As we settle into the new year I find myself only a week away from my 65th birthday. it's certainly got me feeling a bit nostalgic, wondering where all the years have gone, but it has also focused my mind on the year ahead and the possibility of maybe trying another project alongside the commission work which is clearly going to keep me busy. I am increasingly drawn to the smaller scales and the potential of 2/3mm gaming especially. My 3mm Early Roman is about finished, just doing the last 2 elements of Auxilia but couldn't help painting the first Ancient British chariot element! There will be 4 of these one being the 'Generals' base so 24 tiny chariots in all as cold not squeeze more than 6 on a base!
Meantime I have finished the two 15mm DBA armies that were really more of a painting challenge but will be a nice stand alone small space wargame. As both armies were by Essex Miniatures I decided to stick with them for the additional (optional) Hoplite mercenaries for the Achaemenid Persians. I used waterslide transfers for the shields that are a mess, but they will be replaced by lovely full colour designs by LittleBigMen studios when they arrive as they are of superior quality and easier to apply accurately.
Commission work.
I'm at pretty much full capacity now but managing to keep roughly on schedule despite a week lost over the festive break with flu! Another batch of Peter Pig ECW Covenanters has been done for Graham and the January batch of Epic Napoleonic Prussians finished for Tony2 comprising 3 cavalry regiments of 20 figures, a battery of guns and 4 jager skirmishing bases. This week I'm working through another Epic ACW Brigade box for Noel to be followed by some 20mm WSS for Tony1(!) and then the January batch of Epic ACW's for Chris in NZ which will finish off the month nicely. I'll start February with more 20mm's for Old John.
Lee, you have been super productive and those tiny chariots are great!
ReplyDeleteCheers Ian, these dark and miserable days are good for productivity but I'm longing for Spring!
DeleteBusy, busy, busy. I wonder what the new Epic subject will be, the rumour mill is that there will be an announcement this month …… will you find yourself with new orders for ECW or Carthage / Rome?
ReplyDelete1812 Russians also rumoured? I can see both ECW and Rome/Carthage would work well though Norm.
DeleteLee - you’re “knocking it out of the park” as they say. So, so, so many figures painted to a consistently high standard. Well done.
ReplyDeleteYour 3mm chariots look great. I imagine seeing 24 chariots sweeping across the battlefield towards you would be a frightening sight indeed.
The Hoplite shields look fine to me - I imagine as mercenaries they would probably prefer a functionally strong shield over one with a nice pattern. 😂🤣
Have a great 65th birthday (I’ve got 4 months to go till I reach that particular milestone).
Cheers,
Geoff
Cheers Geoff. Ended up doing 28 chariots with one base of just 4 to represent Boudicas command element. Shield transfers very tricky! Fitted the new ones but still not 100%, they will have to do though.
Deletecongrats on birthday, great production rate!! well done mate cheers Old John
ReplyDeleteMany thanks John, back with you start of Feb mate :)
DeleteHow do you keep your hands from cramping with that much productivity at such a high level? I find I can rarely paint for more than an hour or two. How do you pace yourself?
ReplyDeleteHello David. I guess like anything it just comes with practice! I can now paint for a solid 5 hours per day broken up with tea and lunch breaks. I rarely paint after 5pm unless I'm doing something for myself such as the current 3mm armies when I might do the extra hour, but I never paint in the evenings at all. I listen to a LOT of background stuff such as true crime, history documentaries, music etc. Recently revisited the entire Napoleon 101 podcasts, hours and hours of Napoleonic goodness :)
DeleteAll the best,
Lee.
Great work, I am envious and I have a large cache of Epic figures to paint so seeing what you have accomplished is impressive. Any tips for someone starting off for basically the same reason as you, therapy for PTSD
ReplyDeleteHi and thanks for the comment. Figure painting has proved to be a great therapy for me and I'm sure for you too, sorry to read of the PTSD. I find it locks out all the negativity when focused on the figures, getting into the zone as I call it. Basically approach the Epics like 6mm strips, don't think of them as individual figures and only paint what you can actually see! I often run a brush along the strips when applying darker base shades such as trousers etc and then pick out the highlights more carefully. if you start from a black undercoat you won't need to paint in any more black beyond the odd touch up, only highlight in black/grey, it's all about speed but also produces decent results. Hope this helps in some small way :)
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