Army Painter Quickshade - Perry French Napoleonic Infantry WIP

With the birth of my son last week I realized that I may not have as much time to devote to my favorite hobby over the next few years... at least until he learns how to hold a brush and joins his dad painting (historic) miniatures!

To combat this gnawing concern, I thought that I might work on a project that would produce quick results. I decided to revisit a unit that has been sitting unfinished for a while now: my Perry 28mm Napoleonic Line Infantry. Specifically, they are the 2nd Battalion of the 100th Regiment. I had a few stands done already using the base-dip-highlight technique as well as some Grenadiers so I thought that I would quickly finish up the remaining figures and base them up.

Here they are in progress, ready for the Army Painter Quickshade. It only took a couple of hour's work to get them to this point. I'll take some pictures when they are highlighted and based. The officer, drummer, standard bearer and three Voltigeurs need their base colors and then they'll get dipped next after these are finished.

Tutorial - Painting Clothing Folds on 28mm Miniatures

One thing that I don't like when I look at triad painted miniatures is when the clothing folds don't seem to follow the figure. Instead, I see rings of color around the figure's arms and legs. Now I know that in art there are, according to Vilppu, seven basic folds to master. I may get there one day, but for now I cheat a bit by following one idea.

Although I am no expert when it comes to drapery shadows, one rule to remember is that the dark folds always point toward the tension. In other words, if fabric is bunched in the armpit, the folds will point toward the armpit. If a coat is perched on a shoulder, then the folds will radiate out from that point. Again, this is a gross simplification, but it gets you away from your figures looking like a striped barber pole or peppermint stick.

I used to paint highlights away from the tension (by that I mean starting a brushstroke near the recessed area and moving out toward the lighter area) when I first started painting miniatures. But I have found that painting toward the tension (recessed/shadow area, etc.) produces a nice point of highlight as it enters the shadow. This is because when your brush first touches the model it leaves a round blob of paint. When your brush finishes a stroke it generally leaves a narrowing point. It takes some practice not to overshoot into the darker color too much, but you get a much better highlight if you do it this way.

Try to keep your highlights in V or X shapes. Then combine a few of them by connecting them together. It makes an interesting zig-zag shape whose irregularity is pleasing to the eye. Watch for the underlying sculpt to see if it gives you a hint as to where the folds might be. It doesn't have to be perfect... I mess up all of the time. But if you make an effort the 9 good folds will hide the poorly done 10th one.

Keep a few of these ideas in mind while you are painting your figures and you'll get great results!

SYW Swiss Eptingen - On to the Midtones

My painting continues on the Seven Years War Swiss miniatures by Front Rank! The basecoating is done on the eighteen remaining figures. In addition, I have painted the eyes and have completed the musket barrels.

I have started in on the red mid-tone for the coats. I enjoy doing the Xs and Vs and zig-zags of the folds. It is fun to see how each figure's clothes look a little different from the other's.

The basecoat stage can be tough to get through as you are forced at times to lay down multiple coats to allow a good base for the midtones and highlights. This is especially true when you are working with yellow and red. They are two notorious colors when painted over black. 

Here is my hit list of remaining items. I always have a small note nearby where I check off what I have completed. It keeps me on track, shows me what I have done and reminds me not to forget details! You can see from the note that I use three colors for the hands and four for the face. The face gets a dark brown undercoat while the hands do not.

Although it looks like I have a lot more to do, most of my painting time is normally soaked up during the basecoating stage. Having to cut in close to the black lines takes a lot of time. Also, that is the time that I generally do the eyes. Once the midtones and highlights start I can be a little more loose with my painting (with the exception of the facial area) and that allows me to speed up a bit.

Switching Paints? GW Citadel or Reaper MSP HD?

I have been mulling over the idea of switching up my paints from Citadel to Reaper Master Series Paints HD over the past week. I blame Ioannis and Gareson for starting this itch. Is it a case of the grass being greener... or does a change really need to be made?

 VS 

I currently use Games Workshops Citadel Paints for my limited palette brushwork. I have white, black and 14 other paints and inks to work with and I like what I have been able to do with them. However, there are problems!

• The containers are horrible. The paint gathers at the rim, leaks around the hinges and gets on my fingers and crusts on the edges. I transfer paint directly from the pot to my palette with minimum fuss so this shouldn't become a big mess, but it does.
• The reds and yellows could have better coverage.
• Over time the colors thicken, probably due to the lids not sealing due to the above container design.
• There is some estimation when I do my mixing... it isn't "add two drops of this and 3 drops of that" because I have to draw out the color from the pot with a brush.
• They are expensive compared to other's lines.

I have heard wonderful things about Reaper Miniatures' MSP HD line of paints. The coverage is supposed to be great due to the rich pigmentation. Because they are in dropper containers I would assume that they are thinner than the somewhat goopy GW paint and that they wouldn't dry out as quickly. I have also read that each dropper has a little bead agitator in it which is great! The dropper would also allow me to better refine my color mixes. Finally, I can get a bottle of paint for under $3 which is almost half as much as GW. Because I don't use that many paints it wouldn't take that much money for me to make the switch. I wouldn't do it right in the middle of a unit, but maybe when I am done?

So, I am looking for some feedback. Have any of you tried out these paints? Please let me know in in the comments below. Thanks!

Maurice Rules on Sale!

I received an email yesterday from Sam Mustafa Publishing that I thought I should share. Maurice is currently my favorite miniatures ruleset. When my friend Michael and I played a quick game with a couple of units on each side, it gave us a wonderful time filled with exciting action and an intriguing ebb and flow of fortune! When I read my email and saw that the rules and card set were on sale, I realized that all gentlemen of quality and ladies in high standing ought to know.

 

How can you say "No" to a game that features an action card entitled "O The Gout, The Gout"? Ha ha!

The Maurice Flyer should give you a good overview of the game itself. There is a lot of support for the game on the Honour website. If you have been considering dabbling into the Seven Years War period, you couldn't do better than ordering Maurice, especially with it being 30% off!

Clash of Reconnaissance - Russian Infantry Completed!

Great news! I have finished painting and basing the Russian Rifle Infantry! I think that the Plastic Soldier kit figures look very good finished up... even using my game-table painting standard. The Soviets in Summer Uniform was a great way to get a lot of good-looking figures on the table quickly for a reasonable price.

They were first sprayed Tamiya Dark Yellow, then quickly basecoated, Army Painter dipped and highlighted on a few spots (skin, metal, etc.). I painted on a Pebeo matt varnish after that (mixed 1:1 with water).

Then they were glued to English pennies, based and flocked. I custom-cut the bases for the machine gunners and loaders.

I think that they turned out pretty well. I especially like the steel on the rifles: black paint with a #2 pencil rubbed on it a bit. It was quick and easy to give the metal an dark, oily steel look!

Truth be told, I have eight more figures to base because I ran out of English pennies. Dang it! My supplier has not come through for me yet. But it will only take me 15-30 minutes or so to stick the remaining miniatures on there, so I am counting the unit as complete!

Commands & Colors: Ancients - How to Sticker the Blocks

I couldn't resist purchasing my own copy of GMT Games' excellent Command & Colors: Ancients. It is a spectacular achievement in board wargaming. The rules are easy to grasp, yet yield deeply nuanced strategic battles that reward historical tactics. What could be better?

One thing that I have read on numerous forums is that the stickering of the blocks is a big pain. Ha! What a laugh! For painters of miniature armies the effort to sticker a few hundred blocks is insignificant compared to the time required to paint, base and field a Napoleonic or Seven Years War army. Those boardgaming wimps need to feel some real pain (... or maybe they are smarter than we are?).

Doing a rush job on the stickers would not cut it, so I needed to quickly find the best technique for getting them on straight. After reviewing a number of ideas, I found the best way: a pushpin!

Lifting the sticker off of the sheet with the tip of a pushpin allows careful placement on the block. Then, lifting the pin up and away leaves the sticker lightly on the block. The tip of the pin is then used to nudge the sticker into its final position. A quick press with an available thumb finishes the job nicely.

Using the pin (or a paperclip) to lift, carry and position the sticker takes a few extra seconds, but it makes the finished block look really good. I finished the Romans after five or six sessions over the past few days. I enjoyed getting to know the different troops under magnification... I didn't know that the Roman Light troops were wearing wolf pelts... how cool! Next up are the fearsome Carthaginians!

Note to miniatures painters: Don't despair! Work continues on the 20mm Soviets and 28mm SYW Swiss! Pix will be forthcoming soon.