A few more Dirty Rats

 

Don't run into these guys in a dark tunnel

Yeah, so, I bought these back on eBay a little while back. Horribly expensive for plastic minis, but you know, buy what you love, man.

Great fun to paint and they responded well to a base coat, a brown and then a black wash and some sketchy highlights on top of that. I'm resting them for a day before I go back for one last pass at them with the brush before I flock them.

There may be some more rats in the lead up to Christmas.

Check this out

 

One to cross the eyes

Four hours to paint one miniature! Hardly seems economic, does it...

The story so far...

 

I love it when an army starts to come together

Sorry folks, I have about another week of boring you with my beloved Bretonnians. We'll be back to our regular programming soon.

Easy Archers

 

Ahhh, the classics

The renovation and repair work on my old Bretonnian army continues apace.

Never fear, my loyal readers! Many more updates await you!

Let the refurbishment continue..!

 

Gritty pseudo-Frenchmen

I have - um - large numbers of 2nd-3rd edition metal Brettonian infantry that much younger me painted up in the styles that were in vogue back in the day. Looking at them closely, I decided me of today couldn't really do all that much better, so apart from a bit of touching up and some minor changes is the beginning of a unit of Men At Arms led by the Sieur de Thionville Roderick who has deigned to dismount for the task.

Bold Bretonnian Archers

Not quite Robin Hood and his Merry Men, but still, most of my first unit of Archers. I believe they were sculpted by the Perrys back in the day. I think that they are nice miniatures that have stood the test of time due to their essentially sound design.

Assume Lance Formation...

I have finished my first full Bretonnian unit of 'Knights of the Realm', being a mixture of old multi-part metal riders on plastic horses and the completely plastic minis that are contemporary with the mono-pose 6th edition Archers whom I have bales of. Some, like Mr Blue-and-White stripes at the front are newly painted, while others have merely been touched up

Vive la Brettonie!

 

Chaaaaaaarge!

A slow-burn project that has me enthused at the moment (yes, OK, I know I have about 6 on just now) is refurbishing my old Brettonnian army for WHFB 6th Ed.

The aim is to have about 1000 points worth ready to go by Christmas. That's about sixteen knights of various kinds (a unit of ten and another of six), ten Archers and ten Men at Arms.

Painting the knights is being kept deliberately simple as the riot of colour should make for more than enough visual complexity.

Hold the press, Shortie!

Just a moment there...

I think this is a Marauder/GW (I was never clear on the distinction between the two) magic-user. A nice, easy paint that I knocked out in about an hour last night.

A GW/Citadel ramble (including Rats)

 

Lots of Rats    

Well, hello there.

A bit of a painting miscellany posting today.

I finished my unit of clanrats over the weekend. They had been sitting there for a couple of weeks waiting for the PVA glue-and-sand treatment. I was watching the Clone Wars animated V series and thought, what better time than now.

Not quite a horde

I had been going through the lead pile recently in search of some of my old Bretonnians when I stumbled across these fellows. I have a large stash of OG plastic undead and thought that there two would make nice hero/champion figures.

Speaking of which...

I got a bit excited about the Bretonnians again recently and so went on a rampage through the lead pile to see what I had. Oo-er. Rather a lot really. So, that's a slow-burn project. Refurb them for WHFB 6th ed.

The Fair Folk

I also painted up a few of the early 2000s Elves from LotR. You know the ones, they got about 5 mins at the start of the first movie, so GW made a ton of miniatures. And I am glad for it, too. I'm very fond of these sculpts and enjoyed trying something different with them. Lots of glazes were used in the painting of these. I have yet to settle on a banner design. Something sinuous, no doubt.

I just had to, didn't I?

Just to whet various whistles, here is every painted skeleton I own...

Busy-busy, rats-rats

 A minor diversion from the Zulus this past few days as I have sunk my prominent incisors into painting some clanrats from GW's line of Skaven.

Always liked them, often trembled on the brink of buying some and now I have finally made the move and bought forty of the little beggars. Why? Well, why not ultimately.

The Story So Far

I am sticking with a pretty limited palette, mostly bone, gray and a dull red. Main colours get blocked in then it's two washes - a black wash and a red-brown one once the first has dried. Then I layer up the colours. I am going for a rough, sketchy final highlight to suggest grot and coarse cloth over a smoother initial highlight which basically tidies up the shapes after the washes have gone on and blurred everything.

A dozen paints and a couple of washes.

I am still thinking about basing. Initially I thought one of the dark gray texture paints and some dead grass, But, I don't know as things are already pretty dull. Needs thinking about a bit. I want the bases to make the figures stand out rather than for them just to mush into them.

Shewing Detail of the Artists' Treatment of various Materials and Textures

Would you want to meet this character in a dark alley?

Lots of Zulus!

 

A small horde of Zulus

It's not been all redcoats here at the Duchy of Alzheim. No, not by any means at all. As anyone who has had even a glancoing appreciation for the Zulu War, you realist that for every red-coated son of brecon that you paint, you need five or six Zulus.

In that wise, as I have been painting Bromhead and his handful of stalwarts, I have also been working on some Zulus. I spent my weekend painting a few more of the Zulus it was time to do some basing.

Backs to the wall!

One or two more British were added. Gosh they are a fiddle to paint if you want to get the straps looking nice and tidy... Just imagine if the Zuus were as fiddly!

Wippy Chard

Reading Books is Fun

 So, I was reading Mike Snook's book on Rorke's Drift and came across a reference to an Induna who was shot down off a gray mare.

Then this happened.

My inner 14-year-old wanted to splash some red paint around. The outer 55-year old said 'no that would be crass'.

Corporal Allen!

 You heard that Hofficer of hengineers...

Back to Zululand

 I am a fickle creature, I know. I bounce blithely from one project to the next, picking one up and putting it down again after the roughly six weeks it takes me to run out of steam.

Well, the latest batch of Willie castings have arrived and I am off to paint things for the Zulu War. I'm intending to remake my terrain and paint another few units for the Zulus and fiddle with the Willie figures for the 24th Foot. I have some ideas for command vignettes for both sides that I want to try out, so there is plenty to do.

The officer is meant to be Lt Bromhead. The fellow in shirtsleeves looks to be very useful in a variety of roles, as well.

So then, a couple of pictures to get us going.

Having re-read the Mike Snook books on Rorke's Drift and Isandlwana, I am keeping an eye on the latter as an expansion option for the future. And that private in the shirtsleeves might make a neat gunner.

Old School Franco-Prussian War

 I have been doing a little painting these last couple of weeks and decided it was time to do a small update on a project of - er - mature years.

So, quite some time ago I started painting some Willie Franco-Prussian War figures. I wanted a very definite style for the figures and basing and this was what I came up with on my first unit.

I liked that very much so I applied it to my first cavalry unit.
 

Very much in favour of how that turned out! So, I cracked on and painted four Bavarian Infantry and primed another eight and... then... ran out of steam.

Basing is a work in progress, however, still I'm liking the result.

I'll finish them up tonight.

Consider this a slow Zoom.

The horse-holder needs a rifle and something to connect him to the horse.

Don't talk to him about Blood and Iron.

Coming up, I have a French Line Infantry unit that just needs a few touches and it'll be finished.

Not the Sudan?

 

Willie goes to the Sudan

I was trawling the lead foothills last night when what should I find but this gentleman. There are a few late 19th Century Egyptians that are suitable for the so-called 'Urabi Uprising' and the early phase of the Mahdist period in Sudan. They are basically this officer, a couple of variant marching infantry and an artilleryman, the latter of which might be convert-able to a drummer.

Yes, Castaway Arts do a much better range of very nicely sculpted, well-proportioned figures, but surely just a couple of units can't hurt, can they?

And I need an excuse to make a fort and a river steamer. Again. 

The Grancey Regiment

Forgive the rough snapshot taken with my phone as I bolted out the door this morning. I made some small progress on the Grancey Regiment over the weekend - the Colonel and the colours as well as prep-and-prime the remaining half dozen miniatures I need to get it about finished. I think I might overpaint the reds on the Ordonnance colour to make them a little more vibrant. Onwards!

So, where is this little project going? Regiments both French and Bavarian? You're not doing the Schellenberg are you?

No, I'm not. I guess they can fight each other or team up to fight the Turks at some stage, especially if the French regiment(s) get swap-out Austrian Flags....

 

Oh, for the Wars of Louis Quatorze..!

Six figures in in three days. These fellows could be from a number of different Regiments and I have gone for Grancey because a) red facings and b) their musicians used Livree du Roi. They are not terribly accurate as I think their 12 Apostles equipment is a little old-fashioned for the period. I've also had to guess a couple of details - i.e. did the NCOs have metallic lace on their hats and as a sign of rank on their cuffs? I have chosen to believe that yes, by god, they did.

The next batch. On inaccuracy, keen students of military dress will note that this Willie drummer is more suited to traipsing about Tangier in the 1670s. Perhaps with Teviot. Nonetheless, he's the only musician in the range, so I am going with it. 

Here's a challenge. Will I finish the unit by the weekend?
 

What I did on the Weekend

This weekend was surprisingly filled with a fair bit of hobby activity. I FINALLY pulled my finger out and finished this unit - five partially painted figures leapt from the "languishing partly-painted queue" straight into the ranks.. Shall we call them Bavarians/Alzheimers for the Turkish Wars? The flags are a fudge, borrowed from warflags.org for the BAvarian Army of the WSS. The basing conforms to that of "Beneath the Lily Banners II"standard.

 

Well, while I was on a roll, I pulled out, cleaned up, assembled and primed these fellows. You see them here in their primer with a coat of the marvellous GW "Darkoath Flesh". I think I will never buy another flesh-toned paint for Europeans.

I was sufficiently enthused that I decided I's paint a few to completion in double-quick time. Not quite there yet, but well on the way. I was going to paint them as "Picardie" but got a little over enthusiastic and the white cuffs got a coat of red before I really thought things through.... Bit of a d'oh! moment, but that's me at 5.30 in the morning before I've finished the first coffee of the day... Next unit perhaps! :^). I decided to make it easy on myself and use Contrast paints as much as possible with these and so went "Apothecary White" with their coats over a very pale gray prime. This marvellous colour will be my go to paint for any more Gris-blanc!

I have also been doing a couple of 1/35 scale miniatures to flex other painting muscles. I don't often paint larger scale figures, and almost never Resin (why?), but this chap needed a little greenstuff sculpting to patch up a nasty casting flaw I hope he'll turn out as nicely as his pal. 

Two thin coats of that Darkoath Flesh again, blended with a little grey to do the 5 o'clock shadow. I'm very pleased with how he turned out. Now I just need a diorama for the pair of them.

Holger's Heroes II, The Artillery...

 Well, it took a little while as there were a few Eldar-inspired diversions along the way, but I managed to knock out this Battery using HE figures. They are a little smaller than the infantry it seems to me - closer to 25mm than 30mm, and, compared to figures like the drummers, they look very slight. 

That said, you would not be mixing them in units, so I feel they look good enough for a war game.

Yes, I painted them as Bavarians so as to stick with a theme, as I just can't swallow painting anything as Russians these days.

Holger's Hero's

 I've been spending my time lately on some old Holger Erickson miniatures I had from the enigmatic John P when he fled the darkest West for the Home Counties.

These are almost all in the marching pose. I went a little large on this unit, 30 Musketeers, 6 Grenadiers and a sketchy third rank of a few Pike, a couple of Drummers and NCOs.

Ga Pa!

Those not in the Marching pose were a bit of a grab bag of advancing and firing, so I started work on a small unit of light infantry, the Hinterland Jaeger. I snipped off their bayonests to make them look a little more "jaegery".

I an thinking a dozen to 18 figures.

Finally, I spent the weekend filing down these lads. I'm open to uniform suggestions. 

Just enough of everything to make up a neat, two-gun battery.

I am looking at this army as being my 1700-1720 Alzheim force, so get out those books on the Bavarian Army...

Staring blankly out of the office window

 Would it not be a nice thing indeed to have a lovely store of German flats with which to fight the Battles of Frederick the Great?

Would it not be a fine thing to have a similar grouping likewise to allow for some of the fights of the Befreiungskreig?

Could one be blind to the beauty of a collection built around the Franco-Prussian War?

One could only dream.

Another week, another unit.

 Presenting a unit of 20 Night Goblin Archers (Ärrers"). Like the others in this collection, they arrived 2nd hand and needing a bit of love to bring them up to standard. I foresee another basing session in my near future.

I'll start work tonight on a unit of 10 Forest Goblin Spider Riders. Think of Bright green Gobbos with red ad white feathers a la 'F-Troop' riding smaller versions of Shelob. Lurid, I know, but that's one of your Goblin fast attack troop types in WHFB 6th Ed.

Apres le Deluge

 I am sorry that I've not posted in recent months.

I've been staggering around rather as I try to re-establish some equilibrium after a rather life-altering event. Not cancer. Nothing remotely medical. I'm OK and the kids are OK and that's all that matters.

Now, as a respite from running about in panicked circles, trying to put things back together into a semblance of order the hobby has always been a patient refuge.

Those little toys are always there, waiting on the time you might be able to sit down with brush or dice to put them through their paces or to provide you with a creative outlet.

Indeed, with money somewhat tighter than in the past, one turns with gratitude to the old projects of happier times with the thought that, well, it's time I got on with finishing that off.

The Idol of Gork from the GW Skull Pass Box set. c.2006?

Nice old monopose Night Goblins from the same set.

The Dwarven Queen Helga and her faithful man-servant Snorri.

The delights of basing.