I seem to be affected by lockdown lethargy. Whilst Facebook is filled with people apparently charging through their lead pile and painting army’s, I seem to have slowed my output even more than usual. It’s two weeks since my last blog post and I’ve had to resort to a ‘What’s on the Workbench’ post as in that time, I haven’t actually finished anything!
Warlord Games B.E.F. force – W.I.P.
In fact, my lead pile has got slightly taller as I’ve acquired yet more WW2 British infantry to paint. I think that I have strayed into collecting mode again, picking up items that will look nice when they are completed rather than painting for gaming or working towards a cohesive army. I’ve been helped in this direction by the lack of any opportunity to actually play a game. The closest that our group has got to gaming is to meet up for a socially distanced burger in the back garden one evening and have a chat about life in general. Still, at least we have remained in touch.
Hodges, the Vicar and the Verger from Dads Army, by Warlord Games
So what have I done? The Dads Army contingient has grown with the addition of Hodges, The Vicar and the Verger. I still have the ‘civvy’ versions of the characters to paint. I’m also working on rebasing the other members of the Dads Army Platoon. I’ve decided that I dont like the plastic ‘plinth’ bases and I’ve converted them to MDF ones. Once again, I have yet to finish this but should get them completed tonight, if all goes to plan.
Dads Army at Hougomont!
As you can see, I’ve also acquired a model of Hougomont. The model is by a Company called WoFun, based in Romania and my good friend Andy Callan is doing some work for them. Like all the models available from WoFun, it is laser cut MDF ( or acrylic for the figures) with a printed finish. Andy passed me the Hougomont model to test build. It’s an early test shot and the sharp eyed reader will spot some errors, which will of course be corrected for the final release. Once again, although I have put the majority of the kit together, the walls and North gate are yet to be completed. I also intend to base the buildings. The buildings are so well cut that at this stage I have simply slotted them together, without the need for glue! I will go back and glue everything but I think that I will keep the set as modular buildings to be used in our games once we get back to the table!
At the moment though, it is the early war British that are on the paint table and I suspect will be for some time. I still have no real plan for them but perhaps once lock down is over, a game of Bolt Action or Chain of Command will prompt me to complete a force for the gaming table.
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My dive into the lead pile continues! I had some Artizan British World War Two infantry that I had undercoated ages ago as part of a project that just never took off. I was probably diverted by another Napoleonic Battalion or my venture into the Wars of The Roses. As they were sitting looking at me from the top of the heap, I thought that I might as well paint them. The problem was that I had no idea what colours to use or where to start. As usual, the internet was my friend. A quick check on you tube and I found plenty of help and so decided to jump in.
Artizan WW2 British Infantry
I wont presume to give a step by step guide as to how I painted these figures. I am still learning and I suspect have a long way to go before I am any near competent or have any expertise in what uniforms the British wore in what part of WW2. I would simply refer you to the you tube video below. I used my usual block paint and Army Painter quick shade for these figures and I was fairly pleased with the result – they’ll do for the wargames table. I must say that the Artizan figures themselves were superb! Beautifully sculpted and cast and a joy to paint.
The finished section of Artizan Infantry
Encouraged by my initial results, I decided to have a go at painting the Warlord games Dad’s Army Set. I had bought these ages ago, when they were first released. I love the show and I also have an interest in the Home Guard – I didn’t serve, before any one else says it, but my Step Granddad, Victor Beer, did. He was in ‘H’ Company of the Torquay Home Guard. I have been researching some family history and so it seemed appropriate to carry on and paint the Warlord figures.
Jack Jones and his Van!
I had also acquired a diecast version of Jack Jones Butchers van that featured in the show. One of my favourite episodes was the one featuring the rifle drill. When it came to painting these figures I followed the guidance in the Art Master Studio you tube video ‘How to paint Artizan WW2 British Infantry’. Having watched the video through once, I actually painted along to it, pausing it if I needed to and pretty much followed the instructions and paint guide exactly.
I very much enjoy these video’s. Toby, the guy doing the painting, is extremely good at explaining exactly what to do and the fact that it is in real time allows you to see how the paint actually goes on and how he uses his brush. I am a great fan of ‘Toby’ – never met him but his painting skills are superb and he reminds me of Bob Ross in his relaxed delivery! As an aside, if you would like to learn how to paint horses, his video is my ‘go to’ guide!
Dads Army!
Having painted Corporal Jones, I then carried on and painted Captain Mainwaring, Sergeant Wilson, Private Pike and Private Godfrey. Private Walker and Private Frazer are on the painting bench at the moment. There’s still a bit of work to do – I’ll base them once they are all painted – I think that I might opt for flatter MDF bases rather than the plastic ‘plinth’ style supplied. With the Vicar, Verger and Warden Hodges still to paint and the Dad’s army Characters in Civvies also to do, I think the this project will keep me busy for a week or so!
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Having more or less finished Sgt Ewart and the wounded (dead?) French Ensign , it was time to move on to paint the other figures in the Vignette. First up was the French infantry man. Now at this point I need to make it clear that my knowledge of French uniforms is about zero. So it was a question of copying other peoples work. As well as the superbly painted models on the Perry’s web page I also found a work of art completed by the painter Sasha Herm. I don’t know Sasha, other than through his work but he is extremely talented and produces the most beautifully painted models. I wont show his work here but if you would like view it, click on the link to my pinterest board here:
I painted the infantry mans coat in Vallejo Stone grey and his hat with Vallejo Buff. The shading was done with Dark tone ink and then high lighted with the original colours with a spot of white added.
French Line Lancer
The final model to complete was the French line Lancer. I again copied the examples that I could find. So once again, I’ve no idea whether the colours are ‘correct’. I used Vallejo Flat Green with German Extra dark Green for shading and for the facings, Vallejo Beige red. This doesn’t match the colour that I found on the Mont St Jean site for French Line Lancers but It was close to the colour on Sasha’s model and I liked it! Again I used various inks to shade the figure and the base colours + white to highlight.
Positioning the models on the base – all four models completed.
With the models all completed, it was time to assemble the vignette. I used a Sarissa Precision Oval MDF base. I do intend to mount this on a nice wooden plinth but for now I just wanted to get the basic model done.
Textured paste on the base.
I covered the base with Vallejo Textured Dark Earth paste and used a sculpting tool ( a cocktail stick would do) to bring the paste over the bases of the figures. As I don’t glue the figures to the MDF base, there is plenty of working time to allow me to position everything. Once the textured paste dries off it is strong enough to hold the figures in place. I also sprinkled the paste with earth and small stones to add extra texture. You might have noticed that at this point I added the ‘stolen’ Eagle to Sgt Ewart as I could now handle the vignette rather than the individual figure.
Base painted and textured
The next stage was top paint the base and add some scatter. I’ve covered my technique for basing elsewhere, so if you would like to know more just check out one of my older blog posts!
Long grass added to the base.
The last task was to add some long grass to the base. I used Woodlands Scenics 12mm light green field grass and just dipped small clumps into PVA glue and added them to the base. The long grass isn’t strictly accurate – they were fighting in amongst the trampled Rye that was growing across the battlefield and according to some records, originally stood at six foot tall. I think that it gives an idea of the ground though. The vignette is about finished and ready for the cabinet but for a few additions. I need to order in a nice flag from GMB designs ( my favourite flag supplier!) and I have the lance and spare discarded sword to add. But for now, I’m calling it done and moving on to the next project! Below are some pictures that I took in a light box with a slightly better camera than the usual i-phone camera that I use for my blog. I hope that you like them!
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No, not a comment on life at the moment but my latest project. Despite having more time, my painting rate has dropped. I have come to a halt with my War Of The Roses project, having run out of subjects to paint, so I turned my attention to the ‘lead pile’. Rather than churning through yet more units, I decided to have a go at some of the more challenging models in my collection. I also deliberately slowed down. There was no need to rush. I am not under any time pressure in terms of getting a unit ready for the next game. So I have deliberately slowed up and decided not to put any artificial pressure on myself to clear my painting backlog or to build a new army.
The Perry Miniature version of ‘a Hard Contest’.
I thought that I would have a go at painting a Perry miniatures vignette, ‘A Hard Contest’. Inspired by Sgt Ewarts capture of the 45 Regts. eagle at Waterloo. The set comprises of Sgt Ewart himself and three French defenders. Rather than my usual functional ‘Block Paint and Quick shade’ style, I would try and paint these models using ‘proper’ shading and highlighting. Inspired by the picture above, the first model that I attempted was the Sgt Ewart figure.
Sgt. Ewart in progress – primed and blocking started
I started with the ‘grey’ horse but I wanted my figures to be on a white Horse as I thought that it would stand out when the whole Vignette was completed. I painted the horse with Vallejo London Grey and then worked through Light grey, silver grey and then Off white for the highlights.
Sgt Ewart – main colours blocked on.
I couldn’t break away completely from my usual style of painting and found myself blocking in most of the colours before going back to shade and highlight them. I also used a variety of inks to get the shading done. So red ink on the tunic, Flesh wash on the face, Strong tone on the browns and Dark tone on the black and metals. I think that the Army Painter inks are superb for shading and lining.
Sgt Ewart – a bit more detailing and highlighting
I find this style of painting less of a straight forward process and therefore difficult to describe. I paint a bit here, retouch a bit there, use some colours straight from the bottle, mix some up. If all that sounds a bit like Bob Ross ( My current obsession on TV. If you are not familiar with him, look him up!) then that is sort of how it is. I’ve got an idea as to how I would like things to look and I just fiddle around until I get close! I also use the photographs to help look for where I need to improve things. It’s a bit of an excuse but I am slightly red/green colour blind, so when it comes to highlighting these colours I’m really not sure how well they blend.
Sgt Ewart, nearly complete – I dont like the stripe on his trousers!
When it came to choosing the correct colours for the uniform, I relied on previous research that I did when painting my Scots Greys Cavalry Regiment. That said, I couldn’t work out whether a sergeant had Yellow facings and trim to his Jacket or Gold like the officers. In the end I went half and half as it looked nice…
Sgt Ewart Complete? Whoops! Is that a paint chip on his toe?
After much fiddling and retouching I got to the point where I had had enough of painting the Sgt. There’s always more to be done and even in the last picture I noticed a paint chip that needs repairing, and some lining need around the yellow on the jacket, but it was time to move on to the next figure.
A bad day at the office for this French soldier.
I chose the wounded French ensign to paint next. Again, I confess to doing limited research on his uniform. I copied the models on the Perry’s web site. He was painted in more or less one session, which surprised me but I guess I must be getting used to this new fangled approach to painting…. Once again, I’ll use the photos to revisit the figure and retouch any areas that I’m not happy with. I now have a French lancer and a French Infantry man in a great coat to paint. It’s then just a case of putting them all on a scenic base. It may take a bit of time but now that I’ve taken the pressure off myself to finish the model in a set time, I’m quite enjoying myself!
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Following on from last weeks blog, I seem to have made some progress with my painting but as we are still working (thank goodness) and busy posting and packing other peoples modelling supplies, I haven’t quite finished as much as I would like. The strange thing about the ‘lock down’ is that it seems to have sapped my energy and whilst I have more spare time at the weekends and evenings, I seem to have done less.
The second gun in the army – a nice field piece from Perry’s
So here is a quick round up of progress. I have now finished the second artillery piece for my army, completing the gunpowder section! I will add some tufts – I tend to do this as a session on it’s own and ‘tuft up’ a number of bases in one go. I have no plans to add any more artillery – I now have more than enough for the average game of ‘Never mind the Bill Hooks’. That said, at some point in the future I may add the heavy Bombard that Perry’s make, just for fun and because it will make a nice centre piece.
The Artillery section of my army.
You can see from the picture above that I am missing four light cavalry from the rear rank of my Light horse. These are currently under construction and will complete the two units that I have planned. As regards, heavy horse, I’ve completed three metal Yorkist Command of Edward IV, Lord Faulconberg and Lord Hastings.
Yorkist command
This gives me 15 heavy horse but the plan is to buy the other Yorkist command pack with Warwick, Gloucester and Salisbury. I will then have 18 heavy horse. Two units of 8 and two commanders, again ideal for Billhooks!
Heavy Horse ready for battle.
The other sub project has been to finish the standard bearers. I intend to do a mini tutorial on Standards and how I apply them but I still have plans to add more. Here’s the couple that I have done using Little Big Man studio decals.
Banner men!
I have gone back and painted over the edges of the banners to hide the white edges but I notice that in the pictures of them in their units, I’ve managed to miss a few bits!
Warwicks Men at arms!
Norfolks Colours, I think but Faulconbergs men…
So My army is approaching completion. Just 4 light horse, 3 heavy horse and 12 more billmen and that will be it. Project completed. I wonder what I will do next?
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Almost all of the paints, miniatures, bases, basing materials and anything that you are likely to need for your hobby are available POST FREE from my shop here:
I just could not avoid mentioning Covid -19 or the Corona virus crisis in writing my blog. In such strange times it would have seemed somewhat perverse to ignore what is probably the most momentous event to affect the country, if not the world, in my lifetime. However, I’m not going to record all of my thoughts on the subject here. There are enough comments, opinions and people minding other peoples business on social media and the mainstream media without me adding to the torrent.
I also have no idea how to pitch any comment. Anything that I write in a serious vain could be considered too preachy. A joke, and I’m not taking things seriously enough. That said, I cant help but try to find some humour in a very dark time. To put things in some sort of perspective, rather than my modelling output increasing, my painting hours have actually decreased over the last week, due in some part to lack of sleep and my mind being elsewhere as I firefight the next stage in trying to keep the business going through these difficult days.
Salisbury, Gloucester and Faulconberg in the process of being based
At least I still have a business – at the moment. Thanks to the incredible support of my small, loyal team, my suppliers, the fantastic postie ( I must get his name!) and of course, my very loyal and supportive friends and customers (often one and the same), we are still trading and sending out modelling supplies across the world. We will continue to do so as long as we are permitted to do so.
Everyday, for the last couple of weeks, we have been having a Grass Snake meeting at Arcane ( A grass snake meeting is a bit like a COBRA meeting, only shorter and less toxic) to work out with Julie, Hayley and Kevin how we will operate. Each day the plan has lasted until about 5.00pm when the latest announcement changes everything. For the moment, our latest plan is holding. Julie and I are working three days together, Hayley (AKA the Packaging Princess) is taking the two ‘quieter days’ and working on her own. Kevin is supporting from home and in reserve should one of us fall ill.
Another gun crew nearly finished, ready to join the York army.
As I have been married to Julie for 40 years, we have practiced social isolation on a number of occasions and staying 2 meters apart at times has certainly kept one or both of us alive…There, I couldn’t resist a joke!
Gun crew ready for basing
So Arcane Scenery is still trading, along with other online retailers and if we can help you with your hobby, we are here to do so. Despite everything, I have found some time for painting. I’ve said before that I find it very helpful and allows me to tune out of the world and for a short time forget whatever is causing me stress. As you can see from the pictures, my War of The Roses army is still growing. I may even get it finished over the next few weeks!
The next batch of figures primed and ready to paint.
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I thought that in this weeks blog that I would show the progress on my War of the Roses light cavalry and show the method that I used to paint them. Once I had assembled the riders, I mounted them on painting sticks by drilling a hole in them and mounting them onto a wire. The picture shows them primed with a grey primer and the first two colours, Vallejo flesh and Army Painter plate mail applied.
Riders primed and ready.
The next stage was to block in the main colours, in this case Off white and Flat green. As I mentioned in my previous blog, I have no intention of creating a specific unit or retinue from a battle in the WOTR. The idea is to create a generic army to fight club battles. So although these colours are more appropriate for Tudor bowmen, these troops may well be fighting for a Yorkist retinue!
Block painting the livery
The next picture is a bit of a jump in the painting process! I finished the block painting by using a Buff/white mix on the bow covers and arrow bags; Vallejo old wood was used for the bows and the riding boots were painted with Vallejo Orange brown or light brown to mix things up a bit! The belts and accessories were painted with either leather brown or burnt red. I then brushed on Army painter Dark Tone quick shade. Once dry, the figures were sprayed with a matt varnish and then the white, flesh and metals re highlighted to give a crisp finish.
Finished figures on their horses.
Close up of Light cavalry
Once I was happy with the riders, I finished the basing using my usual technique that I have covered many times before in my blogs.
The completed unit of light Cavalry
Close up of the unit – I have since been back and added some detail to the Commanders face.
With eight mounted bowmen finished, it was on to the remaining four cavalry in the box! I have painted these as Scurrers or Prickers and again, I have chosen the livery colours at random, using burnt red and yellow. Here they are still mounted in their painting sticks!
Scurrers!
Here’s the completed models on their horses. With these now finished I just need another four to make up the unit. I’m not sure whether to get some metals or see if I can just get an extra sprue. In the meantime, I’ve taken a break from the cavalry and I’m now working on some more Footknights and Characters.
Light Cavalry on the prowl!
I do need to add some flags and Standards to the unit – I’ve just received some very nice standards from Citadel six flags but have yet to try them. My army is approaching completion, with some 200+ figures now painted and based. It is lacking flags though – watch this space!
War of the Roses Army
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My War of the Roses army is approaching completion, although the project is suffering from a bit of ‘creep’ with my habit of finding that just one more unit would be a good idea! The light cavalry were supposed to be the final unit that I would add. The challenge to my OCD/collectors habit was that the Perry Miniatures plastic box set gives you 12 light cavalry and I only needed 8 to make a unit. My solution to this dilemma was to decide to build 8 of the cavalry as mounted bowmen and then make another unit of 8 Scurrers by adding some metals to the four remaining plastic figures.
Perry Light Cavalry assembled
But first of all, I needed to get the plastics completed. I assembled all of the figures in the box first and then decided to paint them, six at a time, starting with the horses.
Primed horses
As you can see, I primed four of the horses in brown, one in black and the last one in grey. The different base coats giving an indication of the different colours that I would paint the horses! By the way, I use army painter rattle can sprays to prime my models. When it came to the colours for the unit, I had decided that I would paint them in green and white for no other reason than I fancied this combination. History purists might find this cavalier approach ( Ooh! Good pun!) somewhat unacceptable, particularly as the colours are close to Henry Tudors’, who was a Lancastrian and the rest of my army is based on Yorkist commanders. However, I am painting units for the rules set that we are using’ Never Mind the Billhooks’, rather than creating a specific WOTR army and I feel comfortable in mixing and matching as I see fit. Lets just say that these troops are Cheshire journeymen happy to draw a bow for who ever pays them – in this case, Lord Harry Hotspur!
The four brown horses.
I painted the four brown horses more or less as Bays, using a mixture of browns and washes layered on using my dry/wet brush technique. The horse with the light mane was painted using Green Ochre – I would never have chosen this colour based on it’s name but it does work well! It was then a case of painting the livery in green or green and white.
The black horse
The Black horse was highlighted with black/grey and then very lightly with light grey. I used Buff to pick out some of the livery, again not because of any historical accuracy but because I liked the effect!
The white horse was painted in exactly the same way as I painted Richard III’s horse (see last weeks blog) and so I had my first six horses ready for basing.
Six Light Cavalry Horses ready for basing.
In next weeks blog. I’ll detail how I painted the riders and completed the unit, but for now here’s a picture of the first six figures that I have completed – The basing is still to be finished.
Mounted Bowmen
The sharp eyed amongst you will see that a Prussian Jaeger has sneaked into the picture! So with the six mounted bowmen completed it is onto the commander and standard bearer to give me my eight mounted bowmen.
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Almost all of the paints, miniatures, bases, basing materials and anything that you are likely to need for your hobby are available POST FREE from my shop here:
‘Never mind the Bill Hooks’ will be available as a full colour supplement with the June edition of Wargames Illustrated. If you would like the current issue, click here:
When the remains of King Richard were discovered in a car park in Leicester, (just down the A46 from us), there was a great deal of media attention, as you can imagine. As far as I was concerned, the nicest item that I saw to commemorate the event, was the model by Perry Miniatures. I really liked the thought that had gone into the model and the gentle humour in showing King Richard bursting out of the car park on his steed! I had wanted to get one from the moment it was released but had been obsessed with my Napoleonic collection and so had not added it to my lead pile. With my interest in the War of the Roses, and the new rules set that we had been play testing, I now had an excuse to get the model. I also wanted to paint something for the rules writer, Andy Callan, who has spent hours re-writing and fine tuning the rules set after each of our play tests, having had to put up with yet more ‘feedback’.
Preparing the models for painting.
So rather than one model, I bought two, figuring that it would not take very much longer to paint two of the same model. I had also decided to convert one of the models slightly, so that King Richard was holding a banner rather than his sword, showing off the title of the rules – ‘Never Mind The Billhooks!’. Just to give myself a bit of a challenge, I decided to paint the models ‘properly’ rather than my usual block paint and quick shade method. To start with, I cleaned up and primed the individual pieces, using a black primer for the base, grey for the horse and Plate mail for the figure.
The car park space bases!
The base was quite straight forward to finish. I simply gave it a dry brush with Vallejo Black grey, 70862 and then followed this with a lighter dry brush of Light grey 70990. It was then just a question of picking out the markings on the car park spot in off white 70820. I could have used yellow – there are two painted models on the Perry web site that I was using as a reference (copying….) – but I preferred the white markings.
The horses being painted
The horses were first painted or rather wet/dry brushed with Light grey 70990 and then Silver grey 70883 as the first coats. I wasn’t too worried if the priming coat of uniform grey was left in the deepest of the creases. The wet/dry brush is my best description of the technique that I used, The paint brush wasn’t loaded with paint but neither was it wiped off, as with a usual dry brush. I also made sure that the ‘high points’ on the model were well covered in paint. I then used the same technique to paint the horses with a coat of off white, but this time, using a drier brush to leave the shadows in the darker colour. The horses manes were painted in Black grey 70962 and the horse furniture in flat Red 70957. The decoration on the horse furniture was done using Brass 70801.
Completed horses on the bases
I then touched up the details on the horse, using Ivory 70918 for the hooves, Platemail for the bit and hooves, black for the eyes and I lightly dry brushed the mane and tail with a neutral grey to bring out the detail. I then carefully black lined the model to sharpen everything up. I really liked the stark appearance of the Perry’s painted model and so I followed this example. For this reason, I didn’t worry too much about highlighting or shading the red – I like the extreme contrast against the white horse!
Painting King Richard – highlighting and details to do next!
It was then onto King Richard. As mentioned, I primed him with army painter plate mail and then gave him a good coat of Dark Tone or Black ink. Once this was dry, I dry brushed him first in Plate mail and then in silver. At this stage I then started the slight conversion to one of the models and carefully snipped off the sword and then drilled the hand so that I could insert a standard. I also needed to very slightly bend the arm but this was done without a problem. It’s always a good idea to go gently and ease the model in the position that you need – by it’s very nature, the metal will flex if you are careful. The details on the models were then picked out. Red for the belt and leather wear, Flesh 70955 for the face, followed by a skin wash, and then highlighting with another coat of flesh and then light flesh 70928. The hair was Chocolate brown 70872 with a flat brown 70874 hightlight and then a wash of brown ink. The details on the sword were picked out in brass.
King Richard completed and on his horse!
The next challenge was to make the standard. It turned out to be simpler than I thought. I photo copied the standard for King Richard that comes in the Perry Miniatures Foot Knights set and used a Dymo electric printer to print the title. This was cut to size and stuck onto the flag, which in turn was cut out using a fresh scalpel blade. I then used watered down PVA to stick the flag onto a cut down spear and the job was done!
Never mind the Billhooks!
The standard King Richard…without a standard…
The finished model with the standard is for Andy and I have the original with the sword for my cabinet. Incidentally, I did make two standards – one was the Billhooks version and the other a normal Royal Standard – I think that the Billhooks version looks best on this model!
I am very excited about the release of the ‘Never mind The Billhooks’ rule set. It will come as a free full colour 24 page supplement with the May issue of Wargames Illustrated. I have now seen the draft rules, and they look great. I can only hope that other Wargamers have the same fun and enjoyment that we have had when they finally get their copies!
THE COMMERCIAL BIT
Almost all of the paints, miniatures, bases, basing materials and anything that you are likely to need for your hobby are available POST FREE from my shop here:
‘Never mind the Bill Hooks’ will be available as a full colour supplement with the May edition of Wargames Illustrated. If you would like the current issue, click here:
After my diversion with the wolf enclosure last week, it was back to the projects on my work bench. With storm Dennis causing mayhem across the country, it was a good weekend to spend safely indoors painting model soldiers. I had two items that I wanted to complete. The priority was painting a couple of models of Richard III emerging from his tomb under a Leicester car park! I’ve already posted a picture of one the completed models on our Face book page – I’ll detail how I went about painting and converting him in next weeks blog. Here’s a picture of the original version.
Richard Triumphant!
The other project that I wanted to complete was a batch of 6 Warlord games Prussian Jaegers, who would be bolstering my force at our demo game at the Bingham Napoleonic days in March. To be honest, I didn’t really need to paint them but I had a spare pack at work and it would give me an extra unit of Jaegers to use in the game, either as a small unit or as Skirmishers in front of a battalion attack column.
Bingham Napoleonic days
The Bingham Napoleonic days, now in their fourth year, take place on the 6/7 March at Longacre Studios in Bingham. As usual I will be with my gaming buddies, the NG13 gamers and we will be running a series of Demo games based loosely on General Lecourbes campaign against the Austrian army after the battle of Waterloo in 1815. There is a link to the Bicorne site in my Commercial section below giving more details but it’s worth pointing out that if you are at a loose end, entrance to the event, including the lectures, is free. It’s not the biggest show that you are likely to attend – possibly the smallest and definitely the least commercial, but if you fancy a drive out to the Nottinghamshire countryside and a pub meal, it’s a nice way to pass the day.
Prussiajn Jaegers – primed and ready for painting
Back to the jaegers – I should point out that the Prussians weren’t involved in the original campaign but we have included them to add some colour to the table and give me an excuse top dust off my Prussian contingent! I followed my usual painting method for churning out units for my Napoleonic army – Prime, block paint, Quick shade and base.
Block paint started – first colours on
I’m not going to detail the colours for the simple reason that I was a bit lazy when it came to researching them. I usually spend a bit of time finding the correct colours but on this occasion although I consulted both my Osprey books and the Mont St John web site, Pinterest and of course, the painting sheet that comes with the Perry Miniatures Prussians, the details seemed to be confused. I sort of lost patience in trying to work out the correct facing colours and exact uniform and just decided to copy the painted models on Warlords web site.
Prussian Jaegers – detail added prior to quick shade
This means that they wont technically fit in with my Silesian Prussian regiment but I quite liked the red facings for a change! So they will appear on the wargames table with the Silesians, regardless!
Jaegers based
Once they were painted with quick shade and matt varnished, I started the basing process. I spread Vallejo dark earth mud texture paste on to 20mm square MDF bases and ‘plonked’ the figures into the paste, using a sculpting tool ( a cocktail stick would have been fine!) to draw the paste around the figures bases and blend them in. There is no need to glue the figures to the bases, the paste will hold them securely. It was then just a question of tidying up the edges, painting the bases and adding some scatter and tufts and another six figures are ready for the wargames table.
All based up – just waiting for the tufts!
Not the most ‘loved’ of projects that I have done but sometimes it’s nice just to get another unit off the painting bench, even if that means dropping standards a bit!
THE COMMERCIAL BIT
To get full details of the Bingham Napoleonic days, including a list of speakers, click here:
If you want to join us for the wargame, we are there on Saturday only but you are welcome to find us out in the back room and have a chat, may be roll some dice and of course discuss why a batch of Jaeger are in the wrong facings!
Almost all of the paints, miniatures, bases, basing materials and anything that you are likely to need for your hobby are available POST FREE from my shop here:
It’s been two weeks since my last blog but I have been busy – it’s just that I haven’t actually finished anything for myself! I was somewhat diverted by a request from my Granddaughter, Emily. We were tickled pink when she phoned up ( she’s not quite seven yet!) to ask me for some help with her school project. She was learning about wolves and had to make a wolf enclosure – did I have a model of a wolf and could I help? Well, Arcane scenery has the DeeZee range of animals and we have a pack of Dire Wolves that would do nicely. As I had not painted one myself, I thought that I better do a test piece before Emily came over to paint her own version. So above is my first attempt at painting a wolf. I also prepared and primed the other 5 in the pack and then based two of them so that Emily could finish them off.
Emily’s wolves in their new enclosure.
It’s worth pointing out that DeeZee model are not toys and made of metal and not designed for children. However, even at 7, Emily is sensible enough to understand the difference between a model and a toy and will use them as such. When it came to painting the wolves I gave Emily my best brushes and we used ‘proper’ paint. My advise would be that if you would like children to take up the hobby, let them loose with the correct tools for the job and just take the time to explain how to use the tools safely. When it comes to painting, that means how to hold the brush, how to thin the paint and how to clean the brushes in between coats and so on. Mind you, I was told off for licking the brush! It’s a bad habit but the most effective way I know of keeping the point on the brush….
The completed wolf enclosure – the pink pipe cleaners are their food!
Once Emily had painted her two wolves, we made a start on the enclosure itself. It was made to Emily’s specifications using two shoe boxes. My job was to wield the hot glue gun and stick stuff together where directed- I would have let her have a go with the glue gun but Nanny said no! Emily did slap on the PVA glue where needed though! Of course, having access to my stash of scenery made the job a bit easier. We were able to line her two shoe boxes with some off cuts of scenic mats that I had and add some Arcane Scenery trees. We built a ‘den’ using some slate and the pond was just a painted piece of foam board. We used arcane scenery scatter to blend it all in. Emily helped herself to some of my Gamers grass tufts and some twigs and lichen and we had more or less finished. The project took most of Sunday but as ‘Storm Ciara’ was beginning to blow outside, it was a Sunday well spent.
Sabot bases under construction
As for my own projects, well, as I have said, I’ve been busy preparing stuff but have finished very little. I have completed some sabot bases for my War of the Roses command figures. I used the same techniques outlined in in my blog article ‘Painting War of The Roses Artillery’.
The completed command bases
Perrys Light Cavalry
I’ve also assembled and prepared 12 War of the Roses light cavalry. I assembled eight as mounted bowmen (to use as mounted Skirmishers) and the other four as ‘scurrers’ – I could combine these with four of my other heavy horse to make another unit. I’ve got as far as priming six of these light cavalry, but I’ll probably show these in a later blog.
Additional command figures
I’ve also assembled four more command figures – three of which will have standards. I don’t need any more commanders for my army; the extras will allow me to divide my force into two, to allow an extra player to play, if needs be.
Prussian Jaegers primed and ready for painting.
I have a Demo game to prepare for in March. It’s the Bingham Napoleonic days and as usual the NG13 gamers are putting on a display. I actually have enough troops for the demo but decided to add another six Jaeger to my Prussian force. I got as far as priming these before being distracted yet again.
Special project on the go!
It was my birthday last Thursday and I had asked for some additional Perry Miniatures to bulk out my War of The Roses force. I had also asked for the special ‘Richard III Commemorative figure’ that they make. Actually, I asked for two as I have an idea for converting one of them as a standard bearer for the new rules set ‘Never Mind the Billhooks’. So these models have found their way to the top of the painting list. Again, I’ll show the finished models with a bit more detail in a future blog, but as you can see, the horses are about done for now. So lots of modelling but nothing quite finished. That’s the way it seems to go in my hobby!
THE COMMERCIAL BIT
Almost all of the paints, miniatures, bases, basing materials and anything that you are likely to need for your hobby are available POST FREE from my shop here:
My War of the Roses army is approaching completion. I now have most of the infantry that I am likely to need whilst playing our rules set ‘Never mind the Bill Hooks’. In fact I can actually muster two small opposing retinues if necessary. There are two gaps in the roster though; Light Cavalry and Artillery. I went for the easy option and started to paint an artillery piece. As usual, my manufacturer of choice is Perry Miniatures and as the rest of my army is made up of Perry Plastics it made sense to continue to use the same source. Of course, other manufacturers figures are available!
Artillery!
It was a straight forward task to file down the flash and casting lines on the pieces. Some of the Metal Perry castings can be troublesome in terms of mold lines and excess metal but this pack was well cast and not a problem. I then undercoated the gun in black primer and the crew in grey primer. To paint the wooden carriage of the gun, I followed the article for painting wood contained in the last issue of ‘Painting War #9 – Holy War’. On the face of it, it seems like a bit of a long winded way of producing a wooden effect but I think that it is well worth the effort and time and I am very pleased with the effect.
WOTR Artillery – first coat of Vallejo Chocolate brown 70872
You start by painting the wooden parts of the carriage in Vallejo Chocolate Brown using the normal painting technique and cover as much of the black undercoat as you can but where possible, leave the black metal barrel of the gun and other metal parts. Next you start to dry brush the carriage using Flat brown. This stage can be done with a fairly heavy dry brush and you will cover most of the Chocolate Brown.
Next heavy coat is flat brown 70984
Now use Flat Earth as your next dry brush coat. This time use a slightly lighter coat and less paint on the brush. You just want to catch the details and grain of the wood. This is followed with Orange Brown. Once again, this is a light dry brush and you are just picking up the highlights.
Added dry brush coats of Flat Earth 70983, Orange Vrown, 70981 and yelow ochre, 70913.
The final dry brush is done with Yellow Ochre. You need to be using a really dry brush and a light touch. I tend to focus just on the edges of the model. The magazine article suggests a further highlight using flesh as the top highlight. I decided that I was happy with the finish that I had and stopped there.
The finished gun. Black re painted – I need to go back over the wheel rims with steel.
I then went back over the barrel and ironware on the cannon with matt black to cover the over brushing that I had made whilst dry brushing. I also then gave the wheel rims a dry brush with gun metal to represent the paint chipping off these due to use. The gun is ready for action.
Gun crew block painted in their black and red livery.
When it came to the crew, I decided on a straight forward red and black scheme for their livery and didn’t get to hung up on the accuracy of this. I just wanted them to match my ‘red faction’ of my retinue. I did consider painting the Gun Captain in a different colour as he would probably be independent of the Lords household, but in the event, went with with the easy solution.
‘sabot’ base under construction
Crew in position – you can see that I’ve painted the crew with quick shade.
On to basing. I created a base that would allow me to remove the crew individually as in the ‘Never mind the Bill Hooks’ rules, this is how hits on the gun and it’s effectiveness is measured. With each ‘hit’ on the gun, you remove a crew member. So once the crew were mounted on 20mm x 20mm MDF bases, I created ‘sabot spaces’ for them on a larger 80mm x 65mm base. See the picture for details. I used some spare thin strips of wood and MDF to make the frames and super glued them into place. This is a bit lazy, I like to use PVA for gluing wood but I was in a hurry to get the base done. I did pay a small penalty for my idleness. I managed to get super glue over my fingers and as a result, even though dry, I couldn’t use the touch unlock facility on my i-phone as the glue blotted out my finger print!
Base coated in texture paste – Vallejo Dark Earth 26219
Once the base framework was completed, I coated it in Vallejo Dark Earth texture paste and then followed my usual basing method.
WOTR gun completed!
This involves painting the base with my favourite coloured emulsion paint ‘Delhi Bazaar’ – Vallejo is too good to waste on bases! Once dry, it is a case of dry brushing with lighter mix and then adding some scatter and tufts. If you would like to know how to get pots of emulsion to match your Vallejo colours, have a look at my earlier blog here:
So another unit is ready for my Army, next up, the light cavalry, although I suspect that they will take a bit more than a week to complete!
THE COMMERCIAL BIT
Almost all of the paints, miniatures, bases, basing materials and anything that you are likely to need for your hobby are available POST FREE from my shop here:
‘Never mind the Bill Hooks’ will be available as a full colour supplement with the April edition of Wargames Illustrated. If you would like the current issue, click here:
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