Picking up those brushes again.

Hi and welcome to the occasional mutterings of Dave Doc, a military modeller and some time gamer. Gaming and model making has given me a real education, History & Geography(obvious really), Artistry, Politics, Economics, Logistics, Project Management -you try building miniature armies without the last 3.

I will use the blog to record my creations & the odd occasion I actually do some gaming.

I have always been inspired by the aesthetic side of gaming. Playing on well constructed terrain using excellently painted units is always a joy.

Monday 23 April 2012

Salute 2012- the aftermath

Well the spendfest of Salute is now over. I really enjoyed meeting up with fellow bloggers,  Fran - 'The Angry Lurker',  Ray - 'Don't throw a one'  Lee - 'Big Lee's Miniature Adventures' Michael - 28mm Victorian Warfare and Tamsin - Wargaming Girl , plus over from Canada Curt -Analogue Hobbies & Dallas - Fawcett Avenue Conscripts. We were able to chew the fat and talk over purchases and plans and just generally enjoy genial company.
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I met up with a group of old friends -Rick , Geoff, Gordon - with Mark who runs the Wargames Holiday Centre.  Chris from Itinerant Wargamer  along with John L who is planning a massive Operation Goodwood game later this year at the WHC using his 1/35th collection - a table 28 feet x 18 filled with John's excellently crafted collection will be a sight to behold - can't wait. (you can see some of his collection used at Salute in 2011 here). He truly is mad!

I also took the opportunity to meet up with talented people from the Steve Dean Forum, and meeting up to paint the town red - well what else do a bunch of miniature painters do! Well after having of course decided which shade of red and who made it.

I picked up all the target purchases and of course once that had been done went of mooching about for shiny things - so here is the stash


 In a moment of mad conversation with the bloggers it was mentioned about weighing the stash - so here is mine - 3.9kg

For the planned purchases  I have enough cowboys now in stock to form a serious posse. The second British brigade that fought at El Teb is now sourced as is the Mahdist Cavalry. The personalty sets for Tannenburg 1410 (Testudo from PD Miniatures)are now completed too. The new releases from Empress for the Zulu range . Gurkha's and Naval Brigade from Mutineer Miniatures.

The unplanned purchases mainly from Steve Barber , were some fantastic 40mm Samurai  - , some sample French Hussars and check out the Al Capone mini on the bootleggers rules set.. I was also really pleased with the small paintbrush rack i picked up from Oshiro Model Terrain. An Old West Doc Holliday set of minis plus a western style barn and few palm trees.

The Internet is all well and good for browsing , but it was really good to be able to cast a painters eye over figures in the flesh before buying. The show seemed very busy and there was plenty of hustle and bustle - seems there may life in the old hobby yet.

Anyway time to get stuff on the painting table now - first up the Empress new releases.

22 comments:

  1. I remember seeing your shopping list and you managed to get all of it. I heard it was a big turnout too and there was a line to get in this year. Looking forward to seeing you paint up that Samurai.

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    1. Yeah - got everything on the list - and then it was shinybloodyitis! The Samurai's look great i have to say - but they will be a challenge alright - lots of bits of armour!

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  2. Great to meet you Dave, I'm still trying to recover from the busy weekend and I've yet still got to go through the photos I took!!

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    1. Yep I was a good met up.- I think am about over shinybloodyitis now - and have found homes for the new stuff.

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  3. almost 4kg? my goodness. Now I remember why I do small scale wargaming :P

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    1. But surely small scale , but loads of it would be the same!

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  4. Hmmm, maybe I should weigh my swag? I'm pretty sure it tops your 4kg ;)
    Gresat to meet you on Saturday and I look forward to seeing your cowboys painted up :)

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    1. Your swag was defintly more than that!!

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  5. An impressive 3.9kg eh! Now I'm tempted to dig mine out just to have a look, but that will involve rescuing it from various hiding places around the house - well I thought that would try and soften the blow for the dear lady wife! Great to meet up Dave and I look forward to more adventures in the future.

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    1. Indeed.."adventures in lead!" sounds like a new blog opportunity!

      I was lucky MrsD was on retail therapy of her own, and i have not found where it is hidden yet..!

      I have even got some undercoat on some new stuff today!

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  6. Mines all still in the bag hidden away...shhhhhhh!

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  7. Yes it's great to see the stuff in the flesh. I bought yet more figures for the sniper project today and felt a little uneasy buying based on pictures

    ian

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  8. Wow, quite a haul there!

    Phil

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  9. Wow Dave, That sounds like a great haul, very diverse too!

    I worked all weekend :0(

    Look forward to seeing your goodies appear on your blog over the next year.
    Best
    Paul

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  10. LOL, Sorry Phil I had already posted when I realised I almost posted the same comment as you, Great minds!

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  11. haha you actually weighed?..haha that's too funny. Looks like you got quite the haul.

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    1. Indeed! really enjoyed the aquisition of the shinyness

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  12. It was great to be able to meet up, Dave. Nonetheless, with so many people I felt we didn't get enough time to chat. - c'est la vie. I look forward to seeing your new purchases emerge from your painting talble in the coming months!
    - Curt

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    1. Likewise Curt - It was great to meet you and Dallas. Sure you have also got some great new stuff too. Enjoy your hols!

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  13. A really great bag, Dave, with very interesting things. I expect to see those Mahdists and the Samurai.

    Best regards.

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