WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

If one is going to "play" in the environs of the Far East and the Pacific then a certain amount of jungle terrain is expected. Palm trees of varying heights peaking through and around my existing woodland bases should give the "effect" that closely mirrors what I have seen looking out windows while living in Singapore and likewise reflect what I can see now when I look from my balcony in India. Throw in a few broken temple pieces courtesy of a broken bargain store statue and I think the overall effect works.

The palm trees were a bulk purchase from China (via Alibaba) and the other foliage was a combination of typical aquarium offerings sprayed with different hues and shades of green. The bases themselves are 4mm laser-cut ply, that I did a while ago when the place I worked gave me access to some wonderful tools, the usual basing sand, a liberal spray of a typical brown for uniformity, with a light dry brush. This was followed by my regular anti-static grass, and then some clumps of green-tea leaves glued over hacked off pieces of a rubberised front door mat, to break up the base and give it some contour and shape.

Next goal for Far East/Pacific terrain will be some Japanese Bunkers, made in a "tween" scale (for both 20mm and 28mm), though erring on the larger side. I have the idea of doing a "false floor" that can be used to raise up the smaller figures, and sill make the terrain feature look "kinda right".

A FOUR POINT PLAN

A Najewitz original resin, scratch "ruined" by moi. (2025)

The following is a list of some of the scoring, at least the one's relevant to me, that are utilised by the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge to measure progress while also promoting some friendly competition within the hobby.

28mm: Foot: 5pts, Mounted/Artillery/Crew Wpn: 10 pts, Vehicle: 20pts.
20mm: Foot: 4pts, Mounted/Crew Wpn: 8pts, Vehicle: 15pts.
15mm: Foot: 2 pts, Mounted/Artillery: 4pts.
Terrain: per 6"cube: 20 pts.

And while it's not something I could ever see myself doing, since I think I would find it adds "pressure" to the part of the hobby I already struggle with. Yet at the same time, I do like the concept as a measure of progress, especially since I "butterfly" between projects while trying to keep my procrastination and distraction at bay.

So while simply counting off the number of figures is one way to achieve a similar goal, I do like that this "scoring" offers a certain equity between scales. So if last year (2025-2026) was a gauge I probably scored approximately 200 points between foot figures, vehicles and terrain, and this could offer a benchmark with which to assess my progress over the next 12 months.

But knowing myself, I have to wonder is this a tool of measured accountability or merely another thing that is great in concept but that I will find lacking and unsupportive in practice? I guess there is only one way to find out?

So the four pronged attack that forms my cunning hobby plan for 2026-2027,

Rebasing - Three of my 20mm WWII armies: the IJA, Australians and Fallschirmjäger (Crete).
New Project - 28mm Bolt Action IJA.
A Diversion - Painting more 15mm ACW, mainly CSA to "bulk out" my army and bring some force balance.
Terrain - Too many options, but always a pleasant side project when I get tired of painting delicate work and just want to "slop" paint around and still make some gains.

There is enough variety here in terms of size, scope and type to keep me from getting "bored" and offer plenty of scope for supporting a year of steady progress. 

OLD MODEL REPAIRS

The fragile leg finally gave way after 34 years of 
supporting the Orc and Wyvern

I've owned the Marauder Miniatures Orc War Wyvern since 1992, and although its not the oldest lead miniature I own, it was one of those that I managed to paint and feel fairly proud about. He sits in a quite prominent position in one of my display cabinets amongst other models that I purchased around the same time and that are still in my collection.

Sadly the intervening years, with a model that is decidedly top heavy the single supporting leg finally gave way. Truth is the model had tilted a few times over the years and my efforts to straighten it probably contributed to the onset of metal fatigue and the eventual failure just above the ankle.

So a few small holes carefully made with my Dremel tool allowed me to super glue in a section of a large paperclip that had been clipped to size, and two extra clear perspex rod supports were positioned to prop up and support the weight of the model and counteract any future lean. Much the same as is often seen supporting large heritage trees that are in danger of collapsing under their own weight and age.

The support on the left of the left image above was put in when I built the thematic ruins as a base for the model sometime around 2016/7 and gives a better look at the full model. While the image on the right shows two additional perspex supports designed to hold the weight so that the drilled pin is not solely responsible for holding the model in position.

Let's hope it holds another 34 years.

STRIPING BACK TO DO-OVER

I stuffed up.

I made up a number of the Warlord IJA soldiers went through the base debate, and then decided to do a test paint or two just to see how they would look. And I stumbled at the first step. Either the spray can was held too close, or too far, or maybe not shaken enough, or rather that the humidity level is currently just too high since it's the tail end of the Monsoon and I need to wait for a better time, but regardless the result was a speckled and splattered base coat totally unsuitable for contrast paints to spread.

So along with the gloss painted Type-95 Ha-Go gift from a good friend with the best of intentions*, it means that my 28mm Bolt Action IJA force starts not with painting but rather paint striping. 

Something, that even after 40 years in the hobby, I have never done. So after a little bit of online research, then confirmed through multiple sources, the process seems simple enough.

A leisurely isopropyl-alcohol (91+% pure) bath, followed by a nice scrub with an old toothbrush, repeated until most of the paint has been stripped away and I'm happy. Then a nice rinsing wash in some dish detergent and warm water followed by another wait as "reset" figure dries.

I'm led to believe that not all the paint will be removed but that I should be left with a figure that is "reset" enough and that all the speckling should be removed enough so that I can try again.

* I have been contemplating just touching up and repairing the Ha-Go, maybe using some Army Painter Anti-shine to tone down the gloss, and some powders to add some dirt, but basically keeping it "as is", since there is something nicely nostalgic about retaining it as my friend finished and gifted it. I'll have to try and paint a sister tank to match.

STANDING TALL - BASING

Enhancing a 30 year old gift of old Dark Ages Miniatures -
a shield transfer, a wash, and a 3D printed base. 

Thirty or so years ago a good friend "gifted" me a real mix bag of 25mm Dark Ages troops, enough to field at least two skirmish forces from at least three indeterminate allegiances.

And there they sat, safely stored until a few years ago when I, inspired by Saga and then Ravenfeast, decided that they needed to be re-based and "tarted" up a little in order to make them usable. So some shield transfers (better suited to modern flat shields than the domed style of early 1990's sculpts) were clumsily applied, the figure was given a wash of Agrax Earthshade, then they were rebased on a solid 25mm 3D printed base similar to those used by Games Workshop before being a affixed to a magnetic base. The advantage with this method is that it "lifted" each figure a few millimetres and put them at the same eye-level of more recent 28mm sculpts.

So as I start to plan my IJA forces I started to wonder if their would be any advantage to using a similar basing style to help distinguish my figures during club nights and at least lower the risk of my models going on a little temporary holiday into another club members collection. Or would another method be better suited in aiding such identification maybe a simple colour dot stuck to the bottom of the magnetic base, since the "height boost" is not really needed or even wanted?

CHUUK - NIPPO MARU

Built in 1936 by the Kawasaki Dockyard in Kobe, the 3,763-ton Nippo Maru began its life as a civilian cargo ship before the Imperial Japanese Navy requisitioned it in 1941. It spent the early years of the war functioning as an auxiliary transport and water tanker, delivering vital munitions and supplies to Japanese forces throughout the Pacific.

The ship's service came to a violent end during Operation Hailstone on February 17, 1944, when USS Essex dive bombers struck it with three 500-pound bombs. The crippled vessel plunged into the waters of Chuuk Lagoon, where it now sits upright at a depth of approximately 50 meters. Today, the wreck is famous for the hauntingly preserved Japanese Type 95* tank that remains parked on its port side deck alongside artillery and other wartime cargo.

            

In late June 2015 I spent nearly three weeks hopping between different Pacific locations exploring WWII sites both above and below the surface. I dived the Nippo Maru at least three times in the week I was in Chuuk, with the goal of trying to get a "good shot" of the tank* and unfortunately due to a number of factors - silt, lack of light, equipment, and mostly user error the images on the left above were the best I managed to take. Those on the right, are after much fighting, cajoling, and AI hallucinations, Gemini enhanced. Below are some shots from the back of the same wreck where there sits three 47mm Type 1 Anti-tank guns all jumbled up, these have been edited only for exposure, brightness and contrast, no AI help at all.

 

* There is some debate, and some sites actually list the "tank" as a Type 97 Ke-Te  Tankette, however the Senshi Sosho (the official Japanese Ministry of Defense's history)  lists the logistical manifest of the 52nd Division Tank Unit as explicitly being equipped with Type 95 Ha-Go tanks. Added to which the supply chain convoy that the Nippo Maru operated in included the San Francisco Maru and it famously has three Ha-Gos on its decks and was sunk nearby.

AT ARMS DISTANCE

So yes I “bit the bullet” and procured some IJA troops for Bolt Action. Or rather I secured some more troops, since I already had a tank in the "lead-pile". BUT,

I hate painting miniatures. 

There I said it.

I’m not very good at it, I never have been and I have never bothered to spend the required time to get good at it. 

And if I am 100% honest I am not sure I will ever spend the time to either.

I love the look of a painted army, and would never field one unpainted, but it is the history, the research, playing the game, the collecting, and the camaraderie that are the highlights of the hobby for me. I do however like making terrain which ironically does include some painting. (go figure)

The fact I have painted armies is more a result of, at one time, having a disposable income high enough to start my various collections, and throughout my wargaming life buying or being dumped with old projects from friends for whom a period or scale no longer held fancy. The number of units that I have actually painted is quite small, and while it is in double figures, it’s not as high as it probably should be for forty plus years in the hobby.

Kleve-Berg, my single painted battalion from my first "lead" purchase.

The figures I have painted are “table top” quality at best only saved by some nice basing and some pretty flags. So “at arms distance” is how I hold my mini’s and how I like to look at them. It’s also probably why I love 15mm, there is enough detail to look good en-masse but not enough to show my lack of paint brush dexterity, thus I get to have the “sense” and “look” of a battle while also recognising my painting limitations. 

Sadly being of a certain vintage, I now need to get myself a magnifying lamp* before I start putting paint onto plastic and I need to embrace more "modern" painting techniques beyond blocking and dry-brushing. Which brings me to Speed or Contrast paints, brand description aside, these do offer a short-cut to someone like myself. Videos online show a 28mm figure table ready in as little as 10 mins (plus drying time).

Whole squads ready to fall-in and offer themselves up to the vagaries of my poor decisions and the fickleness of the die in a gentlemanly repast accompanied by a fine spirit. Sounds too good to be true.

Wargames Delivered, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LURg44kQekY&t=5s

And while this sounds so simple, there are no hobby stores where I live, the mail is unreliable at best, and as I mentioned in a past post things like paints have to be purchased as part of holiday and travel plans, which sometimes limits the options available often due to stock and delivery time limits. And while others question the use of AI in the hobby, its support in identifying matching colours between manufacturers of both model paints and commercially available spray paints has proven a boon for me, and has helped plan my next (painting) steps.

* I can no longer see the little buggers in enough detail to paint them without some technological help. And even with the help of my specs I don’t feel comfortable unless the model is a lot closer, thus a good light source and a magnifier is now needed.