Toys gone feral

This blog is going to be a place for me to post my creations; as well as ideas about homemade war-game figures and terrain.

It is hobby season here at my house. At least for me it is. The 81 straight days of sun we had here in the Puget Sound are but a sad soggy memory.  I’ve lived in enough other rain soaked regions to not let the rain get me down too much, but when the temps drop and rain comes, my mind thinks of places warm, dry and snug and things I can do there.

Hey! Keep it G-rated man!  This is a family blog!

Ok, where was I? Ah yes, hobbies.  Man’s gotta have some or he’ll go stir crazy, and I have several. The problem is right now my work life is in a state of transition and we are living on a fixed income.  Meaning, I retired from the US military and am still seeking a civilian job and retirement pay don’t go too far in the Puget Sound. Most of my hobbies cost more than I want to spend at this point in time. 

I happened to come across the Yahoo group Wargaming on a Budget http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/wargaming_on_a_budget/  The folks who post on that group make war-game figures out of paper, clay, wooden craft piece, clothespins and other household items.  I used to game pretty often and had an extensive collection of minis.  However, as prices began to climb and rules began to change, I left the hobby, mostly.  The thing I enjoyed the most about war gaming wasn’t the actual game (where I had the uncanny ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, regardless of rule set), but the making and painting of the minis, vehicles and scenics.  I’d still been futzing around with the figs I had right up until I divested myself of them, despite not playing in ten years. 

So this group inspired me, especially two or three of the members whose style of building and painting reminded me of the toys I saw at the German Christmas markets and Kathe Wolfahrt stores. Dale over at http://wooden-warriors.blogspot.com/ really captures that “old world toy” vibe.  

But why The Little People Go To War?  Well, my first batch of figs, a Gallic war-band made from cut down doll clothespins, popsicle sticks and card board were finished today. I sat there, trying to figure out how I was going to paint them, especially the faces, and then I realized they looked my old Fisher-Price Little People gone "savage and wild".  There was my theme, the idea I would keep in mind when designing terrain and scenic pieces.  

I know the post should have some pics, but my wife has the camera today and she and my daughter are out and about.