SYW Hanoverian Limbers

Finally finished a pair of Seven Years War Hanoverian limbers, I used the Revell Austrian limbers but painted them in Hanoverian colours. I added the ammunition boxes to the limber to make them look a bit different.

Plan for 2026

As I am due to become a Grandfather this year, I suspect my time will have a strong emphasis on family activities this year. That said I do have a clear main theme for the year of reworking my Napoleonic Russian Army, which does involve 3D printing lots of Russian Infantry.

So this year I will be working on the following broad themes:

1. Reworking my Napoleonic Russian Army
2. Enhance existing armies
3. 3D printing terrain (FDM)
4. 3D printing vehicles and figures (resin)
5. Continue to clear out all unwanted items, including painted figures
6. Enjoy Games & Shows

Amplifying the above:

1. Reworking my Napoleonic Russian Army

• Rebase existing Russian Line Cavalry
• Decide whether to replacing or rebase existing Cossacks
• 3D print Infantry to replace Version 1 Springwood Infantry
• Rebase Version 2 Springwood Infantry, plus new 3D printed officers, etc.
• Decide how to replace existing Militia (HaT)

2. Enhance existing armies - already planned are

• Napoleonic Saxons/Westphalians when I can find suitable STL files
• 28mm Wild West terrain including a mine
• Some more 28mm Gunfighters including some Indians
• 28mm Gangs of Rome figures.
• Some Spanish medieval infantry for the El Cid period
• 3 units of Almoravid Heavy Cavalry
• 3 units of SYW British Infantry
• 4 units of WSS Spanish (Walloon?) Infantry
• 3 units of WSS French Cavalry
• Legion Nautique for the French in Egypt 1800
• Hanoverian limbers for the SYW
• a couple of units for the SYW
• Assemble and paint Wild West buildings received at Xmas
• Support the stash reduction by painting useable items

2. 3D Printing Terrain (FDM)

• Test printing a Horsa using FDM
• Vietnamese hooches
• Western European buildings
• Spanish/Mediterrainean buildings
• New bridges (all eras)

3. 3D Printing Vehicles & Figures (Resin)- in the summer

• Napoleonic Saxon and Westphalian Infantry
• Napoleonic Russian Infantry
• Maybe Napoleonic Russian Cossacks?
• Gradually replace existing diecast and other poor quality AFVs in my collection

4. Continue to clear out all unwanted items, including painted figures

• Re-assess each existing period, army, and units to consider if I am really going to use them
• Sell the identified surplus, probably on ebay
• Review stash (figure and plastic bits box) aiming to reduce from 3 to 2 crates by painting or selling the excess
• Identify replacement STL files for my 1st version Springwood Prussian figures for 2027

5. Gaming

• Continue supporting the Beacon Club and attending as many weekend events as possible
• Try to attend the same number of shows as last year

On the Workbench - January 2026

Not a clean start to a new year with quite a few part finished projects carried over.

I'll be working on:-

• Panzer 38(t)s - add decals and drybrush
• 28mm Mexican Gunfighters and Miners - underway
• Seven Years War Hanoverian Limbers - nearly finished
• El Cid era Spanish Infantry
• Repaint a trio of old Matchbox M3 Stuarts
• Three Early War German MMG teams
• Start on rebasing my Napoleonic Russian Cavalry
• Refresh my memory of how the use the FDM printed and it's slicing software

Review of 2025 - Part 2 - painting breakdown

Painting output was 1,444 items a very much lower level then 2024. The quantity of 3D printed material was 419 items. Now breaking it all down.

Period		Notes
Napoleonic	911	Completed rebasing the Austrian, painted the replacements for my old Springwood 1st edition French and added some Spanish round hat infantry. In preparation for 2026 I printed and painted Russian Guns and Horse Artillerymen.
WW2	140	Chinese infantry then mainly resin products with Soviet paratroops US airborne and assorted vehicles.
WSS	136	4 units of Dutch Infantry and 5 of Cuirassiers.
Post WW2	136	A platoon each of US Infantry and Marines for Vietnam.
Terrain	34	Bamboo clumps for Vietnam, 15mm Conifers and a few islands for naval games
Medieval	30	El Cid era cavalry
Wild West	26	All 28mm, female gunfighters, dismounted cavalry, bystanders and cattle
AWI	26	28mm Indians and Robert Marion both mounted and dismounted
Colonial	13	Zulu cattle
Revolutionary Wars	5	French Generals
WW1	4	A couple of Aircraft and Lettow-Vorbek to command my Germans in East Africa
Renaissance	3	a couple of Field Preachers and a field gun for the ECW in 28mm
Grand Total	1,444

Type		Notes
Infantry	630	Majority Napoleonic French and some Spanish, WSS Dutch, WW2 Chinese, US for Vietnam and lots of bits for odd units
Rebase/Rework	513	Almost entirely Napoleonic Austrians, plus a couple of other French and Prussian units
Cavalry	128	WSS German and Austrian Cuirassiers, Replacement French old Guard, Prussian Cuirassiers, British Dragoons and Medieval El Cid Spanish
Gunners	43	Napoleonic Austrian, Russian and Spanish horse artilley crews.
Buildings, etc.	34	Bamboo clumps for Vietnam, 15mm Conifers and a few islands for naval games
Other Items	20	Modern era scientists, wild west bystanders and ECW field preachers
Horses	18	Cattle for 28mm Wild West and 20mm Zulu War.
Commanders	17	El Cid Era, WW2 Germans,Wurttemberg Cavalry, Lettow Vorbek and Robert Marion
Artillery	14	WW2 British 5.5in gun, a ECW field gun and a dozen Russian Napoleonic guns
Riders	10	German WW2 DAK drivers and passengers and a couple of US drivers.
Tanks/AFVs	17	All 3D resin printed for WW2; British M3A3 Stuarts, Italian CV35 Lance-Flamms, German Hummels and Nashorns
Vehicles	6	Four assorted sdkfz 9 FAMOs to replace exisiting die casts and a couple of US Dodge Command Cars
Aircraft	2	WW1 British Sopwith Camel and German Fokker D VII gliders
Grand Total	1,444

Finally a big thanks you to all those who commented on my blog through the year, your comments help to keep me motivated.

Review of 2025 - part 1 - progress against plan

Rather a mixed year painting progress was slow with 1,444 items completed, previous years have been a lot higher, but there have been various distractions, our village pub is now open and I have redecoated two bedrooms. With the exception of using the FDM printer I have done reasonably well against plan. Other non-plan sucesses have been climbing Ben More, a Munro on Mull, visiting the Normandy beaches and the Portsmouth shipyards.

Progress on my broad themes:

1. Enhance existing armies - Reasonable progress
2. 3D printing terrain (FDM) - Complete fail, I need to concentrate on this next year.
3. 3D printing vehicles and figures (resin) - Completed everything I had planned to do this summer
4. Continue to clear out all unwanted items, including painted figures - Fail, quite a bit sorted out, but nothing sold yet
5. Enjoy Games & Shows - Another good year of games and visits.

Amplifying the above:

1. Enhance existing armies - already planned are

• Continue rebasing the French Napoleonics - Completed except for a few units where I have not found suitable files yet.
• then I will start on the Austrians - Completed
• 28mm Female Gunfighters - Completed
• 5 units of Napoleonic Spanish round hat infantry (1 of which will be skirmishers) - Completed
• 4 units of Napoleonic Italian line infantry - Completed
• 3 units of Napoleonic Young Guard skirmishers - Completed
• WSS Danish Cuirassiers - Completed
• Hanoverian limbers for the SYW - Almost completed
• Some Spanish medievals for the El Cid period - Completed, except I decided to add more infantry figures, which I have still to do.
• plus the figures listed below to be 3D printed - Completed

2. 3D Printing Terrain (FDM)

• Test printing a Horsa using FDM - Nothing done yet
• Vietnamese hooches - I decided the hooches I bought were not well designed and I need to find something better
• Western European buildings - bought files from a kickstarter
• Spanish/Mediterrainean buildings - Nothing done yet
• New bridges (all eras) - Nothing done yet

3. 3D Printing Vehicles & Figures (Resin)

• Napoleonic Saxon and Westphalian Infantry - Nothing done yet as I have not found any files I like
• Napoleonic Russian Artillery & Gunners - Completed
• Napoleonic Polish Lancers, French Guard Horse Grenadiers and Chasseurs a Cheval - Completed
• WW2 Russian paratroops - Completed
• Gradually replace existing diecast and other poor quality AFVs in my collection - Some done, but plenty more still to do
• Working on more figures with the Resin printer using the more robust resin I have found - Completed, now switched over to ABS water washable resin. I just need to use up my remaining old resin on less critical models

4. Continue to clear out all unwanted items, including painted figures

• Re-assess each existing period, army, and units to consider if I am really going to use them - Put a batch on ebay in January and have now sorted out another batch to go.
• Maintain stash (figure and plastic bits box) at 3 crates and hopefully reduce the numbers - Still managing within 3 crates - but nothing substantial purchased But the stash has fallen slightly from 4,132 to 3,767
• Consider the future for my 1st version Springwood figures as I have the capability to replace them with more compatible figures to the 2nd edition - I am going to sell them as I complete their replacements. My French are included in my batch ready to sell.

5. Gaming

• Continue supporting the Beacon Club and attending as many weekend events as possible - Completed with additional periodic games at Si's "Officer's Mess" during the week.
• Try to attend the same number of shows as last year - Completed - only two weekends missed due to other commitments
• Attend at least as many shows as last year - The list of shows completed are Vapnartak, Hammerhead, Phalanx, Attack, Other Partisan, Wirral Warboot, South West Model Show and Recon.

Last of the old year

My final painting for 2025, no time to display them properly

A complete US Marine platoon for Vietnam, French Revolutionary generals, Some Scientists and German generals

Looking back you can see what I failed to finish on time, Hanovarian limbers, Panzer 38(t)s, 28mm Mexicans and miners, plus all sorts of oddments

WW2 Chinese Summer Infantry

Somehow I missed these off my Workbench list. I "inherited" a few WW2 Chinese a few years back and always thought that it might make an interesting opponent for the Japanese. So when I found another pack of the Orion Chinese Army I got to work.

I painted them in a summer uniform, but afterwards realised that I could have mixed in more Germans in Stalhelms to add some variety. Some of the Chinese are repurposed Japanese.

Winter lights was not so good today but at least there was some. I'll need to add some supports so I'll be looking at German WW1 gun crews plus interwar weapons like a Pak36.