a Load of Old Toby

Blog Update Empire Rebasing Just got to keep the blog going and this year I have been touching up models and rebasing my empire army to all fit on the same size bases. Rebasing nearly finished I finding a struggle to write a whole blog for just tiny updates of work in progress shots. So you should try to follow me on Bluesky if you can because I keep that updated frequently also now trying out instagram/threads, never used it before so just a trial see if it adds value. Total in progress impromptu shot Up until now they have been on different sizes and styles due to all being painted at various different times. Anyhow yet a show you nearly finished article of Reiksguard Knights these will likely get there own post in the near future. First full unit shot This unit was mainly painted on New Years Day 2026 while listening to the Austrian Philharmonic Orchestra, glam or what! Side on shot of hand painted banners The Reiksguard form the bulk of the Imperial Household and are the loyal body...

New Year Blog Happy New Year everybody, just a short blog update to celebrate both the new year and the fact that my blog is now a year old.  WiP of Empire Knights While the blog itself had a really steady stream of posts in the first half of 2025, it did tail off in the second half of the year, this was mainly due to the fact that work got busy.  Still WiP Looking ahead to 2026 I don’t think it will reach the 2025 levels of posts but, it is my intention is to definitely keep posting as I paint. On the painting table currently is a unit of Reiksguard knights and the pictures included are only Work in Progress (WiP). I look forward to talking to you all more throughout the year.

Empire - Standards Hello everyone, just wanted to let you all know I’m still plodding along with painting, but due to work and home workload having been significantly busy my painting has slowed down. So really this is just a litte update post!  Akendorf Great Swords - Freehand Own Design In addition I often suffer from depression well…. the can’t be assed state of mind…..which means some weeks I might not have anything to post. However looking back through my empire photos there are still lots of units to showcase that I havn't got around to. I did see some of my work in progress snaps of my battle standards though. Let me know what you think? WiP Empire Standards So a big thank you to those of you that drop by looking for updates it’s appreciated. Have a great weekend everyone. Alternative standard    

Knights of the Blazing Sun Empire of Sigmar This army was painted last year 2023 & 2024.  Last post we started off by showing you the Order of the Griffon. Now I am going to follow with a short and sweet post on my favourite order of all, Knights of the Blazing Sun.  Front on snap - kept it plain and simple Why are they my favourite? I guess it’s was because they were always really rarely seen models but, we all knew they existed. So collecting them from eBay 30 years later was a real kick. Overall scheme was heavy on the slivers and gold. I tried to get an old gold feel going, by simply using an anthrax earth-shade over any standard acrylic gold and highlighting back up. Good side on - not the hand painted banner  I have been posting regularly, roughly weekly, for most of the year, but now as I say I am not technically finished yet with this army I am staggering out posts, so as to fit in units on my painting desk. Original 90s models one of which is converted to mak...

Knights of the Griffon Empire of Sigmar New week, new army......Warhammer Empire!  This army was painted last year and I want to kick off showing this army to you with the Order of the Griffon. Posts while I cover this army on this blog will slow down a bit now. I have been posting regularly roughly weekly for most of the year, and while there are a few bits and pieces still to catch up on this is the last army of the backlog….well I say that I am not technically finished yet….but is any army ever finished, finished? On that bombshell, on to the miniatures. These are high fantasy unit made up of four knights, mounted on griffons.     As I haven’t yet finished this army, I was mulling over colour schemes. I aim to paint to a few of the different Knightly Orders, so the first challenge was to select the colours and plan ahead.  I found a few different references to standard silver, blue, and finally white. Not fancying painting white I went with blue. I mainly used Val...

Battlefleet Gothica..Maybe Space wars - Orion Rebellion No news has come in from the outer rim for nearly a decade now…. Equipped with the best long range sensors and lightdar, the deep space scout frigate Voyager was dispatched to the Orion Massive to investigate. Returning to Earth after 3 year trip she has bad news to report…..Rebellion and Anarchy have erupted again in the outposts of man. Grand Marshal Tiberius in desperate need of supplies immediately authorities executive order ‘Black’ to requisition all civilian transportation shipping to hand, and dispatches them to way point alpha. Under Earth defence destroyer escort. While Admiral Nechayev responds in support of her liege lord, by issuing fleet recall and assembly of all Fleet Auxiliaries at Jupiter Planitia Anchorage, even the newly constructed Fleet Tanker Kraken is rushed into service. Commandeering Voyager as temporary flag ship she sets out for way point alpha six weeks later. Meanwhile Tiberius contacts General Brutus...

A Bridge Too Far - Arnhem Design Choices As many of you will be familiar with the film 'A Bridge Too Far' which depicted the events of Operation Market Garden. For those of you unfamiliar, this was an Allied military operation during the Second World War fought in the German-occupied Netherlands from 17 to 25 September 1944.  The whole force Essentially the Allies tried to capture and hold three key bridgeheads with paratroopers landings and link these up with armoured forces. The furthest of these paratrooper landings, at Arnhem, managed to capture one side of the bridge. As mentioned, some of this, is depicted in the film. I remember growing up in a military family, watching this film many times when I was a kid.  The Act of Heroism One part of the film that stuck in my mind was that of the German assault on British positions at the bridge. Of course as a kid it was always interesting to see the vehicles blown up and the action of the movie. However, I was really intrigued b...