Casting Season

 It's casting season here at the Lead Gardens. The weather has "springed up" and it's perfect for getting
outside and starting on some summer casting projects. Outdoor casting has the advantage of keeping the  nasty metal fumes out of the house.

I purchased three of the new 40mm Prussian molds from Prince August. I found the new moulds to be a nice change from the sometimes awkward poses of PA figures. The apparently have listened to those of us who war-game with these big guys and need a versatile figure that will paint up to most 18th century types.

Here are the wargame friendly features of the new molds:

1. The mould will cast two figures at a time, effectively halving casting time---particularly if you go for big units (mine are established at 40 figures) I got this new unit done in about 5 hours in two sessions over a weekend.

2. The moulds have two separate heads-- the basic infantry mould has both a musketeer in tricorn heads and grenadier heads in mitre two each so casting the mould will supply the optional heads as well.  The officer, standard bearer, NCO, drummer molds have tricorn and fusilier heads. I bought all three moulds so I've got lots of spare heads now (to do a fusilier unit will take a lot of officer casting because the fusilier head only comes in the drummer mold)

3. The detail is more accurate for the Prussians.

4. The pose matches the older infantry advancing pose, though I hear they will be coming out with a march attack pose later.

5. The heads cast separately but are very easy to attach thanks to a nice sturdy peg cast on the head in conjunction with a plastic rod that is inserted into the mould before casting. This ensures that the hole for the peg in the body of the figure is perfectly sized.

 I went with a unit of grenadiers that will represent one of the units from my Imagi-nations. I have been upscaling all of those figures from my original collection of 30mm RSMs.

The only downside of the casting session was having to do a bit of vent cutting to get the heads to cast properly. That is typical of PA moulds so not a big deal really. The only thing I had real trouble with was getting the officer's sword and had to cast (it's a separate piece)…but I think it's because I use old figures for my metal and I'm guessing if I used some of PA's higher quality casting metal, it would make things easier.

I'll be posting progress on the painting of this unit soon.

Cheers!

The Gateway Drug

If there is an "old school" of board games PanzerBlitz must be it!
 (with some upgraded rules and counters it's not bad at all)
Here the 11th Panzer squares off with a Russian Tank Brigade

Given that I had sold most of my boardgames many years ago, and the fact that I love playing with "daddy's little men" as my son calls them. I would never have thought that board gaming resurgence would have occurred here at the Lead Gardens.

But I am here to tell you that the improbable has happened. Given that I have been unable to get any gaming or painting done for almost a year not to mention blogging, it turns out that boardgames have been the gateway drug that has brought me back from non-gaming oblivion. Since there are some great new game designs out there and many are quick to set up and play, I have used them to get back on the horse ….and now after a crazy couple of months of buying and re-collecting some of the classic titles, and even attending a boardgames con in nearby Charlottesville VA,  I have now started to eye my miniatures with renewed interest.

I'm about to order some of the new Prince August Seven Years War moulds now that summer is approaching and some outdoor casting sessions are becoming possible and hopefully soon some new units to paint.

Thanks to everyone who contacted me about my return to blogging and I'm really enjoying getting to look at all your great blogs again.

(The PB counters and Variant Rules can be found here and here)

We Are Back!!!

VICTORY!

Ok so this is a bare bones post but this is just to let everyone know that I managed to get back onto my blog after a long slog with old passwords and accounts. But as of this evening:

 I'M BACK IN THE BLOGGING GAME!