And now for Something Completely Different

The next few pictures are of some 15m Ground Zero Games New Israeli Infantry in carapace armour. These have been very quickly painted with GW base coats and washes and are intended for a project later in the year.

There will be more to follow over  the year including support weapons and some Grav tanks.

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 19

A few pictures of some of the various started items on the painting table at present.

The pirates are from Foundry and have been painted by blocking and washing with Devlan Mud to achieve a very quick tonal effect. Still resisting the urge to get the brushes on these figures and highlight the lighter colours with the base colour to improve the overall effect. As however, there are only twelve in the crew it is likely they will stay as they are.

The above are the start of some fatigue markers for SAGA that will also double up as casualty markers for Impetus. The figures are from Old Glory and have painted up very well.

There will be some more to follow shortly.

Cheers for now

Sorting out the entries

Have been thinking about doing this for a few weeks and now that the Analogue Painting Competition is finished now is the time.


This blog was started to help motivate and keep track of the miniature painting and gaming undertaken for both personal use and the club's use. To which point it has succeeded and will continue to do so. However, over the last few months themes have been emerging from the posts and these will now be formalised for future entries as below:

• Back to the Brushes - the main stream of work in progress material will be posted under this heading
• Fury of the Norse - posts relating to SAGA and any Dark Age material will be posted under this heading
• Imperium Sine Fine - posts relating to the Late Romans, their allies and enemies will be posted under this heading.
• The Dance of Bronze - posts relating to the Mycenaeans, the Spartans and any other Greek themed material will be posted under this heading.
• All Hell Let Loose - posts relating to the Second World War will be posted under this heading.
• And Now for Something Completely Different - anything which falls out with the above themes, especially relating to Fantasy and Sci-Fi will be posted under this heading.

The idea behind these themes is to help keep the topics separate and allow for fresh material to be easily posted to the blog. It is hoped that this will also help the painting by adding variety to keep all work as fresh as possible, well that is the plan.

Before finishing this post, a warm welcome to:

• Warlike Rogue

Hope that you find the ramblings here interesting.

Cheers for now.

Back to the Brushes 18

Due to exceptionally fair weather over the weekend, not much in the way of painting has been done. There are however, a few quick snaps from earlier last week showing the afore mentioned new project. So here goes...

 Late Romans from Foundry and Gripping Beast.

To say that this is a new project is not strictly true as the Late Roman army to which these fellows belong to was started sometime circa 2002. The original project was a WAB army at two thousand points, which was completed up to a point and then left in the lead pile. All that said, WAB is no longer played here and the entire army has been rebased for Impetus. Some projects, however are never really finished and the Late Romans is going to be one of these.

The Analogue Hobbies Painting Competition pointed out one main thing; its good to have variety. The main project for this year will be the Mycenaeans, but the prospect of sitting down to paint another sixty odd spearmen with those shields is somewhat daunting so a few other things will be painted in between bases for the Mycenaeans, starting with the Late Romans.

The original concept behind the Late Romans was to achieve a fairly colourful army with some historical basis but a fair amount of artistic licence in there as well. You'll see this in some of the colour choices used for tunics throughout the army, which often match the shields of the unit being painted.

Anyway enough rambling for today and a few pictures of some of the other single figures on  the painting table at present.

Some fatigue markers for SAGA and casualty markers for Impetus in the foreground here.

A warlord and hearthguard for SAGA from Gripping Beast.

The main priority with painting through the remainder of the year will be to complete a variety of elements for Impetus, Disposable Heroes, SAGA and Songs of Blades and Heroes whilst keep in the painting as fresh as possible and having fun to boot. Not too much to ask really, is it?

Cheers for now

Analogue Hobbies Painting Competition Finale

Well, that is the Analogue Hobbies Painting Competition completed this year and here are some pictures of the last entry submitted.

The pictures here were taken again as the originals had been rushed through under artificial lighting and just didn't do the figures any justice. All of the figures shown are from Redoubt Miniatures and include a victorious Hector centre of the main stand.

A down from above shot showing the depth of the two stands together and it also give an impression of the length of those spears.

The last of the archer skirmisher stands for this army.

Two pictures detailing those shields, all of which have been painted using cross hatching to try and achieve the look of animal hide. By the way, these are not the easiest of shields to attach to the figures and took about twice as long as normal and probably twice as much glue.  The shields here really do reach from neck to heel as described by Homer himself. Have opted for bronze rims here to show a higher quality unit of spearmen.

What the Achaeans would see.

Hector stands over a fallen foeman urging his country men on to great deeds. To his right a companion in full Dendra panoply. Can't see him finishing first in any sprints to the enemy.

Will have be having a slight change over the next few days to rest the eyes from painting bronze; more of which will be made clearer in the next "Back to the Brushes."

Hope that the pictures are of interest.

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 17

Just a quick entry this afternoon so show a little progress on the Mycenaean spearmen that are currently gracing centre stage on the painting table.

The choice of colours ties in with Hector's Chariot and this unit of spearmen are being lead by Hector himself - the figure on the far right. The armour is now blocked in and the shields - a mixture of tower and figure of eights - are started as well.

Hopefully, this unit plus another stand of archers will be completed over the next couple of days.

Cheers for now

Analogue Hobbies Painting Competition 11

Here are some of the pictures that have recently been submitted to the Analogue Hobbies Painting Competition. First up are the backbone of a Viking Hearthguard from the earlier Gripping Beast Viking range.

These figures lack some of the animation that can be found in the newer Gripping Beast Vikings, but they still have character and fit in well with the new ranges. 

Next are two support weapons for the Late WW2 Germans that have been on and off the painting table over the last two years. Here is 120mm mortar and another MG42 is you can never have too many. The figures and weapons are all from SHQ.

Hope to another mixed entry into the competition before the closing date on March 21st.

Sorry for the delay in posting these but have been away from home this last few days.

Thats all for now.

Cheers

Comparatively Speaking 2

Have recently received some new figures from Claymore Castings and have to say that they are really top quality. The sculpts themselves are highly detailed and very clean. A great start to a new range. Here are a few pictures showing the command set and a comparison picture with a Perry War of the Roses man-at-arms:

The Perry figure is on the right as viewed just in case you aren't familiar with either range.

As can be seen here the two ranges are a suitable mix in terms of both quality and scale. The timescales of both ranges are slightly different though.

Fairly certain that this range will be successful and grace a great many painting and gaming tables in the future. Wishing Dave Imrie and Co all the best in their new venture.

Thats all for now.

Cheers