Improving my painting - Vehicles

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Part of my present effort to improve my painting relates to my dissatisfaction with my old standard for vehicles and 'armour'.  Whilst I used to perfectly happy with it, I had long ago gathered (and then left unused) a collection of pigments and glazes for weathering, that at least subconsciously suggested to me I could do better.  I mean I don't think there was anything wrong with my output for a wargames table, but it no longer satisfied me from a modelling standpoint:

I guess this selection of German and Russian equipment (all subsequently sold BTW) bugged me as it looked so flat, and the simple expedient dry-brush dust was so limiting, anything other than summer dust and dirt is hard to do well with it.  Compare to the recent road-war repaints I've done, which experimented with a few more techniques:

Okay, still some way to go, but there is an effort to use chipping, oil streaks, powders and better dry-brushing effects.

Also in the category of largely unused, was a copy of the following:

By model artist (no better term really) Mig Jimenez.  Now the main issue with this for me is it is all hugely airbrush reliant* but there is an awful lot to be learnt about false contrast, shading, and weathering from a book like this.  And of course, there is no end of expertise on the net; with YouTube heaving with excellent painters of all kinds, Plasmo being one of my favourites:

Anyway, all this being said, I've had a pile of German equipment to represent the Cherbourg campaign 1944 lying around for a very long time now, roughly since I sold my last German force on.  And after months of Napoleonic, fantasy Napoleonics, and 18th Century uniforms I was feeling motivated to begin a new project; and upping my game so far as painting seemed like an additional challenge to make the thought of painting my umpteenth WW2 Germans more enticing.

It was time to engage Try-Hard mode.

I would begin with, well, not the best models.  Perhaps a pragmatic choice to warm up on something it would be hard to polish to finely to begin with, and give yourself a bit of latitude.  Plus they rather irked me.

These are from the Britannia Miniatures, Grubby Tanks range.  And Grubby is the word.  Bought some years ago, when I couldn't find the historical model I wanted available affordably (the Sd.Kfz.135 "Marder" I Lorraine is pretty much the Unicorn of German armour in 1/72 scale) these were very much the next best compromise.  But the mould quality was pretty atrocious, I'm not gonna lie.  As you can see I filled a bunch of holes and voids in the very old formulation resin, and there was no end of cleaning up to do to.  Even so I gave up on some details I could probably have fixed easily enough.  Impatience.  I did fit a crew for each gun out of spares lying around and some crew supplied with the models.  On reflection, I should have added these after I'd painted both separately.  Impatience again.

The painting here, is progression from previous efforts, but only by so much, the main difference being in the base coat, having a far inflated level of highlighting.  This is variously referred to as Colour Modulation, False Contrast or Highlighting; but in this case it's still a bit weak.  One thing I do that makes some difference is highlighting the brown and green separately.

A  common GW/Fantasy company approach to vehicles is edge highlighting, but for military modelers such an exaggerated effect has no place!

Once the base coats and tracks were done, I experimented with a panel line wash.  More on this later, when I got it much better, then on to the transfers.  I always keep transfer sets as they always  provide plenty of spares.  But you can buy them online so easily these days.

After this I tried out my Vallejo Weathering products.  Oil stains applied to the transmission and other spots needing some dirt build up.  I then tried the water staining product, but made two clear mistakes with it.  Too thick a brush, and using it as vertical staining rather than horizontal pooling.

Still it's all learning.

Next up some MIG pigments, another set I bought years ago.  My experience to date with these had been opening a couple of the packs, but some tutorials gave me an indication of some uses.  I began by mixing a splotchy paste with some matt varnish to make mud for the tracks and lower hull; then following this up by dusting a lighter shade straight from the pot over most of the model.  This can be fixed afterwards, but a blast of varnish really helps, so long as its dusted on from a good distance.

The final addition at this stage was some light dry-brushing, a glaze on the crew, and some foliage.  Then the basing was done, and these were for all intents finished.

PanzerJager Abteilung 709.

Foam foliage

Whilst I was pleased with these I still felt I could do better.  The highlights needed work, the panel lines were indistinct, partly due to the models themselves, the rain marks were used wrongly....

So I jumped in to some other models I had to hand, and went, well, a bit further.

Panzer Abteilung 203.

 More French tanks in German service around Cherbourg and the Carentan Peninsular.  These featured further, and better attention to the little details.

Char 2bis Flamme 

This represents a German modification of the Char 2bis to a flamethrower tank.  The 75mm was replaced with a flamethrower, and a larger fuel tank was added at the rear of the vehicle.  This was my first conversion (with the explicit intent of representing a real vehicle) in years.

 

The panel wash is a better formulation here, being 1 part black paint, 1 part glaze, 1 part water, and the tiniest touch of dish soap; which further breaks the surface tension.  It is applied carefully to all the recesses, through which it runs naturally.

  

The chipping was applied with a shred of sponge, and then some were highlighted in silver.  This is a quick method and added greatly to the overall look.

H39's

 The camouflage, is still disappointing to my eye, as it should be more subtly applied.  But that requires a spray gun....  The crewman here is an anciant ESCI tank commander I must've had for near on 40 years!

Somua S35 

This is an old Heller kit, and lacks the quality of the Trumpeter and S&S kits above, but it is still pretty good for its age.

 

Here the dirt build up with powders, and the staining with oils and watermarks is far better.  The key is for all the techniques to build up to give an overall sense of lived in reality.  It exaggerates real damage and wear, but the result provides the illusion of depth and heft, of a real vehicle.  Compare to my Panzer IV at the top of this now incredibly long post!

These have certainly taken a lot longer than my old standard, but the finished effect is deeply satisfying, and the progression across just two batches of models is really pleasing.  There's lots more to add too.  And as time permits, they and thoughts on other techniques will appear here as well....

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*and more on that, another time...

Some terrain oddments

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Following a tip from Nords Saga, I picked up a roll of artificial grass from a national budget supermarket know for its' eccentric central aisle of seasonal products, 2m x 1m of essentially a dense green carpet was mine for about £8/$10.

In the raw.

Not wanting to spend quite the same amount of time on it, but wanting something quick and hard wearing, I just hit it with some green aerosol paint.  In fact this is only a 1m x 60cm section, intended for 15mm games of Rebels and Patriots:

Lighten up dude.

I think it came out pretty well, and I shall have to get around to doing the remaining larger section in a similar way.

I also received a delivery from China, that took fully 7 months to arrive.  A batch of 15mm scaled trees:

Add caption

I did these in the same way as my 28mm ready-made trees; dipping the entire model in diluted PVA glue to seal it.  Nice that they finally arrived then.  I can' be surprised though, at £4 from China I'm surprised the packet could afford to get here by any other means than hitchhiking.

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On painting Set-ups

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So first things first, I have been bingeing on online paint tutorials of late.  This is not because I consider myself a beginner painter.  But I am a learner still, and if you stop learning, you can't improve!  There are always things to pick up; but this is for another subsequent post, this is more about the aspirational luxury of hobby set ups.

Wander around the internet long on the subject of miniature painting, and you'll come across no end of vast arrangements, usually pristinely set up for the painting of apparently one or two models at a time:

Just some typical desks from the interwebs...

Those rare arrangements to pop up in books and magazines are not so different.  There are elements that seem ever present:  permanent work space, no end of handy shelves or tool boxes, bright lighting, and of course, hundreds of paints.

It may in fact seem rather intimidating.  What if your partner doesn't accede to the spare bedroom becoming a subsidiary of the local craft store?  What if you live in a rented chicken coop with barely room to swing a cat?  What if your funds won't stretch to owning the entire range of [insert name here] paints?

I have at various stages in my involvement in the hobby, ticked off all of the above, and still do; the last time I had a hobby desk was 12 years ago, and, well.  It looked like this:

GAAAH! My eyes!!

Oh sure I'd love the space for a set up like the ones in the first picture, that much space and equipment is theoretically great.  But what I'd contend is; you don't need it.  (I'm sure a few of my readers relate more to my old desk up there, than any of the ones' above.)

I am no master painter, hence the still learning consideration.  But I think I can do alright when I pull out the stops, I've painted the odd model I'd say was pretty damn good, and moreover, I've never fielded unpainted troops, as a point of honour if nothing else.

I manage to do so with a palette of about 40 paints - including craft colours - a few inks and underused washes and a range of haphazardly gathered tools.

Imagine your author sat neath the paint tray 

Yes, I'm a sloucher, and that is a major difference if nothing else, I dont really get on with the desk and office chair set up.

All the basics

 The core of my set up lives in one box, and 90% of my painting and modelling can be done from the contents of this drawer.  Sure it is a bit untidy, but it is compact, note the sheer lack of paints.  I blend most everything so I only need a relatively small number of paints.  I am however a brush hoarder, as will become apparent.

The lap tray and palette 

Okay, so this is even more of a compromise, but it has worked well for me over the last five years, with the purple cloth serving to keep me clean, clean brushes and save on paper towels....

The rest of the paint corner

Everything else lives in an IKEA box that was designed to fit inside a Kallax shelf unit.  The paint tray going on the shelf above when out of use.  The middle drawer is spare paints - copies mainly of shades I use a lot, spare brushes I've accumulated, weathering washes and an extra large palette.  The top drawer is full of basing materials and weathering powders.

My painting setup is not ideal, absolutely, but I can make the most of it, and that is the real point.

Part of it is down to style, and not being a martyr to one proscribed way of working.  The reason I can get away with so few paints is that I learnt mixing and blending from the outset, refining simple dry-brushing into more complex styles as I learnt.  But again I diverge, the point being, that if you only know how to paint something by following somebody else's recipe you can end up with a large collection of equipment silo'ed to very niche jobs.  There's an undoubted ease to learning that way, but it can come with a long term penalty of becoming dependent on specifics for process.

Maybe the real point is that a relative beginner should not feel intimidated by the commitment some people put into producing top quality work.  That we all start somewhere.

But anyway, for me space has always been a premium, I don't like to waste it!  But moreover, as one of natures slouchers, and as someone stuck at a desk all day already, I don't respond well to sitting at another desk to paint of an evening again, the sofa offers me a far more conducive spot to curl up and put a couple of hours in.

As to techniques, well the more you learn about, the better for your modelling.  If you are fixed on one system, you'll miss out on the smart approaches of others.  Hence, a lot of painting tutorials, even if I end up thinking "I'll never use that".

But finally I write all this at a point where I really am in the process of changing my set up.  Presently painting more than playing, I have gone into a try-hard mode with my painting, and have begun trying a few new approaches.  More on which in coming weeks.  But none of them are really essential, and getting painted models to the table is simply a case on flat colours as a start, and anything else is a bonus.

But more on that shortly...


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Holidays and rewards

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Fraught months on the work front resolved with the unexpected outcome of a promotion  (rather than redundancy) so that on top of an upcoming week off work chased me to have a little online splurge.  And all the goods were waiting at the post office for me today...

Like the Xmas where my family actually got me stuff I wanted*

Quite a variety of projects.  Yes I've been getting into Magic a fair bit of late, but there's also plenty of miniatures and a much needed replenishment of paint.

On which topic I hope to have something to say real soon.



*which never happened
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2nd Regiment Obchenyi Militia

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I am getting far behind on updates for the blog, this can often happen, but lets catch up a little on a project I completed a month or so ago.

I had already done the prep work in a previous post, so this is just the results in a speed painting session of a rather larger unit.

36 models forming three 12 'man' ravenous horde units.

 

 These were pretty easy models to do, only really having the equipment I added in the build phase to complicate the paint jobs.  I opted for a khaki green with some flesh mixed in as a general base for the fleshtones; changing the value by adding more flesh about every four or five figures.  The uniform details are standard and super simple; then the whole job is brought together with the 2:1 Varnish to Strongtone glaze.

 

What really helps bring the models up a notch is the basing.  As is probably clear, they are dry brusehed white, but what may not show is that this is over a drybrush of sand on the otherwise unpainted sand mix, unpainted except for the glaze mix being applied to both it and the models.  The white is a frost mix achieved by adding some silver to the white paint.  This is then painted over the dirt and static grass.  

Finally snow was added, I now do this by mixing Bicarbonate of Soda with thinned down PVA glue, to produce a gloppy mix I can apply with a brush.  Then whilst still wet this is dipped in a tray of snow scatter (mine's from Gale Force Nine).  This gives a balance of depth and texture.

These therefore make for a 42 figure strong regiment, of three line companies, and a command section.  This is the last addition to the Bodurians for the present, as I have a new fantasy project to finish now, as readers will have no trouble seeing.  But there are some additions for the long term to come back to...

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War-tership Down

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A cold shiver runs through the spine of all mortal men. A threat more terrible than the torments of Hell sets each to his priest in the hope of salvation. No mother would use such tales to scare children, as it would assure no sleep at all for the listener, or teller. The ravages of the great Khan or the decimation of pestilence bear nought to the horror of their name. Where they crawl from the earth, death follows......

Killer Bunnies!!!

Scouts first, as by tradition

Yes, so I made a start on what I think is my 15th or 16th Dragon Rampant force; one I bought as a Kickstarter last year from Skull & Crown.  These are now available online for late arrivals, and are reasonably priced, being admittedly small models (about 20mm foot to eye); postage may be a different matter for those of us not in the USA however.

As you can see from the image below, there was definitely something going on in the minds of the middle ages' scribes regarding Rabbits and Hares, and I personally couldn't resist having a go at these. 

Those monks can't focus on the day job!

The initial set of models is as I find often the case, a small unit of skirmishers, to allow me a chance to test my painting approach.  Being such small models I felt I was going to need to use a style more like that of my 15mm models than my 28-32mm figures, there bieng very little in the way of details to the models.  Also getting a plausible fur was going to be crucial.

Feel cute! Might put a crossbow bolt in you. IDK

Following a mixture of advice given by the Kickstarter, and using pictures of actual wild rabbits, I began by mixing up some mid browns over a brown undercoat, with a grey-brown for the leader.  Each shade was then lightened, and applied to the belly, front of the face and inside legs.  I then added lighter still tips to the ears, and used the same colour around the eyes..  The weapons and belts got a traditional three layer finish, then finally the large black eyes were dotted in to the light patches on the face, so that only a tiny amount of the light colour remained.

Then I gave the whole of the models a wash with a very thinned down brown ink (about 3 to 1 water to ink), and when this was dry a coat of matt varnish.

For the bases, I splurged on a mass of Euro 5¢ coins I had lying around, these being slightly larger than British 1p coins - about 22mm size - to allow for a bit more basing and kinder handling.  I applied filler to the base and then over my standard brown undercoat I did two layers of light brown and sand dry-brushes, before adding a range of flocks and covers, most bought specifically with this project in mind.

At the same time I worked on a piece of terrain, to serve as a Hold-fast for the colony .

Wat-ership Down.  I'm pondering what to put on the flagpole...

 For this I began with an off-cut of inch thick insulation foam (the blue stuff). and made a simple two tier hill.  Into this I then cut some holes for entrances, and gouged out the contents.  Next I added a whole plethora of roughly inch long pieces of bamboo barbecue skewers, sliced up at angles, with the tips used periodically as dictated by supply.  I marked a pattern for them on the hill and pre-drilled their locations before adding some PVA to the holes, then slotted them in.

The Watch tower was more involved, not least as the rope lashings are part of the construction!  However the main posts are simply skewered into the hill point first a good inch and a half deep, so it is remarkably sturdy.  The top platform is of coffee stirrers sliced up as planks as well as more skewers; as is probably clear the whole thing was eyeballed rather than carefully built to a plan, and so has a more natural, wonky look to it.

The watchtower

For painting it was first a case of applying filler to the tunnel entrances, and all the gaps the make the hill a smoother shape; then a thinned down slip of filler - roughly a four to one water-filler mix - was painted over all the blue foam to seal it and add more texture.  Then I hit it with the same undercoating and basing process as the rabbits, except without any bushes yet, and with the wood getting a different treatment of lighter browns with a yellow-beige for the cut ends.

Job done.

Well, except that I now have five more units to do.  But given how quickly these came together, I think they shouldn't be too bad.  This process moreover taught me what to tweak for working on the next batch, to make the job faster and better too.  Which is partly why I start with a small unit first.

Even so, to this point, the end results look adorable!

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Painting Poll

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I've been watching a lot of painting tutorials of late, but I do wonder the reality of their implementation amongst mortal gamers?  Please help sate my curiosity by responding to my little poll:

One question to change nobody's life!

I have in mind I'll write something in relation to this subject and the poll in due course.  I know for a fact I operate on a very spartan paint set up compared to most gamers and painters, yet I think I get decent results, so it will be interesting to see what develops of this....

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The Forbidden Tower

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I've been three times to the enormous folly known as the Forbidden Corner.

It's a weird little place tucked away in the Yorkshire Dales, a personal fantasy land of a wealthy businessman, opened to the public a couple of decades ago.  I wouldn't like to spoil to much of the place, but if you enjoy mazes, fantasy worlds, whimsy and a dash of horror, and have children between the age of 6 and 90, it is well worth a visit.

  

On my latest visit, a couple of weeks ago, I picked up a souvenir with obvious gaming potential:

Stan for scale

This is a moneybox based as you may guess on one of the folly features, cast in a thick and firm plastic that reminds me of the resinated plastic used for some modern games miniatures.  Aside from the garish facial details it also has a slot in the roof and a plug in the base for the insertion and extraction of your (modest) savings.  It was the princely sum of five pounds.

Which is peanuts really for something like this.  Most hard plastic or resin castle towers seen to retail from wargame companies around the £20+ mark, and lack much in the way of fantasy features (except GW of course, who instead have probably too many fantastic elements!).  Of course you may not find the retail outlet especially convenient to reach, but these can be purchased online for £10 with postage in the UK, which still seems good value.  Moreover, the model is perfectly scaled for 28-32mm models (and it would look okay with 20mm too I guess).

However, as nicely detailed as this is, I was not happy with the paint job, that needed improving.  And once I got to looking at the details I decided I wanted to add a small stockade to the model too.

Ready to paint

 I cut a hardboard base and then built up a parapet in card.  Then a small gateway with a bastion atop it.  The walkway was in part to make the door on the tower seem less tall and better protected.  Buy the model and you will see why.  Wooden coffee stirrers provided all the woodwork.  The gatehouse is modelled with a simple gangplank type bridge, but access to the tower is only by clambering up the inside of the wall with help from footholds on the battlements!

I.e. I forgot to add a ladder.

Painting was a simply affair.  I spray undercoated in black to seal everything, and then hit the base and woodwork with a deep chocolate.  Then it was a simple case of building up the layers of drybrush.  Greyish brown for the stockade wood, sandy brown for the soil, stony grey for the walls.

Note the steps behind the tower - they were a bugger to do! 

Then I did the wooden door and window panels a more reddish brown; suggesting better cared for, oiled wood.

Note the ajar gate in the wooden tower 

Lastly, I did the face, wanting it to look less goofy than it originally did.

Face now looking considerably more demonic

The interior was done a darkish brown flesh, the teeth then started from a lighter shade of this, toned up to white.  The eyes are about 6 or seven layers from a blood red up to an orange, with a few detail points, to give a flaming appearance.  I added a little off-source lighting to the brickork around the eyes - no more than a drybruash of midrange reds - which came out really well.

This looks great, and I'm really pleased with the overall result.  Although reasonably generic, I think the thematic place for this model sits with my Knights of Derpabury (fantasy-enhanced Feudal English).

I would urge you to check the source out, and if you like what you've seen here, picking on of these up whilst you are there, or online would be a great investment!

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Upper Canada Militia

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These miniatures are now ready:

 

They represent typical, if well appointed, Canadian Militia of the period 1813-14.  In particular they are inspired by accounts of the issue of surplus red jackets for the 41st Regiment to militia troops in Upper Canada.

 

These are constructed, as I may have mentioned before, from a pile of Victrix Miniatures spares I had lying around.  The conversion work is relatively extensive, with webbing for knapsacks being carved away, cross-belts re-sculpted, and tall hats made in Blue Stuff moulds from Green Stuff!

all angles view

I wanted these to look like regulars, but it is also clear from the sources that regularised equipment issue was incomplete, and not always consistent with standard uniform.  As is clear these wear red, but green jackets with red facing were probably issued just as often, and reports of other colours also show up.  Here I added grey trews and a white and red plume to the officer, who also has sourced himself some crimson for a sash; he cannot be very senior however, otherwise he would probably have purchased himself a dark blue coat.

They are a charismatic little unit for Rebels and Patriots, offering something distinct from my Peninsular War British.  I need at least one more militia unit of Canadians, and so green jackets may well appear too; although a mash-up of Perry ACW figures may better represent the non-uniform attire of civilian volunteers. 

Stay tuned for more...

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UK Games Expo 2019

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For the fourth year in a row, I made the trip down to Birmingham, with friends in tow, for UKGE.

Huuuge. 

I would guess only Salute can even hold a candle to the size of this event in the UK for gaming.  UKGE boasts footfall in the tens of thousands over the weekend (21-39,000 in 2018 depending who you count, compared to 9,000+ for Salute in the same year).  The event fills two halls of the Birmingham NEC, along with the Hilton Hotel across the way from it.  As a result there was a lot to see on our one day at the event, and the camera ended up sitting resolutely in the pocket for most of the day.

I know most of my readers are primarily miniatures gamers, so I will make mention of that field first.  The show caters for the Out the Box, complete world already made, skirmish game mostly.  If you have a licensed property for miniatures gaming, or are building your own IP this is the place to be to see the newness.  Games Workshop, Fantasy Flight, Ares Games and many others in attendance, with the likes of all that's new for Warhammer, Star Wars, Film, TV and Video game licences and beyond.

Historical fan?  Well, Warlord Games were there, and Rubicon, showing off new 1/56th scale Panzer IV variants, but beyond that, you'd be pretty much out of luck.  UKGE is not the place to go to pick up boxes of Perry plastics or some additions for your 15mm Marlburian French army, but if you need another 35mm heroic scale Orc or an enormous resin demon, it'll offer you all the choices under the sun.

Also, whether miniatures or board/card gaming, if you want to try before you buy, you couldn't ask for a better event.  Though again for the former, don't expect any huge display games.  Literally every stand will have playtest or demo stations for the games on show, or at the very least someone capable of explaining it to you.

Personally I am at UKGE for this, I was looking for new games and something a bit unusual, to go with my various gaming groups, so the chance to get hands on with games beforehand is great.  Essentially it was a massive shopping experience, in a big relaxed shop, with endless chill-out room space (open play areas and a games library you can borrow more or less anything from, if you've time), and extortionate food prices (£8 for a sandwich, bag of crisps and a coke; thanks NEC!).

This said, we also found an hour to spend in the playtest section, trying games that had not yet reached publication (or even Kickstarter).  It's a nice giveback, and you may hit upon a gem, though looking at some of the prototypes on display you have to wonder if the 'designer' has even paid attention to where gaming has gone in the past thirty or forty years.  We tried a weird computer themed flicking game that looked more like hockey played on a Jackson Pollack painting, and a fun little card game based around a flying in a hang-glider race.

After the main show finished, we went to the Shut Up and Sit Down Podcast for some entertaining game related banter.  The convention has numerous free and paid for seminars and shows, another feature few wargames shows can or will offer, and it makes for a nice break of pace.

'Internet famous' 

Listening to Matt and Quinns discussion a bizarre book of solo imaginary role playing was a particular highlight, as it threw a spotlight on an author who could only be described as deeply, deeply strange.

As for purchases, buoyed up by petrol money from my companions I did pick up several bits and pieces:

Monty's Haul

Only 6 miniatures amongst that lot, but good picks for the price I paid, destined for Star Wars and Dragon Rampant.

As an aside, of sorts, I was pleased to discover after the event that Rebels and Patriots won 'Best Miniatures Game' at the show. 

 

A great endorsement for the rules, not least being at a show mainly concentrated on fantasy and sci-fi miniatures gaming (it's competition being star-ship fighter combat and fantasy viking skirmishing).

In conclusion, another great and greatly worthwhile day out, if you've never tried it before, I would urge you to give it a try; if like me you are underwhelmed by the experience of most wargames shows, this is a revelation.

However, convention funk is still very much a thing....

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