Flocking Bases

 I'm in the midst of flocking all the 17c figures and terrain I've done over the past 18 months ( and failed to catalogue for this blog).  It really is a bit of a slog, but I'm just glad I finally decided on how to base them.

A coating of Vallejo Brown Mud texture dry brushed with Vallejo Saddle Brown. Originally I chose this to represent the distinctive Mendip soil for my Robin of Sherwood figures ( ROS was filmed mainly in North Somerset), but I like the contrast with the green foliage it gives so decided to use it for my 17c projects. 

( This Essex figure looks like my brother).

Once dry, I apply patches of PVA and then add the odd tuft from my tuft library, and a clump here and there.

I try to stick to shades if green and brown, natural colours rather than the neon flowerbeds some figures are forced to inhabit. After the tufts are pressed in , I dip in a tub of mixed fine foam from The Model Tree Shop. 

I blended 3 colours and happily they came out exactly as I hoped.

The infantry are based on pennies, but I can get more creative with the cavalry bases.

and here are some finished infantry.

The project is coming together and I just placed a second order with TAG for more musketeers.

Once dry, I apply patches of PVA, and then press the odd tuft in here and there.

Roadside Shrine

 I picked this little shrine up from Bicorne Miniatures on Saturday and got it painted yesterday. A nice piece of scatter for 17c European tables.

Photodump of 17c Encampments

 All taken from the book on Pieter Snayers by Sennewald.

I'm just collating them here as a reference.

 

 

Another Batch Finished ( almost)

 I've just added the Vallejo mud to the bases of another mixed batch of 17c infantry, so once that's dry I can start flocking the entire army.

A mix of Redoubt, TAG, Warlord, Captain General, Old Glory and Foundry. 

Devizes Attack Show Haul

 I went to the Attack Show in Devizes yesterday with my gaming friend Speckled Jim. It was quite fun, but no impressive demo games to marvel at unfortunately. 

I did spend too much money though...

A big bag of Redoubt ECW castings from Grubby Tanks. Some musket rests from Warlord, bases from Products for Wargamers, brass pikes, heads and a rather nice roadside shrine from Bicorne, and a bundle of Melniboneans from a trader called Tom ( I don't know his business name). 

And it's raining here in North Somerset at last..... Hooray!

New Addition to the library

 I was pleased to get hold of this Chaosium supplement today. Sorcerers of Pan Tang. It can fetch quite high prices but I got lucky at under twenty quid.

I don't do roleplaying games any more but  I do have a large box of Citadel Pan Tang figures from the 1987 Eternal Champion range, so any extra background material about this chaotic race will be useful when I eventually get round to painting them. 

 

Shading

 I've been continuing painting 17c figures, primarily because they are easy and I don't have to think too hard .

I prime them black ( by hand) and then block in all the colours except metallics, then I dry brush with Ushabti bone, add the metal colours and then wash the whole figure.

Up until now I've been washing the figure with GW Agrax Earthshade, which is a very useful product for grubbying things up, before then highlighting selected parts of the figure. Quite often I won't highlight items of clothing, letting the wash over the bone dry brushing suffice. This creates quite a dark contrast, particularly on light colours which is ok but not always ideal.

I've now discovered Army Painter Soft tone, which is creates a much softer ( surprisingly) contrast which I prefer. It's cheaper too so I'll be using that from now on , occasionally dipping into the Earth shade to use up my reserve.

The last 4 washed with Agrax.

The first 4 washed with Army Painter Soft Tone .

I'm not sure if there's any noticeable difference in these pictures but the

 yellow in particular looks a lot better using the new method.

I need to start painting some up in Dutch colours as I've decided to theme my planned Mansfeld's Army on the battle of Fleurus, and it contained quite a number of Dutch infantry. 

Shiny, shiny, shiny wings of Leather...

 Following on from my post a couple of weeks ago, I dug out some more Balrogs and demons to paint in a similar manner.

Left is one of my first ever figures, a Ral Partha demon. Right is a recently acquired Heritage mini, who looks particularly nasty.

Both Heritage I think. Left hand chap

 has definite Maurice Sendak vibes, I love his slight pigeon toed stance.

I can't do a group shot with the previous demons as they have been summoned to Oakbound Studios to take part in a game at BOYL.

Ral Partha Goblins

This picture of one of Joe Dever's battles shows a unit of Ral Partha Goblin archers from the 1977 Wizards Warriors and Warlocks range ( bottom left partially in view). I think this regiment was split up and repurposed in Joe's Giak army, but I want to recreate it pre-Lone Wolf. 

These must have been some of Joe's earlier figures as the original unit is based with flock ( now faded) , rather than Tetrion or Pollyfilla. He mentions the advantages of the latter over the former in one of his Tabletop Heroes articles in White Dwarf. I only have 2 of the original regiment from Joe's collection in its pre Giak guise.

 

  But I do have a lot of this range, which were some of the first figures I bought from Forever People in Bristol around 1980, so I mustered 30 for service.

Unfortunately some of these soft lead

 figures had been bashed about and had lost their helmet spikes, so I drilled holes and added fine brass rod.

I had to repair 10, a few of which are shown above.

These will be off to the basing filler queue before undercoating. The detail is so crude on these figures I decided not to bother stripping the ones that were already painted. 

Raising your hat

 I recently made the mistake of buying some Warlord musketeers on eBay, and I have to say I didn't think much of them when they arrived. I can't really place my finger on why I dislike them, but they just don't have the right 17c 'feel' that Redoubt or even the venerable Foundry range do.

The hats come separately, which doesn't make for a very realistic fit on the little bald heads the figures have, but my main beef is that all the hat crowns are far too shallow (imo) for the early 17c . I cracked open the milliput to rectify this

The new recruits with their extended hat crowns. I'll skim over the top with liquid green stuff .

This guy has a sort of shoulder cloak on. The end of his musket is flared like a blunderbuss...meh.

Presumably an ensign. The coat and hose are about 40 years apart and he has a little purse on a string over his shoulder. Not very gentlemanly for the 17c.

I'm not sure about this fellow. Fine detail but just something that doesn't ring true.

Better clothing, and nice to see someone actually loading their musket, but really... resting the butt on the ground when moving with a unit? 

Better...I quite like the early feel of this one, definitely been on campaign and again, nice to see a musketeer priming his pan .

That's more like it. Lose the full beard though..

Another moan is all the hats have feathers stuck in them. Not ostrich plumes which were readily available and cheap, but presumably pheasant feathers.

Good pose. Leaning into the musket. 

So a mixed bag. I don't think they sculptor really understands 17c clothing and drill like Brian Rigelsford of Redoubt, Steve Jones of Captain General or the Perrys. But fine detail and crisp castings.