Some progress from Q2 and my total painted stands at 1,701 items

• WSS 517
• WW2 348
• Ancients 334
• Modern 236
• Napoleonic 67
• Colonial 64
• Terrain 62
• SYW 48
• AWI 26

Compared to plan
The big problem in now achieving my existing plan is the purchase of a 3D Resin printer, it has taken time to learn how to operate and then to conduct operations. The benefit has been to be able to print a lot of items at a more reasonable cost than direct purchase plus I can print in my preferred scale of 1/76 to match most of my WW2 collection. It's optimum operating temperature is 20-25C so I have tried to get my printing done before the cold weather gets going especially as it needs ventillation.

Back to my original plan:- I’ve decided to concentrate on five main painting/modelling themes this year, quite a bit is based on new and forthcoming releases:

• Complete rework of my Vietnam War collection by integrating the new figures from Orion - started with the newly released figures from Orion and still not decided about whether or not to repaint my older NVA to match
• War of Spanish Succession - French infantry and cavalry plus British cavalry, plus more as Strelets release them - Completed the existing infantry and cavalry and about to get started on more cavalry. I'm also waiting to see what Strelets next release in the winter will bring
• WW2 Japanese for Battlegroup Pacific - not started, I've now acquired a lot of figures in my last order, hopefully once I finish my current WSS I'll get started on these.
• Rebase my Early Imperial Romans - these are the last ancients that I haven't upgraded - Completed
• Napoleonics, Prussian cavalry, reworking old artillery limbers, Russian peasants for skirmish scenarios, more Spanish cavalry, potentially upgrade British infantry? - completed the Prussian cavalry and Russian peasants in Q1 nothing done since and I suspect the remainder will slip into 2022

Then a host of minor themes in order of preference rather than importance:

• WW2 SAS & LRDG. - Completed
• More "Three Musketeers", especially once the new Redbox mounted figures are available. - underway, hopefully finished shortly
• Colonials - Boer Artillery and French Foreign Legion in camp and 37mm. - Completed
• TYW Imperial Croatians/Polish Pancerni/Cossack horse archers/Russian hussars. - not started
• More British and Jacobite for the 45, WAS and SYW, when Redbox release more figures. - Not started, still waiting, but the British cavalry have been announced
• Medievals - Scottish shiltron, Revolting Peasants (Zvezda), other odd units for Montgisard. - not started - another for 2022
• SYW Austrian infantry (Roth - Wurtzberg) - Completed both Red and Blue Regiments
• Revolution Cisialpine Infantry - three or four 12 figure units. - not started - another for 2022
• The terrain I have failed to make for the last two years. - Vines and Russian fences completed, still need wadi sides, etc.

Then if time permits:

• More WW2 German cold weather infantry - 2 platoons. - not started - 2022
• Rework/Rebase Zulu War forces. - not started - 2022

I’m not making any plans for gaming, but once the show circuit starts I’ll try to get to as many as possible. Plus Crisis Point in April and a possible 2021 Big Game. Crisis in Antwerp would be a big attraction if it goes ahead Shows have started and I hope to get to some over the next few months. Crisis Point was run in September. The Airbus club has folded so my club gaming is now concentrated on the Beacon Gaming Club in Elton.

On the Workbench - October 2021

An all time record for a month when I haven't been sick or away, zero items completed in September!! Meanwhile the heap of unpainted resin grows, with just a small amount in the last few days.

In total I have successfully printed over 80 vehicles in September, now I have to paint them so in September my plan is to

• Assemble and paint the vehicles I have printed
• Finish the French Musketeers and Cardinals Guards (I did managed to put a bit of paint on them last month)
• Start on my next WSS British and French cavalry.

Low output but high production

Certainly feels like I'm not finishing very much as I'm spending all my time on my resin printer. So my backlog is building up here is my current mas of work in progress.

I'm trying to maximise my production while it is still warm enough to work wiith the windows open

The presence of paint pots does indicate my intertion to get some painting done soon

Getting some traction

Completed painting my first home produced vehicles, all artillery tractors except for the 203mm B4 Howitzer

The Voroshilovets is for the 203mm, Komintern for 152mm, STZ for 122mm and the little T20 for any smaller guns. At the back is a pair of M4 High Spped Tractors I managed to recover from my big printing failure

My latest production, clockwise a Semovente da 90/53, DB G5 staff car, a replacement sdkfz 247, Laffly S20 and a Marmon Harrington.

Pictures from Crisis Point

Nearly two and a half years on from the previous point game, the latest event was organised. This time the action is set in the C18 on some Indian Oscean islands called the Woebetides. They are desputed between the British, French, Arabs, and indigenous tribes. I took quite a few pictures of the terrain before we started, as once we did start there was little chance to review the action elsewhere on the table.

Overview of Grand Woebetide

The Wali of Smut's palace

A fishing village

Pandigore with its Hindu temple

The French base - Port Charles

SE of the island - with Djouadd to the left

Djouadd - a Arab trading post

Al Huq with the two river bridges

Fort James the British base

the British HQ (Gary should recognise this)

The main Woebetiders village

The Wali of Smut's tiger enclosure (warning contains a Tiger) with Port Charles bejond

View from the cental highlands towards Djouadd

View from the highlands to Fort James

and to the Wali's palace

The main entrance to the palace

More Arabs over on another island

Some nice mangroves

My Spanish contingent landing on the coast north of Fort James to pickup a messenger

From here on I was too involved in the game to take any pictures, but I'll attach links to any blogs etc. that have more details.

"Conrad's" blog (mixed with some other stuff) link1 and link2

The trials and tribulations of 3D printing

It's a hard learning curve this 3D printing malarkey and it's taking a lot of time. Every thing I think I am making progress another glitch appears.

Here's my latest progress (hopefully usable prints) The ships were left in the sun to dry and cure, but as the resin was still soft they have a slight curve.

However I had another major fail, resin leaked through the FEP sheet this time distorting several prints, I'll have to wait till replacement FEP sheets arrive, luckily I had already ordered them.

A close up of my previous successes

and the fails, but I have managed to recover a couple of the HST and a single sdkfz 247 from bits of the other two.

On the workbench - September 2021

Very low output in August for two main reasons, dog sitting for my daughter and more drastically buying a 3D resin printer. The printer had to be set up, then the software loaded on my laptop, then suitable designs traced and finally prepared ready for printing. I'm still at the learning stage and various mistakes are creeping in. Here's the workbench

At the front are the vehicles I have printed so far, passible to the left, fails to the right.

I think the month will be filled up with:

Finishing the Redbox musketeers of the King of France and guards of Cardinal Richleau both mounted and on foot. They are very nice figures.

Printing a selection of 1/76 vehicles and then painting them. I hope to include at least

• 1 x 203 mm howitzer M1931 (B-4)
• 2 x Komintern artillery tractor
• 2 x STZ-5 artillery tractor
• 3 x T20 Komsomolets
• 1 x Voroshilovets heavy artillery tractor
• 3 x Jagdpanzer 38T Hetzer
• 2 x M4 High Speed Tractors
• 1 x sdkfz 247 ausf B
• 3 x M10 turrets for my Fujimi M36
• 2 x Cargo ships for Cruel Seas