2 new projects

Despite my best intentions to concentrate on sorting out the figures and projects I have in the loft I've wandered into a couple of new ventures.  Obviously this is pretty standard for any gamer!

I've tried to stick to things which aren't going to require a big investment in time or money and should only require a relatively small number of figures 

#1 was inspired by going along to the Little Wars Revisited games day a couple of months ago and rediscovering my enjoyment of larger scale figures.  I've always fancied having some Three Musketeers figures so these 40mm figures have come from Steve Barber Models and are really lovely.  I also have a few coming from Eureka Miniatures... there's going to be a  delay in getting these as the guys at Eureka in Australia are on a break till June but, at the rate I paint that won't really be a problem.

The other project is one I've always wanted to do... a Mythic Greek/Jason and the Argonauts collection.  I'd been reading some stuff about Ray Harryhausen and that set me off on the trail of some figures.  Almost straight away I spotted a bargain deal on a couple of packs of Wargames Foundry figures on eBay...

When I started doing some research online I found loads of blog posts by gamers who've done similar themed projects... clearly we all have a love of Jason battling stop-motion skeletons!  Now that the Covid symptoms have subsided I've primed them all and am ready to get painting, accompanied by some inspirational listening... the audiobook of Stephen Fry's Mythos which is a great re-telling of classic Greek myths

No trip to Salute for me...

Round about now I should have been on the train to London for the annual trip to Salute but sadly...

I started feeling a bit unwell on Wednesday and by Thursday was really shaky and feeling dreadful.  Ironically I'm actually feeling quite a bit brighter this morning but I'll still be infectious so crowded tube trains and Salute are a definite no-go.  I didn't have any particular shopping plans for Salute so there's no great problem... in fact it'll stop me buying stuff I really don't need!

If I'm up to it later I'll use my free afternoon to prep some figures for a couple of new small projects.

A trio of castles...

 I posted the other day about Cadzow Castle near Glasgow.  A couple of days after getting back home from out trip back home we were off again, this time to Herefordshire and the Welsh Borders.  My wife was taking part in a days blacksmithing experience which my son and I had gifted to her for last years birthday: she loved it and I can highly recommend Oldfield Forge.  

We had a lovely day meandering up to the Forest of Dean and Ross on Wye before staying overnight at a local pub.  It's a part of the country we used to spend a lot of time in but haven't been to for years so it was a special trip.  Once I'd dropped her off at the forge I went off in search of castles.  Let's be honest, you can't move in Wales without tripping over a castle and there are the Three Castles within 15 minutes of each other a short distance from the forge.

Skenfrith Castle:

White Castle:

Grosmont Castle:

3 fantastic castles in beautiful locations.  White Castle is the most physically impressive but I loved Skenfrith with a lovely river (the Monnow) flowing past the walls and otters splashing on the bank.  I can even claim to have walked the Offa's Dyke Path, even if it was only for about 200 yards!!

Cadzow Castle

 We're just back from a week back home in Glasgow which, thanks to a horrendous gastric bug, turned out to be the week from hell!  We're all recovered now but it was a tough few days, especially for my elderly mum.  Just before we all succumbed to the lurgy, we'd taken the dogs off for a long walk at ended up at Chatelherault which is a large wooded park near Hamilton in Lanarkshire.  It was the site of a ridiculously over the top 'hunting lodge' for one of the Dukes of Hamilton

I've been there quite a few times but hadn't realised until this trip that it is also the location of the ruins of Cadzow Castle.  This is what's left of a 16thC castle, built on the site of an older Fort, dating back to David I.  This was probably also a hunting lodge but was visited by lots of Scottish Kings and eventually ended up with the Comyns who were embroiled in the Wars of Independence but picked the wrong side.

The later castle was built in around 1530 and Mary Queen of Scots stayed there after escaping from Lochleven (because of course she did..  there isn't a castle in Scotland that MQoS hasn't stayed in!).  As a result of this it was later demolished by the Earl of Mar, leaving the ruins that are visible today. Its in a pretty poor state and you can't actually get I to the ruins as they're a bit precarious but it's worth a visit if you're in the area.

As the sites were all hunting lodges, here is a pic of our hound hunting for big game (or possibly mice) and the rabbit he completely failed to spot!