sorted, but definitely enough Elven cavalry to cover a small engagement such as Forenronds Last Stand! I've also got a box of later plastic High Elf cavalry - just in case!

Gratuitous shot of naked Elves riding horses... naked in the sense of unpainted!

By chance I also happened upon my elf chariot. Totally squashed! :(

I've just Googled 'Forenronds Last Stand' and found another 80's miniatures geek contemplating the same battle!

http://ernysplace.blogspot.com/2011/02/drillas-killers.html

Chaos Beastmaster fresh from the Painting Table

Latest recruits for my chaos forces passing out from the painting table. An old Marauder Miniatures Chaos Warrior and Chaos Hounds. These were originally released in 1990 so these are only 21 years old! http://www.solegends.com/marauder/mm93chaosbeastmaster.htm

Next up on the painting table is the old Citadel Keeper of Secrets, Greater Demon of Slaanesh also from about 1990!

Tasty New Miniature I'd love to have!

I love this Octo-God from Khurasan Miniatures! Ive been good and managed to not spend anything in February so far, but Im moving house next month, so I wont be ordering it now. It might end up at the wrong place! But hopefully in the next couple of months this beauty will join my collection! $37.99 (~£23.50) including shipping to the UK. 75mm tall resin figure available from http://khurasanminiatures.tripod.com/little-carinthia.html

Drow Warlocks Fresh from the Painting Table

Here are some Dark Eldar Mandrakes from Games Workshop. I finished painting them last night and they will go towards my February painting total. I dont collect Dark Eldar but thought these guys would look great as Drow Warlocks for D&D!

Painting Comparison...

I thought I would try and add some photos to my blog!

These show off my painting style and best of my ability compared to Games Workshop! 

I've been painting since I was a lad and have different styles depending on what Im trying to achieve. I dont paint like this for large units!!!

My painting style...

My Inspiration - Games Workshop!

Proof that Original Citadel Armies had more character!!!

>>  Jon's Wargaming Blog  <<

Nice work Jon!

I really like the old style citadel miniatures. Here's my 80's/90's Wood Elf Army. There's a few more units now but I'll do a proper photo session with the whole army soon...

January 2011 Painting Pledge

I wasnt very good at recording my Pledge successes (or otherwise) last year and felt I lost my way a little bit without it!

This year I've done quite a bit of painting!
20 Dark Elf Witches
20 Dark Elf Corsairs
5 Dark Elf Cold One Knights (which I count as 2 figures)
3 Roleplaying figures (Wood Elf 2 weapon fighter, Vampire Spawn, Spectre)

So a total of 53 painted this month! (which is very good for me!!!) but unfortunately (for the Pledge!) I have bought:

1 Vintage Marauder Chaos Warrior and 2 Chaos Warhounds (3 figures)
20 Chaos Beastmen
10 Chaos Marauder Horsemen (20 figures)
Large Hydra figure (Vintage Grenadier Dragon) (which I'll probably count as 10 figures)
Vintage Citadel Skeleton Chariot (which I'll also count as 10 figures)

So I have bought a total of 63 figures! (Total spent £66.35)

Month of January balance of -10 figures. February holds a week of skiing in Italy. Im also in the process of buying a house. So I doubt I'll make up much ground this month!