10mm ACW - basing before painting

My last post described using a white undercoat, washes and a stain to paint 20th Century figures. For my more colourful 10mm 1690 armies I spot painted over a black undercoat, but I find it increasingly difficult to see detail on a dark surface. More recently I have also experimented with the method very ably demonstrated by Nik Harwood (http://nikharwood.pbworks.com) in which figures are based first and then given a dark brown undercoat, followed by spot painting of the bits you can see/reach. I am using this approach for my 10mm ACW armies currently under the paint brush. It works, but I found it rather like painting through a keyhole so I doubt if I will use it again.

Figures based but not painted. They are a mixture of UK Minifigs and Pendraken (old range). The idea was that I could start using them in games, but 10mm muskets and bayonets are a bit fragile without reinforcement with paint and Ardcoat.

Painting and basing 20thC miniatures with washes

This is another article from my old website and describes how I paint and base 20th Century figures using washes over a white undercoat and then staining. Most of the figures I've painted in recent years have been 20th Century with drab uniforms, and I think this approach works well for that era.

This article shows 10mm and 15mm figures. I also used the same technique on my 28mm IWI figures. I'm not sure whether it's applicable to earlier, more colourful, periods. I did start painting some 15mm ECW figures along these lines but the project stalled so I don't know what the outcome will be.

Some 15mm Peter Pig figures are 'Blu-Takked' to tongue depressors (giant lolly/popsicle sticks) prior to spray undercoating. These particular figures are Moorish Regulares being added to my Spanish Civil War armies which I use with Crossfire rules. The figures on each stick are identical. This greatly speeds up painting.

Making 10mm (N Scale) bocage

I'm reposting an article about making bocage that originally appeared on my old website. Bocage is a French word for the thick country hedges that characterise parts of Normandy and were a major feature of the Normandy Campaign in 1944, particularly in the west where the Americans fought. The landscape in the east, around Caen, included bocage but was more varied. This item shows how I made bocage for my N Scale (10mm/12 mm) armies but the dimensions can easily be scaled up.


Materials

DAS Modelling Clay (500 gms makes about 20 hedges)
MDF Bases 15mm x 100mm
Natural twigs from a real tree or bush
Tetrion filler
Sand and ballast mix
Earth-coloured emulsion
Woodland Scenics 'Static Grass'
Woodland Scenics 'Hob-E-Tac glue'
Woodland Scenics 'Underbrush Clump-Foliage' (predominantly Medium Green and Dark Green, with some Light Green and Forest Green)
Woodland Scenics Foliage Clusters (various greens to represent different types of tree)
Woodland Scenics 'Scenic Cement'

28mm IWI conversions with Greenstuff

When I first started collecting 28mm miniatures for my Irish War of Independence project I didn't have enough figures for the Republican side so I pressed these Empress Miniatures Spanish Civil War Assaltos to which I added overcoats and bandoliers using Greenstuff. I wouldn't want to model hundreds of figures in this way, but it's certainly an option for 'skirmish level' forces.

28mm Irish War of Independence

After a very long haul and in between showers of rain I finally managed to Ardcoat my 28mm Irish War of Independence figures. These pictures show most of them. The core figures are Musketeer but they have been supplemented by others, notably Canon Fodder, and some conversions. They aren't going to win any painting competitions but they took long enough to do as it was. The figures are going to be used with the FUBAR skirmish rules. I hope to post some pictures of a game in due course.

Auxiliaries. The CO is sporting a leather coat and shotgun. Lewis guns in the rear. The building is a scratch-built barn made from foamboard with stone cladding from Antenociti's Workshop.

Second thoughts about 15mm painting...

I don't suppose many people read this blog as a matter of course, but I find it quite useful for sorting out my own thoughts and plans.

My immediate current interest is in planning some armies for use with the 18th Century Maurice rules, so I sent off for some samples of 15mm figures. It's a long time since I painted any figures with detailed uniforms, and I was a bit taken aback by just how diminutive 15mm figures are! I certainly never intended to put in the level of detail that some people put on 6mm figures, but I'm beginning to question whether I could, or would want, to add even the basic required detail on figures this small. And that brings me back to the idea of 28mm figures after all.