Showing posts with label Painting table. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Painting table. Show all posts

Monday, 28 October 2013

Chariots assembled and ready for basing


I finished the assembly of the 9 chariots last night. The riders are now all pinned and glued to the chariots, and the wheels to the chariot frames.  

I've decided not to fix the chariots to the bases, yet, as basing will be very much easier without them in place. I have, though, used greenstuff to make ruts into which the wheels can be securely glued at the end of the process. I'm not going to add harness, though, as I'm worried about the fragile reins getting damaged in play, and because life is too short! 

Saturday, 26 October 2013

Chariot assembly plant


13 months after starting the project, all 9 chariots (of the first wave) are now painted, next I need to attach the wheels, fit the crew Nick painted, and base with the horses. That's Relic's chariot at the front, very nice...


Monday, 21 October 2013

Celtic gridlock


The painting tray is absolutely groaning with British chariots, and that pesky final unit of Numidians.


The chariot ponies are Newline (foreground), Foundry and Black Tree (right, black/dark brown) and Relic (rear right, white). They are all finished and on their bases.


Above are some of the chariot drivers.  These were converted from Wargames Factory plastics by me, and painted by mate Nick, who also painted the riders in the top photo.  It strikes me that these WF driver figures, with the right head-swaps, would make great rowers for a Roman liburnian.  Hmmm...

Thursday, 17 October 2013

Hosses

With Thapsus out of the way, my mind has turned to previous projects...


These are mostly chariot horses for my Ancient British Panzer Division.  But a final half-dozen Numidians have sneaked in at the back...

I recently came across this horse-colour chart on the internet; it is the best one I've seen.   It really helps to introduce variety and realism into one's herd.




Friday, 4 October 2013

A few Romans more

I've been trying to match Andres's style of painting and finish a Roman unit that he mostly painted, some years back.   I'm nowhere near as good, but they look OK from 12" away, and that will have to do.  Andres is sending me shields for them.


I'm also about to complete one further unit of Numidians, and Caesar's personal standard bearer, to go with Andres' Caesar model.

A huge thanks to Caliban Paul for sending me a rare Companion Roman Command pack last week!

Monday, 23 September 2013

Numidian reinforcements

My Roman army has recently expanded rather more quickly than that of its Numidian opponents, so I have decided to add a few more units before the final Thapsus game at SELWG.  Here they are, part based.  A few more cavalry and lights will follow.


I painted somewhat more than half of these, with others from eBay and a few more possibly painted by Redzed.  Tonight I'll get some grout on those bases. I am also delighted to have recently sourced a small but rare unpainted Companion Miniatures Numidian army from mate "Happy", that should add lustre to Juba's hopes of an African Empire.

In other news, Aaron has recently had a crack at the ancient rule-set called "To the Strongest!" that I am developing, and wrote a very enjoyable account of the battle.  If anyone would like to try them, please pop me an email at the addess on the front of my blog.  

Thursday, 12 September 2013

Numidians WIP


A hurried WIP shots of some fresh troops to expand my Roman and Numidian armies, for a later game at SELWG.

Saturday, 3 August 2013

A little Impetus army

A WIP shot of some used minis I'm restoring to form an Impetus army, that will hopefully appear in a future Wargames, Soldeirs and Strategy.


In the front, on the traditional Jenga painting blocks, are some pieces of Roman battlefield debris from 1stCorps, which has bags of character and which I'd heartily recommend for collectors of smaller 28mm minis, such as Foundry, Gripping Beast and Warlord.  A nice company, 1stCorps.

Note to self: basing colour was a mix of SLD and brown umber as the base coat, with a wash of dark brown ink in Klear wash, then SLD as the highlight.

Monday, 29 July 2013

Shipbuilding IV

I've been busy working on another project, but last night managed to get the smaller trade ship base-coated. I will highlight and stain in due course.... it is at least looking somewhat Roman.


I was surprised how quickly one can paint a ship, compared to figures.  It looks like the ship will take less time to paint than its half dozen crew!

Note to self: hull was sprayed using Army Painter Leather Brown, and highlighted with a 50/50 mix of Vallejo flat earth and tan earth.

Tuesday, 9 July 2013

Too much painting...

...not enough blogging.  Unfortunately, there are times one just has to get the bit between one's teeth and plough on to complete a project; this is one of those times!


These are the remainder of the painted Caesarians I had, plus two dozen I painted myself.  Together with the ones I completed earlier, they give me six cohorts and command; the core of a third legion.  Later, I'll add another four.  

Tonight we'll be trying the "lite" version of my rules in a Roman on Roman bash, based on the Thapsus battle that I'll be taking around the shows in the autumn.

Tuesday, 2 July 2013

One door closes...


4 cohorts down, bar flocking.  So now, unfortunately, I have to start the next lot (below).  :-(  I don't mind painting the legionaries, but the signifers and cornicens are a pain.


On the plus side, when these are all finished, I'll have 28 cohorts and will be a gnat's whisker away from 3 legions-worth at 1:20.

Friday, 28 June 2013

Caesarians WIP


I've not posted this week, because I've been busy gaming and painting.  

The paint-ees are above; 4 more cohorts of Caesarians, now partially based.  The minis were painted by Nick Speller, some by me and some repainted from eBay.  They blend nicely.

The game was with local mates Ian, Dr. Simon and Jay, and eldest Miller scion Harry.  We tried yet another rule-set I've written; this time a set of ancients rules on a single side of A4.  These "lite" rules enable a game to be played in around 90 minutes.  So far they seem very promising... and rather fun.

Wednesday, 19 June 2013

Even more Caesarians

I'm just finishing off the command figures Nick painted for me (foreground), and working through a group of unarmoured legionaries that will add variety to the legion.  I'm also painting my first Warlords- some casualties- nice minis!


The red on the shields and on the unarmoured figures is mostly Halfords red primer, with washes of ink applied over it; I think they will look good, when completed (they are just blocked in, so far).  I'm going to use the Army Painter inks to add depth.


Sunday, 16 June 2013

Caesarian


I had a productive day yesterday, and the 90-odd legionaries above are now inked, varnished and highlighted.  The tarted-up eBay cohorts at the back now match Nick's at the front, much better.  Below, left, are Nick's command stands, and right some mere primed legionaries that I'm going to mix in, to add a little variety.  Red seems like a promising base colour...  I'm still mulling over what to do with the horses at the back.


I've decided I'm going to base four cohorts in the first instance, and, after an interval, paint the extra figures for another two.

Thursday, 13 June 2013

Caesarian Legion mustering


A quick WIP shot of the new legion that I'm mustering.  I've been doing my best to bring the standard  of the eBay milites (left) up to those of Nick's (right).  At least the shields match, now!

Friday, 7 June 2013

New Projects

I've laid aside pikemen (for the time being), to get back to some projects that have been on hold for 6 months.  First I have half a legion-worth of Caesarian Romans.  The minis in the front were beautifully painted by Nick, last year, and the ones at the rear (needing some TLC) are from eBay.  Plan is to bring the eBay ones up to Nick's standard, or as close as I can get them...


Below are a unit of Gothic skirmishers, that I finished this week and am basing up.  Beyond them are a load of Riders of Rohan horses that I've prepped for yet another project.  They are very nice steeds, and were cheap as chips.




Sunday, 12 May 2013

Makin' basin'


...a quick WIP Shot of the last Machimoi for Raphia, in the early stages of basing.  These include the 40 I showed previously, 8 kindly donated by Craig, 12 more I just painted and the final scrapings of my eBay purchases.

Tuesday, 23 April 2013

Cretans WIP

There is going to be a 1 metre wide screen of Cretans, Neocretans and elephants, screening the front of the wings of the Ptolemaic army.  The below were beautifully painted by mate Nick Speller, and will be based shortly...


It's not very clear in the above photo, but they are painted in 3 different shades of red, and are a mix of Foundry and Gorgon archer miniatures.

Thursday, 21 March 2013

More Agemata, and Bathroom WIP


I've been plugging away with the Agemata; the whole unit is now on the painting table.  These Foundry minis are such a delight to paint, and are coming on very quickly!  The current batch (front) need another 3 or 4 sessions, so I should be able to start basing in around a week's time.  I really want to paint their plumes red, right now, but am saving them to last because there is a danger that the red will come off in handling, leaving white windows.  

I've also been working on the rules and Raphia army lists in the background... 

On the domestic front we have been getting our bathroom rebuilt.  Unfortunately this has revealed problems with our old house, and the entire interior wall of the room has been demolished (below), so we now have a unique and interesting open-plan bathroom.  The disruption means no gaming for a week or so.  A plus, though, is that I will have additional wargaming storage built in when it is all put back together, and there should be space for some 5' terrain boards, which I've long coveted.


Friday, 15 March 2013

Polemarch Agema


... a quick WIP shot of the Polemarch Agema, that I converted earlier, by adding huge crests.  They now waiting for inking, Klear, matt varnish and highlights on the metallics.  And for me to paint another 21 mates, to join them...