Odds and Ends

No new miniature pictures today, but I'm slowly working my way through my old lead pile.Prepping miniatures, and painting again. Some are fantasy figures, which I will post on my other blog as they are completed. Historical (or imagi-nations) and VSF stuff will be posted here as they are completed. Among the historicals I have some lancers prepped and awaiting their turn on the painting desk. I was pleased to find some plastic toothpicks that I think work well for the lances.

For those interested in ships of the mid-1800's I found an interesting book in Barnes & Noble, Ships of the Civil War 1861-1865. I don't know much about the ships of the era (or any era for that matter), so I can't vouch for accuracy. Basically the book consists of 2 page spreads on each of about 100 ships of all different types, from "riverine gunboats through ironclad steamers, to wooden sloops and paddle-driven cruisers" (as the blurb on the back states). Each one has details about size, armament, number of crew, speed, etc; along with a brief history; with a full-color illustration of the ship on the facing page, mostly side views of each ship. If nothing else it might be a good source of inspiration for anyone wanting to build ships or even a navy of the era.