Thursday 5 June 2008

Here comes summer (I hope!)

I went shopping at lunchtime and bought this tent (pic from the online catalogue, so those people are not us):
We intend to use of for a couple of short camping trips this summer. Big enough for all of us, including Custard, I think it will be great fun.
I have been making progress on my Hannibal wargames project - here are some of the Romans that will be fighting him:

As a guide to size, the squares that the soldiers are standing on are 20mm or 3/4 of an inch across. I a very pleased with them so far and each unit that I paint looks better than the last one. The army has almost doubled in size since I took this picture, so I will post another one fairly soon. Then I have to start on Hannibal's army, of course!

Back to the title of this post - the weather seems to be clearing up again, the rest of the week and weekend look like being good. I am glad about this as I am getting tired of being rained on and we will be able to practice setting up the tent. My wife has the idea that if we train ourselves we should be able to arrive at a camp site, get set up really quickly and have the food going before anyone else notices us. She does not want us to be the family that creates a spectacle by having trouble setting up or having our tent collapse on us! Will let you know how we get on...

12 comments:

Chachi said...

Awesome tent! I'm sure you all will do fine setting up the tent and having a fun time too. Hope you have lots of time to camp, relax and enjoy life. I understand about looking silly getting to the camp sight and not being able to figure out how it all goes together. Been there, done that.

Boy, those really are small figures. It looks like it would take a lot of patience and a pair of very strong glasses to see details of such tiny figures. it sounds like you really enjoy doing that.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure camping will be a great adventure for all of you! I'm glad the weather is starting to cooperate and hopefully there will be plenty of good opportunities for camping.

I can't believe how tiny your soldiers are! You must have some major patience!

Anonymous said...

Where do the English camp out anyhow?

Cool cat on other site. This cat approves, heh.

SA

Sitting In Silence said...

Yayyyyyyyyyy for summer ! How hot does it get over there is summer ?

Rock Chef said...

Chachi - Glad you like the tent - thought it fit my new title! I do wear my glasses when I paint the figures but once you get used to doing they are surprisingly easy.

Terri - You certainly do need to be relaxed when painting those figures - a slight twitch of the hand and half of the soldier ends up the wrong colour!

Sonny Amou - Welcome back! Glad you like Fat Jedi Cat! There are lots of little camp sites dotted around the UK, it shouldn't be hard to find somewhere to go.

Sitting in Silence - Average summer temperatures here are in the low 20s C, with the hottest ever being 38.5 C, recorded in 2003 a few miles from where I am. Not great by Ozzie standards, but we will always complain that it is too hot as soon as it hits 20 anyway, it is part of being a "whingeing pom"!

kenady said...

I love that your wife wants to practice setting up the tent! That is so something I would make my family do!

Your Hannibal wargames look amazing! Can't wait to see more photos.

Glad that summer has arrived for you. It is 96 F today with a heat index of 103. I'm debating if we should make a trip to the beach this morning.

Rock Chef said...

Kenady - I think it is a woman thing - most guys would happily turn up and THEN work out how to put the tent up but women are much more sensible with things like that. The Hannibal games do promise to look great - just wait til I have the elephants!

James said...

Hi John,

we went camping last year and took the mother in law along...we went to a great campsite on the edge of the New Forest just out of Bournemouth....but I can't remember the name.

Your 6mm figures look neat, are they Baccus or maybe Adler? They are the only 6mm manufacturers I know.

Rock Chef said...

James - they are Baccus. Also making 6mm figures are Heroics and Ros and Irregular.

Marie said...

Hope you all have a great time. I'm sure you will.

Claire said...

Questions about the figures - you buy them already made but not painted? or do you form them yourself too? Do you just do this at the dining room table or do you have a "work area"? As someone who likes to paint I am always curious how others set up in a family situation.

Rock Chef said...

Marie - Thanks, I am sure I will blog about our experiences!

Clare - These soldiers were bought made (cast from pewter) but I painted them. I have dabbled in making them myself, but lacked the time and commitment to really do it properly. I paint at a table in the living room as it allows me to follow what is on the TV and be at least semi-sociable. Others have a permanent work bench set up, which has a lot of other benefits.