Shén, part 4

Moving along with the first element of the Shén legion:

I use plastic rod for my javelins/spears/pikes, with a different diameter for each type.  For pikes I am using 1/16" (1.6mm) rod from my stash of materials that I have hoarded for just such an occasion.  The price tag on this particular material dates back to 1996!


Step 2 of the process:

Pikes for all, with shields for the rear rank, which is the right-most ones in the above pic!  The pikes are approximately 3"/75mm long.  The hands needed to be drilled out, but the material is soft enough and the hands big enough so the chore was not too difficult.


And lastly:

The miniatures now have a coat of black gesso for primer.  I am going to let the gesso dry for a few days before the next step.


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Legion of Ever Present Glory, part 21

Finally, the process for this legion draws to a finale!  Here is the archer element:

This pic is after sprinkling sand and talus over the base, and a mix of earth and green flock has been, quite literally, dumped over the base.  After it has been allowed to dry, a day or more, this is the result:

Not too green, which is good.  It looks like I missed a spot or two, but I will add a few pieces of coarse flock to help hide them.



And now, the final product:

A few small chunks of coarse flock finished the element.  Next time, I will watch the talus placement a bit more closely, as several pieces seem to have landed on edge, which looks a bit odd.  


And now, for a group pic of my small but growing Tsolyáni army:

Very blue (my lovely wife has taken to calling them the blueberry squad!), but that is typical of Tsolyáni armies I believe.  The next elements will be a little different, as the reptilian Shén have black scales along with their blue armor.


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Shén, part 3

Ah, the joy of a delivery of new miniatures!  Behold:

Bags and bags of Tékumel figures - two warbands and two hordes of Shén + a few others, and a bunch of Sapphire Kirtle skirmishers, along with assorted weapons and shields, and another Sérudla (far right).  I am most interested in the Shén, so they were sorted out first:

Piles of Shén instead of bags now!

The different poses are formed up into files, or maybe conga lines (!), and the first element of Shén poses on a Litko 60mm square base.  This first element of Shén will be representing the Tsolyáni Legion of the City of Chrí, 7th Imperial Shén Auxiliary Heavy Infantry.  This is a bit of an odd unit, with a human commander that dresses like his reptilian Shén troops, and this element of the Legion is armed with pikes.  This unit should be an eye-catcher, with the scales of the Shén being a satin black, and the armor a mix of blue and red-orange.

Here is another pic of the Legion, with a slightly different mix of figures:

This pic is meant to be a mnemonic to help me remember the placement of the figures on the base, as I will surely forget once I finally get this element ready for basing!

And here most of the Shén have been separated into element groups - with a slip of paper identifying the unit - for storage until the first element is done.  This represents two different legions - one is Tsolyáni and one is Yán Kór - with three elements of six figures each.

I have yet to delve into the bags of skirmishers, and there are some other goodies mixed in there also.


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Huaxtecs, part 3

And... a small amount of progress on the Huaxtecs:

I am slowly working on more small details - hair color options will be first.  I am going with a variety of colors, as the Huaxtecs are reputed to have dyed their hair.  Next will be weapons.

To help with the hair colors, and hopefully tattoos also, I found some of this:

The local art store had a few jars of these inks, and having read of their use at Big Lee's blog, I'll give them a whirl.


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Legion of Ever Present Glory, part 20

And, I'm back on-line...  I was able to get some stuff done during the unscheduled but necessary downtime and the other things that are happening in this household - a little bit more work on the archers for the First Legion of Ever Present Glory:

In this pic, the finished archers are settling into their element basing, with the rear rank already glued down, and front rank waiting.  I have marked the approximate locations of the front rank onto the base, as I will add some filler to the base before gluing them down.

Here, the base has been covered in a thin coating of the paste in the background (found in the bargain bin at the local art store some time ago).

And a coat of paint.  Next step will be to add sand, rocks, and flock to finish the element.


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Off

I do not have regular blog access at the moment - just enough to say I'll be back... next week-end !


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