Thursday 5 August 2021

Bits n Pieces

 As I struggle to motivate myself to start on the fourth GNW cavalry regiment ( it took me three separate sessions to glue the heads, arms and muskets to the figures and the to glue the riders to their horses!) I had a night off and experimented with some of my recent arrivals.

One of the second hand sets I got from Col Bills were three Copplestone Bolshevik Lewis gunners. I decapitated two of these and added a couple of the Anvil female heads in parade cap and then painted them up. Oh the joy of twentieth century uniforms - they took about four or five separate colours to complete! The RCW figures in particular are unencumbered by back packs, webbing, water bottles etc - so quick to paint, it was a pleasant change to be sure, and I am happy with how they came out, although the skin tine on the faces may be a bit swarthy for women......



Two very similar views of one of the three batches of Anvil heads - very nice work they are too.



These are the two figures I converted


Figure one advancing



Figure two kneeling


They are not yet based as they will be joining some other conversions once additional Copplestone figures arrive from Caliver in the coming weeks. I also have a bulk pack of forty random Bolsheviks by Brigade Games en route - I am not sure how the heads will work with them, as they are slightly smaller in stature than the Copplestone figures, but then I also have two other brands of separate female heads winging their way here from Victoria Miniatures and Statuesque, so I may be able to convert some of the brigade figures too!

I suppose I will have to knuckle down in the meantime and paint more Swedish cavalry......sigh!

23 comments:

  1. You have the right attitude. If you meet a road block on one project, it is more productive to move onto another until the mojo returns.

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    1. Thanks Jon. In reality, it was more a case of being distracted by the newest toys to arrive! I will get back onto the Swedes this weekend.

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  2. Those are nice and simple bit very effective conversions Keith. When I hit an impasse with my gaming or painting, I just move onto another period until the mojo returns. It may take a while but these days I can't be bothered to force myself anymore, unless a gaming deadlines looms!

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    1. Thanks Steve. I have been planning this for two or three years so it was nice to finally see a couple of figures done. I am going to force myself to get back on target with the Swedes now though!

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  3. It is always a good idea to mix up projects. I regularly have a couple of side projects I can dip into to prevent going stale on my main project

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    1. It's very sage advice Neil....I do have bits and pieces of several projects that I could pivot to if I really hit a block with the GNW.

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  4. I tend to have at least 5 projects at any given time. Helps with painting fatigue particularly. Only problem is the lag in finished units before the burst of new ones finished.

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    1. Yes that's one of my concerns at the moment Joe (although I am not THAT concerned!) For the first time in many years, I am starting to create a genuine lead pile of unfinished projects....

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  5. My first thought upon seeing the thumbnail of this blog post was "heads up!" My brief foray into Copplestone figures is consistent with your experience: clean yet well sculpted: as close to being a "pleasure to paint" as I'll ever come. Outside of conversions (a whole other thing), I have very little patience with multi-part figures (particularly metals): sometimes a necessary evil, as far as I'm concerned.

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    1. Thanks Ed. I was discussing that very point with a friend the other day. I fully understand WHY Ebor produce their figures the way they do, with separate head and sword arm etc...but I would prefer he had just created them that way then dine five or six combinations and cast the figures whole! I don't mind Perry or Warlord plastics, which only have two or three parts (I exclude Victrix...far too fiddly!) and plastic glue works in a few seconds, whereas I find glueing metal a real hassle!

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  6. Very nicely done. I might look up those anvil heads wasn’t aware of them and add some nice variety. Copplestone definitely do it for me, the only sad thing is he has moved on to other projects and doesn’t seem to be expanding the range. Would be interesting to see your wider RCW collection ?

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    1. Cheers Matt, yes, they do a heap of stuff, ninety per cent make of course, and including medieval helmets, Napoleonic shakos, WWI Picklehaub and Adrian helmets etc...something for everyone I would think.

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  7. Nice work Keith. A change of topic is always a great motivator. Hopefully you'll be ready to tackle those Swedes and knock the final ones over soon enough.

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  8. Nice looking conversions Keith…
    Uncluttered figures make a pleasant change from the fuss of some of the earlier periods
    I to am a fan of Mark Copplestone’s figures… he is also a lovely chap.

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Thanks Aly. What is Mark up to these days? As Matt says, it's a shame he has not/is not adding to these ranges....is he sculpting for another manufacturer or is he not sculpting at all any longer?

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    2. North Star Military Miniatures now has the Copplestone range and Mark intends to continue to add to it…
      I know he has been quite quiet on that front… a bit like myself with Great War Miniatures… he may well be giving himself a break from sculpting.
      Hopefully I will be able to catch up with him when the shows start happening again in the U.K.

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    3. Thanks Aly....I think Mark must be having a bit of a break, the last statement re his range going to North Star says this will allow him more time to add to his existing ranges.....

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  9. Why did you swap the heads? Looks like it worked out though😀

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    1. Stew, you obviously are unaware of my "issue" with female figures!! I just wanted to create some female Bolsheviks for my RCW collection....I think I have a total of around fifty female heads on order from three or four different suppliers, bareheaded, wearing peaked caps and also ten wearing Russian style fur hats! I am not sure I will use them all and I might mix a few in with male units too. As justification I refer you to Wkipedia which says two per cent of Bolshevik forces in the RCW were female ....40,000 I think from memory!

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    2. Just checked....make that fifty to seventy thousand female soldiers in the Bolshevik armies!

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  10. Good looking conversions, nice looking female bolsheviks!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks Iain, I like them! Looking forward to a few more figures turning up, along with the other heads ordered. A small order from Hasslefree posted on 30 August arrived today...just over a week again, so pretty good.

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