Legion of Ever Present Glory, part 18 (and Mríssa too!)

A small measure of progress on the painting table today:

In this not-so-great pic, the archer cohort of my First Legion of Ever Present Glory troops has been visited by the paint-laden brush!  The armor is mostly done, now the bows, quivers, tunics, and other small details need to be finished.

Also in the pic above is the command cohort of my Arídani Legion of Lady Mríssa troops.  Nothing has been done to them for a long time, other than the first dabbings of flesh-colored paint on the first miniature.  I think that these miniatures are going to be among the hardest to paint for my Tsolyáni force, as the details are small and delicate and it will take some careful painting.  I am wondering if I should just paint over the slender chains fastening their skirts with flesh, then go back over the chains with a dark wash and a metallic drybrush.  It might make the process some what faster.


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Galleys & Galleons, part 3

Now that I have some ships together (see previous post), my thoughts have turned to getting them painted.  First, primer.  I have found that my usual primer, Reaper Master Series Brush-On Primer, has seen better days and has mostly settled out in the dropper, even after much shaking:

The two on the right were 'primed' with my remaining Reaper primer - you almost can not tell that there was anything there.  The pair in the middle were coated with Vallejo Surface Primer.  While the coverage is good, this stuff has a bit of a stench to it, and I do not think that I will try it again.  On the left pair, I used a 1:1 mix of white gesso and grey gesso.



The gesso seems to be working OK.  I have used gesso before, but mostly on 28mm figures and I am concerned about covering in details on these small ships.  The gesso is not fully cured, though, so we will see...

New blog, with a painting tutorial

A new blog (not mine  :) ) has sprouted up - The Great War at Sea by Grant.  He has posted a two-part painting tutorial, with Part 1 here and Part 2 there.



He has some beautifully painted 1/2400 GHQ miniatures - take a look!

Agenda and other issues

Well, now that 2015 is rolling along, how about another one of those posts about what might get accomplished in it???

First off, 2015 has been declared the unofficial 'Year of Tékumel', as it was 40 years ago that the RPG Empire of the Petal Throne, by MAR Barker, was printed by TSR.  In honor of that, I am going to continue to work on my Tékumel miniatures, always with an eye to completing the goal of finishing my Ruins of Thámerü scenario, someday.  I have a fair number of Tsolyáni forces waiting for the production of the bulk of their opposition, the Yán Kór, to resume.  In addition to the Thámerü forces (an element-based force), I would like to get some skirmish forces together for Tékumel as well.

Alongside these troops, the Tékumel naval project waits patiently in the background.  

Not to be forgotten is my Mesoamerican project.  This one is going to be a bit slower of a wick to burn, but there are many miniatures to choose from.  Hopefully the budget will hold up to the task.  Some progress has been made, including this:

This is the 2nd edition of Irregular Wars, a rules set based on small unit forces during the Renaissance, including army lists for European, Mesoamerican, Middle Eastern, and Asian armies.  It has only just arrived, so a more detailed review will be forthcoming.

The medieval project, based around the fine miniatures from Claymore Castings, is being put on hold for the time being.  Just too much on my plate right now.  Besides, my lovely wife is more interested in the Mesoamerican stuff...

Speaking of a plate full, I also received this recently:

The latest book from Neil Thomas.  I will flip through the pages with starry eyes, and dream of one day having yet another project to accompany the many fine scenarios listed in it!  I can almost see starting up a 10mm project for the Seven Year's War...



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Galleys & Galleons, part 2

After a multitude of delays, from holidays to a pronounced avoidance of the painting table, a small measure of progress has been made.  Here is a pic:

This is the assembled Figurehead small English squadron for the Armada period, in 1/2400 scale.  These vessels are not very large - those bases are 40mm long and 20mm wide!  But, for small miniatures they are very nice.



Here are some close-ups:

The largest ships are these:  FR30 Race built galleons, based on Ark Royal.  One can see that there is a good amount of detail, including flags from each mast.  These miniatures are three-piece kits, with the fore and main masts being separate from the hull.

The other two large galleons are:  FR31, based on Revenge.  These are also three piece miniatures.

Here are three of the six small galleons (FR32).  This pic only shows three, as I had misplaced the other pack until just before the squadron pic was taken.  In contrast to the larger galleons, these smaller galleons are one piece castings, making assembly just a matter of removing a small amount of flash and making sure the bottom of the hull is flat.







Last but not least:

This is pack FR34, showing a large pinnace (left) and a galleass (right).  One piece castings, these small ships still have a lot of detail.





Unfortunately, my slow pace of assembly/painting means that the next game of Galleys & Galleons will use the counters again...

A new year...

Happy 2015 everybody - a bit late I know!

Just a brief post for now:

My painting table as of today.  

I will try to have a more substantial post later.


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Another year!

Happy New Year everybody!

It has been a little too quiet on this blog, but there have been some stirrings of late.  Just before the holidays, I had the inklings of getting the troops (and monsters!) back onto the painting table.  Also, there is a nice little project that another enthusiast has been working on which has put some energy back into this project.

There are a few things that I need to straighten out first:

1.   The first quarto of my Boschenburg troops need to be finished - they are mostly done;

2.   Baskets need to be completed as well - a couple are finished, but the grinnlings and that big fellow from last year are waiting;

3.   Rules - many contenders;

4.   Basing - my little experiment with Warbases did not work out so well as I ordered the wrong sizes!  However, subsequent orders, for other projects, have shown that they should work well.  Now, do I stick with 20mm or go to 25mm for the humans?