Does This Blog Have An Appendix?

      Does this blog have an appendix? No, but then neither have I! Last Tuesday, my appendix, which I had raised and nurtured these last 54 years decided it had had enough of me, my high living and dissolute ways and it let me know of it's discontent in no uncertain terms.
       So, a quick visit to my GP saw me packed off to the hospital and, later that day, to end their shift on a positive note, a crack NHS surgical team, did the honourable thing and granted my appendix it's wish. And that, as they say, was that.
      Excepting that it wasn't. I was now faced with six weeks sick leave....oh boo.....NOT!! Six weeks sick leave/painting/terrain building/gaming....yippee!
       But what to paint and where to start? Okay, it was easy enough to know where to start; crack on with what I had on the painting station already. Right!
      Well no; with time on my hands, I could be more focused (Ha, right!) Even though I was on sick leave I still had priorities that I had to...erm...prioritise. Firstly, there was a Market Garden campaign  to get organised for in the shape of the forces for the Breakout From The Neerpelt Bridgehead. So, after a tidy up of the paint station and a short period of general faffing about (procrastinating is another term but it's less cuddly than "faffing" but I digress) I got these lot put together

        I had already built the Cromwell a few weeks back but hadn't gotten around to painting it so it got chucked in with my other British armour. I tend to batch paint my armour hence this lot.
        I put together some crew for the M5s. For the commanders/HMG gunners I used the British Infantry strolling figure (The British Infantry of WW2 appear to have strolled into action from what I can gather from scale model manufacturers. You rarely see a dynamically posed one, do you) For the driver, I just did a head swap (These are the Warlord plastic M3s which I prefer to the Rubicon ones) and painted is uniform in British colours, reckoning that you won't really see much of him anyway. A smattering of stowage and they were ready to go.
       I also prepared my first French Indian War unit for Sharp Practice.
     
      

        A couple of days intense...well, fairly intense, painting achieved this result. I'm really chuffed with them.The Sherman isn't an Sherman V, rather it's an earlier model so I gave it a different squadron marking.

Doh! In my haste to put these together I managed to put the winch bar on upside down. I added some stowage to hide my shame. Quite effective, don't you think?

All these vehicles need plasticard bases to give them a wee bit of height in comparison to my figures and also to allow me to put some adhesive backed metal on them so that they can be transported in magnetised boxes

Aaw..cute

          I realised, as I was putting my armoured vehicles together, that I didn't have enough stowage for them so a quick visit to Anyscale Models site and I went a wee bit overboard. Got stowage and more besides including Zeltbahn tents. I have a plan for them but I have forgotten what it was....

         Next it was my FIW British infantry's turn to get some love. These miniatures from Galloping Major are bee-utiful. I have a few more to paint between now and the end of January so no huge rush for them but it's good to get a start made.

         Then I gave into whimsy. I had picked up a couple of these Foundry Miniatures jesters and decided as I was painting with lots of red and yellow I would paint this fellow too. I find Foundry Miniatures almost irresistible; they are so well sculpted. I find them that irresistible that I also painted the chap below for my Lion Rampant force. I don't know where he will fit in but I'll find somewhere for him.

         And thus ended week one, well one and a half, of my sick leave. Got plenty more on the to-paint list though I guess all of my lead and plastic mountain should be on the list, but over the next few weeks it'll be British Paras, specifically the 21st Independent Company force for the Market Garden campaign scenario First In! 21st Independent Company Hits The Ground and whatever else takes my fancy. Stay tuned to this frequency for more wargaming ramblings...

pip pip,

The General