(Lead) Mountain Musings - "Pendraken Miniatures” May 2023

"This period is probably the most popular in historical wargaming."

Perhaps it'll come as no surprise to anyone that, considering how enthused I currently am for 10mm World War Two tanks, this month's attempt to whittle away at my behemoth-sized backlog will focus upon pigmenting as many armoured vehicles by "Pendraken Miniatures" as I can muster. Admittedly, the vast majority of these metal models will doubtless derive from the hefty bag of goodies I brought back from their stall at Salute 50. But, I also hope to get my paintbrush busy on a number of their older miniatures which I recently located within my lead mountain.

To spur me on with this concerted effort, and provide me with a reason for finishing all the figures I've found regardless of the theatre/campaign in which they featured, I actually hope to make some progress on several armies which fought in both warm and winter battles. Foremost of these will be the Battle of the Bulge and Battle for Moscow. However, I've also got my eye on utilising a lot of the early-era tanks for some Battle of France and Battle for North Africa wargaming - albeit I don't intend to go so far as to apply desert schemes to the tanks, otherwise I'll need to collect/build/paint three different armies for each of the main nations.

Artisan Guild" WIPs - These two Orr'ugs Wolves just need their teeth and claws finished

Despite my sudden (and admittedly unexpected) return to metal miniatures, I haven't completely lost interest in 3D printed figures though. True, last month's cunning plan to work my way through a good two dozen resin models by "Big Mr Tong" disappointingly never materialised, as I found myself swept up with tank battles and the (relative) straightforwardness of completing 10mm armoured vehicles. But this year's Monster Mayhem Challenge, over on the Angry Piper's blog "Dead Dick's Tavern And Temporary Lodging", has caused me to return to a handful of hefty-sized sculpts from my collection of "Artisan Guild" STL (Standard Triangle Language) files. 

I've actually got a few of these bulky brutes potentially planned for the event, as they'll tie-in very nicely with my aim to play a bit of Age of Fantasy: Skirmish by "One Page Rules" in the near future. Resultantly, I'd like to pigment all four Orr'ugs Wolves by "Artisan Guild" I aim to field as Dire Wolves for an Undead force, before moving on to an old(ish) Clay Giant Golem I have had sat gathering dust on my hobby table for some considerable time. Once these are finished then I may print out a few more of the range's mammoth-sized monstrosities.

April 2023 - "Pendraken Miniatures" makes its first appearance in the Top Five table

As seems to occur every April my output over the past four weeks has significantly dwindled when compared to that of the year's opening months. This 'hobby fatigue' is the inevitable butcher's bill I pay for participating in the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge (AHPC), and despite my aspiration to overcome it this time round by placing the tip of my brush upon some wonderful "Stingray" related figures, I struggled to pigment anything which was even remotely time-consuming/complicated to complete.

Thankfully, my discovery of a long-forgotten stash of Second World War "Pendraken Miniatures" helped me to at least get a few more models finished than I probably would have done otherwise. This find has even sparked a desire to saturate my tabletop with some additional armoured vehicles over the coming weeks, and frankly I can't recall being so excited by the Middlesbrough-based manufacturer's range since I first spotted their stall at "Colours" way back on the 11th September 2010...