More painting and some photos of Old John's table and collection!

 So far this week I have painted 16 Peter Pig ECW horse for Graham and these 7 lovely 20mm's for John. They are 'Miquelets' by Spanish maker Minairons Miniatures and sculpted with wonderful character and detail. John wanted a mix of yellow and red cuffs to the coats as they represent militia types. I like how some have the coats slung over the shoulder.

On the subject of John and his figures here are a few photos of his wargame table in action. For  those who don't know John he has been an avid collector of 20mm/1/72 soldiers since he bought his first box of Airfix Guardsmen and his collection now consists of many thousands of figures covering many periods. Like the ex Eric Knowles Ottomans featured in the previous post many are vintage castings and I have had the pleasure of painting for him for the last decade. The table is 10' long x 5' wide.

John has not updated his blog for several years but it's well worth a look: 20mm Nostalgic Revival.

Old Johns Ottoman cavalry.

I have only recently started painting Ottomans for John so it's still a bit of a learning curve coming to terms with the colourful costume and intricate designs. The most recent are these 6 Spahi Light Horse where I allowed myself a bit more latitude in order to reflect this. These are Ral Partha once again and the horses were mostly painted just requiring some touching up and green on the bases. 

John sent me a few photos of some of his existing Ottoman cavalry collection and with his permission I share them here for the delight of the vintage soldier lovers amongst you, I'm sure John will fill you in on the makes and vintages of the figures.

Also completed this week was 32 Peter Pig Confederate infantry for Graham, always a pleasure painting the Pigs of course. They will get the final check over, I can spot a few socks for example that need touching in before I'm happy to let them go! 4 packs including a command pack so a few spare command figures.

 

For the week ahead I will be prepping up 24 ECW horse today, that's 3 more units of 8 cavalry towards Grahams  collection.

Hot work!

Thankfully the trusty old wet palette is doing it's job nicely and stopping the paints from skinning over in the heat and the lounge where I paint tends to remain cool as the front of the house is sheltered by mature trees when the sun comes round. So I'm cracking on and putting in several hours a day painting, broken up by cups of tea in the garden, walking the dog and general housework as and when required.

These are the nine Spahi heavy cavalry figures for John almost done, possibly need to add an outer colour to the shields but a bit tricky now that the figures are glued to their mounts. A lot of work went into the covered horses with three layers per colour over the black base coat, working up to the highlights, contrasted with the 'gold' braiding (actually used bronze as I tend to do). The figures were drybrushed a mix of silver and steel and then given a watered down Sepia ink wash to just slightly flatted the chain mail. A bit of extra colour and detail was added to the bow and arrow cases.

The 8 civilians are old Minifigs S Range and very nice too, I especially like the Bishop and the lady holding the baby. Again I might do a little more work on the faces tomorrow before varnishing along with the Spahi. 

Prepped for the week ahead.

With previous painted figures posted to John and the ECW's now safely in Grahams hands I'm settling in to my new painting routine and enjoying the freedom to paint different things. For the coming week I have planned:

9 Spahi Heavy Cavalry for Old John. Ral Partha figures Managed to get some of the basic colours done on the horses yesterday and have decided to paint the riders separately for once.

8 assorted civilians for John (Minifigs S range)

16 Peter Pig ACW's for Graham (the 16 at rear were painted Thursday/Friday). A mix of 'butternut' and grey adds a touch of variety to the Rebs.

I think I will continue to plan and prep everything up each weekend for the week ahead. 

Off to visit my Granddaughter today for her 5th Birthday, looks like it's going to be a hot day!

  

Janissary infantry for 'Old John' (Edited post).

Finished these yesterday, 12 muskets and 12 pikes, Ral Partha figures date stamped 1979 on the bases. Pleased with how they turned out because I have not really painted figures of this type before. The splendid Grandvizier mounted figure and the Iman next up then onto some 15mm ACW's for Graham C.

Images below taken pre varnish and final touch up.

Just to add that I have bids in on a few 1/72nd scale WW1 aircraft models and Rob has sent me some great ideas for the flight stands and fittings. The old Paragon rules are almost impossible to find now so if anyone has any ideas on rules that will work with the stands please let me know.