It’s been some time since I have written a blog post but the good news is that I have been busy gradually expanding my collection of painted figures and if not reducing my lead pile, then at least keeping it under control!
Rather than a step by step guide to a particular project, this post is really just a round up of some of the stuff that I have been working on. If I can get back into the habit of writing a regular blog, I will perhaps revisit some of the projects – I think that the making of movement trays might be quite useful.
Stradiots!
I had to get this unit of Stradiots finished for the Derby Billhooks BASH. They are from Perry Miniatures and I bought them last year at ‘The Other Partizan’ and they would complete for now, my Italian states army of Gendarmes and Landsknechts.
Elizabethan era Kern
The five Kern were from a set produced by Battle Flag Miniatures. I had already painted the three Gallowglass in the set and wanted to finish these to add them to my Irish army. The figure wearing the Morian Helmet is really more suited to the Elizabethan age but I doubt if anyone will notice if I sneak him into a WOTR army for service at Stokes Field!
The Irish Commander
I also finished the commander of the ‘Fighting Irish’ Battleflag miniatures set. I’ve hedged my bets a bit here and finished him in Spanish colours. He will work as a commander for a Spanish army of Conquistators, maybe a Tercico for the Italian wars or even as a commander of an Elizabethan force fighting the Irish.
Rohan Standard Bearer
In a change of direction, I painted this Rohan Standard bearer from the Magazine collection, Battle Games in Middle Earth. I have now reached issue 41 of this series. I really could do with a blog post rounding up my collection so far.
New Movement trays
I’ve also been making movement trays for some of my units. These Anglo Danes were originally a Saga force but we have been playing ‘Never Mind the North Men’, yet another spin off from Billhooks, written by Jan Ash. I’m really quite pleased with the new trays. I used 60/000 black plasticard and 1/8 inch balsa strip to make the trays. Once you have the first one made, you can use this as a template and it is suprisingly quick to knock out more!
Ashigaru Archers
I now have 24 of the Fireforge Ashigaru archers completed. The plan is to have a complete army based on Fire Forge figures for ‘Never Mind The Naganitas’ another NMTBH’s rule set that I am working on.
Ashigaru armed with Naganita’s
With these 12 Ashigaru completed, I am close to finishing the army. Another twelve to do and the troops will be completed.
One of the Seven Ronin
The last figure is from the Grey for Now ‘Seven Ronin’ boxed set. I painted him more or less at the same time as the Ashigaru, using the same colours. I’ll work my way through the set – they are lovely figures but I’m not sure what I’ll use him for yet!
Dinofelis (“terrible cat”) is a genus of Machairodontin saber-toothed cats belonging to the tribe Metailurini that lived approximately 5-1.5 million years ago. Dinofelis is known as a “false saber-tooth” cat because, instead of true saber-teeth, it had a cross between long, flat saber-teeth and the cone-shaped teeth of the modern-day felines. A Dinofelis was about the size of a Leopard or Jaguar.
Any pictures of these beasts are of course conjectural, as all we have is fossil evidence to go on. Some images show Dinofelis with tiger stripes, others with markings similar to a leopard.
The Deezee range of pre historic animals contains a model of a Dinofelis. Since I have retired, the DeeZee range is no longer available on line. However, there are plans to change this and the range should appear back on line in early 2025, all being well. In the meantime, my plan to personally paint each one of the 39 packs available in the range continues with DZ14, Dinofelis. Painting these miniatures gives me a pleasant break from my usual military subjects and a chance to indulge my imagination. There are two identical models in the pack but I chose to paint them in a slightly different colour scheme.
Version one – leopard spots!
The first version that I painted, had a golden yellow coat with leopard spots. The main body was painted with Vallejo Gold Brown 70877, over brushed with the same colour lightened with Iraqi Sand 70819.I used Ivory 70918 for the underbelly and face, highlighting with off white 70820. The spots were painted on with German Cam. Black Brown 70822 which I thought was less harsh than using pure black. I did pick out his nose eyes and mouth with 70950 Black and finished the model with a light wash of Army painter soft tone.
Version two – changed spots!
Version two of the Dinofelis was painted in a lighter brown colour. This time I started with Cork brown 70843 overbrushed with German Cam. Beige 70821. The spots were painted with Chocolate brown 70872 and then the centre’s picked out with Beige Brown70875 to get a ‘rosette’ effect. As with version one, the underbelly was painted with Ivory, highlighted with Off white and the details picked out in black. Again, a light coat of soft tone was applied to bring everything together and give some shading.
The two Dinofelis side by side.
So another pack of DeeZee can be crossed off of my list. It only took an evening to paint these models and as I have said, it was a nice break from my usual subjects. Indeed, painting the spots was quite therapeutic!
The 6th Bill Hooks BASH was held on Saturday14th September at the Boards and Swords venue in Derby. Organised by Pete Harris, this event is a celebration of the Never Mind the Bill Hooks game, played in a non competitive spirit, the emphasis being on having a fun and enjoyable day with like minded enthusiasts. The players are split into Yorkist or Lancastrian supporters and the winning faction can enjoy boasting rights at the end of the day!
To confirm the social bias of the event, it has been customary for players to meet for a meal (latterly at the very pleasant Exeter Arms) and a few drinks on the Friday prior to the event. This is very much an evening of great conversation and banter as well as laughter. Of course, it’s an ideal way of breaking the ice for new participants. This year we had 13 attendees for the meal – I laid out an additional place at the table to make fourteen as I thought that having 13 diners on Friday the 13th was testing lady luck!
And so to Saturday when battle was joined! I’ll write a more thorough overview of the day that should be published in Wargames Illustrated,.This will include details of the winners of the painting competition, overall results and list the participants This blog article will just concentrate on reporting on the two battles that I fought on the day. As usual, my reporting is not quite up to par – I failed to record details of my opponents army or photograph them before battle – Doh!
Battle 1 vs John Kersey’s Italian State Army
John was fielding an Italian State army which had the benefit of being composed of plenty of units but the slight disadvantage in quality as some of the units were rated as Levy. I felt that the Landsknechts under my command would be more than equal to the opposition. As I had a unit of light cavalry (Stradiots) and John only had heavies, I was able to out scout him and he was obliged to place his Skirmishers and artillery as well as one other ward first in the deployment phase. With his artillery and heavy cavalry deployed on his left Flank, I deployed my Landsknecht blocks well out of the way on the my left ( his right). Pike blocks can be very susceptible to artillery fire and I wanted them to be as intact as possible as they moved across the field of battle.
The movement phase commenced with me detaching my gunsmen from the pike blocks and moving them forward to open fire on the opposition pike block causing the first casualties of the battle. We then went to turn one of the cards and the two armies began to close. As luck would have it, my skirmisher card came up again and the gunsmen delivered another volley into the pikes. Early into the turn, John won a bonus card. This can usually mean trouble but on this occasion it was a blessing for me. A sudden rainstorm meant that no shooting was permitted! Under the cover of the rain, the Compte de Biscotti advanced his Gendarmes to counter the advance of the Italian heavy Knights as he confidently ignored the artillery and crossbowmen threatening him!
The Compte de Biscotti chases off the Italian knights!
Turn two saw Biscotti charging home against the Italian knights and despite the counter charge, Biscotti was triumphant, winning the combat and routing the Italians. This prompted the Crossbowmen skirmishers and the artillery to run off the table with the knights! For now, my right flank was secure.
The situation on the left – two blocks of Landsknechts move relentlessly forwards!
On my left, the infantry on both sides closed with each other with my two blocks of Landsknechts facing two pike blocks and a levy spear unit supported by skirmishers. Unfortunately, the spear unit had advanced a bit to far from the support of the pike blocks and was very exposed! The gunsmen in the woods continued to harry the Italian pike block.
Turn 3 and the Vorhut, under the able command of Lorenza de Pala charged home against the levy spearmen. Despite the mismatch, the spearmen held! Bravely fighting on for another turn. Undeterred, by this slight setback, the Gerwalthut, commanded by Captain Nicomo Cosca attacked the levy pike block. This was a more successful combat for the Landsknecht’s, with the levy pikes breaking and routing from the field, taking the supporting skirmishers with them!
Flank attack! The Italian Pike charge home!
Despite seeing the levy pike block flee the field, the more professional Italian pikes were undaunted and were able to press home and attack into the flank of the victorious Landsknechts. These tough mercenaries were able to hold, despite taking casualties.
The glorious charge of the Duc de Bourbon!
However, the Duc de Bourbon decided to take matters in hand and on his card being turned, charged home into the flank of the Italian pikes. Although there are are rerolls or charge bonuses for cavalry hitting a pike block ( even in the flank) the Duc managed to inflict 14 hits with 9 kills! with the extra hits from the Landsknechts, the Italians crumbled and retreated from the field!
Just two casualties taken by the Gendarmes as the Italians retreat from the table!
Jon had by now run out of tokens so it was Victory for the French! The Duc be Bourbon boasting how his charge won the battle – a boast that would come back to haunt him later….
John reacts to his pike block running from the battle – Game over!
Battle 2 vs Richard Marriot
Richard and I had met before at Billhooks BASH IV where he had pulled my Irish army to pieces stopping me getting a clean sweep on the day. To read all about this encounter, click here:
I was determined to get my revenge! Richard was fielding a straight forward WOTR army but as noted in my last encounter, unusually fielded a unit of mounted knights which had caused so many problems to my Irish. I was determined that they would not do so again! Deployment was fairly straight forward, we both had light horse so rolled for deployment. There were no real surprises on either side – I did ensure that my commander was safely deployed far out on the left and matched his heavy and lights with my own equivalents. It would be up to the Landsknechts to slog it out with the opposing infantry!
Opening the battle, my gunsmen had already killed three knights before being wiped out by arrow storms!
In the movement phase, I once again dispatched my gunsmen to cause as much of a nuisance as possible. In this case, their target was the English knights and with their opening volley, they were able to kill three of the enemy. Richard was not going to put up with that rate of attrition and so used his archers to send a number of arrow storms and wipe them out! I thought it a fair exchange – three knights and three arrow storms for 12 gunsmen. I’m not sure that the gunsmen would agree…
Turn two saw the Compte de Biscotti charge the English knights and despite superior numbers, they lost the first round of combat! Fortunately, they survived the morale test and combat continued. By turn three, Biscotti’s numbers overcame the diminishing English Knights and they fled the field. Meanwhile, the Landsknechts chased off the light cavalry temporarily and despite them taking numerous arrow storms, casualties were extremely light. The English archers aim seemed to be off and as the two armies closed, the archers were running short of arrows!
Look closely and you will see that two archers are holding up the Landsknecht pike block!
In turn three, using a combination of a sneaky special event card ‘False colours’ the Gewalt were able to charge home against the single unit of archers! The result should have been a massacre and it was, the pikes killing 10 archers. They needed to throw 11 to stand. Bugger! they did just that, holding the Landsknechts for the time being!
Things are getting busy on the battefield!
Things now started to get busy on the battlefield with the Vorhut engaging a bill and bow block and the Stradiots charging another unengaged bill and bow block in the flank. The Stradiots inflicted 6 casualties but the block passed it’s morale test causing the Stradiots to bounce. Meanwhile the Gewalt finally put the archers to flight and engaged the same bill and bow block. Again, the English, whilst taking casualties stood firm, passing their morale check.
The Duc de Bourbon edges closer to the combat – watch out there are gunsmen in the woods!
There was no doubt the the English were under pressure and sensing victory, the Duc de Bourbon began to edge closer to the fighting, ignoring the gunsmen skulking in the woods. However, the English, although taking severe losses somehow managed to fight on, surviving each morale check required. The gunsmen had also started to inflict casualties on the Duc’s Gendarmes, infuriating the Duc!
Biscottti has survived his own morale challenges and ready’s for the charge!
Things started to get desperate! Although the French had yet to lose a morale token, they were beginning to be frustrated by the English army’s resilience and ability to continue to fight. The French had taken 5 morale tokens and when Biscotti charged home into the flank of the engaged Bill and bow block, daunting it, just one more token was required!
Biscotti charges in, daunting the English!
The Vorhut, however, had failed to break the English block that it was fighting and after three turns it was forced to withdraw, leaving a heavily depleted unit. Surely it was just a matter of time before the English folded.
The Duc de Bourbon finds that the English are not going to give up!
The Duc de Bourbons card was then drawn. With the English bill block left with three men, surely it was time for him to charge in and deliver the coup de grace as he had in the previous game! With 8 dice hitting on 4+, re rolling all misses and the commanders automatic hits and saving on a 3+ what could go wrong? Well, the Gendarmes inflicted 5 hits all of which were saved…The billmen inflicted 3 hits, 2 of which were not saved!!! The Duc had lost the combat and would need to check his morale. He failed miserably and ran from the field! Somehow the stoic English had put flight to the French commander and won the game!
I was so shocked that I forgot to take a picture of Richards victory dance – he had snatched a most unlikely win thanks to my impetuous charge. That will teach me, as if I didn’t know already, that in billhooks it isn’t over until the dice say so!
So two fantastic games with two excellent and sporting opponents, John and Richard. I trust that we will meet again at a future event. Thanks once again to Pete Harris for organising the day and the superb meal, thank you to Boards and Swords for hosting the day and of course, thank you to all of the participants for making the day such a great event.
Britcon was held over the weekend of Friday 9th August through to Sunday 12th August at Nottingham Trent University, right in the heart of Nottingham. Britcon is a great addition to the wargames show calendar in that it follows the format of American wargames conventions with the emphasis on participation and ‘competitive’ gaming. Also on offer is accommodation in the student union buildings, so it’s easy for gamers to spend the whole weekend playing their favourite games with like minded people. With over 400 gaming attendees, the show certainly achieved it’s objective. Add to that, the 400 day visitors ( free entry if you booked on line in advance!) and a super selection of traders in attendance, there was comfortably over 1000 enthusiasts at the show over the weekend!
And boy, were they enthusiastic! I went to the show on the Saturday with Andy and Ian Callan to do a ‘recce’ in advance of our demo games of ‘Bill Hooks’. The hall was packed with gamers at 9.45am, absorbed in their games. On the Sunday, we returned to set our demo up in the Wargames Illustrated Room at 8.30am to find the gamers up and at it already! I did ask one of them if he had actually gone to bed!
A quick shout out to the traders – many of the dependable ‘big boys’ were there – Sarissa Precision, Warlod Games, Perry Miniatures by Dave Thomas to name my favourite three but three new stands caught my eye:
And the stand that took my cash was Athena Miniatures. I very much liked the War of The Roses range and picked up a couple of packs of character models. All being well they will feature in a future blog but to see their range, click here: https://www.athenaminiatures.co.uk
As well as the trade stands, there was an extremely well run and stocked bring and buy. Although I wasn’t tempted, the two Callan brothers were constant visitors and certainly helped recycle a number of items!
Rick Priestly, Alan and Michael Perry host a Valour and Fortitude game based on the Napoleonic Egyptian campaign
Of course, the main reason for my attendance was to help with the demo games of Never Mind The Bill Hooks, held in the special Wargames Illustrated room. On the Saturday, the room featured three amazing games showing off the Valour and Fortitude rules, with the author Jervis Johnson on hand to answer any questions. He was ably assisted by Rick Priestly, Alan and Micheal Perry amongst others, so it really was worth calling in to say hello!
The pictures above give some idea of the scale of the games. Massive tables and massive armies as well as spectacular scenery made the room a feast for wargamers eyes!
A few more pictures showing the detail on the tables. I suspect that Dan at Wargames Illustrated will have some better pictures, so look out for these in a future issue!
And so onto Sunday. It was the turn of ‘Bill Hooks’ to take over the WI room. Our tables weren’t quite as spectacular but the gaming fun was as good!
We put on three games – Boat Hooks, Bill Hooks Italia, and Bill Hooks Fantasia. I think it’s fair to say that we did more chatting than playing but there were some good games played. My new French force was soundly beaten on the Italia board, The English Fleet scoured the French from the sea and I think that the Evil side put the ‘goodies to flight in the Fantasia game!
Centre piece for the Italia board!
The centre piece for the Italia board was a fantastic model castle, originally made by, I think, Hudson Hall in America and somehow brought back to the UK by the late, great Duncan McFarlane in his luggage!
Heinrich Kane supervises the gun battery!
And so as Sunday came to an end, it was time to pack up and go home to mull over a most enjoyable weekend spent playing war games in the company of some very good friends. I really enjoyed meeting up with old friends and acquaintances and making new ones and I think that this is the side of the hobby that gives balance to our obsession!
I must mention Pete Ware, who I am sure made the longest journey to attend Britcon. Pete hails from Perth in Western Australia and had come to Nottingham via Edinburgh!!!
As usual, I missed almost as much as I saw. Next time, I will get to the Lard demonstration room! Britcon 2025 is already in my diary and I look forward to attending on the 8th -10th August 2025!
Just one of the magnificent entrances to Rhodes Old Town
It’s nearly two months since I’ve written a blog post! In that time, I’ve had a lovely holiday in Rhodes, relaxing and reading as well as exploring Rhodes Old Town and the beautiful medieval fortifications built by the Knight’s of St Johns also known as the Hospitalers. I’ve also been on numerous picnics and days out with Julie and Grandaughter Eleanor. The sunshine has not helped, it has been at times too hot to paint and certainly not the weather to be sat in front of the computer typing a blog post. And then there is the Olympics and the football!
Despite all of these distractions, I have been steadily painting bits and pieces, including some Samurai Cavalry.
Samurai Archers – Four more painted to complete the unit
I’ve added four Gendarme Standard bearers to my collection.
Gendarme Standard Bearers
I’ve also added a couple of LOTR models to my collection and I’ve now reached issue 38 of the magazine collection by painting Grima Wormtongue!
Grima Wormtongue
Finally, I’ve painted another of the ‘Giants in Miniature’ models produced by Wargames Illustrated, Great D’Arcy of the pale. In this case, D’arcy was a bit of a giant – he was reputedly the tallest man in Ireland at the time. William D’Arcy was an Irish lord who was involved in the Lambert Simnel plot to topple King Henry VII in 1487. D’arcy carried Simnel on his shoulders at Simnels coronation in Ireland. Fortunately for D’Arcy, he did not follow Simnel over from Ireland to the battle at Stokes Field as he may well have suffered the same fate as the rest of the Irish rebels, killed or hung as traitors during and after the battle!
Great D’arcy of the Pale!
He makes a nice addition to my Irish collection and will no doubt take to the Wargames table in future engagements as one of the commanders!
That just about rounds up most of my hobby activity for the last couple of months. The plan is that the blog will be upgraded and changed from the Arcane Scenery blog to ‘Steve’s Hobby Blog’ to reflect my newly retired status. I hope to write on a more regular basis and include a few ‘tutorials’. Mind you, I’m a bit concerned that my eye sight is deteriorating – the eyes on Great D’Arcy are a bit wonky when viewed up close but despite this, hopefully, fellow hobbyists will find some colour guides and research that I do useful.
I continue to build my Samurai army. Well, the way things are going, I’ll end up with two armies. One exclusively based on the Fireforge models, the other a mixture of Warlord Games, Footsore’s Warring Clans, Perry miniatures and other odds and ends. To take a break from painting Fireforge, I decided to build a couple of units of the Footsore Ashigaru. I was lucky enough to acquire all of the packs available in the range (courtesy of the generosity of Mark Farr and Andy Hobday) and so painting these would also reduce my lead pile – two wins!
The first unit of Ashigaru with Yari ( spears)
I used the three packs of Ashigaru with Yari and the Ashigaru Sergeant to make the first unit. As this still left me two men short of the twelve needed for a unit, I added in a couple of Warlord figures. I also decided to change the spears from the metal ones supplied to the plastic ones that come with the Warlord figures. I had plenty of these in the spares box. So why the extra work? Well the metal spears are extremely sharp and I would be stabbing myself throughout a game using them. The other issue with metal spears is that they are inflexible and are more likely to cause damage to other figures and themselves, whereas the plastic ones flex and there is less change of committing Hari-kari with them! The plastic spears also look better and will blend in with my other Ashigaru units.
Ashigaru with yumi primed in black
For the unit armed with Yumi (bows) I used the four different packs of three that are in the range to make a full unit of twelve. There are some lovely poses in these packs. I really liked the pair handing out the extra arrows. I decided to leave off the majority of the flags (sashimo) as they would get in the way of the arrows and quivers. The bows supplied with the figures are nicely done. I am concerned that they will not stand up to the rigours of gaming but time will tell. I think as a general comment regarding the Warring Clans range, its my opinion that they are superbly modelled and cast but are inclined to be less robust than other figures out there. They would make lovely display figures but I am concerned about breakages when it come to gaming. As I have said, time will tell and they are too nice not to be included in my army!
Dry brushed and flesh added
I cleaned up and assembled the figures – very little filing was required, the casting were excellent in this respect – they were then ready for priming. Once the black primer had dried – I’m now a great fan of the new Colour Forge primers – I dried brushed the figures with Vallejo medium sea grey and I used Army painter tanned flesh for the faces and hands.
Block painting done
I then blocked in the rest of the colours. Pastel Blue for the shirts and lacing; Off White for the socks, waist band, rice bags, sashimo and neck covers; Leather brown for the satchels, water bottles and quivers; Old wood for the arrows and sashimo supports, New Wood and German Cam black brown for the bows. I mixed things up for the trousers. On the bowmen, I used Rose brown and Beige brown with yellow ochre for the standard bearer. For the other unit of spearmen, I was less adventurous and just used Burnt Red for the trousers and neck guards on the whole unit.
The completed unit
Once I had colour blocked everything, I gave the figures various ink washes – flesh wash on the flesh, soft tone on the leathers, woods and cloth, dark tone over the whites. When the inks were dried, I then re highlighted everything with the original colours, touched up any obvious errors and then painted a simple three dot pattern in white on the shirts. I considered adding a pattern to the trousers but decided against it as I felt that it would make the figures look a bit ‘busy’ and I was too lazy!
The full block of Bowmen and Spearmen, based and in their movement trays ready for battle!
I followed my usual basing scheme, detailed elsewhere in my blog article and my units are ready for the battlefield. Look out for them in a forthcoming Never Mind The Naginatas battle report! Finally, I have yet to add the Mons (or clan identifier) to the flags. That’s partly because I have yet to make my mind up as to which clans to use. I already have quite a few Takeda troops but fancy some different banners for variety. I quite like the Mori mon as well as the Oda clan. I think that it will come down to where I can get the decals from as I don’t fancy painting them myself!
Lets deal with the procrastination first. It’s all about me not completing my blog for over a month. It’s not as though I haven’t been busy with my hobby. Far from it. With several fantastic games that I have played with friends, to reasonable progress on my painting projects, there’s been plenty going on. I just haven’t been motivated to write about it!
Edgar comtemplates his opening move as Pete tries some misdirection!
I’ll start with the gaming. I met with Pete Harris and Edgar Gillock over at Boards and Swords in Derby for a Bill Hooks play through. What made this special was that Edgar was visiting from the USA and was able to get some gaming time in whilst over here. It was a lovely afternoon and great to meet Edgar.
An Indian Wars encounter and Andy’s
My next game was an Indian Wars encounter at Andy’s place. We were using the ‘rules for old wargamers with short memories’ rules set written by Andy some years ago. We also tried out some new Ideas for scouting using scrabble blocks and magnets. You will have to wait to see if this sees the light of day in the future but it was good fun and I can see another ‘Bill Hooks’ supplement coming from this early play test.
Another playtest for ‘Never Mind the Naginatas’!
The following week found me play testing my version of Samurai Bill Hooks or ‘Never Mind the Naganitas’. This was a large affair with five players and in excess of 200points per side. All went well and lessons were learnt – the 6th draft of the rules is now completed ready for the next test.
The battle for Foz d’Arouce!
Perhaps my favourite battle of the month was a Black Powder battle on Pete Harris’s wonderful Spanish Village board – the battle for Foz d’Arouce. We had played this as a demo a couple of times at events and as you can see the scenery is superb.
The highlight, or from the French point of view ( I was playing on the French side), the low light, was following a superb flanking move, the French attack column lost a combat it should really have won and then failed its morale test to rout. As if this was not bad enough, the cascading morale tests saw another four, yes, four consecutive rolls of just three from two dice to send the whole of the French right wing from the table! Despite the incredible run of bad luck, it was still a most enjoyable game and a pleasure to be playing Napoleonic’s again.
A free figure from the Bristol Bill Hooks day – he will be part of a crew for ‘boat hooks’
As for painting, I have been working my way through building Samurai units but as a ‘rest’ in between I have been painting some single ‘personality’ figures that I have picked up.
Doing her best Spice girls impersonation ‘ Stop right there’ Lady Galadriel attempts to dissuade Lord Flash Heart from taking advantage!
So I finished Lady Galadriel from the Lord of the Rings magazine collection – I have now reached issue 35 of 91. I also completed two ‘Giants in Miniature’ both favourite characters of mine. Lord Flashheart and Flashman of George McDonald Fraser fame.
Flashman – ‘Hello!’Sir D’Isgny – the free figure from Partizan 2024
My final personality figure was the giveaway at Partizan 2024, a fictional figure Sir D’isgny based on the family from the village of Norton Disney nearby Newark. As you can see. I have yet to finish the basing as he is in a batch with the Duke of Monmouth ( the free personality figure from Hammerhead) and a Samurai unit.
The First Duke of Monmouth – free figure from Hammerhead 2024
I’m still working through Samurai units. The unit of 12 mainly Footsore ‘Warring Clans’ figures are all but complete. Perhaps my next blog will feature these in more detail. Again, these are nearly complete now but need the tufts on the bases to finish them off.
So that’s it for now. A busy and fulfilling hobby month for me. My painting has been a bit hit and miss but the lead pile hasn’t grown too much and a few more figures have been added to my collection.
I’m never sure of the best way of painting cavalry. Should you attach the rider to the horse and paint the model as a complete item? Or is it better to paint the horse and rider separately? I’ve tried both methods and I think that when it comes to painting a unit of cavalry, I find that a batch paint for the horses and riders separately works best for me. I tend to paint the horses in two’s or three’s, varying the colour for each batch and then adding different markings to give some variety. The same goes for the riders, unless of course, they are in uniform.
It’s then a question of how to paint the rider. By this I mean how do you hold the rider when there is no base to grip?
my previous method of mounting riders for painting
I’ve tried several methods. My preferred method used to be to sit the rider on a ‘saddle’ of blue tack attached to a stick. I then upgraded this to the method above. A wire stuck in bluetack through a plastic tube. It was OK but a bit over engineered!
My latest solution is just to drill the base of the rider and use super glue to attach a cocktail stick. The cocktail stick is more than big enough to hold whilst you are painting the figure and gives you access to all areas! Once the model is painted, I simply clipped off the stick with my trusty Xuron sprue clippers and the rider was ready to attach to his horse. Cheap, easy and effective.
Samurai cavalry primed, dry brushed and ready to paint.
As you can see from above, I ‘plonk’ the stick into a blob of blutack in between coats to protect the paint from any damage or if a wash is drying.
The horses were painted separately as a ‘mini batch’Ready to paint the ridersThe nearly finished Cavalry – just the basing to complete!two out of six complete – just four more on the bench.
So, I have a new simple method of painting cavalry riders that seems to be both cheap and effective. Unfortunately, whilst it makes painting easier, it doesn’t make it faster. It’s taken me two weeks to get six horses and two riders completed. Just four more to go!
I officially retired on Thursday 28th March and with the Friday being Good Friday a bank holiday, it should have been an easy transition to a life of loafing and painting model soldiers. Hmmm. It didn’t quite work out as I planned. The fact that everyone else was off on their Easter break made it feel like nothing much had changed.
As grand parents, we found ourselves on child care duty for a few days over the last couple of weeks to cover the school holidays, so again, my time wasn’t quite my own. Add to that the glitches involved in closing a business down and the queries that have arisen regarding all sorts of family and other issues and it doesn’t quite feel like I have reached a state of contented bliss that retirement promised! Indeed, I have painted less in the last three weeks than I usually manage.
The good news is that it hasn’t all been work and complications. Eleanor ( my granddaughter) and I were able to finish off one of her modelling projects. She had been making and painting a Sarissa precision delivery van which she chose to complete as a Fresh Grape sales van. Most of the painting was done, it was just the basing to complete. Here’s the result.
Fresh Grapes anyone?
I helped with the ground work but Eleanor did most of the painting and was very enthusiastic when it came to adding the tufts and flowers! It’s a nice little model for her collection and I very much recommend the smaller Sarrissa kits as great little project for youngsters ( Eleanor is 8 years old), so long as they have an adult to help with the super glue etc.
Inside the VulcanA Buccaneer!Folland GnatElectric LighningTurning Cartwheels!
We also visited the Newark Air museum. Perhaps not quite on Eleanor’s agenda but Granddad thought it was appropriate. Actually, I thoroughly enjoyed the visit as did Eleanor. We were lucky enough to be able to sit in the Vulcans cockpit – it’s not always available. There is plenty to see here, mainly Cold War jets but a really good venue. Anyone coming to Newark to go to the Partizan Wargames show would be well advised to take time out to visit the air museum. It is less than 2 minutes down the road and well worth a coupe of hours from your day.
Ashigaru with teppo!
Despite all of the distractions. I have achieved some progress with my Samurai project. It has taken some time but my second unit of Teppo armed Ashigaru is now completed – just the movement tray to landscape! This now gives me 24 Ashigaru with Teppo, more than enough for the time being. So I’ve now turned my attention to mounted Samurai.
Ponies for the mounted Samurai.
I have six assembled and awaiting painting. I’ve decided to paint 2 light brown ponies, 2 dark brown, one black and one white one for variety. The horses are first up and you can see the first two are ready for their riders.
Mounted Samurai W.I.P.
I’ll paint all six horses first before returning to paint the riders. I’m hoping that now the Easter holidays have come to an end and I gradually tick off the job list, I’ll have a bit more time to get these finished!
If you’ve wondered where my blog articles have been over the last few weeks, I have been distracted by my decision to retire at the end of this March and the consequences of doing so.
Arcane HQ in the Lenton Business Centre
I’ve been running Arcane Scenery with Julie for at least 17 years now and have clocked up just about 50 years working full time throughout my career, so it’s time for a change of pace and a chance to do something slightly different.
Arcane scenery at Partizan
As well as Julie, I’ve had tremendous support from the team over the years – the main players, Hayley, Rob and Kevin have all helped to keep Arcane running through some pretty tough times. Hayley and Kevin were stars through the very challenging COVID years.
As you can see,we used to attend number of shows, Salute, Derby and my favourite, Partizan- one and two! I have to say a big thank you to Pete Harris, who would often help and support us during these busy events.
Another of our stands at Partizan
I’ve also had the support from some superb companies and their teams over the years. In no particular order, other than alphabetical, thanks go to Albion Alloys, Blitzkrieg Miniatures, Creative, Expo, Footsore, Gaugemaster, Hobby Company, Javis, North Star, Nortons, Pocketbond, Renedra, Sarissa Precision, Wargames Illustrated, Warlord Games and a few that I have forgotten, no doubt! I haven’t name checked the individual’s involved – they know who they are – but it was always a pleasure to deal with them and as well as doing business together, we had a lot of fun.
Of course, the other group of people that I must thank are my loyal customers, far too many to name! I am very grateful for their support and of course, orders that we have had from them over the years. It’s a fact that without customers, there is no business. We tried our best to ensure that they were always well served and their orders were delivered on time and safely. It gave us great pleasure to know that we were helping people to enjoy their hobby.
So what happens next? The business will close down for a couple of weeks after Easter, whilst we try and tie up all the loose ends. If all goes to plan, the Arcane Scenery web site will continue but only as a blog, not as a retail operation. I hope to retain and continue with the blog – there are over 400 articles which I find useful and I hope other hobbyists do to!
Any remaining stock that we have left will be disposed of on ebay over the coming year at our leisure. For any fans of the DeeZee range, we will continue to make this available through our very good friends at Footsore. Who knows, with their help, I may even expand the range – just a little….
The good news is that I have reduced the price of much of our stock and there are some real bargains to be had, so buy now, when it’s gone it really will have gone!
My latest article in Wargames Illustrated 435
I will of course continue with my hobby and I hope to stay connected to the War games community by writing for Wargames Illustrated, as well as running demo games at shows – Partizan being the most likely!
I may even finally conquer the lead mountain, that despite my best efforts, is still growing faster than I can paint! Here’s the latest batch that I have painted. Some men of Gondor from the LOTR magazine – I have now reached issue 34!
Men of Gondor!
So once again, a sincere thank you to all of my customers, suppliers and friends that have supported Arcane Scenery over the years. I have really enjoyed my time in the business. It’s now time to focus on the Hobby!
I can only wish that you enjoy it as much as I do.
My quest to paint every model in the DeeZee range continues, albeit at glacial pace. I have too many other distractions to focus on finishing this project! However, there are two Smilodons in the DeeZee range; DZ13 Smilodon or Sabre Tooth attacking and DZ15 Smilodon or Sabre tooth stalking, so it made sense to paint them as a pair and knock another two models off of my list!
Although these big cats from the Pleistocine epoch are more familiarly known as Sabre tooth tigers, they are not closely related to either Tigers or modern cats and were inhabitants of the North and South America’s, rather than Asia. It is thought that they hunted large herbivores such as Camels and Bison. Although no record of the coat patterns exist, it is thought that the Smilodon had either plain coats or spotted ones, resembling leopards.
You can read more about the Smilodon on the Wikipedia page here:
So when it came to choosing a colour scheme for my models, I decide to go for the leopard variant. I did consider starting with a grey base for the fur and even using Tiger markings in grey/black but settled on the leopard scheme, using browns to get the darker look that I was after.
Painting finished – basing in progress
After priming the models in Army painter leather brown, I painted the top half of the models with Vallejo Flat Earth 70983. I used cork brown 70843 for the undersides. I then blended and highlighted using Iraqi Sand 70819.
To get the rosettes, I used German Camo Black Brown 70822 and dabbed the paint on to make rough circles, and then went back and filled in the middle of the rosettes with Burnt Umber 70941. I used Off white 70820 for further highlights on the belly and to outline the eyes and ears. The open mouth was painted with Beige red 70804 and the teeth in Ivory 70918. The claws and paw pads were picked out in Black, 70951
The finished Smilodon attacking!
Everything was then given a wash of Army painter soft tone to bring it all together.
Smilodon Stalking!
The basing was completed to my usual formula using oval bases – I had considered basing them as a pair but decided that separate bases were a better idea. I finished the bases with Gamers grass tufts. A mixture of dense beige and standard beige tufts to contrast against the scatter.
So another two DeeZee models to add to my collection for posterity! I still have an idea of combining the two models with the cavemen that we sell and making a small diorama. May be that will be a project for the future but for now it’s back to painting Samurai!
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Starting a new army can be somewhat daunting. I can see the appeal of small skirmish games where only a dozen or so figures are required but even Never Mind The Bill Hooks requires about 120 figures and from a standing start that’s still quiet a commitment to painting. So when I decided to write an adaption to Never Mind the Bill Hooks for Samurai battles – Never Mind The Bushido, I quickly realised that the army was going to take some time to paint.
Samurai vs Landsknecht – which is quicker to paint?
I did have a bit of a start. I had in the past been playing Test of Honour and so had a few painted figures with which to start the army. However, based on my initial army list from the first draft of the rules, I am going to need at least 131 figures. Well, I managed to create a Landsnkecht force of similar size so I just need to get on with it! As you will know if you have read my last blog article, I have started to upgrade my Test of Honour force and I now have 36 Warlord Games Ashigaru painted, as well as 18 of the new Fireforge Ashigaru ready for action. Add in 6 Warlord Ashigaru armed with teppo and a couple of Warlord Samurai and I have the makings of an army.
The next task was to paint some Samurai warriors. I would need at least 24 fighting troops in two units, as well as another seven based as leaders. I have decided to batch paint the Fireforge Samurai and started by painting a test model. As you can see from the top picture, I went for a simple colour scheme. For the Samurai, rather than dry brushing the armour to highlight it, as I did for the Ashigaru, I decided to leave the armour as a solid black and instead paint the stitching in a colour to add interest to the figure. I was also looking for a fast way to produce some reasonably painted figures that would look good as a unit. Perhaps I will spend a bit more time on the Samurai leaders but for now I need quantity!
The first four figures painted as a batch ready for basing.
Once I had figured out a basic scheme, I decided to paint them as a batch. Using of all colours, Vallejo Japanese uniform for the cloth. By producing these four, I now had a ‘Template’ for the next batch. This time I would go for eight to give me my first unit.
The next batch of eight on the work bench
I chose light turquoise for the clothing on four figures and stone grey for the other batch. Everything else will be the same colours for the batch, with perhaps the stitching on the armour also varying between the four. I fancy Blue for the turquoise and red for the stone grey but I may change this when the paint hits the figure! This should result in a unit of Samurai that look similar but not identical as you would expect. It also means that I should get this first batch finished within a week or so. My target is to have the army completed by the end of February! I’ll keep you informed of progress in future blogs.
THE COMMERCIAL BIT
I hope that you all enjoy your hobby as much as I do – our web site will have much of what you need! Click here to see our shop.
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