Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Painting Report

This past Sunday Pete and Murdock came over and helped me paint some more troops for our Afristan Campaign.

Now I should first make clear that I had glued the infantry to popsicle sticks and hot-glued the cavalry riders to those as well. I had then "black primed" them followed with a "damp brush" in white . . . resulting in figures much like those seen in the rear rank of the "Camel Riders" (which Pete had started on, but had not had time to finish):


Pete also did complete the riders for what will become his lancer unit. Below you can see his riders for Skinner's Horse:


Murdock spent much of his time painting a unit of lancers for his son, Alex:


But he also painted a pair of lancer figures to match a unit of ten that I already had:


As for my infantry figures (seen below), I had previously blocked in much (although not all) of the major colors (coats, headgear and the kilts) . . . so what I needed to do was to work on finishing the major color blocks and then start on details (straps, guns, some shoes, etc.). I had hoped to get to adding the plaid to the kilts and trews, but I ran out of time for that.

First, my work on my Sepoy unit, the 15th Sikhs:


Following you will see how work has progressed on my platoon of the Black Watch:


And finally a squad of the 72nd Highlanders in trews (rather than a kilt). I picked the Duke of Albany's Own because they had red-based trews rather than the more normal blue/green.


So, while we didn't get as much done as we hoped . . . well I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped (but I was working on 51 figures -- there is an extra officer figure with the 72nd) and I still have the plaids and metal work and other odds and ends to finish before Pete and I fight the next campaign battle . . . oh yes, I do have to base all of these guys too . . . nevertheless we did get a lot done and it will help further the campaign quite a bit.

Finally, Murdock has also posted some photos of us at work on his MurdocK's MarauderS blog.

-- Jeff

5 comments:

  1. That's a pretty good effort just the same. Painting the tartans might slow progress a bit. looking good so far.

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  2. Looks like a good and productive session. I was a bit surpised to see the lancers in red, one gets so used to seeing them in khaki that uts easy to forget that many of the lancer units had unique dress uniforms. They are going to look great in the field.

    Hor the Highlanders, keep the tartan simple. A suggestion actually looks better than many of the detailed jobs. When you look at a real kilt or trews from 10 feet away, you can't see all the various lines. Britain's used to get away with just a black stripe over green for Black Watch, I always go a bit further with a blue base with wide green stripes crossing it and then just enough thin black lines to tone it down. Which looks a bit like the one in th cupboard. Of course when I get it out of the cupboard and look at it from across the road, it just looks dark green.

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  3. A very productive session. Tartans are always tricky. As Ross says, simple is best.

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  4. Yes for the tartans I always just use a 'cross hatch' of the primary colors in the stripes over a background of the dominant color seen.

    The only exception to this is the 'tops' of red stripes on stockings ... as this is best done with a fine brush and some patience ... really finishes off the minis strong.

    I did the stripes in the Bengal Lancers turbans with a similar approach. Does make them stand out a bit.

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  5. Excellent progress. Sometimes having others over to paint takes some of the drudgery out of it. Looks good.

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