Painting 10mm Figures.

Last post I put up some 10mm AWI figures I had been painting and Jim Duncan from - http://jim-duncan.blogspot.co.uk/ asked what method I used to paint them . So I have decided to give a brief run through of my method . I spray the figures black and then paint them in batches of 8 figures - which is one base ,  mounted  individually on bottle tops with 'blue tack'. Please try to ignore the VERY mess paint table that appears in the background !.

I paint the musket , hands and face/hair a dark brown . Painting the same pose of figure in each session helps to remember were the paint needs to be applied .

I then pick out the straps and belts in white , on these figures the coat turnbacks and stockings are also white - as well as the hat lace. Click on the photos to enlarge them .

As these figures are going to represent the 2nd New Hampshire ( Enoch Poor's ) Regiment I paint the breeches a buff colour .

The facing colour of this regiment was red so I then pick out the cuffs and lapels . I try to use very bright colours as the black undercoat tends to dull the colours down .

Next I paint the bayonet and barrel of the musket , also the canteen . I then paint the coat blue - it should be a darker blue - but this lighter blue looks better . I think the trick is to leave areas black to represent shading and shadows - note slight gap of black between the stocking and breeches on these figures .

I then add the flesh to the hands and face , I try only to paint the nose and cheek bones and leave a bit of brown showing to define the face. I've only painted the higher areas on the sleeve of the coat and left the black showing in the folds . These figures are not really meant to be viewed this close up .

I put a touch of gold onto the tip off the bayonet scabbard and musket butt - if visible . I then super glue them to their base and CAREFULLY  work 'Basetex' around their feet (the hardest bit of the process I find!) .

When the base is set, I dry-brush it with a very light brown and add a bit of static grass to finish it off . A coat of matt varnish to the figures completes the process . Only another 32 to do to finish off this regiment . I think the trick is leaving enough black undercoat showing to suggest shadows and using lighter/brighter coloured paints on the highlights of the figures . I hope this has helped illustrate how I paint these figures - Kallistra say on their very good website - 'paint the unit not the figure' . 

From One Extreme To The Other.

Think this may be a symptom of my mid-life crisis - 10mm American War of Independence , Hodge the cat looks on in disbelief . They are by Kallistra and very cute ! , I bought a few packets at the Reading show and have been playing around how best to paint them . I finally decided to spray them black and just pick out the colours as highlights and a coat of matt varnish . This will be a loooong term project as I have to be in the right humour to paint them . I am thinking probably Black Powder for the rules - sorry for the rather out of focus photos .

Saint Georges Day !.

Does one wish people a 'Merry Saint Georges Day ? , I always find it a bit annoying that the rest of the U.K. make a bit thing of their saints days and the English quietly forget their own , so a 'Happy Saint Georges Day' to you all !. 

Sunday Morning Varnishing.

I usually try to varnish figures on a Sunday morning whilst there is nobody else about - especially animals ! . I've had several disasters with cat fur attached to figures and the 'incident of the dog and the varnished SYW figures' is best forgotten or 'glossed' over ! . So while my wife took the dog for a walk and the cats were sleeping upstairs I've got the latest batch of 40mm SYWish figures done , these are the final company for the British 18th Foote and there's only the command and standard bearers to do now to complete them. 

A Challenge .

Occasionally I see odd figures on EBay that intrigue me and if they are going cheap I have been known to purchase them . I saw the above figure looking very sorry for himself and nobody was interested in buying him - like a forlorn puppy in a pet shop (bit over the top there Tony !) . He seems to be some sort of Hussar - and rather damaged , whatever he is holding in his left hand is missing as is his sword in his right . I managed to snap off his scabbard try to straighten it out - oh dear ! - repairing him is going to be a challenge !

I noticed he had STARLUX engraved on his base and further investigation on the net came up with this figure - !!?, Oh My ! this is getting worse , however I do like a challenge so I  will make further reports of my progress (hopefully) . For people awaiting part 2 of the B.A.R. game - fear not play is taking place and will be posted soon.

A Box Of Goodies .

This is the box of moulds I managed to win off EBay at a very reasonable price - nobody else seemed interested in it ?!.

The box of delights opened ! - 14 moulds , clamps , tac in pots , melting pans and even a few castings from the moulds - excellent !. Some of the moulds I have already got but when casting having several of them on the go is an advantage . I've sorted out some more old figures ready to melt down - so its off to the foundry !

You Can Never Have Enough Dice !

My first purchase of the New Year is this impressive amount of dice ! , if I'm going to roll dice I like to roll all the same colour or maybe have the odd different one to represent officer casualties (as in Featherstonre's H & M rules) . I got them very cheaply off EBay and am very pleased with them !(childish I know !) P.S. Blogger seems to be working again 

Problems .

I am having problems downloading photos to Blogger , so there may be a (hopefully) short break till normal service is resumed.

The 2014 Campaign Year.

Just been re-reading what I wrote about this time last year , some of it has been achieved and some not. The casting up and painting - and playing with my 40mm SYW  armies has continued apace and I have been looking through my 'lead mountain' and have a box of unused figures that will be melted down and cast as more 40mm figures. The Allied army will have more artillery / limbers and another British unit - 18th Foot (Royal Irish) , the French/Saxons some more cavalry, I also fancy doing some Engineers and wagons for both armies which would be useful in many scenarios . My 40mm Imagination (Balkans) have not had much of an outing, but I plan to slightly enlarge the cavalry units and provide more dismounted cavalry figures - and play with them more ! . The Napoleonic collection has been mostly rebased but has NOT  been used this year - sigh !, I MUST  get to grips with this period and start using them. The 54mm Armies have not been used as I lack scenery for them and a puppy and the weather have made playing outside with them impractical . I am looking forward to the next years gaming and will continue to report on my progress (hopefully) Here's to 2014 ! 

Merry Christmas To You All !.

 

 

Wishing all of you out there in 'Blogland' a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year and thanking all of you for your support over the last year - here's to the next , Cheers Tony.

Early Christmas Present.

 

'A' alerted me to the above book on EBay - 'Shambattles - for boys of all ages' , it was on sale with a American bookseller and I got it for a very reasonable price . I have been aware of these rules for a while and was interested to see them 'in the flesh' , they are very simple rules which involve drawing maps and then manoeuvring toy soldiers about to capture the opponents city . It comes in three levels of complexity - Lieutenant, Captain and General , it was published in the U.S.A. in 1929 and seems to be a half way house between H.G. Wells and Featherstone , it uses a six sided spinner instead of D6  and artillery templates for firing guns , combat is based on scores on the spinner . The rules are I believed reprinted in one of John Currys 'History of Wargaming' Project books.

Tools Of The Trade.

 

I was passing a Charity shop today and happened to notice in the window a 'Dice Tray', I've been after on of these for ages and at £5 (with dice) I thought a snip !. We've all done it - rolled the dice and one always rolls on the floor and disappears from sight and requires about 10 minutes on your knees trying to find it ! - no more !, all dice will now be rolled in the official house dice tray !. Also in this photo are my leather dice cup - which I believe was designed to hold a wine bottle (!?) and an ancient ruler which I got given free at a Northern Militaire Wargaming Show about 20 + years ago (It's 15 years at least since it's demise as a show ) and has outlasted several extendable tapes.

Warfare 2013

 

We went down to Reading on the Friday night and as 'S' and 'L' had gone down earlier they had got the stands set up and so Saturday morning was a bit more leisurely . However I forgot to take my camera with me and left it in the hotel . This is Sunday morning as we arrive at the combined S&A Scenics - Lancashire Games stand 'A' sits thoughtfully as 'B' prepares to unveil the goodies .

 

 

Open for business !, I had my "Doctor Livingstone I presume" moment when fellow blogger Springinsfeld came and introduced himself - interesting to put a face to a name !.

 

 

I always make a beeline for the FOW competition games as the scenery is usually nice and the painting of the armies inspiring . Here we have "levitating tank" syndrome these cut up mats look good for wheat crops but I prefer 'teddy bear' fur for this purpose.

 

 

Some beautifully painted Russian T34's .

 

 

Brrrr! it even looks cold !

 

 

A 10mm Romans versus Celts game with hex scenery - like the hills !

 

 

The Romans besiege the Celts .

 

 

A 54mm Wild West rustler's game - very impressive !

 

 

A lot of work had gone into figure conversions.

 

 

A WW1 German East Africa game with simple but effective scenery .

 

 

They used some sort of Hessian curtaining as a base cloth .

 

 

A small but interesting 54mm ECW game.

 

 

Nicely painted figures as well !

 

 

Even had cavalry - not sure who the figures are by ?

 

 

A rather nice Pirate demo game in the main hall.

 

 

The latest offering from Peter Pig - is it just me but have the last few rule sets they have produced got more complicated ?

 

 

A large ACW game with lots of trees - at this point my camera batteries failed !. A good show but I think the traders found it a lot slower especially on the Sunday when the hall almost emptied when the completion games were on . Warfare is one of the few 2 day shows still running and I think most of the spending was done on the Saturday . My own purchases were very modest a couple of Perry ACW  limbers and teams, some more dice (you can NEVER have enough) and Super Glue Gel  as the last lot of cheapo stuff I got was rubbish . As a Old School Wargamer I find  there is at times little to entice spending at most shows .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Off To Warfare !.

This weekend we will be making our annual pilgrimage to the Warfare show in Reading , if  I remember to take my camera I will immortalise the event.

 

Here is a embarrassing photo of the author playing DBA on a hotel bed with 'A's "travelling DBA set" on a similar outing - the things people get up to in hotel rooms !!!! (and I believe I lost the game !)

Painting On Holiday

 

We have been away on holiday staying in a static caravan in Galloway Scotland and I thought I would take some figures to paint in a idle moment . I have considered this before when we have been camping , but under canvas it would not be conducive to painting toy soldiers- the problems with light , damp and the general English summer has always made me chicken out .

 

 

But this holiday was to be in a static caravan (a first for us - very impressive and luxurious compared to the sometimes squalor of tenting) so I prepared some 42mm figures and my new paint pot tray (making sure to take the required colours !) a couple of paint brushes and my water pot. The result was that I managed to get 10 figures done in the week .Very pleased with this endeavour , I must try it again on our next holiday .

 

Pilot Figures Painted.

 

I have been unable to track down the manufacture of these figures , but I have got them painted - you have to be creative with shades of brown ! . (the R.F.C. badge is not an original !)

 

 

They take their place in my collection .

 

Donald Featherstone R.I.P.

 

Turned on the computer this morning to find out that Donald Featherstone had died , I never met the man but his book (above) altered my life and sent it down the path of endless painting of toy soldiers and wargaming -  for this I feel I am very fortunate indeed . A great man - we shall not see his like again

A Couple of Unknown Figures

 

Another side to my hobby is collecting WW1 pilot figures in the 'Toy Soldier' style - see

 

http://tinsoldieringon.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/another-side-of-my-hobby.html
I bought these 60mm figures of EBay recently the one on the left was labelled as Russian Pilot 1914 the one on the right was untitled - but is wearing a German 'Steelhelm'  (!?) both have 1897 printed on their bases . I have been unable to trace them on the Internet , I was assuming that 1897 was a trade name ? so I will continue my investigations . I'm not sure of the practicalities of wearing a steel helmet whilst flying but its an unusual figure so I'm going to paint them up for my collection and will post the results when finished.

Poorly Sickly

Been under the weather this last week - caught one of those 24 hour summer bugs that lasted about 4 days and so my mind and body have not been to far from the bathroom (not to be too graphic !) . This has left me with lethargy and no appetite (hope this will do wonders for my waistline ) hence the lack of posts of late . Hopefully normal service will be resumed soon !.

An Indulgence .

Have add a link to a new blog I have set up to record my retirement . Nothing to do with wargaming but it records my day to day doings out and about with explorations by bicycle and on foot in my local area. There will be lots of pretty pictures (well hopefully), some flora and fauna and observations on local archaeology and landscapes . My constant battle with Horticulture will also be commented on (without strong language hopefully) and maybe comments on what I'm reading at the moment or even excursions to the cinema !. All blogging is an indulgence and this one even more so ! . Apologies before I start , pop across sometime and have a peek !.