Many thanks for the comments on the previous post, I'll reply to them all individually of course. Meantime here are a few more photos as we are now up to 30 painted. Lot's of useful comments were made and some useful links provided. I should stress that Mark's brief was to try to keep the colours 'earthy' so I toned down a few touches of the initial 12 and I'm far happier now, I think the vivid colour illustrations in the Ospreys, especially of the bright bead and embroidered decoration influenced me somewhat to add a touch of 'pop' but I'm far happier now!
Mark has decided upon stain varnish and I'm really pleased that he has because I know how much it brings out the horse colours in particular. I'm aware that they look very flat in these photos but with satin there is no need to over highlight muscle tone etc. One detail that I raised with Mark was that of the horses reins and the fact that many had only reins cast along one side on the neck which puzzled me given the quality of the sculpts. Research shows this is spot on! The Plains Indians often riding with just a single long rein and no metal bit, simply looped over the lower jaw, often braided and up to 12 feet long so if the rider was unhorsed he could cling to it and remount.
After this batch of 68 I'm back with Old John for a couple of weeks. I'm not painting Epics now and currently seeking a painter to continue the commission for Tony. Fact is that I have had to reduce my painting time and simply could not commit to 3 weeks per month for the Waterloo project any longer for personal reasons. if anyone knows or can recommend a painter please do get in touch.
Them tharr injuns look ace matey. Will you still be doing the 3mm lads?
ReplyDeleteHello JBM :) Yep, I'm still working on the Parthians with their hordes of horse archers, that will complete army number 7 for DBA with expanded armies in some cases. Bad news is that Magister Militum are selling up so while the ranges will continue to be sold (with luck) I worry that expansion will cease. There are still Indian (Macedonian invasion that did not go well!) and Persians though, so might get to add those 2 armies in due course at least.
DeleteAll the best,
Lee.
They are coming on a treat and the war paint is looking great.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rob, means a lot coming from you :) I'm being guided by Marks basic brief to keep things Earthy overall and he has said that there is no need to paint each figure as an individual, hard not to with such lovely castings! Also I don't need a design on every shield as many braves would have plain cloth/skin coloured shields. The native skin tone was a bit of a challenge to begin with but I have settled on a 50/50 mix of Vallejo Mahogany Brown and Orange Brown as highlights over the flat Brown dry brush which seems to work well;
DeleteYep, I agree with JBM - those Native American chappies are looking rather spiffing. 👏👏
ReplyDeleteSomeone’s going to need a rather large table to get all those fellas on the battlefield.
I’m broadly the same age as you Lee. I’ve now only got 9 months till I retire, so hoping to ramp up my hobby activities in the coming months and years.
Cheers,
Geoff
Hi Geoff. Firstly, I have your little chaps scheduled in to follow Old John :)
DeleteI have 5 months until I hit the big 66 :) I'll probably keep painting for so long as my hand/eye co ordination holds up but will scale things back and won't be doing any more Epics as I think I just burnt out on them. I'm really enjoying my painting at the moment.
Cheers,
Lee.
It’s good to hear you’re really enjoying your painting now Lee. Some of us, sadly, find our work a right old “chore”. Still, I’m “watching the clock” tick down till I reach 66 too.
DeleteAt least when you paint my little 2mm chaps you won’t need too much paint 🤣😂
Enjoy your weekend. Cheers,
Geoff