SquadPainter

Flames of War: Test Figure

2012-02-23T06:39:00.000-08:00

Here is the first one out! I have to say that it is much better than I was expecting. There is definite improvement over what I did two years ago (scroll down and look at a previous post). Now I know that this figure isn't a sculpt of an Early War German, but this is what I had on hand and the goal of it is primarily for color choice and placement for a forthcoming project.

Pros: Most of the colors are more smoothly applied. The colors are brighter which makes the figure show up better. The non-metallic metal looks very clean. The insignia on the collar, helmet and breast look really good!

Cons: Some shadows are not well defined (water bottle and breadbag). The highlight on the leather pouches is too bright (it should be darker with a thin line highlight). The flesh jump from mid-tone to highlight is too dramatic. Some highlights/shadows are not on the proper places.

Please give me feedback on color choices, paint placement, etc. in the comments.

Sidenote: My beautiful wife is taking her hobby to the next level. Have a look!

Project Maiwand - Day One

2012-02-19T08:11:00.000-08:00

There was thirty dead an' wounded on the ground we wouldn't keep -
No, there wasn't more than twenty when the front began to go;
But, Christ! along the line o' flight they cut us up like sheep,
An' that was all we gained by doing so.
- Rudyard Kipling

During our previous Craft Day in January we decided that February's would be a different sort of affair. We had been browsing the excellent ruleset "The Sword and the Flame" and looking at Michael's excellent British troops when we decided that it was a shame that they didn't have a good opponent to battle.

Thus was the genesis of Project Maiwand: a fully painted Pathan force in only two Craft Days! Day One would be spent cleaning, filing, priming, basecoating and finally dipping. Day Two will be spent highlighting, varnishing and basing. We thought about only doing forty figures, but during the priming process we ended up with twenty sticks of three each for sixty total. Michael, Will and I worked for ten hours and we finished!

It wasn't easy. Speed painting is tough. We hit a wall about seven hours in and I thought that we wouldn't make it. But we encouraged, cajoled, threatened and pushed each other until we made it to the finish line. In two weeks it will be Day Two. I can hardly wait!

Above you can see the pre-dipped troops. Below are the freshly dipped Pathan figures.

Sidenote: My lovely wife has decided to take her hobby to the next level. Please click this link to see how she is doing. Thanks!

What Does Your Army Say About You?

2012-01-31T06:54:00.000-08:00

While browsing the always excellent From the Warp blog, I ran across a post that wrote about staying motivated to keep painting. It was at an associated site and it brought up a number of good ideas.
The one point that stuck with me was this: "Whether or not your army is painted says a lot about you as a person." How true. Do you have the dedication, patience, desire and to see a project through to completion? Do you finish what you start? What do you have to show for the money that you have dropped into your hobby?

I normally paint in small batches, but I recently read that painting in larger batches is more rewarding (and faster, and makes your units look more cohesive, etc.) so I decided that the last of my nine Games Workshop Genestealers for Space Hulk will be painted in one group. I normally paint 2-4 at a time, so this will be interesting for me. I am not looking forward to grinding through the blue line highlights at all! I am excited to get these Genestealers to the finish line and then begin on the Terminators.

Flames of War: Primed Tamiya White

2012-01-22T09:37:00.000-08:00

Here are the stripped figures after they have been primed with the Tamiya Fine Surface Primer.
From what I can see, there isn't any loss of detail and the primer went on pretty smoothly. Even though the Armory Black Primer is excellent, I have not had good results with the white. It was a little blotchy and spitty.

So the Tamiya primer looks like a winner. I picked up a can of light gray while I was at the hobby shop as well.

I mounted the figures on double-headed nails with Blu-Tac and then stuck them in a paper cup to hold them. Next up is painting two test figures!

Flames of War: Stripping Figures

2012-01-20T06:00:00.000-08:00

In anticipation of doing the Flames of War PaK36 unit, I wanted to paint a few test figures to get my colors right.

I still had a number of Panzergrenadiers that were only primed in black (with the excellent Armory Black Primer). However, I was going to do these figures with a white undercoat, so they needed to be stripped. I tried to let them sit overnight with some Windex Multi-Purpose cleaner, but that didn't work at all.

I read online that someone had used a cleaner/degreaser made by Castrol and that it only took a few minutes. A quick look in my motorcycle cleaning bucket led to my decision to use Maxima Clean Up Multi-Purpose Degreaser. I put the figures in a glass jar, sprayed them and then scrubbed them with an old toothbrush after 10 minutes. The above photo shows how they turned out. Not bad at all for 20 minutes of total work! If I was going to be a perfectionist, I would respray them and/or let them sit in the degreaser for longer, but this was more than good enough for what I was planning on doing.

The job went very quickly. Note that I have no idea how this stuff will treat plastics. Also, if you use this stuff, use your head and wear gloves.

Flames of War: Early Germans - PaK36 Platoon

2012-01-18T07:31:00.000-08:00

My new project is officially underway! The Flames of War figures arrived last week and I am ready to go.

I decided to begin with a German PaK36 platoon. The unit mostly consists of infantry which is comfortable for me (I have not had a lot of experience painting armor). The guns will be a good initiation for me and I will learn a lot painting the motorcycles and Krupp Kfz 70 trucks. I will be trying to follow WarpainterBrother's PaK36 platoon with my own work. Having those clear photos to reference will help me with my own color choice and placement.

I have also began researching a Secret Project which is so audacious and so far beyond anything that I have ever attempted that it cannot be described until it is further along. Stay tuned...

Flames of War: Early Germans

2012-01-16T08:12:00.000-08:00

A new year brings with it an old project, seen with new eyes and restarted with eager anticipation. For Christmas I picked up a copy of Battlefront's book Blitzkrieg about Germany's Early War campaigns. At the same time while I was browsing the Net I stumbled across WarpainterBrother's excellent Flames of War Early War Germans as well as TerrainGuy's incredible boards of the French countryside.

That did it. I'm hooked. I few years ago I picked up some Panzer Grenadiers and tried my hand at painting them. I used Vallejo paints and followed Battlefront's painting guidelines for Early War Germans.

At the time I thought that they were amazing. I was using a black primer, washes and highlights. I was especially happy with the helmet insignia.

But now when I look at them with two more years of painting under my belt, I can see that there are a few things wrong with them. In person, they appear somewhat darker than the above photos (due to less than ideal light... the bottom picture comes closest to show what they actually look like, but it is still brighter than they actually are). The washes have dulled and muddied the colors a bit. The subtle color choices may work well for 28mm, but for a figure that is half the size I should be trying for more contrast and a brighter pallete. The black undercoat dulls the figure. The net result is that the German infantry are just too dark and don't show well at the table. Following WarpainterBrother's tips that I have gleaned from the FoW boards, I will be embarking on a new project with a new strategy soon!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-13T10:14:00.000-08:00

Happy (belated) New Year! With the beginning of 2012 thoughts turn to things that were done over the past year and projects to begin and complete this year. Last year was a success on a number of fronts.

Largest number of miniatures painted
Most Craft Days attended
Most games played

That will be hard to top. But this year is filled with promise! I am going to be focusing in on two key areas this year: 28mm Napoleonics (French and Austrian) as well as 15mm Flames of War (Early War Germans and British). I also have two secondary goals. The first is to finish up my Games Workshop Space Hulk figures. The second is to support either of Michael's or Will's (my two Craft Day cohorts) projects... to an extent.

Colonial British 28mm painting is a worthy project to put effort into. But you can keep those overpriced Games Workshop tanks to yourself.

Diversion: Space Hulk - Genestealer Update

2012-01-12T20:46:00.000-08:00

Work is progressing on the Genestealers, albeit slowly. I am almost halfway done with the 22 total that need to be painted. I chose to do them in the old-school style with purple and dark blue.

The line-highlighting takes a lot of time. But it is good practice. This post found in the excellent From the Warp blog does a nice job of explaining how to do it. As an aside, even though my first love is historical miniatures, the sci-fi and fantasy painters are the ones who are breaking new ground in the 28mm painting scene. Because they get to do so many different things like object source lighting, diaphanous clothing, etc. they get opportunities on a more frequent basis that historical painters don't.

Note for historical miniature fans: Don't panic! My next post will have some Flames of War figures in it.

Victrix Austrians - First Stand Done!

2011-11-17T16:10:00.001-08:00

The first stand has been completed! I have to say that I am very pleased with the results. To recap, this project's genesis began with the idea that one could get a quality result when painting these Austrians with only basic painting skills and with typical materials found at a game store.

No WN Series 7 brushes were allowed to participate. No eyeballs were painted. The only 3 step painting was done on the boots and helmets in a black triad (and they were slopped on). Everything else was paint/dip/highlight. Is this stand as rich and detailed as my non-dipped French? Of course not. But... could a beginning painter (or someone who just wants to save some time) have this be their result if they followed the steps? Absolutely.

This result is achievable by almost anyone. I used a huge brush to do the detail work and I didn't take a lot of time to go back and fix some of my mix-ups like I normally would. Having hundreds of these figures (and that isn't an exaggeration considering how quickly this painting technique works) on the table would look incredible!

This was a fun experiment to try and I am looking forward to quickly finishing up the rest of the Victrix Austrians that remain. If you have even the faintest interest at trying this out, you really owe it to yourself to pick up a box of these figures and have a go at it. Thanks for reading!

Victrix Austrians - First Stand Ready for Flock

2011-11-14T18:14:00.000-08:00

This is the stand dried and ready for flocking. The colors are poor in this shot as I took it late at night under incandescent light and I neglected to make the necessary adjustments on my camera.

For the gravel painting I use a modified color scheme cribbed from Artmaster. It starts with GW Scorched Brown over everything (except feet and coir), then GW Macharius Solar Orange with a dry/wet brush, followed by Foundry Orange C with a true drybrush, then Foundry Base Sand C for the final drybrush highlights. You can't tell from this picture, but the ground has the appearance of rich, fertile soil, which I like. I'll post final pictures of the finished stand soon!

Victrix Austrians - First Stand Gravel Glued

2011-11-13T07:46:00.000-08:00

The spackle took about two hours to dry. My next step is to add the gravel to the base. I paint on a 1:1 mixture of Elmer's White Glue and water to the base, taking care not to get it on the legs of the troopers. Then I dunk the whole base in Games Workshop's gravel. It is mostly small textured sand with a few reasonably sized pebbles in there.

I only leave it in the gravel for ten seconds or so, then I remove it and tap off the excess. At that time I also use an X-Acto knife to flick any gravel off of legs, bushes, etc. where it might have accidentally ended up. I let it dry to the touch and then begin to paint all of the gravel with some slightly watered down Games Workshop Scorched Brown. I am halfway done painting in the above photo. Next up is the drybrushing of three more colors and then the base will get flocked.

Victrix Austrians - First Stand Spackled

2011-11-12T07:59:00.001-08:00

The spackling has been completed. The palette knife makes this job so easy. I used to use Starbucks wooden coffee stirrers and that was a mess. The spackle would stick to the wood and then it would get everywhere except where I wanted it. The metal knife holds the spackle until it touches the base and then releases it.

The key to doing this is to start from the inside and work your way to the edges of the base. That way you don't mess your edges with your fingers. Also, doing the edges is so easy... you want to save the fun part for last. Dinner before dessert. This spackle is water clean-up and dries in 1-2 hours. That's good because when I get this close to finishing a base I get impatient. Next up is gluing the rocks and dirt!

Victrix Austrians - First Stand Hot Glue

2011-11-11T15:31:00.000-08:00

Now we're quickly moving toward the finish line. The end is in sight. A funny thing happens when the figures get based up like this: I always wonder why I spent so much darn time getting rid of every single imperfection in my painting when you can't even tell once they are on the base. This time I tried to not be such a perfectionist.

I have just finished hot gluing eight figures onto the Litko base along with two tufts of coir cut from a doormat. The next step is to use some spackle to build up the base to the level of the feet and coir. Using a putty knife makes this job a snap.

I have no idea what the difference is between "high performance" and a regular or even low performance spackle is... but when I was at the store I didn't want to take any chances.

Victrix Austrians - First Stand in Progress

2011-11-10T21:36:00.001-08:00

The work is progressing quickly with the Austrians. My base size for these troops will be 45x60mm with eight figures on each base. Each of the three sticks has three figures Blu-Tacked to it so I have nine to choose from. That's the beauty of using this technique: painting an extra figure or two is no big deal.

I am partially done with the highlights on these figures. You can see the one that is finished second from the right. I still need to do the gold, black, blue, white belting and white cloth. I have not had much time this week to work on them... maybe thirty minutes one day and an hour the next. Each time I come back to them (and before I start with the highlighting) I always do a quick look to see if there is any shadow that needs darkening with the Games Workshop brown or black inks. That seems to be helping the dip in a few areas such as the underside of creases/belts as well as cuffs and where the arms meet the body.

Victrix Austrians - First One Done

2011-10-22T16:36:00.001-07:00

Here is the first one finished with the highlights and final touches. I am very happy with the way he turned out! He looks tough... like he is ready to storm the granary at Essling!

My biggest challenge on this figure was how I was going to successfully differentiate between the straps and the cloth. Both are white, but they needed to be distinct from each other. I tried a few ideas out, but the best one was to highlight the straps in pure white and highlight the cloth with an almost-white. In this case I used Boneyard C which is a very light cream color that leans toward yellow. That yellow tint was important as it had to be warm, otherwise it would have clashed with the brown dip shadows.

Admittedly the figure does look a little dirty. But you can see in the above photo when you compare the highlighted figure on the right versus the untouched figure on the left that using the Boneyard has lightened the cloth a great deal. When I do subsequent figures I will probably use more Boneyard in the highlight and that will eliminate the some of the dirty tan color.

Highlights were done with Flesh C, Terracotta 37C on the lower lip, Spearpoint 35C for the metals and washed with GW's Badab Black wash, Ochre 4C for the plumage (which needs a better contrast... next time I will use a darker base color), Burning Gold 44A washed with GW's Devlan Mud brown wash, the White/Sky Blue C (2:1) mix, and the mid and light Foundry colors in the Black triad. I hit a few creases with some GW wash as well (you can see it on the gap between the hand and the cuff) where I felt that things could be just a bit darker.

Victrix Austrians - Dip is Dry

2011-10-22T07:30:00.000-07:00

These photos were taken ten hours after after they were dipped.

You can see that the dried dip has shrunk into the creases nicely.

They are now ready for highlighting. In order to contrast the white items I will highlight the belts and straps with pure white. I am going to do a test to see which I like more with the white cloth:

White mixed 2:1 with water
Off White (Boneyard 9C) thinned slightly

I have no idea which I will look better. I'll post pictures later today with the results if I finish while there is still daylight remaining.

Victrix Austrians - Wet with Dip

2011-10-21T17:53:00.001-07:00

Here are the Austrians freshly dipped. I shook up the can vigorously and then, using a paintbrush that costs less than a dollar, dabbed the Army Painter Quickshade - Strong Tone onto the miniatures. They already look amazing... even without highlights.

The photos are a little blown out because I am using my phone as my regular Canon is away on vacation with my wife. A few things should be readily apparent even with the substandard picture:

The shadows and creases are already picked out in amazing detail
I put just enough dip on to coat the miniature without letting it pool anywhere
The dip is still somewhat thick in the creases as it gathers to itself

I took a quick peek at them before I went to work this morning (about an hour after dipping) and in that time the Quickshade has already began shrinking into the creases. It is pretty neat how it does that. I'll shoot some more pictures when they are completely dry so that you can hopefully see how the dip contracts on itself, thereby further defining the recesses of the miniature.

Victrix Austrians - Ready for Dip

2011-10-20T20:09:00.001-07:00

Here are two of the three Austrians that I quickly painted up after work today. Ignoring the two in the back, you can see that the ones in the foreground really don't need that much paint to get them ready for dipping. When I look at them at this stage I can't possibly see how they will look good when they are done. But that is the beauty of the base-dip-highlight technique. I am excited to see how they will turn out!

For those of you who are following along, here are the paints (Foundry) that I have used so far: Flesh B for skin, Black, Dusky Flesh B for the backpack, Slate Grey C for the blanket, Spearshaft for the gun stock, Ochre B for the crest plumage, Buff Leather A for the canteen, Spearshaft A for the bayonet scabbard, and a 1:1 mix of White and Sky Blue A for the facings.

I have had a few requests to see how much dip goes on when I brush it on the figure, so when I dip these figures I will take a picture of them when they are wet and then one the next day when they are dry.

Victrix Austrians - Early Stages

2011-10-17T18:45:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of the Austrians in the early stages of painting.

I normally remove miniatures from the priming sticks before I start on them (or prime them on the bottle caps without using a stick at all), but I didn't have enough bottle caps available when it was time to get started painting during Craft Day. I went with white primer as 80% of the figure is white. The Foundry Flesh B is on there along with black for the boots and gaiters.

I want to differentiate between the white cloth and white belting. I might highlight the cloth with a cream color (Foundry Sand? Linen?) and do the belting with the pure white after the painted on Army Painter dip.

Victrix Austrians - Unboxing & Assembling

2011-10-16T11:20:00.001-07:00

I just received my Victrix Austrian Napoleonic Infantry box yesterday during Craft Day and I wasted no time opening it up to see what was in there!

The box had eight line infantry sprues and two command sprues which will yield 48 foot soldiers, 2 drummers, 2 standard bearers, 2 officers on foot and 2 mounted colonels. The horse model looks amazing! Each command sprue also has two sergeant arms to convert a standard line solider into a sergeant. There are many arms and heads to choose from to keep each soldier looking unique in the ranks.

I wanted to dive in so I quickly took out my snips, knife and glue and assembled some models in order to prepare them for priming.

Army Painter Dip - 2nd Battalion Planning

2011-10-08T13:05:00.000-07:00

I am planning on quickly finishing up the 2nd Battalion. The third and fourth companies are finished. I wasn't paying attention and I painted up more Grenadiers (G) than I actually needed. Now I have 8 when I only need three. I just primed the line figures (1,1,2,2), the Voltigeurs and the drummer. Now I am left with the Of from stand one and the SM, FA and CB for the command stand.

As you can see below, I have many Perry metal figures to choose from. I just don't know which ones to use. Instead of the officer figure in the first/Grenadier stand, I could use a sapper figure. But I did that on the first battalion. It looks good, but do I want to do it again? I have the 2nd Battalion flag from GMB, so I will be using that.

I have line infantry officers advancing (Perry FN22) as well as Perry's FN5 Infantry Regimental Command (Eagle bearer, 2 Eagle guards, officer, drummer and sapper) as well as Perry's FN6 Infantry Battalion Command (2 officers, 2 Fanion bearers and 2 drummers). I also have a pack of Perry NCOs as well.

It will take me a day or two to paint, dip and highlight the other figures. Feel free to chime in with any advice in comments.

Painting Box

2011-09-30T17:49:00.001-07:00

I transitioned away from using my drafting table as my painting space and have instead been using it for its original purpose which is illustration. I realized that I was using most of the space for storage and that I was only painting on a very small surface. Then I thought, "How much space do I really need to get the job done?"

The answer is that I don't need that much at all! Here is the Painting Box in all of its glory. All of my other painting items (primer, sealer, varnish, tools, basing stuff, extra figures) are now stored in a closet in those amazingly useful Ziploc food storage tubs. I keep the items in my painting box handy and ready to go at a moment's notice. Since I have been working on the Space Hulk figures, that would include the GW pots of paint and inks, GW brushes, ceramic paint palette, two (emptied) Martinelli's Apple Juice jars for water, some primed figures, a few squares of paper towels and my magnification/reading glasses.

I like this minimalist approach to painting. I always want to purchase the next greatest paints, the newest brushes or the latest gadgets. This is a good reminder that I should spend less time looking at that stuff and more time keeping it simple: wet the brush, dab it in the paint, and then on the model. Repeat. More figures will get painted that way.

Diversion: Space Hulk

2011-09-29T15:53:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I pulled the trigger and purchased a game that I have always wanted: Space Hulk! After reading about it when it first came out and then, years later, wondering if I should get it after the amazing third generation came out, I stumbled across a ridiculous video review from Downtime Town that pushed me over the line.

That is the first Genestealer that I finished. It looks pretty good. I followed the Games Workshop 4-step Painting Guide and used their paints and brushes. The line work for the carapace highlights is a bit of a pain, but it goes quickly enough.

Note for historical miniature fans: Don't panic. I have a box of Victrix Austrians on the way.

Soapbox: Letting Others Play

2011-06-01T17:31:00.000-07:00

It was my birthday this past Memorial Day weekend and my wife and I had some people over to our house. Whenever I get to the painting station during the house tour I always wonder what the reaction will be from the onlookers. Amazement? Amusement? Boredom?

One thing always happens: the adults want to look, and the kids want to paint! I was ready for them. Hannah, age 10, begged me to let her do some work on my figures. She was thrilled at the chance. So, I let her. She did the basecoats for the backpacks and blanket rolls for four figures. In addition, she did the bayonet scabbard from start to finish (all three colors)!

She made me promise that if I sold them, that I would let the buyer know that she helped me. When she finished she proclaimed that, "I want to do this when I grow up!" I don't know how her parents felt about that, but I thought that it was pretty cool. Don't be afraid to introduce people to painting miniatures. Let them paint on your figures. Give them one when they are done. I think that Hannah did a great job and I am very happy that I let her try her hand at our fun hobby.

Army Painter Dip - 3rd Stand, continued

2011-05-29T10:55:00.001-07:00

Here are the troops after their dip and highlights have been applied. They are ready for basing. Even though only five are going to go on the stand, I decided to paint up seven and choose the best. That's the beauty of using the dip... making a few extra figures takes no time at all!

I learned something new this time while I was applying highlights. When the dip is dry it is very smooth. It is much smoother than other paint and primer. It's almost like painting on glass. The paint sits and moves on it differently. Whereas the spray primer had a "tooth" to it and grabs and holds the paint, the dried dip allows the paint to slide around on its surface a bit.

So, what does this all mean?

Halfway through doing the white highlights on the pants on these figures, I realized that a neat effect could be attained by painting the lowermost white area, then dabbing the brush up the fold/area that needed to be highlighted. Instead of just having a blob of unifom intensity white paint, I ended up with a nice blended white moving up the fold - pure white on the bottom and then less and less white on the way up which allows the darker color underneath to show through. It is a subtle effect, but it is beautiful.

I hope that you can make it out on the pictures that are here. If anyone would like close up pictures of the effect, comment on this post and I will see what I can do.

Army Painter Dip - 3rd Stand

2011-05-28T07:52:00.000-07:00

The third stand is nearing the dip stage. As you can see, it really doesn't take that much to get them to this point.

The gray primer seems to be ideal for me. It is a good color that takes the dip well. It also is a good shade color for white so I don't have to paint the belts and straps into every recess, which is time consuming. The gray is light enough so that less pigmented colors like Flesh and Scarlet don't have to have multiple coats to get an even color.

Army Painter Dip - 2nd Stand Finished

2011-05-25T19:49:00.001-07:00

After well over a month of not painting, I realized that I wanted to get a stand done to get me back on track. So I went to the dip!

This stand went even faster than the first. The light base coat colors look great under the dip. This time I undercoated metals with black before the dip and then gave the silver a GW Badab Black wash and I think that they turned out better because of that. Also, I hit the pants with a 2:1 white:water on the highlights and they turned out very good. The thin paint was fast to apply and that highlight makes them pop!

Oops. I just noticed that I didn't hit the back buckles with the silver. Stupid.

The Grenadier stand is ready for dip tonight. The results are better and better with each stand completed.

Sidenote: Conflict of Heroes

2011-05-24T06:46:00.000-07:00

I promise I won't make a habit of posting about non-miniature related stuff, but six months ago I ran across this game and I thought that it was good enough to share! "Conflict of Heroes" is a wonderful WWII strategy game! It's as if you took Avalon Hill's "Squad Leader" and updated it, made it easier to learn and still kept its depth of strategy. Oh, and also made the over-sized counters and map boards look beautiful!

Although the pretty counters and boards initially hooked me, what got me to put down my money was the gameplay. It is easy to learn the basics. The innovative turn structure means that you are NEVER waiting around for your turn. You get to react to your opponent's every maneuver. Or you can choose not to react and hold your moves until later! Will you be able to wait out your opponent and attack their forces unimpeded at the end of the round, or will you be forced to spend your precious command action points to blunt their attack? Will you defend and soak up their attack and gather your resources for a stunning counter-punch, or will you stream forward, blitzkrieg-style with lightning strikes and force your opponent to react to you?

Can the German Tiger rescue the immobilized Panzer from the marauding Soviet T-70s and T-34s?

My friends and I have played a number of the well thought out scenarios from the book and we have enjoyed every match. I have some Flames of War StuG models and I just picked up a can of FoW War Paint - German Armour on my last trip to Game Empire. Maybe I should paint a few up and dust them with my Vallejo pigments. They would be just the thing to decorate the edge of the map board. Thanks for indulging me! I promise to post a progress report in the next few days to show where I am at on my Perry Miniatures French battalion.

http://academy-games.com/games/conflict-of-heroes/storms-of-steel-kursk-1943

Army Painter Dip - 2nd Stand

2011-05-22T11:56:00.000-07:00

Here we go with the second stand. The figures have been painted, dipped, highlighted and are awaiting matte varnish and basing.

They were undercoated with a a spray of Armory gray primer.

Next they were painted with Foundry: Flesh B, Scarlet B, White, Dusky Flesh B, Spearshaft B, Tan B, Sky Blue A, Bay Brown B, Storm Blue C, Ochre B, Moss B, Royal Purple B, Rawhide B, and Granite C. Black was also used to undercoat all metal areas.

Then they were dipped.

Finally they were highlighted with Foundry Flesh C, White, Spearpoint C, Burning Gold B, and Royal Purple C. The lower lip got a touch of Terracotta. The silver metal bits were also given a coat of Games Workshop Badab Black wash to tone them down. The faces and some folds were also touched with GW Devlan Mud wash (mouth, eyes, etc.) to give them a bit more definition.

Perry Plastic French - Third Stand Completed

2011-03-27T11:28:00.001-07:00

The third stand has been finished up! I am especially happy with the epaulet. I used a base of Deep Leather Brown B and then Ochre B. That was finished up with a dusting of gold metallic paint thinned to almost nothing to add a little shimmer to it. It looks like fabric that glints when the light hits it right, which is perfect.

This stand painted up quickly. It actually has been done for well over a week.

The unit is really coming together now. I am going to spend a few hours painting today on the Grenadier stand.

Army Painter Dip - Finished!

2011-03-25T17:10:00.000-07:00

I finished basing them up and I think that they look really good! The Army Painter Strong Shade gives a great base to work from. It was so easy to place a few strategic highlights on spots to bring each miniature to the next level. Some parts didn't need any extra highlights at all (coat, shako, backpack). My total time spent painting, dipping and highlighting was well under an hour per figure. That is incredible to me. My other figures take around 5+ hours each to paint (although my speed is increasing). I could see how you could easily purchase a few Perry French Infantry boxes and have a large Napoleonic army done in no time at all.

You can see that they do look different from my normal work. They are not as detailed and they have a different effect when you look at them. Some of the shading looks better than my meticulously painted figures. The pants are very good. The stippled earth color dirties the coats nicely.

There were a few lessons learned on this project. I used my Citadel Standard Brush for the whole project and that kept me working at a fast pace. It is important to get a smooth, solid basecoat otherwise you will get a blotchy result (i.e. the bluecoat's flesh, the rearmost tan coat). Hit the miniature with Citadel Washes to enhance areas (eyes, mouth, musket barrel) that need more shading.

They will be up for peer review on our next Craft Day sometime in May after Salute 2011.

Army Painter Dip - Highlights Test

2011-03-24T21:32:00.000-07:00

I did some test highlighting as well as some test shading. The left figures had "subtle" highlights while the right figure had "dramatic" highlights applied.

All received Foundry Terracotta 37C for the lower lip. The face was touched on the nose, cheeks and chin. That's it. On the subtle highlights I used the same colors that were the base coats. For the skin, that was Foundry Flesh 5B. For the dramatic highlights I used the 5C. Also, on the dramatic I hit the eyes with a wash of Games Workshop Devlan Mud.

I decided that the dramatic highlights and shading looked better than the subtle option. Up close it looks a little like clown paint, but these figures are not meant to be closely inspected. From a foot away the stronger change in tone really makes the figures pop. I went ahead and quickly applied the highlights to the rest of the figures. They have been based and the stand is drying overnight.

Army Painter Dip - Post Dip

2011-03-21T17:28:00.000-07:00

Here are the figures 24 hours after their dipping. I tried to follow David Imrie's advice to the letter by using Army Painter Strong Tone as well as brushing it on with a very light coat. That is really the key. You only need a little bit. Don't let it pool. When I was brushing it on it looked like it wasn't going to do anything. But as it dries it collects in the recesses and gives a nice shadow effect. I was pleasantly surprised when I came back a few hours later for a quick peek to notice the shadows forming.

The area under the lower lip looks particularly good as well as the detail around the fingers.

Now I will hit them with the quick highlights. I am planning on using my Citadel brush through the whole thing in order to prove to myself that you don't need the precision of a Series 7 brush to get very good results with the Army Painter Dip. I'll post pictures when I am done.

Army Painter Dip - Ready for Dunking

2011-03-17T17:08:00.000-07:00

In record time (for me) I have prepared these figures for dipping. It took me about three hours total painting time. If I had a medium gray primer it would have shaved some time, but I only had white and black. I wanted to see which undercoat would give a better result so four figures are undercoated white and one was done with black.

In order to really up the ante, I decided to not use my good Winsor Newton brushes either. I only used my Citadel Standard brush. I think that having a larger brush forced me to work faster, which was part of the reason to try this entire experiment.

All paint is by Foundry and most are the mid-tones. The actual dip will take place this Saturday during a Craft Day. I am very curious to see what they will look like after the Strong Tone has been applied.

A Short Diversion - The Army Painter Dip

2011-03-17T16:57:00.000-07:00

I didn't think that I would be doing this experiment... ever!

I have seen dipped armies before and they have not won me over. I can paint eyes, so why shouldn't I? As for the miniatures, why would I paint French troops in greatcoats? The coat covers up the stylish uniform!

But when I was looking at David Imrie's "Saxon Dog" blog and noticed his great looking armies, I realized that I had to try my hand with his hybrid technique: base coat-dip-highlight. His greatcoated infantry look really good and I hope that mine do as well. We'll see!

Perry Plastic French - Project Overview

2011-02-26T08:28:00.000-08:00

This is where I am in the project. As you can see, I have two stands done and I am working on a third. Once that is done, I will have the Grenadier, Voltigeur and Command stand left. I needed a Sergeant Major for the command stand so I ordered some more Perry figures and GMB flags from Triangle Miniatures and they quickly arrived in my mailbox two days later. Now the only thing holding me back is getting the painting done!

Perry Plastic French - Second Stand Completed

2011-02-23T20:24:00.000-08:00

I finished my second stand of the Perry French 28mm French Infantry last week. Here are two pictures of the front and the back. I think they turned out even better than the first stand. I was especially happy with the gold "N" on the cartridge boxes with the serifs. I also was a lot lighter on the varnish. Work has begun on the third stand. I am already done with the base colors!

Basing (and Rebasing) Napoleonic French Infantry

2011-02-20T11:59:00.000-08:00

The painting was completed last weekend and here is a shot from Wednesday of the basing in progress. I am very pleased at how the second stand (purple pom-poms) turned out. The paint job is good and I did it in under three weeks which is very fast for me!

Second Stand Nears Completion

2011-02-07T17:27:00.000-08:00

Here are the Perry Plastic figures for the second stand of my First Battalion of French Line Infantry. No, they don’t have sunburns! Only the basecoat of Terracotta has been applied. The faces always look a bit goofy before the other colors go on. Unlike the first stand, I am trying a different style on these figures. Dallimore’s “Master Class” book uses black around the eyes and a Terracotta basecoat (instead of the Spearshaft B that I normally use). After reading his book I was inspired to try it. We’ll see how it turns out.

One other note: that back figure’s pants look like I spilled white all over them when they actually just have a touch of sunlight from a nearby window. I took a quick picture with my cellphone camera, so the quality isn’t up to par.

The shade hue has been blocked in for all of the colors and a few colors have been their triads completed. I should finish up the white highlights this evening and then I will do a few quick and easy midtones and highlights before starting in on the flesh. Maybe the Bay Brown bayonet scabbards or the scarlet cuffs and piping?

I hope to have these figures varnished and based by the end of this weekend.

One Brushstroke Painting

2011-01-30T13:12:00.001-08:00

After viewing a video on Toby's Artmaster blog, I had an epiphany. As I watched Toby paint, I noticed his speed came down to his only making a single brushstroke for most of his painting. He wasn’t dabbing, correcting, recoating or doing anything twice.

Unlike me.

I realized that I have been thinning my paints down too much which means that I often have to repaint the same spot two, three or even four times. Also, instead of being bold with my brush, I have been picking and poking at the miniature with jabbing motions. Not unlike a Sumi-e artist, I have to have the paint the proper consistency, and get my brushstroke to be perfect the first time.

Adopting these ideas has really sped up my painting! In addition, my skill and confidence have improved.

3rd Company, 1er Battalion of 100er Regiment d' Infantry de Ligne

2011-01-27T13:40:00.000-08:00

This is the first stand that I just finished. Overall I thought that it turned out pretty well. I shot this picture with my iPhone and I thought it looked good enough to post.

As usual, I used the Foundry Paints to avoid any fussing with paint mixing. I think that the faces look good and I have received positive comments on the pom-poms as well. I am very happy with the basing: I used a Litko wood base, Games Workshop sand, coir for the dead plant, the Artmaster sequence of colors for drybrushing and finally some drybrushed Silfor for the grass tufts. I might try to add a little bit more green to the base, either with some flocking or possibly more Silfor tufts. We'll see.

The Pebeo Matte Varnish pooled on me a bit (you can see it on the rightmost figure’s eye) and that was my fault. I used it undiluted and I ought to have mixed it with a little distilled water with a ration of 2 parts varnish to 1 part water. My other mistake was that I was so excited to begin basing that I hot glued the figures to the base before I varnished them. Oops. So I just varnished them on the base, which made it tricky to watch for pooling. Luckily the pooled varnish comes out with the tip of a new Xacto blade carefully inserted into the center of the pool. It just lifts right out. I have fixed a number of spots since this photo was taken.

I based them for Lasalle/General de Brigade and I am already at work on the next set of five figures for the next stand!

The Secret Project™

2009-06-23T09:58:00.000-07:00

The Secret Project™ may now be revealed! I have been working surreptitiously on a small job for my friend Will. He wanted to give a figure from the Anglo/Zulu Wars (a character featured in the movie “Zulu”) to his father Michael for Father’s Day. The model is based on Pvt. Hitch who took a bullet in his right arm during the defense of Rorke’s Drift and valiantly took up a pistol in his left to fight the rest of the battle.

The figure is from a Wargames Factory Colonial Firing Line box. I crafted the sling out of green stuff. As I didn’t have a pistol, I created one from filing down one of the rifles and gluing it in the general position of a pistol. In addition, I cut and rotated the left hand to the proper position and added two blobs of green stuff to the sides of the pistol to simulate the chamber. I was kind of worried about how it would look, but I think that it turned out pretty well!

Will told me that after he took possession of it the head popped off and he had to glue it back on. We think that it was accidentally crushed in the plastic egg that I used for transport. The glue he used for repair altered the colors around the collar and his chin. You can’t really see it in real life, but it shows when the figure is blown up 4x its normal size. Will also did the basing and had a plaque manufactured with Hitch’s name on it. I think he did a good job!

All paints were Foundry and I used their 3-Step method, with the exception of the face which started out with Spearshaft midtone before the usual 3-Step Flesh. I am happier with the hands on this figure as I used more mid-tone coverage. On the flip side when I saw the pix of the figure I was surprised at how much Spearshaft was still showing on the face. I normally try to cover most of it. Once again, I think that it is more noticeable at 4x the size. I also think that I need to pay more attention to cleaning the model of dust and basing sand before taking its picture. Live and learn. On the bright side, the Golden Acrylic Flow Release that I use is great and I love my Winsor Newton Series 7 Miniature brushes!

2009-05-14T10:35:00.000-07:00

Finished! My Wargames Factory British Colonial figure (aka Pvt. Osborne) is done.

It took a little longer than expected. Most of the time was spent researching the proper colors to paint the bags and straps. I am sure that when Michael critiques my work I will have to touch up a few spots… add white piping here and subtract some there. He will have some color corrections for me as well. Ha ha! The next ones will go much faster.

All of the paints were Foundry except for the silver. My silver shade, mid and highlight all looked the same out of the pots (probably due to settling and my not shaking them enough). It was late at night and I was a bit sleepy. I accidentally ended up painting everything the bright silver highlight. Oops. Despairing that it looked ridiculously bright, I grabbed my pot of Citadel Wash Badab Black and hit it with a coat… and then a quick second coat. I love it! It turned out perfectly! Oily steel never looked so good. And it was faster than the 3-Step style.

I am very pleased with the overall look of him! The dark blue pants worked out well, and I am happy with the face. I also think that using Foundry Canvas for the helmet was a good choice. The tight highlights on the helmet, green cuffs and pants really make the colors pop! As soon as I figure out which ruleset I am going to use I will get him on an appropriate base.

2009-04-28T09:47:00.001-07:00

Colonial British plastics have now captured my attention. I have not forgotten about the Perry Napoleonics (as a matter of fact, I went to Brookhurst Hobbies and picked up a box of Perry British two weeks ago), but for the past week or so I have been consumed by the Wargames Factory’s British Colonial Firing Line. I watched “Zulu” with a friend of mine a few weeks ago. One thing lead to another… and now plans are in the works for the recreation of Rorke’s Drift with 100+ British and over 600 Zulus! My friends Michael, Will and I are working together on this. This picture is of my first Colonial, halfway done.

I used Foundry paints again. The face and whiskers are done as well as the hands. Everything else has had the shade coats applied. I am not too happy with the pupils... I should have used a darker brown. Also, the hands came out a little too bony. More mid-tone coverage will fix that on future figures.

2009-04-28T09:17:00.000-07:00

I have fallen under the spell of the Perry plastic Napoleonic figures! This is my first one out of the chute. Generally I paint one to get my colors placed correctly. I have finished with the base colors. I only use Foundry paints because otherwise I would waste way too much time mixing and thinking and fiddling with different colors instead of actually painting figures. This picture was taken late February. I just got around to posting it.

2009-01-20T15:39:00.000-08:00

So I was thinking about it and I thought that the best way to begin would be to tell of where I started out. That way I can give the illusion of progress without having to do anything.

When I was in junior high I was given a basic boxed D&D game by my aunt for Christmas. After exploring what was there (where is the board?...) I learned that you could buy little figures to go along with the game. Neat! I picked up some Ral Partha miniatures and some Polly S acrylics and got to work. The wizard was my first figure that I painted and I still have him today. Not too bad for 12 years old.