Imperium Sine Fine 34

Recently completed as a part of the AHPC XIII these Equite Cataphractii from War and Empire will soon be clumping  their way across tabletops  in ADLG, DBA and Hail Caesar. 

Each stand has a fair wee heft to them with the fourth horse fitting to each stand, even if this did involve a less than linear final appearance to the base.

The figures are good sculpts and slightly smaller than the other cavalry figures in the growing force for Early Imperial Rome in 15mm. One day there may even be a start made on the 28mm figures for the same army. 

Next up there will be other cavalry units for this army. 

Cheers for now.

Imperium Sine Fine 33

Recently completed for the AHPC XIII these 15mm Early Imperial Romans from Plastic Soldier Company and Corvus Belli have been great fun to paint. 

The supporting Saggitarii figures in the rear rank are from Essex Miniatures and their older sculpts hold up well against the newer and chunker legionnaires at the front. 

Shield transfers from Little Big Men's superb range

The legionnaires are double ranked for ADLG basing although this will be getting adopted as standard for 15mm figures on future projects.

The finished figures will join the ranks for an ADLG army as well as use in DBA and Hail Caesar in the future.

More finished figures to follow shortly.

Cheers for now.

 

Back to the Brushes 369

Challenge Update

As the AHPC XIII starts it's final fortnight here are a few of the hopeful's for last posts. 

The Viking with the bared chest and the ochre tunic and axe wielding loon to his left have already made the pass. The question is how many more will go with them. 

Pictures to follow of some finished 15 and 28mm figures. 

Cheers for now.

Back to the Brushes 368

General Work in progress update

A lot of things on the painting table just now, too many to be honest; concentrated effort this week on those pesky Early Imperial Romans amongst other things. 

Spartan cavalry, dramatic Thracian skirmishers in the background and an UUruk bezerker for Lord of the Rings.

A wee update on the Vikings with the armour blocked in and the start of colours on the clothing.

Roman auxilia in column, Wars of the Roses men at arms and Cultists in the background. The first four stands of the auxilia are now waiting on basing. 

More pics to follow shortly. 

Cheers for now.

Imperium Sine Fine 32

The Early Imperial Romans are still struggling forward in rough ground; typical deployment error with heavy infantry here - drawn towards the mud and seldom get out.  The Legionnaires are from Plastic Soldier Company

The rear rank have been completed as a part of the AHPC XIII and have been based in support of their command group. 

The shield transfers are from Little Big Men and whilst fiddly at this scale are worth the time and effort to set a unit off. 

Auxilia archers are an option in ADLG  for legions so as there are figures spare...decided to paint them for this very purpose. They'll also double as additional light infantry archers if needed. The auxilia archers are from Essex miniatures are slightly finer in scale than the PSC figures. 

Currently working on more Roman archers to complete the full array of options in the list - basically more units of the same. 

Cheers for now. 

Back to the Brushes 366

Cataphractii update

The next series of pics show some progress with the three stands of War and Empire Cataphract figures. 

The horses on two bases are now complete along with the bases being textured in advance of flocking.

Will be moving on to the riders later this evening and finishing off the last four horses. The aim is to complete by this weekend. 

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 365

An update on Roman Cataphracts for ADLG - a bit of base manipulation to sort out four horses per base. This is possible as the War and Empire (Forged in Battle) figures are a wee bit smaller than some of their other 15mm counter-parts. 

 

The armoured horses so far - those painted all started prior to the  beginning of AHPC XIII - another six to get into the painting queue.

The riders have been added to see how things look with four horses and there us room enough without cramming them in. Will be spending a bit of time on these shortly.

The horse head to the left of the pic is from a PSC 15mm horse that is much bigger than the War and Empire figure. Scale creep, its a bugger but not much you can do about it. 

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 364

Pushed on through the veil of a cold to continue with two very different sets of Romans:

Republican Roman Triarii from Gripping Beast for Age of Hannibal and 15mm Early Imperial Romans from Plastic Soldier Company and Essex Miniatures for ADLG.

Still really like the Gripping Beast Republicans although many now prefer Victrix and Aventine for this period. 

The temporary hold - shields and transfers - on the EIR has now been resolved and will be looking to get some progress on these this week for future AHPC XII posts.

Cheers for now.

Back to the Brushes 362

 Been painting some flesh tones on these poor bloody pedes for the ever expanding Late Roman project. The final highlight has to be added and then it's on to helmets, armour and the like. 

In total there are 16 figures here that have not seen any paint prior to the shortest day of 2022 with another two off screen when the pics were taken. These 18 will count towards the AHPC XIII whilst the others are just along for the ride. 

The figures are from Gripping Beast and are still firm favourites here for this period. There is something in the sculpts that captures the varied and failing nature of the Late Roman period. 

At this point no choices have been made as which unit they will represent although its likely to be less prestigious unit, perhaps one with a plain shield to avoid using transfers for a change. Still plenty to do before making that call.  

Feel that a dose of focus is required as these have jumped the queue in front of their smaller and earlier kin of EIR Legions.  Still waiting on the post to sort out a small parcel so they can get back on track. 

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 361

An update on the Early Imperial Roman legions from Corvus Belli. The figures with shields attached are Ultracast from Plastic Soldier Company and the unshielded figures are metals from Corvus Belli. 

The colour for the lorica segmenta is Army Painter Platemail and this was used the undercoat by spraying. It is a first time painting this method and so far all good. 

More updates to follow in 2023.

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 359

RayR's recent post made me have a look at the calendar and realise that AHPC XIIII is 6 days away and I haven't started the ritual tidying of the hobby desk. The picture below shows the daily carnage that I call a hobby desk and a poor attempt has been made to start the tidy up.

More pictures to follow over the weekend - time allowing - including some of the prep work started for this year's challenge including:

• 28mm Republican Romans for SAGA: Age of Hannibal
• 28mm Carthaginians for SAGA: Age of Hannibal
• 28mm Late Romans
• 15mm Early Imperial Romans for ADLG
• 15mm Arabs for ADLG
• 15mm Thracians for DBA and ADLG
• 15mm Wars of the Roses for ADLG
• 6mm Punic and Macedonian Wars for Age of Hannibal (LittleWarsTV) and DBA

Looking forward to the off and following everyone's progress in paint. 

Cheers for now, 

Ross

 

Back to the Brushes 333

The AHPC XII is now in full swing and the entries are being posted by various challengers. Have started a few threads for this now. The pic below shows the variety in periods that are being worked on just now. 

Clockwise from the top left corner:

• Carthaginians in 28mm for SAGA
• Crusaders in 15mm for ADLG
• Hoplites in 15mm for DBA
• Sargonid Assyrians in 15mm for DBA
• Figures started before the AHPC began earlier this week
• Skeletons in 28mm for Fantasy skirmish
• Early Imperial Romans in 15mm for ADLG
• Fallschirmjager in 28mm for Chain of Command

A lot of there to keep the painting mojo going and some are parts of previously started projects whilst others are starting afresh for this challenge. 

More detail to follow shortly. 

Stay safe and cheers for now

 

30 Days 30 Miniatures - November 2021 Round Up

 A late round up picture from November's 30 Days Painting Challenge.

In total 16 figures completed last month. Slipping backwards again however, the AHPC XII will end this year and start next year in a glorious fashion. 

First session was last night and have started on the Carthaginians for SAGA and Fallschrimjager for Chain of Command. Both in 28mm. Blocking in fleshtones for humans and horses. 

Pictures to follow shortly. 

Cheers

Back to the Brushes 329

Prepped a few figures this evening as my eyes were tired. It's always good to have prepped figures sitting just before the Analogue Painting Hobbies Challenge XII starts next month.

All Romans in 25/28mm with EIR from Imago Militium - now out of production and Caesarian Romans from Foundry. 

Will add a few more to these before undercoating along with some 15mm Roman Cataphracts from War and Empire.

Cheers for now and stay safe. 

 

 

Back to the Brushes 325

Still working on these two buildings from Warbases. The walls are textured, base coated and washed ready for the layering to finish and the tiles - where applied and base coated are ready for drybrushing and weathering. 

Window frames and woodwork still to be worked on and then there is the front porch - to flagstone or not to flagstone?

A lot of potential for gaming in 28mm with these kits as the roofs lift off but more on that later. 

 The next posts will show other progress on figures and such stuff. 

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 323

A brief update for this month's 30 Days 30 Miniatures and the initial pics of the two buildings currently on the painting table - Warbases Veni Vidi Vici range barracks A and B. A is on the left as viewed and B, well it's obvious isn't it, sits next to A.

The starting point for these after building is to create additional texture. The tiles are from Warbases and the mix for the exterior walls is a blend of PVA, paint and very, very fine sand. Once the roof tiles are in place on both buildings it will be time to start colouring in. Washes and layers will provide the basis of this with contrast coming from the windows, doors and woodwork on the porch. Will look at possibly weathering these buildings further by using weathering powders.

As the barrack blocks can be displayed singly or together will be looking at painting the roof and long walls in a single session to keep the colours close to each other. The gable ends will be done next before looking at the windows, doors and woodwork at the front of the buildings. 

More work in progress pics to follow

Cheers for now and stay safe

Back to the Brushes 322

There goes September as we move into October and the last quarter of 2021 and another 30 days 30 Miniatures Painting challenge has ended. 

September's painting

A few different periods and scales here this month as well as picking up on stalled projects. 

From left to right there are the following:

1 x 28mm ruined classic column from Templar Wargames

1 x 28mm Norman archer from Gripping Beast

3 x 28mm Moor archers from Gripping Beast

4 x 28mm Fallschrimjager snipers from Warlord Games (Centre) and Artizan Design

9 x 15mm Early Imperial Roman Legionnaires from Plastic Soldier Company

This takes the total for September to 20 completed figures including the building for Warbases. Short of the total however, there is a lot sitting so near finished that October will be a full on month. 

Imperium Sine Fine 31

 A recently completed scenery piece from the Warbases Veni Vidi Vici range in 28mm - the Stone Granary.

Stone Granary

A range of paints were used on this from masonry paint, emulsion, artists acrylics and modellers acrylics to achieve different colours and finishes different than normally used.

A scenery piece like this really sets off your gaming table and this range are superb kits with a huge range of potentials and not just for gaming but in different painting styles and conversion opportunities. 

With painting buildings, I have always thought that texture is everything. The dimensions of the model carry themselves well, however, texture allows colours to be built up in layers much easier than plain surfaces.

A painted or plastered wall is seldom just the one colour - go take a walk and look at the differences in painted buildings. Age, weather, condition are all contributing factors that change the colour and some of this is shown on this building, more will be shown on another future project where weathering will be added in. 

Really enjoyed painting this and will be looking forward to doing more from the same range in the coming months. This takes the tally this month to 2 finished items so far with 4 painting sessions still to go... 

Cheers for now and stay safe.

Back to the Brushes 318

 

A few of the different projects on the painting table at present.

Clockwise rom top left PSC Early Imperial Romans in 15mm

Arab light infantry from Minifigs again in 15mm

Fallschirmjager from Warlord Games in 28mm

British infantry from Warlord Games in 28mm

All to be included in this month's 30 Days 30 Miniatures Paintin Challenge.

Stay safe and cheers for now. 

Imperium Sine Fine 30

Painted during the AHPC XI earlier this year the Roman Auxiliaries below have been painted and based as Medium Infantry for DBA/ADLG

Somewhere in amongst the Ultracast masses lurks a figure from the original Corvus Belli range. However, without the figures here to check for heft, there is no way of telling. 

The shield decals are from VVV and reverting back to waterslide made the process much smoother than the rub on/offs from Little Big Men. Not as pretty mind you but certainly quicker and less fiddly. 

The bases have been covered with Geek Gaming Scenics base ready range then additional scenic scater added to brighten ever thing up. The block and wash method of painting used for these can leave the figures looking a bit sombre. 

Need to pick up the pace on this army and start on the legionnaires and cavalry. There may be an opportunity to paint a bit more in the next few weeks so will see what comes of it. 

Hope you found this interesting and stay safe. 

Cheers for now