War and Empire is here

So, the long awaited War and Empire kickstarter has been delivered, well worth the wait.
The quality of the miniatures is really good and they have a lot of details (which might be a pain in the behind to paint but who cares).
I took a quick snap of the stretch goal characters yesterday, thirteen or fourteen warlord characters for the different armies. Guys like Caesar, Alexander and Darius III can be found here.

Hopefully I will have a unit or two painted up before summer, still have my Space Hulk terminators and Gebirgsjägers in the paint box.

New bits box

My always supportive wife happened to stumble upon a small toolbox when she was out shopping: link

This is perfect for keeping track of the WIP-bits and also to have some tools and paints on the go. Currently I have sorted up my Gebirgsjäger company and their leIG18/PaK38s. The small slots in the boxes are perfect to keep the teams in order and to keep track of who goes where.

On the top of the box there is a small compartment which can old some bigger things, like a box or two of tanks.

The trays are handy and can hold paints, brushes and some tools, everything you need to clean, prepare and paint your minis.

With a handle on top it is also easy to carry it, for example when going to the mother-in-law for a day and you need to have something to do.
So all-in-all I'm very happy with it and for around €20 I find it quite affordable.

Looking back at 2014

So what happened to my pile of plastic during 2014?
My goals: http://wip-piw.blogspot.se/2014/01/2013-and-plans-for-2014.html
I have been quite bad at blogging my progress, instead I have just taken some snapshots and tweeted it. If you wanna follow me on twitter, go here: https://twitter.com/makkeru

Water mill finished

Last night I finished the water mill and it came out OK I think. The bridge is probably what I am the most happy with as it came to life with the washes and a bit of over growth. 
Hauptsturmführer Ernst Braun, my trusty company commander, gladly did some posing in his Panzer III.

Water mill progress

The water mill is now ready to get some vegetation added.

I painted up the water, first attempt ever for me on water so it came out so-so but good enough to be put on the table without me being ashamed of it.

Headache

One thing I forgot to have a look at after moving my hobby area downstairs was the ventilation. In the old spot I had a window next to my airbrush station and I never experienced any ill effects from airbrushing.

So when I started up the compressor and went to town with the tanks in the weekend I totally forgot about the fumes and the side effects this might have. Later in the night I had the worst headache, slept bad and my eyes were paining. I even woke up in the middle of the night and had to clear my throat and clean my eyes.

After this I went straight for the hardware store and got myself a protective mask and goggles, hopefully this will keep the fumes away from my lunges and brain.

Be careful out there, it's a dangerous place ;)

US Armored Company

My Shermans and HT transports got some decals, dirt and varnish and can now be added to the archive. I also found a Famo and a few Kubelwagens that needed some dirt and a varnish.

Next up is the dreaded water mill which now has a deadline on the 9th of November, when we are going to play a Market Garden style game.