Friday 10 August 2018

Kilt patterns (again), and The Rain in Spain!

The 92nd Highlanders continue to grow in strength with 24 figures now painted. I'm going to add 4 of the flank company figures from the pack of 5 that I have here and a planned mounted officer wearing the bonnet to complete them at 29 figures in total. A large unit in 40mm scale, but as discussed previously can be drawn off and fielded in smaller units if required, for example companies of 8 for Sharp Practice.

Of the current 24 figures only 12 have been painted by myself, you can tell these from the black/brown bases. I found the initial 4 a bit of a challenge to be honest, being started in the rented villa where I really was not in the mood to paint, something I find is very important. Now things have settled down and I'm in my own home with my familiar things around me I'm finding myself increasingly back in the old mood again and feel the need to spend more time painting and for longer sessions. It has taken a little time to get my eye 'back in' and I think this shown in the painting of these 12 Highlanders, with only the last 4 being of a standard I find up to scratch. Once the flank company figures are finished the entire unit will get another run through during which I hope to pull everything together, touching up, matching up and generally bringing the unit together. For example some of my faces I am not happy with, some of the original 12 figures have yellow lace which should be white, my original 4 figures have very messy lace, whilst my latter 8 have much crisper lace, all such things will be corrected before I can consider them finished. And then there remains the question of the kilts ..........

The 92nd Highlanders wore a very distinctive tartan and the background shade was predominantly blue not green as on my Highlanders. I think the overall pattern is pretty well done though with the olive green lines and squares and the yellow central spots, but I know that I wont be happy with them until the main shade is more blue, so how best to go about achieving this without a total repaint job? I have been looking at a few interpretations of the 92nd tartan and now have a pretty clear idea of how I want mine to look, and the best way I think I can do this without a total repaint is to carefully paint in blue squares between the existing olive green checks. You see below a couple of 'test paints' for this to see how it works.


Following which, being satisfied with the general impression ( for such it is ), I went through the entire battalion and even gave the officer some tartan trews as opposed to the blue grey overalls he was wearing. I may have to bring the two standard bearers into line now, but for now all looks much better to my eye. I touched up the yellow lace with white and then gave all of the coats a lighten up with a mix of flat red and orange on the highlights. I could have used scarlet for this but prefer the more Gilder like highlights with the orange. Some faces continue to bother me!




The 5th Foot are now on the production line, coats have been highlighted as above, cross belts brightened up and facings all repainted green so far. Lace needs a tidy up next and the faces require attention. I will add 2 standard bearers, a drummer and a mounted officer once they arrive.




My wife and I have just about unpacked all the boxes that arrived from the UK and the garage area is almost clear again and ready for my wargame table. I have been giving this a lot of thought and I'm about ready to get started down there. It has been unseasonably hot here recently, even for Spain with temperatures nudging 39 degrees during the day, so I have been waiting for things to cool down a little. A couple of nights ago a wild fire broke out in the La Safor mountains and we could clearly see the orange glow and within an hour or so the air was thick with smoke, quite worrying. Next morning it was under control with  helicopters carrying huge bags of water slung beneath them flying back and forth most of the day. Today it's back to a more manageable 29 degrees and it's been raining all morning, only the third time we have seen rain in four months! I have been looking at the colours of the landscape here with a view to painting the table surface and there is a distinctive rust red and cream shade that prevails - although I'm not sure how this compares with further West and into Portugal as yet. THis picture shows the earth and rock colours at the end of our small back garden, taken this morning in the rain. Sometimes I almost expect to see Rifleman Harris up there!





17 comments:

  1. ....fine, fine work... those faces are very expressive... outstanding paint job.. is it ok to say that on a purely personal level I'm not sure the lips work as a separate colour???????

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    1. Hello Steve - thank you and yes, I kind of agree re the lips! Rob commented along the same lines on my previous post. Problem is that in 40mm scale the heads/faces are huge and I'm still trying to find a style that works. I may revert to my previous style, but was trying to emulate the faces on many of the painted figures which are great, but I'm clearly not yet up to scratch on this!

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  2. The blue squares for the tartan looks a good call. Helicopters with buckets of water, both concerning …. and a marvellous photo opportunity!

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    1. Cheers Norm. Yesterday we were in a kind of Chinese 'sells bits of everything' type shop in Vallalonga and I happened across a matt black spray can... just what I have been searching for to spray base coat my Warlord German Tank war set :) sad thing is that the Soviet set seems to have gone missing in the move, 6 plastic tank kits.... I'm still hoping it will turn up.

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  3. Any painter who tackles highlanders has my deepest respect. They and their more usual line brethren look fantastic.

    Best Regards,

    Stokes

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    1. Thank you again Stokes. The Highlanders are challenging but very rewarding once painted.

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  4. I was wondering how close the fires were to you. Glad they weren't closer

    The Gordon's are coming along VERY nicely. Military tartans tend to be much darker than modern civilian and much MUCH! darker than many illustrations. The Gordon sett is essential a Government or Black Wath Sett with a thin yellow overstripe. This page has a good photo of one. Gordon kilt

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    1. Thanks Ross. I guess we like the tartan to stand out a little more on our model soldiers, I certainly take your point re the Gordon Kilt.

      The fire was worrying, the air was thick with smoke and our balcony/terrace was covered in ash next morning.

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  5. Looking good Lee - those Highlanders are lovely. Glad to hear your settling in!

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    1. Cheers James, 40mm is a new challenge for me, any dodgy paintwork really shows! Settling in nicely now, Spain is really starting to feel like home :)

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  6. Coming on nicely now - soon you will have no excuse not to treat us to an after action report of their first encounter.

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    1. Thanks Rob, I do intend to use these figures solo and plan to meet up with Paul of the Napoleonic Wargaming blog once our respective family visits are over and things settle back to normal.

      Not forgotten re the lamp details, I threw the box away but off to the wonderfully named Leroy Merlin tomorrow so will get a shot of the details for you. I also plan to get the wood for my table :)

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  7. I'm in awe of your tartan talents, 'Lee!
    All the best
    WM

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    1. Thank you WM, Highlanders are always a challenge to paint, but in 40mm even more so as any mistakes stand out far more! I think I'm about done with the kilts now, just another 4 flank company to paint and the battalion will be complete.

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  8. Hi Lee

    Glad to hear that you are settling in and getting back into a painting routine. We found that it took a little time to establish a comfortable routine when we first moved to Spain, and it did not really feel like home until we had done so.

    It is particularly difficult to get a comfortable routine in the summer months, and painting should fit the bill very well.

    We have also had to adapt to the increased temperatures last week, fortunately it is back to normal now. Above 35c we find it difficult, and have to abandon eating outside. Yesterday was 30c, but it felt really comfortable eating on the naya with a nice cool breeze and a chilled glass of wine.

    Glad to hear you were not too close to the fire last week. One evening we had ash falling in Parcent from the fire, due to a change in the direction of the strong winds.

    Unfortunately summer fires are not unusual here, and you have to admire the volunteer firemen who fight them in such high temperatures. We do a lot of hill walking, and it is sad to see the damage caused by these fires. But it is encouraging to see how quickly it recovers.

    We have had a couple of fires within a few miles of the house over the years. They were near enough to watch the planes and helecoptors doing "bombing runs" to drop water on the flames, but far enough away not to pose any danger to our property.

    You have had quite a diffuclt introduction to living in Spain due to the higher than normal temepratures. But you will reap the advantages of the weather between October and June each year.

    Look forward to following your blog to see how you adapt.

    regards

    Paul and Jan

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    1. Hello Paul,

      Thank you for the comment, we are starting to feel at home here already and it's a lot to do with how welcoming and friendly the Spanish people are. We wanted to live in an area predominantly Spanish and it's just right here in Gandia. Today has been a cool 28 degrees and a little overcast, perfect! Best wishes to Jan, we look forward to meeting up after the family holiday season.

      Lee and Sharon.

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  9. Lovely looking tartan,I've got a Montrose army sitting in a box because half of it has got tartan!
    Best Iain

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