Koordinace ICT
11 January 2022
I think this is the time to get back to blogging again. I handed my TYW range to the good hands, some time ago, and gaining some more free time through that (frankly not as much as would be really ideal), I can start to paint and game a bit. Here are my tiny plans for the nearest future:
| 1 Painting a few figures to complete my warbands. |
| 2 Finishing up some more terrain pieces. |
| 3 Starting a wargaming hobby club in my workplace - secondary school. |
| 4 Playing regularly. |
10 October 2021
NOTICE:
I came to conclusion that due to my various engagements I would be unable to pay much attention to my Thirty Years War range and found my figures a new home. Therefore I switched off my TYW eshop and I am now in the process of transferring the figures and all the related things to Empress Miniatures.
I hope everything goes smoothly and you will be able to order the TYW figures as soon as possible from: 
7 March 2018
It seems horrible to read the date of my previous entry. OK, I must admit I was really inactive. Never mind, because I have a couple of new photos from Paul Hicks ... really fresh ones. Here are some new additions to my TYW range. Now they are going to the casters and I hope they will be available sometime between 6 and 8 weeks.
1 July 2016
In the previous entry I mentioned that there sometimes exist vague or contradictory specifications concerning the War of the Spanish Succession uniforms. I was studying several sources to learn the details for the "The Queen's Horse" or "Lumley's horses". The sources I have come through say: 1 the troopers should have yellow facing colours with white lace, the pistol holsters and the shabrack should be yellow with white edging; 2 they should have yellow facings with red lace, the pistol holsters and the shabrack should be yellow with red edging; 3 they should have blue facings with yellow lace, the pistol holsters and the shabrack should be yellow edged with white.
Probably there is a kind or time and fashion aspect or .... whatever else. So, after a deep thought I opted for the blue/yellow/white option. The colour scheme is shown in the picture below.
Here are three motives for my choice:
1 These riders were Royal (Queen's) Guards, who usually had blue facings laced with yellow.
2 Some sources claim these are the correct colours for the regiment.
3 I was asked to paint them with blue facings, the other details I found in the uniform guides.
8 June 2016
War of the Spanish Succession again. (As mentioned in the previous entry.) Here are some Scots I painted some time ago. The WSS is quite a long time project and there will be more units coming out soon - cavalry is on my painting desk now. The only, but critical, problem when painting the figures is the lack of exact uniform guides. Those that exist sometimes contain vague or contradictory specifications. Then it is often the painters (mine) artistic compensation.
25 April 2016
War of the Spanish Succession figures by Front Rank were actually the first 28 mm figures I 'GOOGLED' many years ago, when I got back to the pewter figures hobby. The painting style of Ian Stables was most likely the charm that made me stare at the figures for a long time. The stimulus was so strong that I immediately decided to buy the figures. Not only the figures, of course. I also bought paints and brushes, studied various "how to do it" guides and plunged into the art.
Now, it seems that the FR figures have been a kind of my destiny as they paint up well, look good, and folks want them. Just to be brief today, I would like to show you some drummers, which are always a great challenge to paint. I feel really satisfied with the results. The first picture presents the Royal Scots regiment drummers and the second shows their opponents - French drummers (Royal Guards, Swiss Guards, and one regiment I really can not recall now).
I will definetely go on with the Wars of the Spanish Succession soon ...
14 March 2016
I was wondering what to do next with my Thirty Year War and took a small hand saw, a file, and some more necessary tools to conduct an experiment. Two figures, a pikeman and a sergeant, suffered heartlessly as all the tools are really deadly. After numerous amputations, the poor guys were assembled and finally "epoxydiesed". The experiment operation ended up well, at least it is my impression. You can see the result in the picture.
So, how did he come to be? I cut his arms off and replaced his left arm with the sergeant's arm. His right arm comes from one Perry WOtR box.
23 February 2016
Now I would like to show a couple of pictures with some WSS French and Swiss. I painted them some time ago and I still keep on painting the WSS period. The Spanish Succession Wars seem to be quite popular in wargaming. They are all Front Rank makes and I must say that these figures belong to my most favourite ... speaking about the War of the Spanish Succession of course. Maybe, it is because these were actually the first 28 mm figures that caught my eye when getting back to figure painting and collecting after a long break. You might know the long breaks ... life, women, army, school, career, etc. 
So, here they are.
3 January 2016
The time of peace and abundance is over. Now I have to do a bit more exercise to reduce some of the weight I might have gained while eating all the cookies ... it is not much weight to be precise, maybe it’s just the feeling of being full. Actually, it’s funny when people prepare all the delicacies and titbits, gain some weight, and finally toil to get back to the previous condition. At least there is someone/something having profit – the chains.
Hopefully the year 2016 will be at least as good as the previous year; may be a little bit better. For the beginning I would like to show a picture of some figures I painted for a change. I am keen on painting military miniatures but sometimes it’s fine to do something different. I painted a couple of figures related to car racing. Here are some personalities (starting from the left): Ettore Bugatti, Enzo Ferrari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Alfred Neubauer, and Ferdinand Porsche. The detailed pics are to be seen in the Car Racing section of my Gallery.
27 December 2015
I must admit that my attitude to blogging has been rather slow this year due to multiple commitments and occurences, both expected and unexpected. The Christmas time, more precisely "holidays" as I am strongly influenced by the school year as a result of my profession, give me some time to change for the better.
I will keep posting pictures of the figures I have painted, converted, and even "sculpted" (Yes, I have decided to try sculpting - out of curiosity and fun). It will take several entries to keep them organized into thematic blocks. Now, I would like to present a couple of pictures of my Thirty Years War figures. These figures I had on my painting desk for really long time, but the forthcoming Christmas made me finish them. These are actually the first riders I have painted from my range.
The first two riders are an harquebusier and a general from the oldest series. Actually, these figures got completely sold out and I had to restock them shortly before the Christmas.
The following riders are from the newer series of the light cavalry.
More detailed pictures are available in the TYW gallery section. The horses are naturally Front Ranks makes, as these, in my opinion, represent the mounts used in the 17th century best. I feel I must have said that before.
23 December 2015
28 April 2015
Getting back
It has been quite a long time since I last updated the site here. That was an exception, I hope, as I took a temporary employment opportunity. I went teaching English to one local grammar school to step in for their teacher having a surgery operation. It was a kind of trip to the past when I started my teacher career. Teaching is an interesting and challenging job, but it also drains much of your energy and time and there remains, after all the necessary regular duties, only little time for painting. Right, fortunately it has finished and I can come back to the ART.
There are lots of figures on the desk waiting to be finished and here are the ones I managed to finish last week. They are now listed on ebay.
These are only the first batch of the figures. I have made some other pictures of the fresh WSS French, but they are still row. As soon as I crop and resize them, I will naturally post them here.
27 January 2015
More TYW with a bonus
I have got into a painting routine and increased the "speed" a bit. However, the higher speed doesn't mean lower quality as everything I paint, I do with all my skills and knowledge. I finished next 4 musketeers from my own range. This time I tried to give some of them a different colour scheme. All the new guys are listed on ebay. Here are some pictures, detailed pics you can find in the TYW gallery.
Right, going through the e-shop you will search for the guy on the left with no effect. This is the Veteran musketeer who got my care and changed into the veteran with a cap that used to be worn in the rural regions of the Bohemian Kingdom long before and long after the Thirty Years War. So, I felt some of my musketeers could wear one as well. I have also changed the musket. Here is a comparison picture of the two versions.
By the way, the Veteran musketeer is a special figure. When preparing the figure designs, I offered my son to take part in the project by financing one figure. It was not because I urgently needed money and wanted to get some from a naive child. My son is a keen wargamer and eagerly follows everything I do. He agreed and brought a picture of a musketeer from his favourite book and this way the Veteran was actually brought to life. He also gets all the money from the Veteran figure sale ... which means I owe him £1.40 now.
14 January 2015
TYW goes on
During Christmas I was not very active. I only enjoyed the peace and charm of the holidays. It is over now and I am back to the paint pots and brushes. Here are my new musketeers I finished over the weekend. Below, there are just basic pictures as detailed pictures you can see in the Thirty Years War gallery. These guys are listed on ebay.
8 December 2014
TYW
I have finished some TYW figures, from my own range naturally 
, and here are some basic pictures. More pictures you can see in the TYW gallery. They are currently available for sale on ebay.
11 November 2014
TYW and WSS
St. Martin's day is here ... feels like it's time to open a bottle of wine and taste the new harvest. For me, it's rather a mug of hot wine to help me cure my light virosis. Even the nasty tiny invisible beasts could not make me stop painting. I have managed to give numerous brush-strokes to my own TYW figures ... actually only two, but many will follow. They are available for sale on ebay now.
Traditionally the War of the Spanish Succession figures did not stay behind. I finished some French Guards. They will be followed by the Swiss guards ... but it's for the next blog entry. Here are the French Guards.
Detail pictures you can see in the appropriate Galleries sections.
27 October 2014
SYW Austrian Grenzers
The painting marathon goes on. I have quite a lot of figures that I owe to finish and among them there were some Grenzers produced by the Crusader Miniatures. Yes, the past tense is correct and here is the evidence.
The figures are a bit old makes, but I must say, they belong to my favourite ones and they paint really well. I have converted the left infantryman with a kind of bandage to make him look more "battleworn".
There are more pictures in the Seven Years War gallery.
20 October 2014
WSS 1st Guards
Yesterday, I finally finished the 1st guards. It took me quite a long time as I was kept busy with some accedemic affairs. These have become the past and now being free I devote almost all my time to painting. Here they are and I must admit they look impressive as a unit. It game me hard times when taking some reasonable pictures ... actually I didn't take much pictures of the whole regiments as I used to paint small units only. The detailes can be seen on the section pictures below.
The figures are based on individual 20mm square bases with a hole filled with a neodym magnet, so that the they can be easily attached to the steel mass bases.
The drummer was a challenge, because I don't have many sources on the WSS musicians. Those I have mention drummers marginally. So, I had to carry on some research and ... the result is here:
More pictures you can see in the War of the Spanish Succession section.
4 October 2014
The Hukvaldy inspiration
Going through the various image files in my computer, I opened one containing numerous snaps of the 2014 summer Hukvaldy castle siege. Hukvaldy is a large castle, frankly a large ruin being successively refurbished, relatively close to my hometown. (http://www.janackovyhukvaldy.cz/en/castle/history-of-castle/)
The castle is a huge complex of buildings providing no chances to see extensive collections of historical artifacts (weapon, furniture, clothes) but it is a place hosting reenactment events – battles, performances, and fairs.
The castle, its castle warden, hosts a medieval siege every midsummer. It is pure fiction but the protagonists are based on the real historical personalities. Two brothers fight for the castle – one dwelling in, the other trying to recapture it. Every year they change the coulisses and the scenario is based on the dice which decides if the attackers finally capture the castle. (It resembles wargaming, doesn’t it.)
I adore the atmosphere of such events. There are plentiful stalls with irresistible delicious period food, which the cooks prepare right in front of you. What is a matter of high importance, the reenactors become a source of inspiration for my painting as they make their own clothes and shoes. They use authentic materials – leather, raw linen, wool and apply the period technology for its processing – weaving, dyeing, sewing. Evidently, not everything can be authentic nowadays, but it gets close to the historical accuracy.
The participants cover several periods mixed in one action as it is hard to summon so many uni-period warriors. It is nothing for the historical prigs, but actually the historical accuracy is not crucial here. The main point rests in the experience to see a medieval castle siege in real life. Many visitors then realize, it was not that easy to fight with so much weight on as it may seem when watching those Hollywood blockbusters.
30 September 2014
The Saga goes on
In the mean time between the major painting jobs (I will show the results soon, ... very soon.) I keep painting the Vikings I bought a couple of years ago. This time I was fiddling with two bowmen. Here you can see the result.
The figures are intended for sale on ebay. I hope there will be some more till the end of the week.
1 September 2014
Major changeover
Life may be full of various changes. One naturally appeared in my life as well. I was a lecturer working for a faculty located in my hometown of Karviná and I was an e-learning educational software developer, who firstly worked hard for the employer and secondly devoted some remaining free time to military miniatures, my dearest hobby.
The education sector has been infected by the spreading ignorance and stupidity that is now flourishing here in the Czech Republic. I must say not only here as the whole Old Continent is somehow ill and now I am not speaking only about education. But I do not want to plunge into politics and economics as it would require a new specific blog. Back to the point, I see there is no place for me anymore in the infected environment, so I gave it some deep consideration during the last two months and decided to become a freelance teacher and make my dearest hobby equal to teaching.
It means that - firstly, I will be giving some private lessons in the field of English, communication, negotiation, argumentation, and presentation. Secondly, I will have a huge amount of time to paint, sell painted figs, and develop my range of the Thirty Years War figures. I also intend to enlarge the offer of ranges and I am thinking of some "niche" interesting periods (somehow connected to the Czech history).
Shortly, starting from this day, 1 September 2014, my dearest hobby becomes equal to my lecturing and progressively it may become even my dominant activity.
I have added some newly painted Wargames Foundry Vikings into my e-shop (Painted figures for sale).
11 May 2014
New figures available
The figures arrived a short time ago. I inked them a bit to raise the details and took some pictures. You can see them in the gallery and also in the shop, which means they are available to anyone interested in the period of TYW.
In the picture above, you can see a veteran musketeer. This is a special figure representing a fat veteran to add much more variety to the existing troops.
4 March 2014
New sculpts
Evidently I didn't pay much attention to my websites. Firstly there was not much to write about and secondly I had to put all my efforts into completely different activities, predominantly academic. Having a bit of more free time now, I'm coming back to my precious hobby again ... I love the returns ... and I feel like sharing some fresh figures sculpted for me by Paul. Here come new additions to my Thirty Years War.
The sculpts are now at the casters, naturally the best ones in the market - Griffin Moulds, and I suppose they should reach me within ...approximately... four weeks. After that I will share them with other fellow enthusiasts via my e-shop.
19 September 2012
New TYW infantry
In the previous post I mentioned it would take about 6 weeks to have the new infantry greens cast in pewter. After only a month they have reached me (thanks to the fast and precise work by the Griffin Moulds). Here are only two pics, the rest you can see in the gallery. As usually, if anyone is keen on having some of the new "precious", feel free to use my e-shop and I will do my best to send them as promptly as possible.
I am getting close to the end of my PhD studies (I successfully passed the doctoral state exams), so I will have some time to paint ... and ... I am really looking forward to painting them!
19 August 2012
New TYW greens
Yesterday, after I had returned from a family trip, I opened my e-mail and ... what a surprise ... found a message from Paul with several pictures of my TYW new greens (I say "my", but naturally sculpted by Paul for me). It will take the usual process of sending them to Griffin Moulds, casting them and ... soon they will be available for everyone interested.
Just to be more specific, based on the experience with casting the previous batches, "soon" means a time span of about 6 weeks. It depends on how busy they are in GM.
So, here they are. Enjoy.
24 May 2012
New TYW dollies
Only a short update today. Yesterday Paul Hicks sent me two pictures of his new dollies for my on-going TYW project. They will, when cast and sculpted, represent musketeers - loading the muskets, standing with the muskets on the ground and on their shoulders, and priming the muskets. The pikemen will have their pikes ready for attack high and low (here I mean on the shoulder level and belt level). There will also be a sergeant.
24 January 2012
TYW Cavalry
Last week I received a large and heavy parcel with my precious cavalry. It took me quite a couple of days to pay some attention to them. Well, at last, I managed to black-wash the riders and to put them in my webshop to make them available to the general wargaming public.
It will take me really long time to paint them, as you could have noticed with the infantry, but believe me, the day will come. In the meantime, I will be continuing with the Thirty Years War and will be thinking about plunging into another period.
Here are some pics. The riders were designed to fit the Front Rank horses. After a serious consideration, I have decided not to resell the horses, so everyone interested in my cavalry will have to purchase the mounts from the producer directly.
The rest you can see in the gallery.
23 October 2011
TYW Heavy Cavalry
Just a hot piece of news. I have just received some pictures of the promised heavy cavalry greens. Paul is just about to finish the standard bearer and all the cavalry (light and heavy) will go to the Griffin Moulds.
6 October 2011
TYW Light Cavalry
Indiann Summer is evidently over here in Karvina (Czech Republic) and the cold, chilly, misty, rainy, etc. weather is to dull my days from now on till March. Fortunately there are things that can brighten even the darkest days. I am not going to list them all here, some of them are very personal, but the one that fits the site is "new additions to the TYW range". Paul sent me some pictures of the light cavalry he has finished recently. The figures will udergo the traditional process: sculptor - caster - me and soon you will be able to order them from my webshop.
As you can see, they came out extremely well. I would not expect anything else as they have been sculpted by a real master and, I can't resist to add, there are other ones in the pipeline (heavy cavalry).
2 July 2011
Here they come ...
So, I have received a large parcel from the Griffin Moulds and the new additions to my Thirty Years War range are here ... available for anyone in need of reinforcements. (See the e-shop.) I must say, the quality is outstanding ... the quality I mean both, the sculpting detail (thanks Paul) and the casting precision (thanks Stewart) ... actually, you can see yourselves.
14 May 2011
Some new greens by Paul Hicks
It's been really long time since I posted anything ... shame on me, but the days are so short.
I will try to do my best to be more active, promise. Today only very briefly with something, I'd say, quite pleasing. Paul sent me some pics of the greens he is sculpting to enlarge my little tin army. They are to complement the infantry to give it more variety.
I have more pics, but I will reveal the rest only when they are fully completed. So, check here from time to time.
15 November 2010
Conversions
Looking at myTYW figures, I thought it would be possible to convert some. So, I prepared some metal shaping tools and some epoxy and started the "sculpting".
Changing the position of the musketeers' furkets comes immediately into consideration when you have a close look at the figures. I have actually done that when preparing the first musketeer you can find in the gallery and some others will follow. This should bring more variety into the units.
The next figures I have converted and prepared for painting are the standard bearer and the pikeman as you can see in the following pictures.
The pikeman got only a helbard, which promoted him to captain of the pikemen . The stadard bearer became a commanding officer (a nobleman) with a raised sword (note also the boots) .
11 November 2010
The officer finished
Today afternoon I glued some static grass onto the base and my next TYW figure is completed. Here is the result:
8 November 2010
Just a couple of words
Sometimes I recall the times when I was a student or when I served in the army. I often complained how little spare time I used to have - learning new things, going to lectures, or spending long hours in service. Now I see how wrong I was. That was actually a period of plentiful free time abundance. Since that distant past it has "worsened" markedly and the limited free time has shrunk to the minimum. That is probably the tax we all have to pay for the "wonderful, modern world" we are living in. However, I am not complaining. I only wanted to point out how one's perspective has changed over the years.
Despite having very little free time, I have managed to set up my long announced e-shop. And I have to say it works well as it has been proved by a couple of purchases of my new Thirty Years War figures.
Enough for now ... will be back soon.