Saturday 5 November 2022

Commission work update and building Langton ships.

Thankfully the Winter Blues episode is passing now and I'm feeling more upbeat again. The decision to pass on my Napoleonic Epics to Mal was a good one as it has helped me to clear the decks as I like to do from time to time and refocus. It was good to hear that they were ready to fight their first battle within a couple of days of Mal receiving them, which was after all what they are intended for. Going forward I have decided to focus on the commission work, (for my soldier painting fix!), and building up a small collection of the Langton Napoleonic ships and then possibly - just possibly - in the new year do something 'Ancient' based for myself which would be a real departure for me.

Commission work.

For the foreseeable future I am unable to accept any new commissions as I am heavily engaged on two big Epic projects that will keep me painting for many, many months ahead alongside some of my regulars. I don't feel at all overwhelmed by the task ahead as I have settled into a very solid and reliable method of painting the epic strips that produces good crisp results at an acceptable hourly rate. 

Having finished and posted the ACW Union Brigade box for Noel I went onto painting the first of the Peter Pig Scots for Graham, a 28 figure test unit which I feel turned out pretty well. These were followed up by another 2 regiments of Prussian Epics, this time the first of the Landwehr. 6 battalions of 40 figures each. 240 figures painted over 6 days which is quite a good output I think especially when you consider the strips are all cut in half and then any arm damage repaired with a small sausage of green stuff. My method is to prepare a full regiment of 120 figures at a time, base coat, dry brush dark Prussian blue, drybrush trousers mid grey, highlight coats (Litewka) with flat blue and then highlight trousers off white. I then paint each 40 figure battalion to a finish before starting on the next. The prep work is a days work ( I rarely paint after 5pm) but ensures a consistency of finish through the regiments. No doubting the most demanding part is painting the cap bands accurately and I do like to touch in the tiny collars unlike a lot of the epic painters out there I find it's worth the extra bit of effort. I'll probably just finish the bases over  the weekend as we have our young Grand daughters staying over tonight (The Rugrats as my wife calls them), who always insist on my painting multi coloured love hearts on the back of their hands about as much painting as I can get done when they are over!

Next two weeks are set aside for 2 battalions of 20mm WSS infantry for Tony along with the first 300 epic Confederates for Chris in New Zealand. Must say I'm looking forward to painting some more epic Rebs again. As mentioned previously this commission is for 44 units each of 60 figure with additional Warlord epic metal command strips split 50/50 Union/Confederate. So all in all I'm keeping myself pretty busy but thoroughly enjoying it.

Langton ship models.

The first British ship is built and painted ready to start the rigging, I just need to order a .5mm drill to drill the holes to pass the thread through before I can get started. I went for the brass sail sets again which are finer in scale than the metal sets but quite demanding to work with. I painted these on the brass sprue and then rolled them over a pen to shape them before supergluing them to the masts. While I'm waiting for the drill bit I'll start on the first French ship, a 74 gun. I must mention Mark Dudley here as he very kindly sent me a model that he bought 25 years ago and never took out of the packets! I mentioned this to Carol Langton who said I had an antique and that it reminded her just how long they have been in business, many thanks Mark and when she's finished no doubt the Dudley will make an appearance here. 

Photos below of all recent painting including a shot of the fully based and finished ACW Union brigade box for Noel.

First the 2 Landwehr regiments painted this week.








Below, Prussian progress so far for Tony2.



Below: The first of the Covenant army for Graham.



Below: The Warlord Epic Union Brigade box for Noel.



Below: The first of the Langton fleet underway. Might have to tone that yellow paint on the mast ropes down a bit although Nelson ordered them painted yellow after The Battle of The Nile in order to aid recognition.





Finally a shot of The Rugrats (Lilly and Violet), plus younger Brother Ozzy off to a party on Halloween as The Adams Family, their Mum and Dad dressed up too!



 


8 comments:

  1. The Langton ship looks lovely and a small armada is going to be impressive. Like the Epic ACW and wondered whether they were for the MEGA Epic Gettysburg that a New Zealand club have planned for next year. A good thing about the small plastics is that you can ship them around the world with little fear of damage - unlike heavy metals.

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    1. Hello again Norm, your comments are always appreciated here :) My plan for the ships is just a few models per side... but you know me Norm! Those Yanks are for a guy in Ireland, I'm about to start the massive box starter set for Chris in New Zealand next with no basing or flags required (which will also aid shipping), as they are going on deeper MDF bases and will be expanding an existing collection. Certainly does make shipping worldwide less stressful and cost effective. Judging by the number of Epic requests I'm having to turn down now I'd say Warlord are on a winner here, I'm even lined up for the Russians when and if they appear next year!

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  2. In my experience you can never have too many Silesian Traffic Wardens on the table! More great work Lee and I'm sure your clients must be more then happy.

    Those rugrats are fun but I agree they can interfere with any painting schedule...

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    1. The epic Prussians lack a bit of animation but I think it's the sheer weight of numbers that is the appeal, 120 figure regiments! Right fiddly job getting that yellow into the caps I can tell you. Think I have about 700 Landwehr to paint in total so lost of Traffic wardens :)
      Regards,
      Lee.

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  3. You’re still “knockin’ ‘em out the park” Lee. Impressive stuff and in quantity too, as well as quality. Well done.👍
    Your epics look good, as does your ship.
    All you need now is for your grandkids to have inherited your artistic streak - provided you can then convince them that “painting toy soldiers is fun”.
    Have a good weekend. Cheers,
    Geoff

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    1. Hello Geoff, thanks for the kind words. Ozzy has already been on his Grandads lap with a paint brush in his hand :)
      Regards,
      Lee.

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  4. Lee you’re cranking them out for sure, I’ve sent a few more Covenanters so you can take a break from all that Prussian blue. I think Warlord have certainly hit a bit of a gold seam with epic, despite all the moaners and disparaging comments a lot of gamers just like the visuals, the cost and yes even the fact they’re plastic and are easy to transport. You’ve said it before for some of us oldies it’s a bit of a nod to the Airfix days, even using them unpainted (Norm 😁)
    I’m sending you the naval rules this week hope you like them and manage to get a game!
    Love the grandkids,, mine bring me so much joy couldn’t stand being too far from them

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    1. Many thanks Graham. The ability to build huge armies of large units at a very affordable price must surely attract newcomers into the hobby which can only be a good thing. As for the painting it's quick and easy in strips! I'm really enjoying working on the ships so will be interesting to read through a set of rules, appreciate that :)

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