Setting up my fancy new expensive painting table...finishing Italeri Crusaders...

Once the fever of painting up a bunch of Robin Hood & Blood Bowl figures subsided, I went straight back to my ever growing queue of 1/72 figures. These nine cavalry figures were the last of the Italeri 'Crusaders' that I had started a few months ago.

I have already finished the foot troops and posted about them previously. Those figures were pretty easy to knock out, but these Mounted Knights were much more intricate, and involved a greater amount of detail than I am used to. 

Fine detailed work is not my forte, so I did resort to the 'Sharpie' method when approaching the shields and heraldry. This time I dabbed each of those completed areas with some Citadel 'Ardcoat' before I sprayed my matte varnish, and I'm happy to say that - unlike last time - the Sharpie inks did not bleed & run everywhere.

Because these figures are so well detailed - there are various embossed designs all over the flanks of the horses and the shields - I felt I had to take the time to reveal them. This is a process I am not quite so skilled at, and to be honest, really tests my patience. By the time I had completed 95% of the details, my urge to just wash them all in Agrax, dowse the bases in white glue and flock was almost overwhelming.

It was the harnesses and belts etc that was almost a 'bridge too far' for me, but I am glad I fought the 'slap it down and get on with it' urge that seems to hit me at every point when I am tackling a project like this.

Once this unit is thrown down on the table, en masse, all of those little blemishes and mistakes won't really matter.

And by mistakes...well..there's probably a fair few. As I was painting these up I realised that I had mismatched some of the figures with the horses...so that the heraldry on the shields and horses do not match up on a couple of bases.

Oops, too late, particularly after all the colours have been slapped down. 

There's a base with the French symbols on the horse...with a Knight holding an English shield...

I'm sure there'd be more than a few peeps out there disgusted and appalled by this.

In my defense, I had assembled the bases and primed them well before I donned my thick reading glasses. 

I blame my ageing poor eyesight.

Chalk it up to another 'teachable moment'.

My next project in the queue is this box of Miniart 'Germanic Warriors'.

I'm starting with the twenty foot troops. There are sixteen light cavalry figures in this set, but I do need a break from the double-dipping work of painting horses and riders.

These 'Warriors' will be used to combat my small collection of Orion Vikings. I'm not too sure whether these two ever met on the field of battle, I do realise I'm probably straining a bit. Surely it must have happened somewhere, at some time???

In any case, the box cost me four dollars, and they've got some great poses, although the detail isn't as flash as some of my other sets, particularly the Italeri figures. Maybe I can just pretend they're some other guys.

 I have decided that I will need to fatten these units up with a second box, as there just aren't quite enough figures to mix & match up 24 points for Lion Rampant.

Now that I have foreshadowed my ageing decrepit body, I should mention that I made my largest ever hobby purchase. A three hundred dollar manually adjustable table from OfficeWorks.

Once I saw this I couldn't get the thought out of my head. I envisioned a hobby space where I wasn't hunched over working in fading light on a tiny fold-out picnic table any longer.

It was very easy - although the bench top is heavy - to assemble. I've adjusted the height so that I can work at a standing height, resting my elbows on the table as I dab away at my figures. It was a decision that was prompted by my poor posture and aching back.

I'm still fairly disorganised. The workspace needs a few little life hacks  - a painting rack - to make a little more sense, but the space itself is just off the main living area of the home, and it means that I can permanently leave my stuff set up. It means that I can dab away at stuff in the spare moments after work, before dinner, after the kids have gone to bed etc etc.

It is just much more functional having a space near the 'engine room' of the house, and it's no drama to drop my brushes, deal with all the commotion, then come straight back to it.

I'm a 'steady as she goes' paint a little each day hobbyist, and it's served me well, I've got loads and loads of 1/72 figures now, but not quite enough for a 'bloody big battle'.

Time will tell.