New Year's Ponderings

Yet another new hobby year has come upon us! That means its time to take a look back at what I did over the year. I decided to add some pictures of my favorites throughout. But first lets look at what I said I would do. Of my three resolutions I only accomplished one, updating the look of the blog. However, I think I'm pretty close to number two: actually playing a game with my 15 mm stuff. That one might happen pretty soon if I can get my terrain boards done. The last was 50 posts for the year and I really didn't get close to that one.

I made some hedges and fields in 15mm. Need to do more. Never can have enough hedges and fields!

My first theme entry for the Painting Challenge and my favorite project of the year. Its currently on display in my curio cabinet in my house where visitors can gawk and try to figure out how far around the bend I am.

I managed to work on a couple of different projects this year. Some more in my 15mm stuff: The Steamworks and starting work on my 28mm dungeon delving: King under the Hill. But if I had to pick one thing out from the past year I would say joining the Painting Challenge has been the best thing of the year. It has been a definite spur to get painting done and has allowed me to work on a variety of projects. The bonus is that it continues on into this year as well.

I finished off a long standing project. Expect to see a couple more of these guys appearing in the Challenge too.

So what do I want to do for this year?

Steamworks: I want to get that first game in and get more minis painted up and more of the world developed on the blog. Also I really want to try working on building up the 19th century urban terrain. This might be the year I delve into 3D printing finally.

My second theme entry for the Challenge. I'm really happy with how these pictures turned out for them.

King Under the Hill: My second big project but more loose than the first. I've been having a lot of fun working on the more detailed 28mm stuff for this. I'd like to get a basic set of terrain options and miniatures put together. Something where I could pretend I could play a game although I have no idea what that would consist of at this point.

I finished a piece of my dungeon set. Although this is more for picture taking. Still, proof of concept!

More sculpting: I tend to be hit and miss here. More normal modus operandi is to get about 2/3 done with a sculpt for a project and then abandon it to never be finished. I'm hoping I'll both go back and finish some off and also just start sculpting things that interest me instead of trying to necessarily work on specific things to fit in larger projects. So you might be seeing some oddball stuff.

I finished two Dreadball teams. That means I can actually play a game now! Ha Ha don't expect a battle report anytime soon.

 I hope everyone has a Happy and Hobby-Filled New Years!

Old Bob Codger

And some thoughts about Victorian roads.

Old Bob Codger has a history of taking almost any job as long as it pays.

Another character from Highlander's adventurers pack. He's been sitting half finished for over a month now but I finally got the few minutes needed to finish him off. I wanted Bob to look like a down on his luck street person but still armed and dangerous. So I aimed for an old faded suit with more than it's share of dirt stains on it.

Perhaps he shouldn't of stolen from the local "charitable" organization!

I also sculpted my typical cobblestone pattern for his base. But I've been looking at some period pictures like the ones below and I've begun to wonder how accurate it is. All pictures are from Writers in London in the 1890's Blog, which is a really nice reference and an enjoyable read as well. I've used a few to illustrate but she has plenty more. Some of these are Paul Martin street scenes, which you can also find with a search and I've found invaluable for reference.



Cheapside in 1892 the road surface looks almost like packed dirt.

Probably less traveled roadway with clear cobblestones but the gap between the stones seems to be filled flush.
Also being a porter back then required excellent posture it seems.

While the streets have well defined raised curbs and the pavers are clean,  the actual roadway is suspiciously flat and rather rutted. At first I wondered if they had been resurfaced with macadam. But further examination leads me to believe it's cobblestone covered with a layer of dirt, refuse, animal droppings, etc that's obscuring the stone and giving a flat appearance. I wish I could find a good resource on when roads made the transition to newer materials as it would hopefully be definitive one way or the other, but so far no luck.

A painting which shows the roads a dirt brown but it also looks like cobblestone at the edges.

Here we can see the same effect at the edge of the street. Dirt seemingly covering cobblestone.
Those kids are so full of character that they practically are begging to be sculpted up.

I think for the time being I'm going to keep going with the way I've been doing my roads, if only cause I like the way they look. However it would probably be more accurate to just cover them with sand and paint them brown. I'm not going to be afraid to be more generous with my wood putty filler over the cobblestones and add more brown to the streets. It'll have the added benefit of breaking up the gray and keeping it from being monotonous. I'll also have to try to replicate the gutter on the edge of the roadway and the pavers as well. Looks like some experimenting is in order.