Dead Man's Hand 9

Another cart from 4Ground that was recently submitted to this year's AHPC VII. 

More to follow shortly

Cheers for now

Dead Man's Hand 8

From the first entry to the AHPC VII the "Water" cart from 4Ground.

Painted by base coating with Khemri Brown, then heavily washed with Agrax Earthshade.

Mid tones added with Steel Legion Drab, Foundry Drab C and Dheneb Stone as drybrush layering colours.

Wheel trims and axles base coated in chainmail, washed with Nuln Oil and Agrax Earthshade and dry brushed with Dheneb Stone.

The barrel was base coated in Steel Legion Drab, washed with Nuln Oil and dry brushed in Foundry Drab B & C to highlight. Ties are Foundry rawhide B with B + C highlight edged on. The barrel lid is Foundry Bright Red A, B & C in layers.

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 120

The first session of painting for this year's Challenge went well last night. First up are two wagons from Warbases that received their base coat of Khemri Brown From Citadel's foundation paint.

These will be washed with Agrax earth and then progressively layered and dry brushed to give that aged and greyed effect that is seen on wood. Both are 28mm in scale and will be used in Dead Man's Hand or similar style skirmish games.

Next up are a SdKfz 223 and 221 both from Frontline in 20mm. These have had their base coat touched up with Vallejo Mid Stone, then washed with Nuln Oil and then dry brushed in the Mid Stone again.

Both still have more dry brushing to come as well as picking out the details and crew. Will probably opt for a painted camo on these at this stage as this looks rather interesting:

Unfortunately, with this resin kit there is no curtain rail provided so will have to live without it unless something comes together with some wire.

Hope to get back to both as soon as possible although time is getting tight due to a certain day just being 4 sleeps away.

Cheers for now

Dead Man's Hand 7

A few scenery pieces that have been completed lately for use in a variety of skirmish games including Dead Man's Hand, Songs of Blades and Heroes, SAGA and anything else that suits.

All of these are from Hovels and are 25/28mm in scale.

Some work in progress pictures to follow shortly.

Cheers for now

Dead Man's Hand 6

Returning to the Wild West for a brief flurry with some small pieces of scenery. First up here is the the Wild West version of the "Cludgie" or outdoor loo.

Painted as a test piece for more scenery, this time to be used for the American Civil War. This model has been base coated, washed in various tones to provide that 'lived in' look, dry brushed and highlighted with edging on some of the planks.

Overall very pleased with the end result as was person who it was painted for as the model isn't a part of my personal collection.

The second piece of on the workbench and is being painted in slow stages.

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 109

Some more work in progress pics of both 6mm Rapier Miniatures Hypaspists and the ongoing rebasing of 15mm Essex ACW Confederates.

Shown next to their finished comrades in arms to spur them on to greater things in the future; or something like that.

Below is the start of the Greek/Macedonian Light cavalry, with six stands in all. These javelin armed cavalry will scurry the flanks and weak points of the opposition looking for cracks for their heavier big brothers to exploit.

With the infantry all waiting on the final coat of varnish here are the first three stands of artillery; there are six in all at present.

The brick work in the background is from a building for Dead Man's Hand.

That's all for just now, next up will be some finished pictures from Ancients and ACW

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 87

Pictured below is the start of another two points worth of Vikings for SAGA. This will complete the warband unless a levy unit is added in the future. Shown here are two figures from another Hird unit and one from another Bondi - he is on the left as you view this.

The figures are all from Gripping Beast and are painting up well so far. All of the Vikings used in SAGA are on twenty millimetre square bases as this allows them to be used in sabots for Impetus. More of these to follow shortly.

Above shows another two resin pieces of scenery from Hovels for Dead Man's Hand. Quick and easy to paint and suitable for a good many skirmish games.

A warm welcome to two new followers:

• Ronin Rumbler
• Whisperin Al

Hope that you both find something of interest in these ramblings.

Next up is the start of something a little bit different. A personal challenge so to speak however; this will be fully explained in the next post.

Cheers for now.

Dead Man's Hand 5

Pictured below are a few small scenery bases that have been completed along side the previously shown Lawmen. The scenery pieces are resin casts from Hovels and have been lying in the attic for a good few years.

They were originally bought to be used for Mordheim or other similar skirmish games and are perfect for Dead Man's Hand.

There will be a few more to follow over the next few months.

Cheers for now

Dead Man's Hand 4

Over the last few weeks there hasn't been time to paint and blog so I have concentrated on getting a few things completed. Here are the first of these with another offering from Artizan Design's Wild West range for Dead Man's Hand.

As with other figures from this range these have been great to paint. Excellent sculpts with well defined features and clear lines throughout.

The left eye will really have to be touched up here. They say a camera never lies and this is poorly painted.

These figures pretty much complete the Lawman gang that has been painted over the last few months. This will allow some time for a few character figures to be added for more flavour in the future.

 Next up some small scenery elements for Dead Man's Hand.

Cheers for now

Analogue Painting Challenge Review

The 4th Analogue Painting Challenge has come and gone and its now time to review what was achieved against what was set. An ambitious target was set comprising of the following:

• Twenty-one Citadel Orcs from circa 1984-5
• A Lawmen Gang of nine figures for Dead Man's Hand
• A Bandito gang of nine figures for Dead Man's Hand
• Nine Sassanid Light Cavalry over three stands
• Fifty-eight Trojans and Mycenaeans for Impetus

Early on in the challenge, due to work pressures, the expected total was revised and much of the planned painting shelved. In the end the following figures were completed and submitted:

• Twenty-one Orcs
• Seven Lawmen
• Eight Mycenaeans including two casualty figures
• Three Thrilling Tales figures for Pulp Era games
• One Entry figure

This was not the one hundred and six figures planned for which was always ambitious. In percentage terms only thirty eight percent of my challenge was completed; that said everything that was completed was to a standard that I expect of my painting and am happy with. I can't ask for any more than that.

The painting challenge to me is about taking part firstly then painting figures. Its not about painting the most figures in the time given. I was disappointed that I lowered my total however, this was not the end of the world as by doing this I was still taking part. The real reward from the painting challenge is seeing other painters work and being part of the larger community and help this grow. The challenge shows that this hobby is more than just painting toy soldiers. 

Over the next few months the started figures from the challenge along with a with others will be appearing here. This will included the following:

• Seven Wild West figures from Artizan Design
• Nine Sassanid light cavalry
• Fifty Mycenaeans for Impetus

All of the above are in various stages of "started" and there are a few other figures in the same category that will be added. SAGA will be played more which will lead to more Dark Age figures too. There are some WW2 figures lurking for later in the year, but these and others are a long way off. Plans change painting as for everything else as we all know.

Lastly a warm welcome to two new followers:

• The Kiwi 
• Ed

Hope that you find something of interest here.

Cheers for now

Dead Man's Hand 3

Last entry for the Analogue Painting Challenge as below. The figures are again from Artizan Design and have been a pleasure to paint. There are a few more of this set to follow soon.

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 86

Despite all best intentions very little painting has happened here over this week. This means that regretfully the entry for the Last Stand bonus round of the Analogue Painting Challenge has not been completed in time to submit. Hopefully, the stand will be ready to go over along with a few other loose ends before the last day on Wednesday 20th March. Below are a few pictures of the loose ends as they
currently stand:

A few more casualties and a Dendra panoply clad warrior for the Mycenaeans. The face on the figure below isn't the best casting, however once the helmet is tidied up around the edges everything will look grand.

Below are another three retro figures from Citadel or Ral Partha in the eighties. The bottom Orc is actually licking his sword which will be interesting to paint. Great figures with loads of character to paint. The base coat for their flesh is Foundry Storm Green A which will, when finished allow for some subtle colouring on the flesh.

Another few figures from Artizan Design intended for Dead Man's Hand. The bottom figure will be completed this evening and the others are hopefuls for mid next week. Time will tell.

That is all for now but more work in progress pictures to follow shortly and then something completely different...

Cheers for now.

Dead Man's Hand 2

Here the Earp Brothers that will be used a part of a Lawman gang in Dead Man's Hand. The figures are from Artizan Design's and were great to paint. They have been sculpted based on the characters as portrayed in the Kevin Costner film Wyatt Earp and this has been used a the inspiration for the painting of the them.

Wyatt Earp

Virgil Earp

Morgan Earp

On each of the three figures the black has been varied so that there are subtle differences between each of the brothers. This shows a little better in real life, but hopefully it can be seen here too.

This figures have been submitted to the Favourite Character bonus round of the Analogue Painting Challenge.

Painting on the rest of the Lawman gang continues and four figures are very near complete. There are also some nearly completed Mycenaeans and a few more retro orcs. Pictures of all to follow this week.

Cheers for now