Gone in 7 days

As stated in a previous post, I have in the past sold painted figures on ebay. I must point out that I don't consider myself to be a "Pro Painter" and I have no ambition to paint figures for a living. If I were to calculate an hourly rate based on how long it took me to complete these compared to how much they sold for I would be on about 25p an hour. However, the money raised selling these was used to buy additional materials and figures.

This first set is Airfix's 1/32 scale WW2 British Paratroopers.

All seven original poses and 5 unique conversions.

This next set is Esci/Italeri's 1/72 Barbarian Warriors, painted to represent an early German war band that might have typically fought against the Imperial armies of Rome.

Although I'm not a wargamer, I based these figures according to the DBA (De Bellis Antiquitatis) rule set in order to make them more attractive to wargame buyers on ebay.

As far as I can recall these were bought by a buyer in New Zealand.

I did buy a corresponding set of Roman Cavalry but never painted them, maybe one day?

These are the only sets of figures I have sold on ebay and I have no plans to sell any more, unless I need the money to pursue other projects. These are the actual photos I used to sell them on ebay.

Then and now

I had this Airfix Waterloo Assault Set as a boy, it was one of my most prized possessions. The box art was fantastic. The set contained half a dozen sets of figures, farm building (La Haye Sainte) and a farm accessory set. Over a period of time I had to purchase an additional three sets of figures to complete the Waterloo range.

1. British Infantry
2. French Infantry
3. British Artillery
4. French Artillery
5. British Hussar Cavalry
6. French Curaisser Cavalry
7. British Highland Infantry
8. French Imperial Guard
9. Prussian Infantry

 I had other WW2 Airfix assault sets (Pontoon Bridge and Coastal Defence) but this was my favourite by far.

Imagine my surprise then when Airfix re-released their Waterloo set in '09. This time all nine figure sets, the farm building, farm accessory set and a vacuum formed diorama base were included for the princely sum of £25.

Bought without even having to cajole the wife (OK I had to do a little begging). I was a happy chappy.

Then I actually looked closely at the quality of the moulding of these 70's figures and realised most of the sets were utter shite.

Still, it gave me the perfect excuse to embellish my Waterloo armies with some up to date Italeri product. More pictures of this project to follow.

The full extent of the obsession... nearly?!

OK, so technically this isn't the full extent of the obsession collection. This is just the bulk of the collection, due mainly to the fact that these figures are the largest in scale (1/32). I probably have a similar number of figures in the smaller scale (1/72), they would just take up less room on the table.

I also didn't have room to show the the ones I've already painted...

and the soldiers I've bought or given to my son...

and the soldiers in 1/48 scale...

and the scale vehicles...

and the figures that I have painted, got bored with and then sold on ebay to finance the buying of yet more unpainted figures.

Oh dear!

Do I plan to paint all of these?

Yes.

I also plan to live until I'm about 150 years old. I keep telling myself that when I become too old to play video games online and I'm retired from work I'll have a window of opportunity to paint the entire collection.

Maybe?

The collection at all scales falls predominantly into two periods (although not exclusively). The Napoleonic Wars and World War 2. The truth is I really don't have the money or space to diversify into other periods. At least until the kids have grown up and moved out anyway. My TV/Film viewing habits also fall into these periods as two of my favourite films are Saving Private Ryan and Waterloo. My two most favourite TV programs are Sharpe and Band of Brothers.

If I had the time and money my next period of choice would probably me the Medieval/Hundred Years War. My son has a nice collection of knights in this scale, a couple of which I have painted for me him.

Ressurecting the hobby

My figure painting during my 20's was patchy to say the least. Limited mainly to painting figures in board games and some continued interest in Games Workshop products. I invested in some GW paint during my early 20's and this was to see me through this period. The paints either ran out or dried up during this period until I was back to that limited palette and one or two brushes.

The inspiration to rekindle my interest in my chosen hobby came about when the family decided to buy a copy of my wife's favourite board game Cluedo. I was surprised to see that the coloured pawns of days past had been replaced by hard plastic figures.

"I'll paint those for you, my dear" I says to the old ball and chain (hopefully she won't read this). I searched through the few cardboard boxes that contained the remnants of my pre-marital existence and found what remained of my paints and set about painting the six figures for my beautiful soul mate and muse (she may read this so I'll be nothing but complimentary from now on).
These are all that remain from that period of limited painting activity, but after these were painted I purchased the green and black toolbox that was to become my paint box bought some 1/72 plastic figures, some additional paint and a hobby was reborn.

The fabled 'Paint Box'

Here is my paint box, full of all the necessities like brushes, paints, pin files, knives and soldiers to paint. Also full of small items of flotsam that I'm sure I'll need one day. For example the two steel cigar tubes on the left that I'm sure will be of use one day. Suggestions gratefully received.
The box was the cheapest toolbox my closest DIY store could provide and is a challenge to close.
When I'm not painting my wife makes me hide the box away as she says it makes the place look untidy...

Beginnings

I didn't paint these soldiers. They were painted by one of my sons. When I started to paint soldiers as a child in the 70's, they looked alot like these.

To be fair, my son is a much better painter at this age that I ever was. He has had a guiding hand, and has been fascinated by my 'paint box' ever since he first saw it. I had no parent or sibling that shared my obsession as a child but almost every spare penny I could muster was spent on Airfix figures, kits or enamel paints (to think that my Dad allowed me to have a bottle of white spirits/meths in my bedroom at the age of 10 boggles the mind).

My early efforts were crude, my palette limited by my budget and my brushes in a poor state. My carpet was a patchwork of accidental spills covered only by my piped 70's Y-fronts that littered the floor.

The most important colour in my arsenal at that age was red as almost all of my carpet warriors had been bravely injured in combat much like this Gladiator shown here.

Every painted figure was started and finished in a single sitting, the patience required to attain a decent finish eluded me until my mid teens. By this times I had gone from plastic toy soldiers to metal D&D or Games Workshop figures. I continued to paint until I went to college, discovered girls and my figure painting all but stopped.