Phew, that was a good one, if somewhat perilous. The lump in the landscape we chose to shin up this year was Castle Rock, which is about three hours drive north of Wellington.
There's a charming Department of Conservation sign just before the ascent which basically says: "Abandon all hope all ye who are daft enough to try this". I'm not entirely sure how we survived. There is absolutely nothing to hold onto on the way up or at the tiny little ledge at the top.
I'm still at the prepping stage with these. They're all vintage, never-before-painted Hinton Hunt FN 102s, and if you'd seen all the flash on them you'd understand why. It took me about five hours to carve it all off. By the end I was covered in little lead shavings.
They look quite smart now I've managed to clean them up, and there's the added enticement of the little command group I converted for them this afternoon.
I can't wait to get stuck into them!
Yours, and wishing you all the best for 2020,
WM
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| Castle Rock, aka The Crag of Doom |
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At the top. To give you a sense of scale, you may just be able to make out the lighthouse
out there close to the end of the point.
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My New Year's Resolution is not to do that again. On the plus side, the prospect of painting a regiment of cuirassiers suddenly didn't seem nearly so bad.
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| Including one I did earlier. |
I can't wait to get stuck into them!
Yours, and wishing you all the best for 2020,
WM
This should make those Allied types sit up, if that is you can stick with what will be a pretty fiddly paint job. I went to have a look at the old post with the photos of the "one you did earlier" - did you deliberately not tag him as "cuirassier"?
ReplyDeleteNo, Rob, I simply forgot to mention it! Yes, they are cuirassiers, albeit with rather annoying curved swords. I've tried to straighten these out a bit, but not entirely successfully.
DeleteMagnificent work trimming away the flash. Those dragoons look very good already. Can't wait to see 'em painted up.
ReplyDeleteBest Regards,
Stokes
They would probably do quite well as dragoons, what with Marcus's rather "free-style^ approach to figure modelling, but they're supposed to be Cuirassiers, Stokes. Painting them, I fear, is going to be a slow job. Expect to see all sorts of displacement activity over the coming weeks!
DeleteStout work with the knife and file WM! The last order I received direct from Hinton Hunt contained some FN102s and they never got painted, partly because of the flash - maybe these are the very same castings!
ReplyDeleteI was wondering why I couldn't recall seeing any painted examples of these on the interwebs, Ian! In every case the space between the arm and the torso was a massive blob of solid metal, and there was only a single, rather chunky rear leg. I broke several blades on my craft knife.
DeleteAs much of a pain cleaning up flash on poor castings is, I have found few things as rewarding as bringing poorly cast models up to serviceable status. These will undoubtedly be magnificent once you paint them up. I had the good fortune of meeting Mark Dudley in the states and we did a small trade and I ended up with a few unpainted HH Cuirassiers with shouldered swords, which I had intended to use to bring my current squadrons of the 13th up to strength. As fate would have it, shortly thereafter I received some DK Cuirassiers modeled after the HH102s which are a better fit for my current unit. Now I will have to be on the look out for some more HH cuirassiers with shouldered swords!
ReplyDeleteCuirassier with shouldered swords? Do please post a picture on your Minions site.
DeleteAh yes, that'd be the demountable chappies. I'd be a lot happier painting those. The HH OPCs are all very charming and everything, but much harder to paint!
DeleteLethal looking fellows.
ReplyDeletehappy New year and congratulations on reaching the summit - did you plant one of your little flags at the top?
I would've done if there'd been anything like an actual plan to shin up the dratted thing.
DeleteHappy New Year, Matt!
Even with such a lovely view... I think that I would still have given the summit a miss.
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to seeing the cuirassiers finish... they should make for a nice weighty unit.
All the best. Aly
It was horrifying, Aly. I couldn't get off it quickly enough.
DeleteThe cuirassiers used to be a lot heavier....
Reminds me of a sign I enjoyed in Samaria Gorge... "Danger of falling rocks. Walk faster". Now, I have seen what you can do with an FN102 cuirassier, Sir and I look forward greatly to seeing these chaps in their full glory. You have already done the hard graft. Did you draw blood?
ReplyDeleteI did, multiple times!
DeleteIt's a nice spot Castlepoint....have you tried climbing that steep rock in New Plymouth...you haul yourself up a virtual 1:1 incline using chains secured to the rock face..the day I did it, it was drizzling, just to add to the fun...not for the faint hearted!
ReplyDeleteI've never been to New Plymouth, rross, and I'll be sure to keep well clear of it now. If the wife saw that it'd be the end of me.
Delete