As the Red Hot Chili Peppers once sang “I have a bad disease”. While it may not cause me to actually bleed, it does have the unfortunate side effect of taking my money and then running away with it. I am talking about the Lead Mountain condition common to all wargamers, where you buy more models then you need and thanks to a combination of lack of time, lack of effort and other more important things to do they never end up painted, instead dooming them to a life time of being unpainted or only base coated.
Seeing as I have been properly wargaming for only a year, for me to get a large number of unpainted models is a little bit ridiculous. So I’m setting myself a challenge. Between now and the end of January 2016, I aim to paint, base and varnish all of the 28mm models in my collection. I’ll detail the exact sets I still need to paint below but first a few other rules.
- I can not spend any more money on buying models until the 1st of February. This includes terrain, vehicles, models, other ranges of models etc.
- I CAN spend money on tools and equipment needed for painting/gaming – This includes brushes, paint, sand, counter, dice. I will have to declare what I buy on the weekly blog and explain why I need it.
- Each week I’ll write a blog post with my progress that week including lots of pretty pictures
- A model is classed as finished when it is painted (to a tabletop gaming standard), based and varnished.
- If I complete all the 28mm model I own by the 31st of January 2016 then I get to pick up a few models of my choosing to start a new project (something of a similar scale to the British platoon I have finished). If I don’t, then I get to be shamed and sent to the hobby gulag. And the challenge then extends even further.
So that sounds fun. Now, what’s the situation as it stands? Here are all my models from a selection of sources (about half of the Spectre sets are from an additional order I received by accident):
Already painted, varnished and based – 87:
- 38 Empress Modern British Infantry
- 14 Spectre UKSF (of various types)
- 6 Spectre Task Force Operators (painted as SAS) + 1 Spectre Dog
- 10 Spectre AK armed contractors
- 5 Spectre Western Contractors (being used as US Special Forces)
- 11 Spectre Task Force Operators (being used as US Army Rangers
- 2 Spectre Intelligence Agents
- 1 Spectre African Soldier
In the process of being painted, varnished and based – 21 :
- 1 Empress Dog for Counter-IED Team – Based, needs painting
- 1 Spectre Dog – Based, needs washing
- 1 Empress Warrior IFV – Basecoated, some green painted
- 4 African Soldiers – partially painted
- 14 Spectre Insurgents – Based, some colours painted
Basecoated – 62:
- 4 Empress US Frogmen
- 5 Hasslefree Miniatures Modern Troopers
- 2 Spectre Hostages
- 1 Spectre UKSF (ghille suit with M4)
- 5 Spectre Western Contractors (Converted with Shemaghs)
- 8 Spectre SMG Armed Contractors
- Spectre – 1 VIP and 3 Bodyguards
- 6 Spectre Intelligence Agents
- 1 Spectre Female Contactor (Salute 2015 model)
- Spectre – 1 Agitator and 1 Bodyguard
- 15 Task Force Contractors (To be split between UKSF and Rangers)
- 7 Spectre African Locals
- 2 Spectre Deniable Assets
On base but not prepared – 17:
- 17 Radio DishDash Taliban
Not Arrived – ~32ish:
- Backer rewards from Radio DishDash “Day of the Ranger” Kickstarter
- Estimated 8 Delta, 24ish Rangers
Total Models: 219
Models finished (Based, painted and varnished): 87
Percentage of collection finished: 39.7% painted
But that’s not all! Alongside clearing the lead mountain, I’m also going to do something fitness related (probably to counter all the time spent sat down painting). Not quite sure what I’m doing yet but it involves the gym, running, lifting large objects (such as boxes of models) and maybe trying to be able to fit into all my favourite t shirts again? Who knows! I’ll hopefully have something sorted before the week 1 post which will be on Sunday the 6th of September. Further posts will be every Sunday after that.
So that’s the plan, we shall see how it goes. See you on the 6th.