10. A Sop To My Conscience

Hi, and welcome to the update. Hoody-hoo! And while I am sticking to my principles (more or less) and am working on The Project Which Must Be Finished, I find that I can still sneak in a twenty-minute session of painting once in a while. What's more, I can take pictures of all the stuff I've painted previously, which hasn't been photographed yet, and make it look like I'm making a lot of progress. My "French Invasion of Dahomey 1892" is coming right along. Yesterday I finished the last of the French forces (another damn set of eight identical Tirailleurs, bleah), so now all that's left are the Dahomeans. It's back to eight, but in four groups of two's. (If that grammar is too weak for you, just read a couple of posts back and you'll understand what I mean.) I am now more than half way finished, having completed 64 French, with only 48 Dahomeans to do (plus two mules). I realize this is a little heavy on the French side, but it's the way the packs came: when I bought them, I bought two full sets of all the packs, with no regard to balance; just a straight-up purchase of what Dixon makes. What's more, 8 of the "French forces" are porters (ie, non-combatants) and 16 are Tirailleurs Sénégalais who will probably run away fairly quickly. Then there's the set of 8 of which 4 are dead/wounded. So truthfully I have 36 battle-ready French troops versus 44 Dahomeans (hey, King Behanzin can't be expected to fight!). Anyway all this will make more sense when you see the final product. For now, here's what I've accomplished since May this year. Click on the pictures for a bigger view. FFL Skirmish Line - Pack 1 poses 1&2: FFL Skirmish Line - Pack 1 poses 3&4: FFL Advancing - Pack 2 poses 1&2: FFL Advancing - Pack 2 poses 3&4: FFL Officers & NCOs - Pack 3 poses 1&2: I have them as (L to R) the Colonel, Captain, Major, Lieutenant. FFL Officers & NCOs - Pack 3 poses 3&4: I have them as (L to R) Sgt, Cpl, Cpl, Sgt. (Ya see, the Sergeants have the grey hair....) FFL Bugler, Mule Minder & 2 Dead - Pack 4 poses 1&2: FFL Bugler, Mule Minder & 2 Dead - Pack 4 pose 3: I have them as 1 wounded, 1 dead. (Might make for a good game objective, rescue the wounded prisoner, oops too late.) FFL Bugler, Mule Minder & 2 Dead - Pack 4 pose 4: FFL Marines - Pack 5 pose 1&2: FFL Marines - Pack 5 pose 3&4: This is the only set I have where the figures are not the same from both packs. You can see there are three of one fellow, and only one of the fellow on the right. Just worked out that way. Native Bearers Carrying Loads - Pack 6 pose 1&2: In diapers.... Native Bearers Carrying Loads - Pack 6 pose 3&4: In colored Underoos.... Tirailleurs Marching - Pack 7: Tirailleurs Advancing - Pack 8: Don't even think of getting marching and advancing mixed up. You...you heretic. And so we come to the end of our update, wherein many voters have been persuaded to vote for yours truly as Emperor Of The Known Universe. And you thought this was just about miniatures! Thanks for visiting.

8. Self-Discovery is painful

I learned something about myself recently, and it's always unsettling when you first make the realization that you are "X." I learned that I don't like painting multiple copies of identical miniatures. That's why it took me so long to finish my Tirailleurs. I have eight of exactly the same pose, and it...just...wears...on...me.... All the previous sets of eight in this range are actually two sets of four, and each of the four is different, so there are only two miniatures each who are the same. I can handle that. But, even though I knew it, it didn't click that this set was different. It just didn't register in my brain. If it had, I would have swapped four of them with the next batch, which is also eight identical figures, and of Senegalese Tirailleurs at that. Alas, after that, it's back to the "normal" mode of two sets of four, so I can't mix it up with them. I'll just have to cowboy up and get it done. (I know what you're about to say: just mix them up anyway, what difference will it make? To that I answer, well duh, I can't because the next eight is the last of the French forces; after that, it's all Dahomeans. And while, yes, they will have the same skin color, I can't paint four Tirailleurs Advancing and four Dahomey Women-Musket & Machete. I just don't roll that way.) At any rate, here's what I've finally accomplished. Eight Dixon Miniatures FL7 FFL Tirailleurs Marching, more correctly known as the Tirailleurs Sénégalais. After some soul-searching and online discussions, I went with the blue pantaloons, or serual. I based my decision largely on "Colonial Armies in Africa 1850-1918" by Peter Abbot from Foundry, yet the final decision was entirely selfish: they look better in blue! Click the pic to make it bic...er, big. I've got big plans for The Known Universe, just as soon as I become Emperor Of it.

7. Red Alert! He's been painting!

I got two hours of painting in today. That's a pretty good stretch. I finished their beards and got two of the three shades of blue on, plus a tentative test of the backpack kit color. It's going to take multiple coats to cover smoothly. Progress! Yadda yadda, me Emperor Of The Known Universe.

4. I'm painting, not philosophizing

Here's the Senegalese Tirailleurs I'm working on. They're from Dixon Miniatures (http://dixonminiatures.co.uk) 28mm from their Dahomey War range. I've already painted up all the French Foreign Legion forces I have, pics to follow soon. I originally bought double packs of their whole set when a web-store was having a clearance sale, that's 114 figures. Over 50% off, hoody-hoo! Anyway, you can see the original unpainted sets at my flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kelroy/sets/ I have a couple of "stories" told there, that I may try to recreate here on the bloginess of blog-dom. Just a couple of quick shots. I've only painted their skin, using a new triad of colors different from my other black skinned figures. I wasn't happy with my previous color as much, but now I'm not happy that I have eight figures all exactly the same skin color. My usual modus operandus is to paint every other figure the same, so in eight figures I'd have two different skin tones. Sometimes I even do three different skin tones. The funny thing about these miniatures is that they really don't look Senegalese to me. They look European.Still counting on your vote for Emperor Of The Known Universe.