Jasta 2 Lt D R Wilhelm Prien 1917

first German aircraft off the table for some time, this is the partner to the SE5a I built in the twin pack from italeri, a easy build, I chose to do lt DR Wilhelm Prien aircraft for Jasta 2 in June 1917. Prien
also flew with Jasta 10.

Se 5a 25th Areo Sqaudron 1918

Italeri have released a range of 1/72nd models in twin packs, great value for money, I selected to do the Se 5a of Lt Joseph E Boudain whilst flying for the 25th areo sqn, the first plane for my Americans, the sqn did not see a lot of action as its Se5a 'S were retrofitted with different motors that proved problematic. The unit saw action only twice before the armistice.

Successor Impetus Army

Another resurrected project completed this year my Pontic army for Impetus, mostly plastic with a few metal units. With the closure of my photobucket account I only had a few photos of the army as it was sold.

Roman Legionary

The first item off the new painting desk is a 200mm Young miniatures bust of a Roman Legionary, this guy has been partly finished for possibly 3 or 4 years, so I thought as I have restricted work space that I would complete as I go, rather than have multiple projects on the desk at any one time.

The figure is quite well sculpted and made from resin, it went together easily with no need for any fillers, as this guy was my first 200mm bust I was a little hesitant to paint his face and especially his eyes, but after looking at a few tutorial videos online I was more confident. I used Vallejo colours and mattisse drying retarder and mediums to get my layered skin tone. I was extremely happy with the final result and now he resides with my 54mm collection in the display cabinet.

New painting station

I have recently moved from a four bedroom home on the outskirts of Sydney into the inner west into a two bedroom flat with my lovely lady. I am closer to the new job, saving almost 2.5 hours of travel each day. The only downside is that I do not have a dedicated painting room, so I purchased a roll top desk (credenza) to be my painting station in the lounge room. So far very happy how it is working.

Knocking stuff around and fixing things!

Back in Janurary I made a list with things to do this year very happy to say two of the tasks are now complete.

Three weeks ago I finally picked up my cabinet that I built from Gregs in Canberra and put it in the shed for repair, having white ant damage to some time ago of the backing boards, it was only a small job but did take a little organising to get done. On the first,  I needed to remove the boards from the rear of the cabinet and checked the shelves for damage, it seems that the white ants  were caught early enough, so only a small amount of damage was done. I then went down to my local hardware and purchased enough boards to do the job, and had them cut to correct length along with the stain I thought match my sample. I then returned home and stained the timber with three coats ( waiting a day between coats) the assembled the cabinet. I let it dry out for a week before moving it into the house and placing figures into it, beside my other cabinet, so now all of my 28mm painted armies are on display.

 Job two was last Saturday, my sons and I cleaned the garden shed and the two car garage, moved the work benches around and set up the timber working, tool shelves and leather work table, added brackets to walls and the ceiling for the fishing rods, and finally curtains on the Windows along with security mesh. I was very happy with the end result nothing like a clean organised workshop to work in!

This weekend I have continued to compete my Pontics and Romans, lots pics to follow tomorrow.

Cheers