Ratlings

These just done. I have been put off doing my Valhallans due to recent events but thought I'd do these as a change of pace. I found that using poster paint to secure the snow gives off a much better whiter fluffy look than PVA.

ECW repaint

My local DBMM group decided to get into 17th Century gaming. 

I started painting some Essex figures I bought as Army sets in the late 1980's. To these I then added Foundry Commands to add bulk and interest. I'm afraid it was then that I got interested in other projects and they have lain untouched for decades. The figures are well painted as my eyesight was great back then but are in enamels and have no highlighting or washes applied.

I pulled off the terrible looking bases and put a wash of Army Painter strong tone diluted with matt medium. I then went over and touched up the paint on the clothing and metallic's.  I'm rather pleased with the results but then discovered that the units are too small for Pike and Shot. I am again afraid that these will have to be shelved till I have finished my Ancient British.

I have to confess that despite my earlier moan about Blogging, I do enjoy writing about my interests and posting photos. 

Sisters of Battle in my display Cabinet

 I had an empty shelf in the cabinet and had to think what I could put into it which I wont need to play with for awhile. The old School Sisters of Battle fitted the bill perfectly as they had been packed into cases for over a decade. (with the exception of me updating the bases from Goblin Green). Of course I have a few more squads to paint plus and Inquisitor group I recently bought a 3d sculpt to lead it.

Robin Hood Collection in my display Cabinet

I had all my windows at home replaced with double glazing, so had to move a load of models, nick-nacks etc into my games room for safety. Afterwards the display cabinet just seemed to get filled up with model boxes and half made items, so I had a clear out. I first loaded my Robin Hood collection into the lower two shelves. Of course this reminded me that I still have to paint my French and Richards forces. The Castle is too big to put into the cabinet so I have loaded some parts of it for added interest.

DBMM Camp bases

DBMM require bases as a Camp. I've not played much so am unsure if these will be too much for my Army. The base of Druids and screaming women is going to get an addition. I failed to realise that it can be longer as it has better stats than the others. The wagon was done earlier but have included it here for completeness.

The figures are a mix of Black Tree Design, Foundry Germans, Crusader and one Warlord Druid. 

 

Ancient British Cavalry

 These are mainly Foundry Gauls with a conversion of a Victrix Boudica and a Foundry German, plus a Foundry German made to look like a Druid (for moral support). I also painted a Command stand. It has four figures to make it more obvious that it has better stats than other Warband bases.

I've had to load these photos four times since the interface between this Blog and my iMac is such a pig to use. Twitter is so much easier and I can also do it on my Cellphone. I simply upload to Twitter then copy the photos to my iMac which then can be uploaded to the Blog.

WWII German Pillboxes

I have neglected the Blog again. Not sure who is viewing these posts but I guess there is some interest judging from the stats. I will post a few items to catch up.

These Pillboxes were originally on first inspection more geared towards 40k in size. I cut the apertures down a bit and gave them a lot of extra detail. The crews were some left over Warlord plastic Germans which got new arms from Perry Africa Korp, in most cases. 

Allo Allo, this is Night Hawk calling.

 As a break from my usual painting over Christmas, I dug out some Resistance figures from the stock pile. These are a mix of Artizan, Black Tree Design and Crusader. I tried to undercoat using The Zenithal method but found it hard to do with spray cans. I also found it very hard to paint as the colours seem to lack depth but was easier on my eyes. I think next time I will try spraying Grey and then do a black wash. I'd like to buy a few more figures when I do another order from North Star.

When basing I felt it wrong to put Rene and Yvette on earth bases as they were dressed for working in the Cafe. The others; Maria, Mimi, Michelle of the Resistance and the other Resistance fighters were done for the Countryside.

Victrix Celtic Cavalry

I am really pleased with these Cavalry and received some favourable comments when I posted them on Twitter and Facebook a few days ago.  The one reservation I have with them is the size of the Horses. From some reading I thought that they should be pony sized like my Chariots being from the British Isles. I had some issues trying to get them to fit as they are on DBMM sized bases and wanted them to connect base to base. It was only when I took the photos that I noticed that the plain metal Helmeted riders are all in a line on the same side, and not spread around like I had planned to do.

I have some Foundry ones up next on the bench.

Luftwaffe Ground Troops.

These figures were bought in a large order from Ebay which a mate and I shared years ago. On receiving my share I found that I didn't like these figures at all. The issue I had with them were that they had equipment in odd places and weird looking weapons. The sculpting of the heads and other proportions were also a bit odd.

With no use for them I made them into Zombies by drilling holes and doing other damage to them. I think they were only used in a game once as dismounted tank crews. So having some spare Bolt Action heads left over from my Bunker Crews (still on my workbench) I decided to strip, repair them and do some head swaps. One of them got an MG34. The Officer is from another bulk buy and is a WestWind figure. I did one base coat of Field Grey and still didn't like them. I then thought of painting them as Luftwaffe troops. I already have an 88, a 20mm Cannon and a quad with not enough troops to man them so these would be handy. They can also be used as 2nd class troops.