More SYW Austrians

Here's a quick snapshot of more bits n pieces I've done in recent weeks. 

First, the SYW Austrians. I'm trying to progress my 15mm Essex Minis for the SYW. These have been on a tray for a while and I wanted to get them finished. 

The cavalry will be 3 to a base, but to make painting easier, I mount the inner figure on a temporary base while the outer figures are in their final location. 

And now all horses mounted on bases. 

Added the cuirassiers. They were varnished at this point. 

And a bit of flock.

Although I've finished horses for the dragoons, the dragoon figures are still awaiting a final decision on which colour combination to use. 

And then the fate of all toy soldiers; to sleep until their country calls on them.  

In other boxes are the remaining Austrians, Prussians, French and British (and Jacobites). I'll get around to splashing paint on them some time.  

I'll do a separate post on other stuff.  

A unit of highlanders for Muskets and Tomahawks

Following on from some more games of Muskets and Tomahawks, a friend bought a British 'army' pack from North Star. Nice figures and I asked if I could paint the highlanders for him, as I like painting uniforms and the Black Watch are my local regiment. 

I thought at first I would try a contrast paint on the jackets. It was OK, but not the effect I was looking for, so I decided to go with normal acrylics. 

Kilts, bonnets and facings. And, yes, I know the Black Watch initially had buff facings and did not receive 'Royal' status till after Ticonderoga, but I just thought I want blue facings. 

Now, in here, I will say that one thing that annoys me about figure sculptors and manufacturers is that they do not seem to understand the way the folds of a kilt work, or exist, or look. This is not just these figures, but many manufacturers who make highlanders for all periods. Sculptors don't seem to do any research and as a result they seem to think a kilt is like the lower part of a Roman or Greek tunic. Bah humbug! 

The back of a kilt has pleats which should appear like many, many sharp creased folds. As these figures did not have this I decided I'd have to paint them on. A bit of a nuisance but I wanted the effect. 

Painting kilts is not that difficult. Here's a technique I learned from a painter of bigger figures (54/75/90mm) over 40 years ago. 

1. Paint the kilt blue.

2. Paint the green vertical and horizontal strips. Have a careful look at the way the strips appear, so horizontal blue at the hem, green, blue, green, and blue. This is deliberate so that the central front of the kilt is a blue square. 

3. Outline the green strips with a thin coat / semi-wash of black so that they appear a very dark green lines. 

4. Stop at this point if you want. It's usually good enough for smaller figures. For larger figures you can add a thin line of black mid-strip. 

5. Step back and look from 2 or 3 foot away. If it's good enough, then stop. 

Here, things are shaping up with the facings, kilts and bonnets looking better. 

And finally done. Or, more accurately, stopping at this point. I'd left the final basing to my friend. 

It was a lot of fun painting these. I must do more. 

And, almost inevitably, on the highlander's first action on the table top, their side lost. I think it's an unwritten law of the wargaming universe, that newly painted figures will lose their first battle on the tabletop. 

More on AWI and other stuff

We had a good game of the revamped Muskets and Tomahawks at the house of a friend. A fun game that prompted me to start splashing some paint on these chaps. 

Painting has slightly stalled at this point for now, but I will try to get back to it. 

And you know it was a good game when it leads to buying my own set of rules. I chose the Napoleonic supplement and cards because that's a major interest for me and where I'll do some figures. 

It was interesting that this came out around the same time, so was another purchase. A game followed at a friend's house. 

And 3d silliness continues. I spotted these Dark Ages shield maidens and bought the files. Very nice sculpts, though original prints are at a heroic 36mm scale. 

Here are some rescaled shieldmaiden figures beside one of my infamous unfinished Gripping Beast Saxons. They look good, so I'll add them to my unpainted figures and future projects bundles.  

More later...

more 3d stuff and nonsense and some AWI

 Just a few updates on games and figures. First, some 3d stuff. 

Some 10mm fantasy wood elves from Forest Dragon. Really nice little minis.  

Some Greek goddesses. I liked the classical style of the Athena figure on the left. 

And to the ridiculous. Another model that was hard to resist. A giant on a mammoth. Beside it in the picture is a 25/28mm plastic Gripping Beast Saxon figure. 

And meanwhile back in the sensible world, a friend at the club decided to go 10/12mm American War of Independence. I decided to jump in and we chose Kallistra 12mm. My friend took the redcoats, while I tok the bluecoats. Here are my first tests.  

At this stage, the regulars are to be mounted 8 to a base, militia 6 to a base and skirmish rifles 3 to a base. However, after some more research about looser files in the AWI, my friend suggested we go 6 to a base for the regulars.  

More later ... though hopefully sooner.