Thursday 22 August 2019

The Butterfly has Been Busy.

Last weekend we took a trip to Queenstown in the lower part of the South Island, just to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and enjoy a winter break in a wintery spot.

Queenstown is a spectacular place nestled between towering mountains. This was my second visit, the first being several years ago when on a couple of warm days in February we investigated the town, ate some lovely food and had a great trip on a steamboat up Lake Wakatipu.  Those towering mountains haven’t changed, but this time they sported a fresh dusting of snow.


We had an eventful trip down. The approach to Queenstown airfield is challenging at the best of times, flying down a narrow valley, and our arrival was met with wind-shear as we exited the valley, forcing two go-arounds, followed by a diversion to refuel at Invercargill (85 nautical miles to the southwest) and then a third, successful, attempt at Queenstown. So our one hour forty flight took us three and a half hours, but with these gorgeous views, who cares, and we were still arrived in time for lunch.


On a fabulously sunny Sunday, albeit with a frosty -4C start, a gondola ride took us another 1000 feet above the town for a breathtaking view over the lake before partaking in the food and wine on offer. I must say I was a little disappointed in some of the restaurants this time that were charging absurdly high prices for some pretty small servings - I mean $32.00 for four scallops in a bit of sauce was a bit steep in an establishment that could hardly be called fine dining. Still we managed to find some places with value and atmosphere - especially as we watched NZ beat Australia at rugby.

Since returning home I have been working hard to catch up on the basing backlog and there are four groups of goodies for show and tell. The varied nature of these item shows an alarming tendency towards butterflyism as I flit between projects...I need to start that Bavarian project to get me back on the straight and narrow.

First is number one of eight Russian Napoleonic limbers I need to do to get the Russian army up to spec.




Second is the first of four Spanish Napoleonic limbers. Drawn by four mules and accompanied by two muleteers, this makes quite a different sort of limber model. I am sure this model will have a second life as a limber for the Carlist Wars.



Third is a unit of Don Cossacks. This is my first use of the Games Workshop Contrast Colours, with the blue being applied over a blue base coat and the hair completed with a coat of Snakebite Leather...really Snakebite Leather? I still need to practice some more with these to figure out exactly how to use them.



The fourth item is number two of what will be three flatboats from the Perrys. This time I have furled the flags. I love this model and am looking forward to the third one.




The butterfly fluttering will probably continue for another few weeks while the odds and ends of projects wrap up.

10 comments:

  1. Beautiful country, Mark! Reminds me of the Pacific Northwest. Outstanding additions to your collection. I especially like your flatboat stuffed with sailors. Super basing too!

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    1. You are right it is a beautiful part of the country. I want to get back down there again in summer, hire a car and have a good look around. And yes that flatboat is a great model. I am seriously thinking of getting another one and mounting a carronade in the bows.

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  2. Great photos of mountains and figures! 'Butterfly' tendencies only make you feel like nothing is done until everything is complete..then there is really a lot of bragging rights to use.

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    1. In fact it is quite good being a butterfly at the moment - provides some variety. Also I have 12 limbers to do and to paint them one after the other can be tedious. At least this way I get a break from painting traces on the horse teams.

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  3. An interesting and varied assortment there Mark. I’m keen to get a few of those Spanish limbers myself. I like Queenstown but know what you mean about the airport. No go around for me luckily, but it did feel a bit like landing on an aircraft carrier.

    I knew we would get thumped in the rugby. A second win was always going to be too much to hope for after Perth. I had to laugh after that game when Cheika proudly announced how we had been building toward that win. At least we had a winning streak of two games to celebrate for a week, I suppose.

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    1. And still some more variety to come. The Spanish limbers are fun. I wish I had bought a couple of the ones with the gun attached because there is a third figure, sitting on the gun trail, but that makes the base too big for me.

      Queenstown is always a spectacular arrival though, either through the valley or over the lake.

      The previous Sunday, after we lost to the Wallabies, was like a day of national mourning as is always the way when the All Blacks lose, as you would recall from your NZ days.

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  4. You certainly live in a beautiful country Mark...
    You also have a very productive butterfly...
    I’ve been very pleased with the results I have got using Contrast colours... It is excellent for painting horses.

    All the best. Aly

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    1. The scenery around Queenstown is truly breathtaking. I want to spend some more time around that part of the country, but maybe in summer,

      And the fluttering continues with lots more coming through.

      I need to experiment more with the contrast colours, but I didn’t buy a big enough range and simply haven’t had a chance to get back to the GW store...maybe next week.

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  5. Nice scenery, great looking limbers,I especially like the Spanish one,I like the Cossacks but the stand out is the flatboat, it's ace! Just to clarify,I was looking forward to your excellently painted Bavarians,I never for one minute thought you would be mad enough to paint their flags!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks Iain. Yes the boat is impressive. I hope to start the third and final one late this week. Believe it or not I DID hand paint Bavarian flags (for a WSS army) back in the 80’s when iI was young and foolish. I may yet draw them up on the computer as the basic design is relatively simple.

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