As I mentioned before, I took a couple of hobby projects with me at Christmas, but ended up working on the maps rather than painting any miniatures. December had already been a good month for miniatures, in the grand scheme of things. However, after recovering from the trip, I wanted to get something done before the end of the year. My desk was clean, so I decided I would use the travel paint kit to keep my choices down to a reasonable level, and inspire some creativity by accepting limitations. I had one Strelets (006, Henry V’s Army) axeman in my travel miniatures box with a few colors on him, so I started off on the morning of the 31st by finishing him up. After painting the last sorceress, I did a bit of quick ear surgery to turn a Caesar elf into a human, and that figure was also primed and ready to go, so finished up quickly.
Hordes of the Things (and Dragon Rampant) are both very open-ended about what a stand might consist of. I’ve done a couple of stands with two foot figures on them, and they look just a little thin to my eye, so I decided I would go for a third figure. The archer is also from the Strelets set 006. I had to stick him to a painting handle, prime him, let the primer dry, then paint. In between I took a nap and play some online board games. Before supper, all three figures got a layer of brush on varnish. I pushed the basing a bit, handling things while still wet where I would ordinarily let things dry between steps.
Nevertheless, what with staying up late to welcome the New Year and all, I was able to allow enough time for everything to dry and to put on the final spray varnish coat before I went to bed. So, it went into my painting log as a 2021 accomplishment. So, there you have it, another Hordes Magician stand, bringing me to a total of 164 things (figures, buildings, and other scenery pieces) finished for the year. This is the fourth year in a row with between 150 and 200 figures painted. What that says about future projects is for another day…
