Smoke and Lead

Here at Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy, we try to have a comprehensive review section for both our main and the themed miniature sections. Though I sometimes get a review sent in, most of the time I do them myself and take the photographs of the miniatures, which Christy then makes look pretty for the magazine.

People often say to me how lucky I am being a reviewer. After all don’t we get ‘free stuff’ all the time? Well it’s not quite that simple… no, not simple at all. Firstly any review we receive is an unwritten promise that it’ll (probably) go in the magazine. While I am very grateful for what manufacturers send me for WS&S, I am also very careful to only ask for what we need and what is really new. A selection of miniatures is always good, as I can then pick out the most representative ones to use. I then proceed to ruin the figures by covering them with Tamiya Smoke. 

While the Smoke is great for covering the model to pick out details for photography, it does add a thick layer of paint to the model which makes it hard to paint afterwards. So, with the exception of chainmail, ‘smoking’ a miniature does it no favours. I also end up with small collections of models, never enough for a small skirmish warband, never mind an army. So I always have to buy more (oh dear…) and I can’t give away what I already have; what if we need it for a future issue’s themed review? I can’t ask a manufacturer for something twice…

The exception is of course plastic. That does not need smoking and is generally good to photograph once assembled. So I guess they are useful, as you generally get plenty to paint in a single box. I’m sure I’d get no pity (nope, not one bit, Ed.) if I said I had plenty to paint already - and then the magazine is sent more samples of new and interesting ranges to distract me… Oh well, being a forced wargames butterfly is a good thing for the magazine, but disastrous for my hobby, wallet and girlfriend’s sanity…