2012; a retrospective

I thought I would take some time to review my output for the year and have a muse over each of the projects I have undertaken and the challenges they presented.

Looking back I think this year has been one of challenges; just looking at these photographs I can see that my photography has got better, just through a bit of experimentation and erm......reading the manual - I'm a man, what can I say !

The other big thing has been sculpting, I started with milliput and rather crudely at that then moved on to green stuff, again some decent sculpting tools helped there along with poring over a variety of you tube tutorials. That's still a work in progress and I'd say that I embellish rather than sculpt but mixed in with some cutting and chopping my Tudors have really began to look a lot more Tudor over the months.

I've painted fairly consistently time wise, at least twice a week for a few hours each and that in itself has contributed I'd say to me honing my abilities, I daresay that my painting has got a bit better; for example, I use a lot more washes now and also mix colours a bit more rather than sticking with the Foundry triad palettes and that's very much just been a naturally evolving thing.

As a result I think I've had the confidence to tackle quite a few character units and individuals - I'm also reading and researching a lot more with ideas often taking a few months - The John Blanke figure was 2 years in the making !

I think flags need a special mention, they have really made things stand out, and for me, they make every unit and it's even more satisfying to know that (some of them) were carried aloft in 1513 - it's that historical link which runs through this project which never fails to make this more than just a wargames army

I've really enjoyed diarising my progress and reading your comments, it all helps to keep the enthusiasm going. I've made some good friends via the blogging / forum community too, it's great to see what everyone is up to and to share ideas and knowledge. Recently I've had some very helpful advice and information from some French contributors to whom I think i'll get to know well when the French army starts in earnest.

And it all started at this desk with some brushes, paints and figures.

It's been a good year. I'm not the fastest of painters but I hope I've kept things interesting. Favourite pieces have been cavalry I think, most have been converted in some way and i've really enjoyed the results.

So in no particular order, here are all of the completed units of 2012;

This one was completed in September !

Merry Christmas to you and yours.

Stuart