THE PAINTING PAGE

Projects I am working on...

We are working on many projects...  I will be posting things here as I go.  More projects later, as I get them done...  FOR THE MOST CURRENT STUFF, scroll down to the bottom.

CURRENT PROJECTS:
Frame work European buildings for a village I am doing.

"Limited Space" modular terrain boards (see "Terrain Page" on this website).

1806 Prussians

Revolutionary Wars French

Polish Winged Hussars

20mm SYW

15mm SYW

25mm Medievals

AND MORE...

I just might dig out my sculpting tools and maybe post what I am up to with that, too...

THE OUTLANDER

In January just started to work on a number of 10mm Buildings.  I HIGHLY recommend these from "JR" miniatures.  These buildings used to be known as Architectural Heritage.  I wanted to have the buildings to go with my latest terrain project (see "Home Made Terrain" section of my website)

Here I have taken one of the European timber-framed buildings, cleaned it up (not much cleaning needed, really), and primed it white.  As I work on it, I will document how I am doing. 

One thing:  I usually have several projects I work on at the same time.  This allows me to paint one thing, then, while that is drying, do something else, rotating my work time.  I find this is the most efficient way of getting the work done. 

 

 I took some pics of some buildings in Germany.  These I used as a guide for painting....   I then had to figure out how to make the miniature building to look close the real thing.I glued the building that I had sprayed white onto some old cardstock.  This way I don't need to touch the actual building with my hands.  .  After it dried (about three days), I broke out "Ol' Fuzzy".  I keep old, fat, ruined brushes in a bin for just such a project.  I used some off white as my base color.  I pasted it all one, all over.  Once dry, I went after the roof.  I used a lighter red-brown.  I also mixed in some red for tinting.  If you paint such a building, don't worry too much about getting it on the framework.  The next steps will cover that up.  As soon as it is ready and dry, I will get on the next step.

This is what I have completed so far:

I got the first of my 1806 Prussians done: Prussian Lights.  That inspired me to hustle and I got some Prussian Musketeers done, too.  I decided to base the whole collection for my own house rules: CONVENTION NAPOLEONICS.  I will describe those rules later at some time.  I mulling the rules over now and welcome comments...(click on the contact us link below).

My latest Project:  28mm Napoleonics.  I have here the first of my 1806 Prussians, some Fusiliers and a Colonel.  GET READY!  I will be showing more of that line off really soon!

  Too bad the flash washed out the detail.  YOU SHOULD SEE HOW NICE THESE FIGURES LOOK!  I can't wait for the primer to dry.  For the record, I usually wait at least three days for a primer to dry out completely. 

WELL: I COULD NOT WAIT.  I primed the figures Friday, and then painted them up Sunday.  I started out with the figures... 1806 Prussian Light Infantry, 7 foot, one bugler, and one Officer.The first step is the priming the figures.  I started by gluing them down on tongue depressors to hold the figures while I paint them.

I paint the flesh, and then mix a blend of dark green and dark green ink.  I then wash that on for the jackets.  I use the lids those little ice cream tubs come have - a two-for-one!  First the yummy ice cream, then I get to keep the lid for mixing paints in!  I  test the mixed paint on other figures where it would not matter if the shade is not just right.  This time some 25mm Gauls are the victims.  I then wash the flesh with a mix of flesh wash and some lighter brown.  Now I needed to let the figures dry for about an hour.  (What I usually do is go to some other painting project and do that for a while.  This time I have some of those 15mm Napoleonics I bought already painted.  I had to do some work to them, and will feature that later on.

Then I mixed up some washes for the other colors.  I painted the trousers pale tan, then washed that color with a raw umber wash.  The Officer has white trousers and a white sash.  So I washed that with a payne's grey wash.  NOTE that I painted the white trousers and gloves with a very 'slick' white first (this time it was white from Citadel) so I could get a particular effect with the wash.

Then came the red.  I did the facings the cuffs and collars.  I usually outline collars and cuffs with a very dark brown.  This helps produce an edge to these areas.  This also is the step I used the brown to paint the muskets and bag on the back.   Then I did the black straps, outlining the buttons with black when I did the straps. Finally, I touched it up with gold touches on the buttons, eagle on the shako, musket brass, and sword hilts. 

  Finally, I touched up any spots I managed to miss...gently spraying a matte sealer on the figures.  After drying I glued them onto the bases I will use them with in the next game!  I am basing them for my home rules "Convention Napoleonics".  I am writing the rules and should be done in a few weeks.  I wanted a set of rules specifically for conventions, where I can teach anyone how to play in five minutes, and then let them command a battalion of troops.  A battalion is usually around 24 figures, and sometimes more if there are attached forces, say skirmishers.  The figures are from the Demi-Brigader Line of 25mm (actually 28mm) Napoleonics.  More on that line later...

THE COMPLETED UNIT: 

Next I "recruited" a Prussian Musketeer Battalion.  The rules I designing are for 1:30 scale.  A player commands only on battalion with attachments.  I figure that this would maximize the fun with a minimum of time, ideal for convention play. 

I primed the figures white, then painted as if I dressed the figures: flesh, pants, coats, straps, black, metal, highlights, done. I got these done in 5 hours yesterday (Saturday) and the started on the Revolutionary French...hopefully getting those done this week, too.  I have a number of other projects begging for my time!!!  My painting table is cramped...I am a victim of Commander in Chief Household's directives to limit the wargame sprawl.

Anyway, here is the Prussian Musketeer Battalion, step by step:

I usually glue my figures down onto painting sticks, after cleaning all the flash etc. off of them.    I then prime them...for this method I primed the figures white.  I use different base/primer colors for different effects. 

I also, in between the main project, work on other figures/items while the main project is drying.

In this case I worked on the Prussian Brigade Commander and also a 54mm Gaul I had sitting around.  I figure, nibble on things as I go (OK, I am a scatter brain!)

Next, I painted on the blue coats.  I chose a lighter blue to experiment a little.  I also painted the pants a light tan, washing that with a dark brown.  See the brown blotches?  I correct that (no pics of me doing it) by dry brushing on the original color.  Looks nice that that way!

Then the flesh.  I painted it on originally first, so while it is drying, I can do some other colors.  Once dry, I can wash on a darker flesh color and do some highlights.  OOPS, one figure popped off his stick.  I never let that bother me, I simply keep painting and handle the figure from that point on delicately with my fingers.  Then came the black.  That Brigadier got his black done at this stage, too.  I washed on a darker blue... The end result was OK, but not great.  I will keep experimenting to see  which way to do the Prussian Blue I like the best. 

After the black, I certainly had to change the cleaning water because the next step was the white.  See the difference?  The black hats now get white trim.  In between, as usual, while the Prussians were drying, I finished up that 54mm Gaul.  Next the red....  All the white trim and straps are done so I could complete the red. The 57th Musketeers had a white, red, blue pompom, so I had to that touch.  I hit the muskets brown when I did the packs just before doing the black.  Now I complete the muskets with dull steel paint. Finally the brass/gold and DONE...I spray a dull lacquer on the figures, let them dry, then glue them down on their bases.  Finally, while they are drying, I did up a flag.  As far as I know this is the actual flag...  Finally, I flock the bases and so I have "recruited" another battalion!  My intent is to have three regiments and a gun battery: a complete Brigade!   

Not satisfied, I thought I would start on the French I had sitting here.  True, these are not 1806 French, but I had them here, primed, ready, so I painted on them till 9 PM!  I have the red and some trim to do but I got them basically done... so: 50x 25 Naps, a 54mm Gaul, and four buildings in one day... a good day of painting.

I will post the French Pics soon.  Here is a start:

The 25mm Revolutionary French and a bunch of 25mm Medievals are ready to start getting their "uniforms"...

The French Brigadier waits for his turn. The  first of the French. 

A Prussian Cavalry Trooper...coming soon!

WHY 1806, you ask?  For fun, says I!  JUST WAIT... hey, remember, the Prussians were very good at fighting, they just were not ready for Napoleon's Staff work and Operational Art.  Then again, these discussions are for elsewhere!

also, I bought a collection of already painted 15mm Prussians.  They were in desperate need of repainting.  I worked on them for about a day.  After asking around, I decided to base them for Napoleon's Battles/Shako rules.  Then I can set the bases on the 3 inch square bases for some other sets of rules out there.

See the 3 inch square base?  I left the smaller bases loose so I can use the figures for a number of existing rules sets.

FINALLY, I have painted some more 20mm SYW.  Here, I did up a Seven Year's War General for the Prussians...  I should have a lot more 20mm SYW soon.  I used a black primer and layered the paint on.  I personally do not like this method for 20mm - 25mm figures.  In stead I prefer a white primer - the paints come out a lot brighter.  See the Viking I did with a white primer?  I placed it here for comparison.

  Even if the Viking is 25mm, it painted up pretty fast...

MARCH 2008 UPDATE:

I attended the regional DBA tournament.  I even placed 11th!  Lucky, I guess, since I have not played DBA in ten years...in fact, I am not the biggest fan of the game, but that is best left to face to face discussions...over beer, of course!

The tournament was in Ulm, right on the Danube River!  The local club hosting the event set it up in a Napoleonic era Casemate, once set up to guard the bridge there.  Here are some shots of the place...pretty cool place to host the event!  They even had a bar in the place where the cannon set up! 

The organizers stood out front and greeted each arrival.  Note the brick construction.  Inside, the brickwork was pretty intricate.

I somehow managed not to get a better shot of the outside,  a shame.  But, right behind the casemate, which is right on the Danube, is a small fortress, also designed to defend the bridge. 

Where we held the tournament looked great, real atmosphere.  The Germans made me feel welcome like a brother.  I enjoyed myself.  Here are some looks of the inside of the casemate, and some comments on my DBA adventures!

As you can see, the casemate is pretty massive.  I took a pic out of one of the windows facing the Danube.  The outside still had an iron shutter with musket loopholes in it to fire from.  I was surprised at how narrow the Danube is at this location (perhaps this is why there is a bridge here?).  I figure a musket could just barely range the far river bank.   Though blurry, this is in the center of the casemate: a winding staircase, leading down to the river-level cannon bastion.One amusing thing was that the bathroom had a sign posted.  It reads in German: "No Drinking Water".  I wonder why that is up by the urinals?

\

Since I do not own any DBA armies, the organizers let me borrow one: #12, Gauls.  8x Wb, 1x LCh (GEN), 1x Ps, 2x Cv... It proved to be a hard army to fight with.  I lost three and won, barely, two battles. 
The first one was the worst.  My General, heroically throwing himself into the fray, managed, on the first roll to meet Vahalla, and that against Britons!  Fellow Celts, indeed!  It does not help when you roll only a "1".  In the pic, I have already set the General aside.  The Germans all laughed at my comment about "Heldentod" - Hero's Death. Next came the Romans, YIKES!

That was one more loss... I found out that Warbands don't fare well if they do not punch though on the first attack.

Final result: Romans 4, Gauls 0.

The next one I did better, probably since the event director sat in for me while I ran to downtown Ulm to look around for a while (see below).

He faced off with Carthoginians, and a bum rush of Warbands worked out well.

My next encounter, with Thracians, was a disaster: Light horse swung behind me, captured the camp, and killed me from the rear. (at least we could order pizza to compensate for our defeats!)

I finally got to beat some Romans in the last round.  A "Quick-Kill" (I am sorry but somehow I did not understand the rules, so I have no idea what that means - can anyone help me?) managed to knock out four bases, in the first combat.

That let me score high enough to place 11th.  I found the scoring really interesting, they all took it very serious.  A combination of wins, kill points, and some other score were the basis of calculating the winners. 

My scoresheet.  Judges adjudicating the scores: And the Winners are:

(nice trophies!)There were some nicely done figures there.  These Indians looked great.  I sure need to learn to take better pics!

Another highlight was that one attendee, Juergen, made up some fantastic DBA boards.  I highly recommend these.  They are robust and looked great.  He even build in peg holes so you can connect them together to form larger battlefields.  I guess it is possible to have a whole bunch of DBA games going on at one time as if it were a huge battle? 

He said that he is about to offer them on line for sale.  I can't wait - as soon as I have his site, I will post it.  I ordered several boards from him.  He told me that he would offer the boards with the terrain finishing like you see in the examples here, or unfinished so a person can finish the terrain himself. 

This is a little blurry, sorry, but it gives you an idea how robust these boards are.  They handle all sorts of abuse.  He has a great heavy-duty finish to them. They end giving you that Games Workshop look to the terrain...or is that a British Wargames look?  Anyway, I prefer straight grass... Still, I can't recommend these enough!

I got a chance to go to the Cathedral downtown Ulm.  I took a lot of pics of buildings, too.  You can see a great number of framework houses.  A look to the downtown area.  The Local Farmers' Market was there, too.  Here you see a gate to a small courtyard.  I great thing to build next time for your Napoleonic game.  (ignore the satellite dish...I don't think Blucher used those...).

Funny how I had to go to Germany to find a Cigar Shop Wooden Indian...  More looks at some of the timber works.  Note the tiled roofs.  The tile and slate versions were very common from the middle of the 14th Century on.

Some of the buildings have markers on them.  Here you see a historical marker declaring a famous writer lived here.  Below is something I am finding is quite common. Coats of Arms appear on buildings all over the place.  Here you see the coats of Arms of the local Bishop.  Note the Papal references.  Detail of timberframes What I saw as interesting is that the building in front of the tower is a remodeled Artisan house.  Note the columns, and the area underneath where long ago the wagons could pull in, out of the weather and load/unload.  I suspect this was a merchant's building, perhaps a brewery?  (One can only hope!)  Anyway, I hope this gives you building makers some ideas.The Danube was a lot narrower than I expected. It still would pose an obstacle, even for modern armies.

I took some pics of the Ulm Cathedral, of course.  The City is revamping it.  Still, there is a lot to note.  See the flying butresses?  The gargoyles are impressive, too.  I got two pics of some of the reconstructed ones.  They are more bat than gargoyle.  

The entranceway was impressive.  The Saints figured prominently.  I plan on going back just for a documentary on the Ulm Cathedral.

Behind that casemate we had the tournament in I came across part of the river defense walls.  I took a pic of the thickness of this wall.  The Loopholes seemed to be useful for cannon and musket fires.  Some more ideas for you builiding makers!

A small detour produced this:

  I took it from my moving car... is that a '72 or '80?  Can anyone help me identify it?

I also got a pic of a Sherman.  You would be surprised how small those really are. 

OVER ALL: I really enjoyed my time with that German DBA tournament.  They will host it again next year.  I recommend more people attend! 
The Outlander