Jimmy "High Flying" Jameson(Chaos in Cairo Character)

Jimmy "High Flying" Jameson
Status-Party Sponsor
Date of Birth-1904
Current Date-1926

Jimmy is the son of George Jameson a very wealthy business man from an old aristocratic southern family from the state of South Carolina. Jimmy was expected to follow in the family business of running a very large peach plantation ,but of course Jimmy had other ideas.

Jimmy's passion in life has always been aviation since he was a kid right on up through his adolescent years and young adulthood. He hungrily devoured stories of the Wright Brothers ,WWI aces Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen(Red Baron) , William "Billy" Avery Bishop, and Edward "Eddie" Vernon Rickenbacker while all the while dreaming of one day flying himself.

Through his fathers pressure Jimmy headed of to Yale University at the age of 18 to receive his education. While there Jimmy tried to give it a proper go and even joined the men's rowing team where he excelled and to his surprise also discovered he liked to write a bit. He started writing short stories(about flying of course) and keeping a journal. He tried to pay attention to his studies, but he just couldn't stop thinking about flying and so left Yale at 20 to seek a flying school of some sort and began his dream of being an aviation pilot like his heroes of the air.
In no time he found a local "Barn storming" group (stunt pilots) where he proved to be an amazingly apt pupil and learned how fly in very short order. In fact he was so talented his teacher was heard to remark "I wish we had him in the war as life would have been a heck of a lot easier in our troop". Soon, Jimmy was an active member travelling with the group and putting on stunt shows, selling air plane rides and even doing some crop dusting to help out local farmers. Life was grand ...... until his father showed up and forced him to quit by insisting he return to Yale and finish his studies.

Jimmy returned to Yale feeling depressed ,but not seeing much choice. When he was 21 this all changed one Friday when reading a National Geographic in the Library on Egypt and it's new postal service. It seems they had an air postal service running and were looking for qualified flyers. This was just the break he needed!
Jimmy headed straight to the bank and withdrew a small fortune in savings that he was entitled too from birthright. This was all easily accomplished without problems due to him being of proper age .... ohh and a little thing about also having a note he forged of his fathers signature approving the withdrawal that is!

Jimmy was off to a life of adventure and Flying! He also read about tombs and artefacts being found and studied in Egypt which might prove interesting to do on his non flying days. Now aged 22 he promptly boarded the closest available liner and headed to Cairo.

Later, Jimmy did become a famous pilot, but that is another story, because for now his adventures in Egypt is our topic at hand.

A side note in that Jimmy will be the narrator in the adventures of the group when I begin them and will be done in Journal format from Jimmy's perspective as inspired by Jason on Geektactica.

Miniature Company-Coppelstone Castings

Caballeros Hidalgos(Spanish Noble Knights)

As I mentioned earlier I would be starting a Christian mercenary army for the El Cid/Reconquista period for WAB.See my notes under El Cid labels for more information on this army.This is my first unit of Caballeros Hidalgos(Noble Knights) who were the cream of the Christian armies consisting primarily,but not exclusively of the wealthy noble born.
Like I mentioned they have a very Moorish flair to them to represent their cultural make up and their various employers they fought for both Christian and Moors.
The General is naturally the grizzled veteran on the white charger.I decided to grey his hair and even add some white to represent the hardship of years of hard campaigning.The army standard is carrying the large Lion banner which represents the commanders personal heraldry.The other knights are his personal bodyguards and most loyal supporters.
The army is done using army painter,but with added highlights which costs significant  painting time,but is still faster then black lining and doing the eyes.However,I will add that the white charger,white bits on the horses,shields and banners were all painted normally.All shields and banners are hand painted and painted in a uniformed colour scheme as I wanted the army to look as if they are all part of the same force,but varied the designs to still retain their individuality.With the bases,shields and banners in uniformed colour I was able to paint the clothes in different colours without losing an army identity and still stay somewhat within period background.
I did some minor conversion work in helmet adjustments and adding more length to their garments to try and give more of Spanish knight feel to them.
Another choice common to Spanish for this period is a heavy red and yellow,but I preferred to go with a deep red and off white as I like the more mellow tone as I hope some of you do as well.
Also,I mixed up several companies for this army as I wanted the variety for this one.
Thank you for reading and viewing. :-)
Miniature Company-Artizan Designs,Perry Miniatures,Conquest Games

 

Miss Kitty Zombie Survivor

 As I mentioned at the club we have caught the zombie fever and are itching to sink our teeth(pun intended) into the genre.A combination of films,games and Hasselfree miniatures hooked me.Everyone in the group will collect a few survivors and some zombies to start.After we have a few painted up we will move on to doing terrain.We will start off with some free rules and maybe pick up some commercial ones.
This is the first of my Zombie Survivors Miss Kitty who looks pretty harmless....that is except for the twin  9mm's in each hand!My impression of Hasselfree miniatures up close is.........fantastic!!!!They are true 25mm and therefore on the small side.When holding them one sees they are very finely sculpted and delicate miniatures with superb detail and very clean.
I'm not that experienced in painting female figures as I'm a newcomer to pulp/horror genre with most of my experience in historical or warrior/monster fantasy, and so I really hope I did this figure some justice.I really enjoyed painting her and will do some more females in the future for sure hopefully improving as I go along as I really need more practice.By this I mean painting male skin and female skin is very different as the transition in tones on females needs to be more smooth or she will look too harsh and buffed out which wasn't what I wanted for her and probably most other female miniatures.
More post apocalyptic zombie stuff to follow  along with some soon to see El Cid,AWI and Chaos in Cairo.
Miniature Company-Hasselfree Miniatures

Happy New year! and my 2011 Projects list

First off I'd like to say a pre-emptive  Happy New Year!I hope 2011 is a great year for everyone and my best wishes to all.
The weather we are experiencing really does make one sympathetic for the troops that fought at Valley Forge!
The year 2010 was a decent year in project painting,but not stellar.I'm hoping for a more productive year in 2011.My overall goal like most wargaming painters is to complete more and buy less which is always difficult,but I hope to do better then usual this time.This is primarily for two reasons with the first being to reduce the lead pile of course,but more importantly I want to save a few coins to renovate my hobby room from what is now more a less a storage room with a table and cheap metal shelves to a first rate gaming room.This will be quite expensive and so I'll need to put in some overtime at work and cut back some on expenditures.I'm hoping to start the renovation in September/October 2011 and I'm very excited to see how my dreams will turn out.

So,my project plans for 2011 are(crossed fingers):

Will do for sure due to club commitments or personal:

-BG AWI-Due to the fact I've met another gamer interested in this period I now have additional motivation to paint this period as I'll actually get to game it!I don't expect to get a great amount completed as this period is difficult to paint and so progress will be slow,but there will be progress nonetheless and even some gaming. :-)

-DH Fallschirmjäger(28mm)-Fortunately this project does not require a lot of miniatures which is a blessing due to the difficulty in painting these troop types and since I already have a decent start I have high hopes to finish enough to at least start to game with them.

-FOW Fallschirmjäger(15mm)-Half the project is already completed and so I stand a reasonably decent chance to finish this one.

-Chaos in Cairo-This project stands an excellent chance of seeing completion as the miniature count is very low and the terrain not to difficult to either build or obtain.

-WAB El Cid Christian Army-Since I plan on cutting corners with a this army and the fact that it's all mounted resulting in a lower miniature count should see this one completed.

-The Dead Walk-Yes,we have been bitten by the Zombie bug at our club and will be gaming this next year.Films,TV series and Hasselfree miniatures tipped me over the edge.Again,miniature count isn't that high with each member painting a few Survivors and a handful of Zombies plus card terrain gives this project a very high probability to see it completed.We have decided to try some free rules first and then perhaps some others as well.I have to say this project is easy to generate interest across the board at the club probably due to the fact that killing zombies is very appealing to everyone!!(LoL!)

-Hobby Room- As stated,the most important project in 2011 and I just really hope things come together to see it happen!

-Read More books-Not really a miniature project,but something I've wanted to get back on track again.

Other projects on the lead pile that may get started:

-TVG F&IW Indians-I wasn't sure if this would go in the planned or not as I would really like to do it,but decided the others are more important.

-DH Finns-Really like the mini's,but need a Russian opponent.

-SCW-Love these Empress mini's,but again no opponent so staying in the lead box for the moment.

-WAB ECW-A huge collection,but again no interest at the club and so staying on the back burner.

-WAB Ancient Germans-One of my friends is collecting Romans and so depending on his progress could see this moved into the planned projects.Fantastic Foundry sculpts btw.

-WAB Praetorian Romans- This army is actually painted,but really needs an overhaul and so again largely depends on my friends progress to see if I move it up.

-WAB Assyrians-Lovely Foundry sculpts and very nice colours makes this army very attractive to start........and my Trojans need somebody to fight!

-Impetus Aztecs-This is largely a painters project where the fantastic basing system of this system has inspired me to build a very colourful Aztec army using the outstanding Foundry Aztec range(their best range IMHO).However,since this is a personal project I couldn't place it in the planned as I feel I should do commitments first,but you never know.........

-Impetus Samurai(both 28mm & 15mm)-This is both a personal project and vaguely planned one with a friend.The reason it's not in the planned is what the reason always is.......procrastination.I'm not sure what type of Samurai I want to do with a pleasing uniformed look or a more historical approach of wildly contrasting colours and mons etc..also,I'm not sure if I want to start on Samurai or Sohai Warrior Monks first as I'll being doing both.Also,the high level of difficulty in painting this has me concerned as well.

Not yet on the lead pile,but thinking of.

WAB WOTR-A friend is collecting this period and I'm interested in doing an army with Warwick the King maker,but again project overloads and attempting to save money has me waiting.

WAB Swiss/Landsknechtes-Italian Wars and the colourful period is very attractive,but is a serious commitment in terms of painting requirements in both amount and difficulty which keeps this on the thinking about list for now.

Zulu/Boar Wars-Empress sculpts keep me thinking!

Japanese WWII -Fun to paint,but no club interest in terms of gaming has me holding off on this for now.

WAB Romano British-Would really like an army for this,but waiting to see if Bill at Musketeer does any as he said he will.If Bill makes this line then this will be a buying exception and will move to planned projects.

As you can see I'm a really bouncer in terms of interest and have my greedy fingers in plenty of pots and so there is no end to my to do list.

Very Best Wishes,

Christopher

More Fallschirmjägers(28mm)

Here are some new pictures of my growing Disposable Heroes Fallschirmjäger force in 28mm.First up is a team firing a MG 42 on an assault.I really like the dramatic posing of this team as it gives a great impression of a moving assault,but I imagine the FJ holding the MG up might not hear very well for a few hours!The other is a FJ with a FG 42 assault gun that was designed specifically for Fallschirmjägers.It was light weight assault rifle and was one of the most advanced weapons of the war and influenced subsequent assault rifles in the modern era.However,it only saw limited use in the war.
Miniature Company-Artizan Designs



Fallschirmjäger MG42 Team in a mix of Sumpmuster(Marsh/Water) 44 and Splittermuster(Splinter)camouflage

Fallschirmjäger with STG 43/44 in both Sumpmuster 43(Marsch/Water) and Splittermuster(Splinter)Camouflage

Fallschirmjäger Command Group(15mm)

Adding some pics of my FOW Fallschirmjäger while still waiting for my package!Every company needs a commander and here is mine going from left to right and front to rear.
CinC,2ndC,Tank Hunter Team #1,Sniper,Tank Hunter Team #2 as shown above.
Next up for these will be a light mortar platoon.
Miniature Company-Battlefront FOW

A few close ups.

Johnathan Tinsdale (Chaos in Cairo Character)

Johnathan Tinsdale
Status-Senior Party Professor(Stone Expedition)
Date of Birth-1864
Current Year-1926

Professor Tinsdale of Cambridge University is a Brilliant teacher and scholar of Archaeology with a specialisation in Egyptology and archaic languages who has authored several acclaimed works and is considered amongst the best in the field world wide.About the only thing that rivals his love for the past is his daughter Elizabeth herself a professor and an up and coming scholar of some repute in Egyptian mythology and language.

There is a hitch though in that he is also considered to be a few marbles short of a bag,but we will politely say he is a known eccentric.The reason is because he tends to wander off in thought in the middle of lessons deep in thought leaving the class waiting minutes or even the entire class period for him to continue and as of late has even begun talking too himself to include asking and answering questions out loud which has given the board of professors much concern indeed.

If the professor's mental state can be called into question his physical condition cannot.For a man of his age,he is a remarkably fit at 62 years old who could easily keep pace with any reasonably fit 40 year old man even though he likes walking around with a cane that isn't needed at all.He also happens to be a very good shot through his trials as a young British officer in the Anglo-Egyptian War where he was wounded twice and received honours.However,this is a subject the Professor doesn't much like to discuss and will happily turn the conversation to what he does....all things related to past civilizations.

Recently Professor Tinsdale published a book on ancient writing that supported the belief of long dead Egyptian Pharaohs would once again walk this earth and that secret cults were set on taking advantage of powerful relics to seek control of regional governments.Professor Tinsdale took the view that these things are true and felt a warning needed to voiced and these activities to be promptly and thoroughly investigated.

Well,with the professor's strange behaviour and now the release of this book was really all too much for the Cambridge board of Professors and Professor Tinsdale was politely,but firmly asked to take a paid indefinite leave.However,out of respect for his standings the board publicly announced Professor Tinsdale was taking a leave of absence for specialized study on a new source book and to their regret they must let him pursue this goal.

Professor Tinsdale is not a bitter man nor one to sit on his laurels and so took the extra time to research his favorite topic that being the location of Ramses the great.Through research,guess work and study Professor Tinsdale believes he knows the location,but understands he cannot do it by himself and thus contacted his old friend Jack Stone who he met while on a dig.Jack was more then happy and said he would get things started and organize the expedition.

Jack is fortuitously already in Cairo exactly where the professor needs to go and so books a ticket on the next liner to Cairo accompanied by his daughter Elizabeth who is also keen on finding this tomb.While travelling they noticed or believe they noticed shadowy individuals following them.This has continued even after meeting Jack where they are all waiting on the arrival of their sponsor.

Miniature Company-Coppelstone Castings