SCW Republicans, part 3

The Spanish Civil War is occupying some time here on my painting table:

More slow progress on my Republicans - working on skin and webbing.  Next will be weapons and helmets.

I am surprised at how easy these 1/72 figures are to paint, although the hands are a bit of a problem so far.


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Scots, part 2

There has not been much time here for the painting table recently, with a plethora of other items as distractions and to top it off by feeling a bit under the weather.  I did manage to get some brushtime on the Scots:

The Islemen are slowly getting some attention, and on the right foreground are some knights with their gesso primer.



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Huaxtecs, part 4

(This might be a bit NSFW, fair warning!)



A little more progress on the Mesoamerican project, with the Huaxtec pictured below:

The bases on all of them have been started, just smoothing out the base mostly.  Weapons are getting closer to completion, and the coloration of the hair is just about done, although for those that I am leaving as black (instead of dyed), I am not quite happy with the highlighting or the lack thereof.  I am not certain how far I will pursue it, as I am willing to bet that they will look different once the figures are coated with matte sealer.

The big item of the week has been putting tattoos on the fellas.  The Huaxtec were reputed to be heavily tattooed, so I am giving it a try.  So far, I am just using simple lines and designs, which should look OK from table-top gaming distances.  I will need to research some more complex designs, as well as the possibility of face/body painting...


Here is a close-up of some of the tattoos:

I am using Winsor & Newton black ink for the designs, which is why they are quite glossy.  The designs are fairly random, and I am trying to mix it up a bit for variation.  This pic also shows some of the very minor differences that I tried to have in poses, with the three that are armed with a wooden bladed weapon that I can not find the appropriate word for at the moment (!) showing where I have bent the figure.  Once I can order some more Huaxtec from Outpost, to supplement these from Lucid Eye, there will be much more variety in the troops!

A few more examples:

As I was trying to come up with more designs, it occurred to me that if I was painting these up for some purely Pulp gaming instead of attempting something remotely historical, it would be great if the tattoos were mathematical formulas instead of just random patterns...


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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 19

Slow progress, but progress:

A bit blurry, this pic shows the archer cohort for my First Legion of Ever Present Glory troops.  I was able to touch up the last details this morning, and after it dries for a day or two the figures will get a coat of matte varnish, then basing!  I am not too happy with the skin tones on these, but it is OK this time.

Next up for the Thámerü scenario, I might bring out the first unit from my Legion of Sérqu troops, or maybe I will pick up where I left off with the first set of the ladies from The Aridáni Legion of Lady Mríssa...


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Paint strip, part 1

Getting my Reptus force into a decent paint job, as mentioned in my previous post, requires me to start over with a new coat of primer (black this time).  So, another round of paint stripping.  Previously, I have used Dettol as a paint stripper.  It does seem to work well, but it is uncommon to find in the US.  Following the advice from my friend Chirine (his blog is here), I am trying Simple Green this time.

Here is a pic of the first set of Reptus miniatures, ready for a bath.  I had to cut the bases off of some of them, as I could not work them off without some damage to the somewhat thin ankles and soft metal of those miniatures.  Part of the renewal process for these figures is rebasing, and I am going with round bases instead of the square ones that come with the Reaper Warlord miniature packs.

And the container with some of the solution poured in.  Yes, Simple Green is green!

Now, to make sure that I do not forget about them...


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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!

Huaxtecs, part 2

Some small progress on my Meso-American project - here are the Huaxtecs, among others:

Shown here with some Scots, Aztecs, and a few fantasy figures, the Huaxtecs are getting their base flesh color - I am using P3 Khardic Flesh.

Here is a closer pic - may be slightly NSFW:

All of the Huaxtec warriors are mounted onto 25mm round bases from Warbases.

Here is a pic with some flesh shading experimentation:

It is not a very good pic unfortunately  -  it shows the neat Khardic Flesh base on the right, and on the left is the aftermath of a heavy wash of P3 Idrian Flesh over the Khardic base.  P3 paints are on the satin side, which is not a bad thing but my picture taking skills just are not showing the contrast.


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The Aridáni Legion of Lady Mríssa, part 3

Just a very brief update:

The first element now has a layer of black gesso primer.  Now comes the hard part - actual painting!

There is an interesting color rendition (by Jeff Dee no less!) here at The Tékumel Project blog, and there is a concise entry about the Legion in the Tsolyánu army pamphlet.  The Legion is notable in its lack of blue in the uniform.  Reddish orange and white seem to be the main colors listed in the pamphlet; I intend to deviate somewhat from Mr. Dee's version and use the red-orange and blue for trim and white for the main color.  I do like the shield colors he used, and will shamelessly imitate them!


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Legion of Ever Present Glory, part 17

The slightly cooler temps of late have seen me return to the painting table, if briefly:

These are the archers from the First Legion of Ever Present Glory.  After a base coat of Ceramcoat Ocean Reef Blue, they received a heavy wash of dilute Ceramcoat Phthalo Blue, then the flesh parts were picked out with Reaper Master Series Tanned Flesh.  They are looking a bit messy at the moment, but slowly they will look better as I pick out the details.


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Slow July progress

Slow progress again on the monsters - my work schedule and the temp inside our place is making it a bit hard to sit down at the paint table for long...

I did get some paint onto the grinnlings.

Aztecs, part 2 + orcs?

Some small progress:

Aztec eagle suits, from Eureka.  For eagle suits, of all the different factions, I am going to stay with natural colors, i.e. browns of various sorts.  Some sources list eagle suits as being in the brighter colors, blue, red, etc. but I am choosing to ignore them!  Besides, there are plenty of brightly-hued suits in the armies...

Here is the start of the Huaxtec-style suits.  These suits will be brightly colored.  Also in the pic:  a pair of Old Glory orc archers!  On a whim, I started to work on their skin color, just as a change of pace, even though those conquistadors are patiently waiting...


Another little project:

Here are some examples of my attempt to organize my painting choices - file cards with details on units.  These are for my first Aztec suits; as I am not too particular about specific paint choices they are not listed here, but I can see that other units, my Tékumel and Half Continent units especially, will also list the specific brand and type of paint used.
 

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Legion of Ever Present Glory, part 16

This is the next element of my Tsolyáni army:

Archers of the First Legion of Ever Present Glory 

These miniatures are only primed.  The lighter pair have been primed with Vallejo Grey Surface Primer.  After using the product on a few miniatures, I am not very happy with the results, as the finish seems to be very 'slippery' and does not take paint well.  It would not surprise me if I am doing it wrong, but there you go.

The other four have been primed with Liquitex Neutral Grey Gesso.  I have used black gesso on other miniatures in the past, but I have not tried it on my Tsolyáni troops as I am hoping that the lighter primer will help with making the colors of the Tékumel troops that much brighter in turn.  The grey gesso, though, seems to have a shiny finish, and it will be interesting to see how paint goes on to it.

I might just go to using black gesso as a primer for everything, depending on how my Aztecs look...


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Egyptian ships

After reading the books I received about ancient Egyptian ships, I was able to piece together a list of common building materials for the Pharaoh's navy:



Acacia

Sycamore

Cedar (red and white)



Also used, but much less often:



Cypress

Pine





Cedar, of course, would be imported from the Levant and was often used for funerary barges for the high-ranking citizens and royalty.  I intend to paint up only a few ships in red cedar, and the rest in a more tan color.  Masts, as another nifty detail, were often made of the same material as the hull.

Monsters, part 10

Slow, slow progress - a bit of ink added to the big guy...

Sorry, the pic is a bit blurry!

Monsters, part 9

Another brief post, with a pic even:

The first dabs of paint on that huge Reaper miniature I purchased some time ago...

MAATAC, maybe?

In a sudden fit of inspiration, I dug out those long-abused MAATAC miniatures of mine and subjected them to more torture:

Two views of the same thing!  Two Terrans, one Carnivoran, and two Entomolian vehicles wearing some snowy paint.  I did make the mistake of giving the center Terran a grey wash before putting down the camo pattern, and the Entomolian camo is not quite finished.

Lesquins, part 2

Just a small bit of progress; here is my first attempt at a scheme for the uniform colors:

Belts and straps will be black, I'm thinking, and the cuff trim and cravat might be red.  I am uncertain of the color for the pockets, and the leggings will be a cream color with red trim.