More figures - more pictures!

I thought I would post some pictures of ongoing commission work, latest 20mm ECW cavalry for Tony. Another two regiments of horse, the Royalist regt is finished and the Parliamentarian unit underway. Both of 12 figures as usual, I get a buzz from the fact I will eventually have painted all of the cavalry and dragoons for this excellent C&C related project, and added to what is a fantastic collection of 20mm figures.

Last few units left to complete the 10mm AWI project this week, completed the five battalions of militia and really pleased with the way they turned out. This is the last one completed.

Just taken delivery of the biggest box of unpainted figures I think I have seen! All 20mm American Civil War.... I am obviously going to enjoy this one. Not had a chance to work out whats in there yet fully, but 400+ figures/pieces including lots of camp scenes, wounded etc, Union and Confederate command HQ's, including some very rare  figures - will be a real joy to work on.

Below - 10mm scale Pendraken militia.

28th Foot...... and things on my mind.

Been a busy week on the commission painting front, managed to squeeze in another Essex 15mm British unit though, 28th foot, still awaiting flags. I'm not sure what to do about the flags....The GMB 15mm flags are brilliant, but I'm not sure they will fit the cast on flagpole and I would hate to have to start chopping them about so I'm trying to find something that looks good AND can be resized if I need to..... any ideas welcome?

Much as I like these Essex units my mind keeps turning to an idea I had some time ago, which develops the concept of 'speed painting' units further - I'll try to describe what I have in mind here. A year or so ago, when 'Foy' and I were discussing the origins of the Commands & Colours Napoleonics rules, he introduced me to 'Battle Cry', what I suppose one might describe as the first of the 'C&C' genre. This set is for the American Civil War and I was immediately struck by what a fantastic 'game' they would provide, and the more I read the more I liked. I would only need to provide some alternative 'playing pieces' to have a go. This has been gradually fermenting away in the old brainbox since then!

So here's an idea ....... take a suitable sized base from ERM and stick on say 20 x 15mm unpainted figures in two closely formed ranks, add a mounted officer plus a few skirmishing figures. Spray the entire base in a good strong matt black undercoat and then proceed to paint in a fast minimal method, which means only picking out those parts that can be seen and leaving what can't shaded by the undercoat. Add the 'pop' highlights on belts, faces, musket slings etc to give the base some focus points and then add GMB flags. It occurs to me that I could produce sufficient bases for a game in just a matter of a few weeks, but above all I reckon I could really make the playing pieces very attractive. It's quite an exciting challenge don't you think?

Meantime here's a few shots of the 28th Foot, plus some of 10mm Militia of the AWI I'm painting on commission.

10mm Pendraken AWI figures. 3 of the 5 'Militia' battalions.

42nd Highlanders and Scots Greys test paint.

I have completed the 16 figure Highland Battalion, the 42nd foot. I can't tell you how much time I spent on those kilts before going with this simple dark green/blue scheme. I have found that tartans with a distinctive yellow in the pattern are easier to paint in 15mm, but I wanted this to look darker to reflect the 'Government sett'. Overall, it is a speed paint job, but I'm working back to add a few extra details here and there.

I had the two Scots Greys in my old spares box, so I had a test paint in preparation for the full nine figure regiment to come. I'll be going with 3 cavalry to a 'block' so 3 block units for the British and 4 block units (12 figures) for the French. I cannot paint grey horses to save my life so all will be a lighter shade like these.

A British line battalion is undercoated with another to follow.

Edited to add this latest shot of the Swiss battalion - natural light. I'm trying to improve the quality of my images.

French Light Infantry.

I have completed the 12 figure Light Infantry unit, this could be a '4 block' C&C N unit. Gave them some extra highlights over the magic wash which seem to stand out well.

Next up will be a 16 figure battalion of highlanders, again I have given them a few extra touches as I go, the first 8 you see about half painted or so. The tartan will be the last thing painted.

Also a close up shot of another 10mm Penrdaken AWI unit finished this morning.

Firstly - Essex Miniatures 15mm French Lights.

10mm Pendraken AWI battalion in mixed hunting shirts and uniform coats.

More 15mm Essex Napoleonics.

IN my spare time I have been beavering away at the Essex French and having finally made up my mind to use 16 figure line units I have completed the first 5. I added an officer figure as a test paint,  I like the Essex horses. I'm currently finishing off a 12 figure light battalion, these will be just 3 figures per base, 4 bases strong. Commands & Colors remains firmly in my mind as I paint these up, so the possibility of using each base of figures as representing a 'block' is what decided the unit size.

I'll be starting the Brits next and once I have 5 battalions finished I'll do some cavalry maybe. Couple of months and I could in fact have two small armies ready to play with, but I'll see how it goes. I'm finding I can paint these battalions up very quickly now, the Essex castings are perfect for my style and I'm using the magic wash over the undercoat which gives a nice painting surface that does not seem to absorb the brightness of the paint so much, and then again as a varnish wash at the end as I like this  slightly shiny finish. I then touch in light flesh to the faces and hands and strengthen and highlight the belts etc and plumes.

On the commission painting front I'm bang up to date, the priority now is the 300 odd figures left to complete the 10mm AWI project so I'll add some pics of these as I progress.

Blast! ...still can't get the lighting correct.

I had hoped these would turn out much better than they have, I tried a different lamp spectrum but it's too red now. Anyway, some close ups of some the figures for 'Old John' I wanted to send him for his files. I'l try adding more blue light next time to see if I can get more balance. These are metal 20mm figures, I must add a link to John's blog here as he can provide more information on the manufacturer and ranges etc. I understand John owns the masters/moulds for many of the old 20mm ranges. They really are a joy to paint.

I'm just finishing off a Swiss line infantry battalion, had to do it after browsing 'stryker's' blog, let's face it, who can resist them? Pictures once all completed and based over the weekend.

Sedgemoor rebel infantry and Hesse Kessel regiment 20mm

Thought I would just add a couple of pics of the latest 20mm figures completed for 'Old John'. I really enjoyed painting the Rebel infantry and they are nice figures with loads of character.

I think these are old Warrior and Minifigs. The Hessians (in front) are Les Higgins I'm pretty sure.

Commission work - 20mm Cavalry.

These are part of the ongoing painting commission I'm doing for 'Old John'. Lovely old school charm and I try to give them a paint job that matches the style of the figures. John supplies me with a colour reference plate for each unit so it makes things easier. They just need their final matt varnish and tomorrow it's onto a unit of 12 Hesse- Kassel infantry followed by 27 'Sedgemoor' rebels - they should be fun. After that it's back to the 10mm AWI project as I have 300 figures left to complete the American infantry for early July.

Magic Wash - as referred to above is being used only after all normal painting is done, it gives a beautiful result and really brings out all of the paint shades and adds depth at the same time. It should not be confused with the 'Army Painter' style washes, I understand why people use them but I'm not keen on them myself. It takes a final coat of Vallejo varnish well, and I said before I'm now adding a few subtle 'pop' highlights after the MW and before the final varnish.

John's cavalry.