Tuesday 23 August 2011

"At the Paint Pots of Madness" or "A Fig Too Far"


In the face of gentle encouragement from Millsy and Nugget (such encouragement taking the form of japes, wind-ups, and jocular jibes at my masculinity, parentage, and inability to complete a painting task within a specified timeframe), I set myself a task for the weekend. I publicly undertook to paint 40 Gnoblars for my Ogre Army.

What the hell was I thinking?

I'd been delaying the inevitable, I'd done the building, basing, and undercoating, but I had gotten no further than painting the skin of these little monsters. They sat in their box, taunting me with their incomplete status, their gargoyle grins mocking me, their undercoated bodies showing the flat, dead-black tone of the truly accursed miniature - the project which knows no end!

I began Sunday morning around 10am. Six hours later, a gibbering human wreck was found at the kitchen bench, tearfully begging his wife to count the small goblinoids again, just to be sure that there were actually 40 completed.

Batch painting 40 figs is not a task for the faint-hearted, especially if you've only ever painted 20 at a time before. I'd certainly never attempted it on this scale. I'm not a Stakhanovite like Millsy. Gnoblars are much smaller than 28mm humans as well, meaning a lot of close-in work would be needed.

I forged ahead, setting up something of a production line for the little green men, forgetting breakfast and lunch, and refusing any nourishment other than black coffee. In retrospect, this may have been a mistake, and would go some way to explain my frazzled nerves when it was all over. That and forgetting to block in a key area and having to go back several figures to ensure completion... it happened more often than I would like to admit, so the production line was not as well-coordinated as would have liked.

For better or worse, here's the result;



That's the speed hump/distraction/meat shield of the Ogre Army, and at two points per figure, I'd better have 20 more completed before too long. Not just yet, is all I ask!

It's big figs for me again for the foreseeable. There's a Maneater to assemble, and the core units like Bulls and Ironguts could use some bulking up. And it might be nice to have some ranged capability beyond the Gnoblars' barrage of rock, bottles, and small animals, so the Leadbelchers could fill the vacant Special slot.

Just not for another couple of weeks, I beg you...

Saturday 13 August 2011

HOTT Project Update III

More progress to report which is always a pleasure to do. I've finished everything I have available now so I'm waiting on the post before continuing. Here's the first 20AP completed. Remember to click for larger images...

Necromancer (Wizard - 4AP)


Ghosts (Hordes 4 x 1AP)



Skeletons (Spears 4 x 2AP)



Skeletons (Blades / General 2AP, Blades 2AP)


I've somehow (typically!) bought far more than I need. As I said the rest is in the post and includes a Vampire (Hero), Skeletons (Archers x 4), Bats / Skeletal Vultures (Fliers x 2), Spiders (Beasts x 2) and a Devil (why did I buy that???) so in the end I'm going to have 40AP+. Hmmm....

The project will be on hold now for a while which is probably a good thing. ;-)

Cheers,
Millsy

Monday 8 August 2011

HOTT Project Update II

More progress made tonight on my current project - speed painting Undead for Hordes of the Things.

Tonight has seen the Ghosts (Hordes) finished off with a couple of rounds of dry brushing and the Necromancer (Wizard) completed too. Apologies for the image quality. These are a bit flash burnt, mainly due to tiredness and not setting up decent lighting. Remember to click for larger versions...



All that remains of my original 20AP is two bases of Skeletons (Blades and General / Blades). I picked up enough bits to make 4 bases of Skeleton Archers (Shooters) today on eBay. I'm also digging about for some more bits to make some more Skeletons (Blades) and also some Fliers. No sign of my Spiders (Beasts) as yet but hopefully they will arrive soon too.

I'm pretty happy with how this is progressing. Fast enough to justify the speed label but still of a high enough quality that I'll be happy with them over time. Til next time...

Cheers,
Millsy

Sunday 7 August 2011

HOTT Undead Project Update

It seems the speed painting thing is working for me! I've just about finished the four bases of Skeleton Spears I talked about in my first post. All that remains is a little highlighting and dry brushing. I'm not sure what colour scheme I want for the bases yet - some sort of brown or perhaps a black / dry brushed in grey. Comments, suggestions etc. gratefully accepted...


I'm also about a third done with the remaining Skeletons and the Necromancer. The Zombie Horde and I experienced some "creative differences of opinion". They thought the they were detailed enough to warrant an extensive paint job and I didn't. Consequently they're now base coated and inked in a variety of blues, greys and greens in preparation for lighter and lighter shades of dry brushes until they are reinvented as a Ghost Horde.

Stay tuned...

Cheers,
Millsy

HOTT Undead Project

I've been painting a lot of detailed, complicated miniatures of late and I need a break. I was looking about for something simple on t'Internet and came across the perfect thing. Other people's blogs are a fabulous motivator for me and Tim the Super Blogger has inspired me to get my finger out and paint my HOTT Undead after seeing this post on his blog.

I'm going to try and "speed paint" (whatever that means to you vs. me) this army just to see how fast I can get them onto the table. I don't normally paint this way as I hate fiddling my way between figs already based in groups. Given these are undead and most work will be washes and dry brushing I figure I can get away with it in this case.

Here's the first 20 points of the army in their ready-to-go state. These are a combination of old Essex Miniatures (Necromancer / Wizard, Skeleton Blades General and Skeleton Blades) with a few GW tombstones...


Plus GW Skeletons (Spears), some with home-made shields including coffin lids...


And finally Zombies (Hordes) from a loooong defunct manufacturer (which I can't remember the name of) and yes, one of the bases is facing backwards but hey, they're Hordes ;-)...


That gives me 20 points so far. I've got a pile of GW Spiders from the Arachnarok Spider kit in the post already and these will be two bases of Beasts. I'm also bidding on some GW Skeleton Archers and a couple of GW Tomb King Skeleton Vulture thingies (Fliers) which will get me up to about 32 points.

So here I go. Let's see how fast I can knock these out...

PS. If anyone can remember the name of the company that made the zombies let me know. It's doing my head in not being able to remember!

Cheers,
Millsy

Thursday 4 August 2011

Spanish Walls and some Vegetation

We're playing our very first game of Song of Drums and Shakos tomorrow. We've got quite a bit of nice 15mm terrain but not so much for 28mm so I have spent some time (quite a lot as it turned out) putting together a set of stucco walls.

They are made from a core of foam board, based on MDF and topped with (appropriately I think) card leftovers from the Carcassonne board game. The pillars are balsa of varying thicknesses and there are a few bits like a plastic door and crest over the gate. The whole lot was coated in a 50/50 mix of PVA glue and Polyfilla, trowelled on with a craft knife. Finally they were given a number of coats of paint and dry brushed, then flocked and "vined" til I got the effect I was looking for.

In total there are 6 long lengths including two gates (one large, one postern), 2 short lengths, 4 corners, a single end piece and 2 ruined end pieces to allow for a broken section. All up there is roughly 3 feet of wall and it can make a number of different sizes enclosures. I can see it being used as a town or villa wall or perhaps protecting an orchard.


Finally, here's a collection of cacti and trees to show what can be done with the cheapest of starting points. These all come from kids Cowboys and Indians sets but with a lick of paint and basing they stand up well I think.


That's it for now. Stay tuned for a battle report and a few pics from the game...

Cheers,
Millsy

The Grand Duchy of Eyesore

These are the last of the figures I've been painting for myself for Song of Drums and Shakos - Napoleonic Polish infantry in 28mm from Old Glory.

I hope I don't offend the sculptor if he ever reads this, but these are amongst the worst figures I've ever painted. They are both proportionally and anatomically out of sorts in so many of ways. They really are an eyesore. The fact that they got painted at all is due largely to the fact I needed them for a game and they were free.

The flag is wrong too - it belongs to a French Line regiment but I've not found a free one anywhere that suits. If you know of somewhere I can get one please let me know.

The list works out as follows (using Vistula Legion stats and costs):

1 x Line Infantry Officer - 54 points
1 x Line Infantry NCO - 51 points
1 x Standard Bearer - 36 points
1 x Drummer - 16 points
4 x Line Infantry Regulars - 168 points
2 x Line Infantry Grenadiers - 84 points
Total - 409 points

Anyway, tell me what you think. Maybe I'm judging them too harshly...



Cheers,
Millsy

French Napoleonic Chasseurs à Cheval

This is a half squad of Chasseurs à Cheval, also for Song of Drums and Shakos, again all Front Rank Miniatures in 28mm. I'll switch them in with other troops for variety and to give myself some scouting and fast troops.

1 x Light Cavalry Officer - 84 points
3 x Chassuers - 117 points
Total - 201 points


Comments welcome as always.

Cheers,
Millsy

French Napoleonic Chassuers à Pied

This is my first squad (French Chassuers à Pied) for Song of Drums and Shakos, a Napoleonic skirmish rule set from Ganesha Games. There are eight figures on the roster totalling 405 points, all Front Rank Miniatures in 28mm. I made up some stats for the hornist based on other troop types. The full list is as follows:

1 x Light Infantry Officer - 82 points
1 x Light Infantry NCO - 66 points
5 x Light Infantry Chasseurs - 210 points
1 x Light Infantry Hornist - 47 points
Total - 405 points

Remember to click for large pictures and don't be afraid to comment!




Cheers,
Millsy
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