Painting Survey: results and why your answer is correct.

....

Lets get into the results then of the question I spammed out a while ago:

So a decent response, statistically viable I think.  Whilst some people quibbled the question, or felt they couldn't classify their personal approach within the range of options, the results are fairly clear.

As wargamers we generally try to paint our models, but the standard aspired to sits somewhat in the upper-middle level. 

Marginally most popular is what I called Army Painter; which could also be termed the Dip Technique back in the day.

Which has the advantage of producing decent results very easily, especially for massed troops, and the disadvantage of looking a little grubby, and being considered cheating by stuck-up snobs.

Next most popular is what I termed three-layer, and could easily be called 'I want my models to look like the ones in Wargames Illustrated'.

Now I personally am not a fan of this look, but when done well it can be properly impressive.  Like I say, this for Historical gamers tends to be the aspirational standard.

Quite a way behind are the extremes of presentation; GW style being a strong third, and within this I include the higher painting quality advocated by many fantasy gaming systems.

Then there were the people honest enough to admit they paint in this realm of 'quality'.

Okay so that one is not, great; admittedly.  But at least it is done.  Better than nothing.

Very few said competition standard, and slightly more don't bother to paint at all.

Here is the thing.  You don't have to paint at all.  It is a choice, but most of us do, and some will not seek opponents who never make an effort to at least try.  But we are always learning and it is better to try than not to bother.  Painting isn't easy, but it is a skill that can be learned.  Great painters are artists, but you do not need an artistic bone in your body to learn the craft of figure painting.

And aesthetically, even a badly painted force, is more of a courtesy to your opponent and looks better on the table than an unpainted force.

And your standard of painting, whatever it is, is fine.  You are good enough, and no one can criticise you for your efforts.  Improve for yourself if you wish to, but don't feel you must.

Even the best are still learning, and we all think its a chore sometimes.

But the results are worth it.

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More Conan Foes, more MSc Woes....

Such are the delays on the blog, that I have games and painting from the last two months I've yet to put to the record.  Of course I blame - and no surprise for you regulars - the Masters degree; but I only have two weeks left, and 99% of the work is now done, so the end is in sight and soon the most writing I'll need to do outside of work will be on this very blog!

Therefore, here's another batch of Conan figures I blasted out in basically a week, as an aside to my study.  Probably too intense an effort, rather like the bad old days when every spare moment seemed to involve painting!

Grrrrr...

So basically this lot also serve as yet another Dragon Rampant Game, and unlock a couple of scenarios from the Conan game as well.  Two units of Light Undead, two of Elite Mummies (no undead rule) and a Summoner Light infantry unit (the demon is a 10 hit element!).  Nothing any different here painting wise, the 50/50 wash-varnish does all the hard work and covers a lot of artistic sins.

Quantity has a quality all it's own as they say (I hope the same is true of the 30,000 words in my dissertation), and thinking back to the old days of the pledge, I've managed to paint over a hundred mini's this year, yet only bought five.  Good odds.

Painting Filth

I got a place in my life for some painting again:

Man I am rusty though.  These took an age to do for what they are.

Straight to eBay and sold for a pittance.  Ah well, they were only ever for the sake of practice.

The 2012 Pledge - finale

Ah, another year over, another year of painting.  I won't even attempt to say whether I've painted more than I've bought; possibly I'm up on that one though a couple of big investments in figures may have made the profit marginal.

Enthusiasm with my last purchase of the year - Samurai Battles - led to a fine flourish at the last gasp.

I began churning the Zvezda miniatures through the system from mid December, there's still lots to do - what with 122 models in the set - but I made rapid progress by keeping things really, really simple.

One side are red, one purple.  Both are simply done with a suitably coloured undercoat, then the armour picked out in a darker shade.  Then all the details (I could be bothered with, which was far from all of them on these incredible little miniatures) were added.  

Finally the models had the transfers added to their sashimono's before being given a wash of Army Painter Quickshade Ink - Strong Tone.  It's the first time Ive used this ink, but it's pretty good.  I found it needed thinning (lord knows why anyone wouldn't thin it out) but the results were not dissimilar to my home brew efforts over the years.  

Having painted about half of the models, I based them:

The two sets of rules in Samurai Battles use different basing conventions, but noth that can't be worked around.  I decided that Command and Colours would work fine with bases of four infantry, or two horse, and the use of casualty markers.  This allowed me to work to a standard system, except for the command bases which I kept the original diorama bases that came with the game.

40mm square bases with lots of flock.  I also left one corner blank, to add a painted icon (in keeping with the rules) to, as well as leaving at least one of the flagpole pegs free so that the command banners could be used if required.  The aim is to use these initially for the board games, but to work up in time to traditional wargames,; once I can retrieve my unpainted collection of 600+ plastic Samurai from my brother's place!

Cranking these out was a pleasure, and made up for the slow pace of the previous units of 28mm Napoleonics.  The results for the last three months of the year in fact were:

• 16 Spartans
• 1 large Anima Tactics Model
• An entire 10mm Lizardman army, worth 52 points!
• 25 Vikings
• 4 German infantry in 54mm (worth double!)
• 9 Guard Chasseurs 
• 6 Greek Cavalry
• 4eme Dragoons & General Foy 
• 68 points worth of Samurai and Ashigaru

Bringing a quarterly total of 238, and making for a grand total on the year of 678, against a target of 360!

Good stuff.

So, 2013?  Well aside from finding it easier to type as it doesn't have a tricky 2-0-1-2 combo in it, I think the pledge will stay the same, but may become even less formal.  In simple terms I don't yet know what the year will hold and whether I will maintain the commitment to keep painting.  In a way I hope not, as looking back at my painting totals, when they were low I was generally having a lot of fun in that month.

So here's hoping for acceptable, but not excessive painting output.

Maybe I need to create a social life pledge as well, but I don't imagine people on here would appreciate that...

Pledge time Again...

So every good wargamer should try to paint at least as many models as they buy.  A high ideal, but as we all know we tend to buy more instead.

This quarter has ended up as an acceptable one for thinning out the figure pile.  At the end of September I managed to knock out some quicky stuff:

The 2nd New Jersey regiment.  These chaps have a temporary stay of execution, having been in the 'Sales Pending' stack for a while, but I've decided at least to finish the miniatures I have before committing to that.  They always make a refreshing change to paint, being easy and quick.

I managed to find a decent reference for the regimental standard, but the uniform has to assume they wore a standard attire.

Those were so quick, I found myself with a gap in the (actually none-existent, I just pick stuff on a whim) painting schedule.  I dipped into the boxes and found two WW2 kits my brother got me back when my family actually thought about what I'd want for Xmas (about 2002 IIRC!).  Assembling old Hasegawa kits was interesting, they seem surprisingly dated, even for quite good models.  Still better than a lot of resin and metal wargaming models, though three hours assembly is rarely the case with those:

No fancy stuff going on here, just the usual painting style.

All told July to September generated the following:

• The entire Dystopian Wars French fleet
• 12 Swiss Handgunners
• 10 Orc Warriors
• 4 Goblin Heroes and Wizards
• 10 Dark Elves
• 3 Orc and Goblin Chariots
• 1 Troll
• 6 Hobgoblin cavalry
• 24 Portuguese
• 18 American Civil War Union infantry
• 1 88mm Flak 36 gun and limber

For an effective total of 163 points, just below that of the first quarter but well above the second.  A running total of 422, so above my objective of 360 for the year with three months to go.

Guess I can slow down now!

A Pledgers Progress: April-June

Three months have passed one again and it's time to tot up the numbers.  The figures are just above average in fact and run out as follows:

• 24 Zulu Wars British Infantry
• 20 Judean Fighters
• 8 Carolingian/Norman Spearmen
• 3 German Tanks
• 20 Zulu warriors
• 12 Judean Bowmen
• 10 Dogs of War Barbarian Javelinmen (Duellists) 

That brings me to a total of 109 points against a target of 90 for the quarter.  It's not particularly impressive, but I've had a busy social calendar of late; and added to the 169 points from the first three months of the year it begins to look better

Now the last two are the main additions for the month of June, and the Dogs have yet to be photographed, but I can show a picture of the completed Jewish troops:

These are light infantry, but with enough numbers to hold some sort of fighting formation if needed.  Most of the models are Wargames Factory Numidians with added cloaks, but three of them are their Celts.  These were an experiment to see if I could make them work.  Layers of clothing needed adding to some models and removing from others, all a bit fiddly, but there is nothing straight forward about this lot!  

The cloaks certainly look better on these chaps, with practice I'm sure they'll get better still.  I've also added some 'Autumn Tufts'  From the MiniNatur range; I think these best evoke some sparse desert foliage.

That makes the Jews up to a very modest 32 figures.  A long way to go yet!

A Pledge to Review Colonial Brits

I've moved to quarterly reporting of my painting Pledge, to stop it ending up eventually at the top of the topic labels, and so I don't have to make you labour through quite such a nerdy blow-by-blow reportage (though of course, that is a lot of what a Blog is!).

Numbers wise I've hit 169 against a target of 90.  So very nearly double.  This despite acheiving very little in numbers in March.  However this can in part be put down to making a fair bit of scenery, and in part due to spending most of the month on some club models.  Which annoyingly took until April 1st to complete.

Therefore, this post is also a double whammy of a review of the Warlord Games/Empress Miniatures Zulu War British Line Infantry set.  The models are sold as a pack of 20 plastic infantry with four metal command, which is a good compromise, though the poses of the plastic riflemen are much more limiting than the Zulu sets are.  Basically, you can make a firing line, and... that's it.

That said they are very nice models, not as good as the Perry British Napoleonics for comparison, but better  than the Wargames Factory equivalents.  Also having simple poses makes them very easy to build.  I did a pretty good job on these, as they are for both a commission and a display game:

Plus, I love the uniforms!

However, I did decide that due to the overhang of the sun helmets I'd be best not to do the eyes, so for me they, on close, inspection are all dead inside - soulless mannequins!

If you are inventive you could make several distinct units - all kneeling, at the ready, firing and loading - but if you did they would look very samey.  I would only use these to fill out rank and file myself, and wouldn't want to use too many.  But they are excellent value.  A solid 7.5 out of 10.

Braganza's Besiegers - AKI style

The other major project for December has been a unit for my Dogs of War, who are now developing quite a base of Static firepower.  Kings of War and the Perry Miniatures Late Medieval range has given this army a new lease of life, and they have now entered the dreaded 'Third carry case' stage of army evolution*

16 figures in all in a garishly bright quartered livery, so they'll really 'pop' in the army.  As said the miniatures are Perry Plastics, and serve ideally in my Dogs of War force, being as it is a conglomeration of every race and manfacturer, in an effort to realise my old school fantasy aspirations for a mishmash army.  They are of course tied together by the painting style and basing.

In close up you can see that the Pavaises' (big shields, for the rest of you!) are based on separate strips, to allow them to be optional to the unit.  This then allows me to field the unit as the Marksmen of Miraglio instead, or simply as a default unit of crossbowmen.

The heraldry and banner were all free hand.  A word on the banner.  I painted it on paper, over a pencil design, such that the two sides would fold over to give the back to back design.  Make sure you also paint the back of the paper your base colour.  Once finished this is cut out and the back given a complete covering of pva glue.  Folded on to the pole, you'll find the paper soft and malleable; whilst it is so you can form the natural folds into the flag, as you can see above.  The shape will hold within minutes and once dry is pretty solid (though a coat of varnish will further strengthen the banner).  Try to use thin, but good quality paper, I find letter writing paper works well for this, but office printer paper is fine too.

So that's it, the last painting of the year.  The final result is a satisfactory 538 models, against a target of 360.  A lower result than previous years, but in part because I reduced the points I scored for guns and vehicles, and didn't count scenery at all.  Overall I'm pretty happy.

Happy New Year folks...

*This being a stage where an army goes beyond a satisfactory size, to one of sprawling excess.  My file boxes typically hold about 150 28mm models on average, and I consider anything over 200 models to be a 'finished' force.  Therefore once the 300 barrier is broken and a third box is needed, it is both a moment of satisfaction and of resignation - to the fact I need either more storage space, or to sell something else to make room!

(War)Gameswipe - Review of 2011

Foriegn readers, no this is not me....

It's been a year that gave with one hand and took away with the other at Toomuchlead towers, we'll get on to the specifically gaming aspects in a bit but during this year I've moved twice, lost my old job, taken a offer just to stay in work at a considerable reduction in pay, but ended the year with a new offer on the table for more than I started the year with!  Aside from that I've split with two women and crashed and burned with several others, been the victim of crime three times, crushed one car and spent over £2k on the other getting the damn thing back on the road (buying an Alfa may make you a petrol head, it also makes you a mechanics favourite customer).  It has in short, been a helluva year.

Gaming and blogging has in some way helped keep me sane; but what in this crazy world of game has gone on, and how did I do on the prediction front last time....

Figures


2011 has seen me expanding established armies in force rather than starting anything new; with the exception of a couple of skirmish games.  This wasn't the plan at the start of the year, when in a gaming high I had suggested I would build a new fantasy army and double the size of my Napoleonic French force.  Neither came to pass.

Rather I enlarged my Medieval French, Dogs of War, Undead, Orcs and Goblins, WW2 Americans and Spartans; and built my skirmish forces for Anima Tactic and Freebooters Fate from scratch.

Model purchases for myself were inevitably limited but I did appreciate the Perry Miniatures release (eventually) of the British Hussars - now on the painting queue, Immortal Spartans and Mantic Ghouls and Zombies, which work especially well when mashed-up together.  Also a mention should go to the success of the Plastic Soldier Company, I'm not a fan of all the poses, but they have really made themselves known on the market, similarly the Zvezda range of Art if Tactic miniatures has added further options to those who can see beyond the tyranny of Battlefront's ludicrous pricing of Flames of War models.

Beautiful 1/100 scale military vehicles for 1/3rd the cost of Battlefront

Overall I felt that the pace of plastic releases slowed down this year, though in the last few months it seemed to pick up.  I think I was close to correct in saying at least one of the Plastic 28mm manufacturers would go under as Wargames Factory went close to the wire, and Immortal sold to Warlord Games; but then at least one more manufacturer is entering the fray, so the market may yet expand.  The prices of metal have risen for the premium companies, but not by as much as I feared yet.

Game Systems


Three really stand out as new arrivals in 2011, Hail Caesar, Kampfgruppe Normandy and Anima Tactics.  Ok granted the latter I started with last December, but my games of it began this year and very enjoyable they were too.  Hail Caesar has got me back in to ancients gaming, having cast it aside for a long time due to lack of players of a set of rules I enjoyed; whilst KGN is WW2 gaming the way I remember it from my youth, but with a good solid set of rules to underpin it.  Great!

In the first half of the year I played a lot of Fantasy Battle, but by September or so I was tiring of it, and tried actively to get other games in.  The aggressively tournament style of play that became commonplace whilst the Leeds Wargames Centre was open was not to my tastes either.

Winning!

Other games I've enjoyed this year were Black Powder, of course, Freebooters Fate and Kings of War.

Next year my main plan, if there is one, is to find or write a set of Rules for Modern Games I like.  A big ask, but there are options on the table.

Events


I went to five shows this year and did three display games, with varying success.  Best to my mind was Poitiers of course, but in general it felt like a lot of effort at times.  Had a lot on my plate this year and in some cases it did feel like I was having my arm twisted to do displays rather than doing it for my own enjoyment.  In terms of event games, the Napoleonics games at the club were again the ones that really stick in the mind.

Blogging and Painting


Getting on for 55,000 hits this year; not in the big leagues, but for a guy who doesn't do a podcast and avoids a lot of the most popular systems, I don't think it's too shabby.  Service has suffered a lot of disruption this year and it has shown in a couple of months, but overall it has been on a gentle upward track since I started getting detailed stats on it.

up to 26 December 2011

I work with statistics and data by day, so yes this is interesting, to me!

As for painting I think the December total will be about 26 points, bringing the approximate total to the year to about 527 points, against a target of 360.  It's actually less than last year, but this year I didn't include terrain, and did aim to do more fine work.  I'm less inclined to do competition standard now, and for 2012 I'm hoping to turn out a few more models.

So the aims for next year?

• Continue The Pledge to paint 30 points of miniatures per month.

That's it in essence.  I hope to start a new army, to scale up one of the forces I sold in 20mm to 28mm, and this will be a big painting commitment if it comes to pass, but it is still just a loose idea.  Beyond that I still have lots of parts to expand established armies, and I still have items to sell off too; there being a long standing objective to reduce my collection of boxes by a third

This is so the next time I do move there is less puffing and swearing, along the lines of "why do I even have this s**t, I haven't even took it out the box in five f*****g years!"

The Scene

Hmm bit of a one that, locally gaming hit both highs and lows at the LWC, but in the end it was both a damn shame and anything but a surprise to see it go under.  This alongside the move of venue for the old club in February/March saw the Leeds club scene go into a state of uncertainty it is only just coming out of.  In wider terms Fantasy gaming has locally become as stated more competitive, and for me, less fun.  Whilst there is a slowly building community of historical gamers now taking regular space in my favoured haunts.  More gamers are coming in to the hobby with the widespread availability of plastic historical ranges, and this is a great thing.  The rules are now moving towards a peak of development and availability too.

I think the future still bodes well for figure gaming, despite tough times.

Here's to an enjoyable 2012.

November was a busy Month

Indeed, What with the prep for Recon and a bunch of terrain I knocked up I've managed one of my best Pledge months of the year.

All in all I score myself  76 points for the month; including the following:

Six Agincourt period handgunners.  I have a total of 14 handgunners now, I think, but for Poitiers these were not required.  Still, it was easy enough to paint these chaps alongside the other Medieval output of the month.

Once all the Hundred Years War models were painted, I grabbed some other models from the stockpile to which I could apply the same wash techniques:

A converted Skull Pass Troll, done in the very simplest of fashions; yes, I probably should have done some work on the wrist joints, this chap won't win any beauty pageants.  But he was a real quickie.  As were ten more 6th edition Orcs:

These bring my main unit of Orcs with twin Choppa's to 40 strong.  Every model had a weapon or arm reposed to improve the appearance and ranking of the unit, and once painted, they were integrated to multi-figure bases.

These aside there was also 11 Us Infantry for my 20mm WW2 troops, the two previously shown Stuart Tanks and the oft aforementioned Medievals.  Bringing the total to 76.  That's 501 points this year with one month to go.

After a few lacklustre summer months, it's good to be on track again.

October's Output

September was a dismal pledge result, but October has at least met the monthly targets.

I've already shown the Raziel NK-X, but additionally I managed to turn all the spares from an Arachnarok Spider Forest Goblin crew into a serviceable Skullchucka catapult.  Photos to follow on that folks but pictures are definitely ready of my first new Dogs of War unit in ages:

Il Regimento Panettone, in a fetching black with purple highlights and red details uniform.

Secondly I managed a quick and easy unit of Pavisiers for my 100 Years War French; these will prove useful at the start of December when I put on a display game at Pudsey Recon...

These are done with my usual mass production technique, black varnish glaze.  Less black this time has  provided a much better result!

The numbers for the month then were a mere 32 points, but that's much better and leaves me on a total of 425 versus a target to date for the year of 300.

Getting back to normal I think.

A Dismal Performance

The laptop is away, so whilst I can still play, the blog is pretty compromised. 

Another thing I've not done a lot of since the move at the end of August, is paint.  Although I now have the 'luxury' of separate a kitchen and a large living room, the painting has now been exiled to the bedroom, and I simply don't spend enough time in there to get much done - other than sleeping!

The sum total for September painting wise was therefore a mere 6 French knights to add to my Medievals' collection; and photo's will have to wait until the computer comes back from repairs.  This still leaves me well up on the year, in fact I may not have to paint anything more to his the annual target, but what with one thing and another, it's been the weakest month in a couple of years for painting output.

I know I am the only one expecting it, but I still expect better!

Some Painting Updates

It's a mixed bag today, but the end of the month has passed so I shall point out that the pledge result for August was 44, against a target of 30.  Being the 70eme Ligne, five Anima Tactics models (to appear soon); and the diorama below:

Yes, this was mine, I'm sure regulars guessed that.  An unwanted 40k Dreadnought, two Hasslefree miniatures naughty kids and a Miniart diorama were combined with lots of spare bits, clear plastic, barbed wire and naturally, paint.

As for the results, well I was pretty happy with the miniature graffiti, even if it proved curiously prescient.  As I suppose is the oxidisation of the burnt out Dread. 

The narrative of the scene being that the kid with the missile launcher was responsible for destroying the Dread with a hit to the left arm that caused the storm bolter ammo to cook off, setting fire to the rest of the machine.  Her friend, as any kid would has got her smart phone out to capture the result. 

The oxidising took about 8 layers to build up.  Then it was sealed with hair lacquer on the blue side and thereafter painted as if new.  This could then be soaked off and rubbed back to replicate melted and burned away paint.  The Hairspray technique is well established, but this was my first try at it, the results look more realistic, but to  gamer will look a little untidy, and it's not as quick to do as simpler weathering techniques.

A few nods of approval and favourable comments, but no prizes.

Elsewhere it was a month of scenery, some of which we've seen.  The main reason being that they were all commission jobs or for the club.  So I could hand them over to their new owners when done.

Two more buildings for Jason's Sylvanian town:

and lastly a few Lord of the Rings ruins, which wouldn't look out of place in parts of Post Roman Europe I think.  I could see the Huns all over these...

Better than Last Time

After a nervy weekend, I now have a secure flat again; even though I move out in just three weeks (hopefully to a much nicer home).

As part of the fallout, I went into my mobile broadband provider to cancel my account; and came out with a new, free, laptop instead! Now I just need to wait for delivery and keep it squirreled away until I move.

So to return as best we can to the usual business, we are into a new month and so it must be time for a gamers pledge update.

July was largely consumed with two projects, one as yet unfinished for the Napoleonics and the other completed in August for the Iron Owl competition. What was painted has all appeared in the blog, and amounts to 37 points: 27 Spartans, three 15mm KV-1's, and one Anima Tactics model.

The aim is thirty points per month, and whilst this figure and last months too are distinctly average, to date I find I'm at 380 points versus a target thus far of 210.

So, some good news overall!

Dressed for the Occasion

A comment in relation to my last game of Warhammer sparked a thought or two with me last week.  Paul, the Grimsby Mariner considered that my Orc army had beat another similar Orc force as it was 'Dressed for the Fight'; that is to say painted.

 What you want to look at across that table...

Now I'm personally a hardliner on the subject of painted models on the gaming table; all my models should be completed, or at least close enough to it that at a cursory glance from a distance they appear so.  If you are a regular, you'll have rarely if ever seen a battle report on the blog without one fully painted army on the tabletop.  Mine. 

What you often get (nice retro models though)

However I can't enforce my own standards on my opponents, otherwise I wouldn't have many.  The hobby of course is different things to different people, but where I first started playing, painting your models was mandatory.  Unpainted figures were, and still are to my knowledge, not allowed on the table.  It's a strict policy I know, but one I still apply to myself, and certainly the best motivator to get paint on.

And to be fair, GW maintain much the same standards, if not so rigorous, as a demand of using models in their stores (aside from them only being GW models, natch) is that a minimum of three colour paint jobs be adhered to.  I think their ulterior motives for this can be challenged, but I'd rather play against badly daubed models than a sea of grey plastic, given the choice.  At least their owner has tried.

Actually, this demeans us both

The competition is all to some of course and matters such as painting their models or building scenery are secondary.  But really, if that is all you are into, why not play video games?  I mean if you are going to the trouble and expense of buying a bunch of toy soldiers, isn't it at least an idea to make them look nicer?  Moreover, do it well and unlike buying a new car or sports kit or whatever, they'll be worth more when you sell them than they cost.

And anyway, unpainted models are just soulless lumps of lead or styrene; painting them infuses them with character, makes them yours.  I'd rather wait to field my collection than chuck it straight out the box onto a board.

Besides they obviously fight better.

Sure, it takes time, and ability; but few painters got good on their first model; as the old adage goes, to get good at painting, do 500 bad paintings first.  And the rewards are there; it need not even take that long if you use the right techniques...

It's just a matter of sucking it up and doing that part of the hobby that takes a bit more effort.

Arrh! Ye Scurvy Dawgs!

Much of my painting output in June ended up as a single subject, for another skirmish game:

Freebooters Fate is a German game with tasty figures and simple game play, that doesn't readily lend itself to being ruined by Cheesy play; the game itself features an alternate reality, with a few elements of fantasy (it features goblins and a hint of magical effects), but I have to forgive that given it contains, well, Pirates!

Being a skirmish game, I've spent a lot more time than normal on the models, and so alongside other major, non-painting, projects of late I produced a lot less in the month.  still I have a full crew for the game now.

First of these are the deckhands, essentially the core choices.  My starter set contained a standard Pirate with a pistol and a Chuchillo, or knife expert.

Next up are a couple of specialists, firstly for me is 'The Lady', a woman of mystery who wields a huge axe cum pistol.

The skirt was very satisfying to complete, but then so were many of the other details here.  Is it me or does she look a bit like Angelina Jolie?

Incidentally the bases are a metal textured plate that fits into the plastic former.  An odd solution and one that I'm not convinced works perfectly.

My other specialist is another woman; Curly Ann.

Very nice to have a go at a different skin tone, lovely rich colours as a whole.  Not wholly convinced by the pose, but it remains my favourite despite that.

Finally you need a leader, and my starter set provided Captain Rosso:

A big and complex model, I should really have left the cot off until the end.  Still the overall effect was pleasing.  A real riot of colour.

I was particularly happy with coat in the end.  Painting 150 British scarlet jackets really cues you for doing a number on an object like this.

And so these are ready for the table.  I had time to start another project in June, but not finish it, so the measly results of these, some Napoleonics generals and four half tracks is that I only scored myself a feeble 23 points on the month.

Quality, not quantity.

May pledge

Another month, and what to report.  I'm going to keep it short after my last epic (and grammatically fraught) post, it's simply painting time.

The only item not yet shown on the blog finished in May was an upgrade to an established unit:

Half of this unit was found in a shop years ago, 5 very expensive Volands Venators cavalry converted to undead knights.  I painted them in a simple red scheme.  Many years later I acquired four more along with undead horses; and with an empire knight I had spare I was able to convert and complete the unit to a useful ten figures.

I think they'll serve as Blood knights for me.  Which means they are now a huge addition to my Vampire Counts army.

Only half points for this unit as only 5 models were actually painted in the month.  The totals are consequently:

Russian Guns and crew: 6
13th Cuirassiers: 24
Ghouls: 21
Blood Knights: 10

Making for a modest result of 61; not close to my best this year, but twice my pledge demands so still excellent.