Thursday, 5 March 2009

Latest Galatian WIP


So here the are boys (easy to tell they are boys!) in their pre-varnish state; they are fully painted, aside from shields and metallics. Last night I washed them using a very much diluted coat of Ronseal walnut woodstain, which has brought out the musclature nicely (but unfortunately you can't really make it out from the photo, which is again too light; try clicking on it for a slightly better view). When I take the next photo I'll take more care.

I was very pleased with the woodstain wash, and will be using it on pretty well all of my future painting.

There will be another post soon on an unrelated but very exciting Ancients topic later today; stay tuned...

Monday, 2 March 2009

Galatian Update


A couple of days hard painting; yet it doesn't look a lot different to the last photo! I've painted hair (head and elsewhere...) and black-primed areas that will later be metallic. Next I need to paint straps, boots and plumes, and think about using a wash.

As part of my time saving objective I've decided that I'll paint metallics on after varnishing. This will enable me to spray gloss and then matt the figures, rather than needing to use a brush.

I must say I'm enjoying painting a unit in one go. I usually paint in groups of 5-8 minis; it's a nice change to see an entire unit shaping up together. I hope I'll have this unit finished in around a week.

Saturday, 28 February 2009

Galatian Progress

A quick update on my regiment of naturist Galatians; flesh tones completed, I'm starting to work through the cloaks, spearshafts and hair colours. They are moving along at a fair pace (by my standards at least!).

Friday, 27 February 2009

Celtic Reinforcements!

Attracted by reports of plunder, two more celtic tribes have migrated into Northern Italy.


I have decided to imaginatevely name them "Warband 9" and "Warband 10". They differ from their Warband 1-8 relatives in 3 ways; they are more widely spaced on the bases (20mm frontage rather than 15mm), they have smaller shields and are mostly armed with javelins. This is because I intend to use them as "Auxilia" in C&C terms, rather than Warband per se; they are faster moving, happier in bad terrain, but lack the deadly charge of their fiercer neighbours. I hope to eventually have 4 units of these.


These were more than ably painted by my mate Nick S, who did a very fine job on the plaid and shields. I based; you may notice I'm starting to use the Silflor tufts alongside the clumps I make, myself.

Wednesday, 25 February 2009

Getting ahead in the Thracian Army


Teres, King of Odrysia is waiting for his army of Thracian tribesment to muster... his mate Acarnas says he should have a couple of bevvies and chill out a bit.

Teres marks a new low for me. I suffer from a terrible lack of focus, and often will buy or paint a unit from an army that is no use whatsoever on its own. This, however, is the first time that I've painted a general who has no troops to command. I do want to raise a small Thracian army, but it is quite a way down my list.

I painted Teres on the left, but bought the extremely nicely painted Acarnas on the right, on eBay- I can't recall who from, if you painted him, please drop me a line!

Monday, 23 February 2009

Desperate Times...

...call for desperate measures; and to a Roman, few measures are more desperate than arming a bunch of slaves! Still, with a horde of Germans ravaging the Po valley it is time to offer these chaps the chance to earn their freedom in exchange for dangerous military service.


These desperate heroes were painted for me by the highly talented and extremely prolific Greg Privat; I then did some highlighting and basing. They actually depict later, EIR gladiators from the 69AD Civil War. The figures are a mix of Foundry and Crusader.


This is a progress shot of my Galatian unit. There is not a great deal of progress, because I have been struggling with The Mother of All Essays; now happily vanquished, but around half have a basecoat, and all have a thin coat of Ronseal.

Thursday, 19 February 2009

Ruddy Galatians

I need units to round out half a dozen different armies, so I've chosen to paint a unit for an army I've not even started yet!


These will be a unit of Galatian mercenaries, serving in a Ptolemaic army. Apart from the fact I've always fancied a unit of these, I have accumulated a lot of nekkid figures I couldn't think of any other way of using. These are a mix of Celts and Greeks from A&A, BTD and Foundry, with Crusader, A&A and Essex shields, a lot of headswaps and some dodgy greenstuff cloaks. Apart from the bare heads, there are half a dozen each celtic and attic greek helmets; I'm assuming that some of the troops have re-equipped themselves in the markets of Alexandria.

I've decided to try to paint these quickly, and as a unit. My version of "speed painting" will probably take around a month... :-( so not that speedy. Here they are again primed rust red (part of my cunning plan):-


I'll try to snap a few pics of them during the process...

On other fronts, I finished basing Greg's gladiators and some large desert hills I've made, and hope to have time to take some nice photos in the next few days. Unfortunately I'm writing a big essay against a tight deadline, which is most tiresome and is cutting into my painting and modelling time...