2025: A Year in Review

So 2025 was another year. From a personal perspective, I moved house again, this time for building work on our house. One more move next year and I plan never to move again! 

I also had a couple of weeks of my girlfriend being in hospital which didn't help anything, thankfully that's all sorted now. I also got more games of Flames of War played than previously, and got a decent amount of painting done.

Firstly, the final last last gasp painting of the year, I completed my final Hero Motor Strelkovy infantry company on New Years Eve. These are again Battlefront plastics, and painted up well.

 

This was good as it brought me to 135 models for the year, not my best year, however far from my worst, and my best since the pandemic ended. It's still a model roughly every 3 days, which isn't too bad.

This year for the first time I also kept a shame total, Models purchase vs models painted. Sadly for this year I'm at -16, with 151 purchased and 135 painted. Need to work on that next year!

 So what did I get painted?

• 2 Hero Motorstrelkovy Companies and Battalion command.
• Few Soviet infantry teams and 2 more 37mm AA guns.
• 10 Goff Gretchin and 1 Blood Axe Gretchin
• Panzer Grenadier Platoon
• A small Panzer Pioneer Platoon
• 3 Finnish BA-10 Armoured Cars
• 3 Finnish BT-42
• Fanstasy Shade and Armoured Goblin
• 4Soviet  IS-2 heavy tanks
• 4 Soviet IS-122 heavy assault guns
• 10 Soviet OT-34 Flame tanks
• 10 Soviet T-26
• 3 Soviet BA-10
• 3 Tokens
• 9 Soviet 82mm and 9 Soviet 120mm Mortars
• An Astute Class Submarine 
• Railway Stuff:
• 1 1:76 Daimler Dingo (Load for the War Train)
• Several 00 wagons renumbered and repairs added.
• A OO Cricket Team 
• 4 O gauge figure painted (Still trying to donate to Heaton Lodge)
• My Z gauge layout Kita-Chibi (previously Cherry Blossom) is nearly done. It was renamed as firstly "Cherry Blossom" is a bit generic. Secondly the layout is heavily based on Kita-Chippubetsu station in Japan. Chibi is a Japanese art style that adjust proportions to make things more 'cute' (normally bigger head, smaller body) and I think this greatly suits the Z-shorty layout with it's shrunken train length and tight curves.

  As such, I think "Kita-Chibi" suits the layout well. I've just added a shelter to this, think I just need to add some station detail (Mirrors and signage), and telegraph poles and that should be it for the layout.

  
  
  

  All in all a productive year, I think. On with the next!