Thursday, 30 September 2010

Saxon Leaders finished and based

Two Finished WAB Leaders, one will be army General one a character

Gripping Beasts Penda

Penda from the front, he has just butchered the guy at his feet, not pretty when someone has their head smashed in and back chopped open with an axe!

This is Musketeers Saxon General again now based.

Same figure from the front with a slain champion at his feet.

This is the test base I did, I felt all the Saxon bases looked a bit garish with the flock, so I toned em down using airbrushed devlan mud, nice effect, tones down the flock and cos it also hits the lower part of the miniature it blends it into the base and subtly makes it look like it belongs in the terrain on the base.






Sunday, 19 September 2010

Musketeer Miniatures Saxon General

Front View

Close up

Cloak and rear view

Shield
This miniature is going to be the general for my Saxon Age of Arthur army, Ive seen one superbly painted on the banner of the WAB forum, but have been unable to pin down the painters blog for a closer look, check out the forum and have a look, superb painting and I love the colour scheme so have shamelessly copied the style from memory and I'm really pleased with this guy, Imitation is the greatest form of flattery. I will mount him on a 40mm square base with a slain enemy champion at his feet from Gripping beasts early saxons.




Friday, 17 September 2010

Aventine Sassanid Elephant & LBMS Transfers for Ebay sale

Side view WIP Shot

Front showing "De pigmentation"

Full side view
I thought I would post about this model because I think the combination of LBMS transfers and the Aventine model is excellent, the model fits together well with minimal mould lines and on the website you can buy alternative trunks including one throwing someone! The transfers fit perfectly but remember that when you peel off the backing they apply face down so what you think is te left side is the right and visa versa. I spent some time in India a few years back and following my habit of preoccupation with wargaming was able to photo some Elephants up close with a view to painting them, interesting colouration, especially the de pigmentation that occurs making them look pink around the eyes ears and mouth this is dark dots in areas of pale pik rather than pink dots. Anyway I will finish this model and Ebay him this weekend, anyone interested in buying him directly and saving me ebay fees email me at harpo6780@hotmail.co.uk



Sunday, 12 September 2010

Standard Bearer.


Ive altered the standard this guy carried, will go with hand painted baners throughout the army.




West Wind Productions Saxons

First Unit of 15 Gedriht for WAB

Close up of right flank
(The guy with Bull skull covered in blood will eventually be my ASB)

Left Flank

Centre ( The Guy in the Sutton Hoo Helm will be a Cyning and army general)

Ive had these miniatures for some time and only recently got some paint on them, I used Army builder quickshade and their Matt varish then super highlighted them and muddied the cloaks etc. Ive Hand painted the shields and will probably do the banners too for this army (Ill do away with the LBMS banner at the back ad replace it with a boar or similar). Nice figures and Im a fan of the seperate head system as it allows quite a lot of variation in the units, more soon.

Sunday, 5 September 2010

The Crusade continues

Teutonic Magister By Gripping Beast

The other side, shield transfer by LBMS

The Grand master and the Magister
Really enjoying painting these figures and basing them in snow for a Baltic Campaign against the Rus, or whoever is maneuvered into a conflict with the Teutonic order, remember "GOD WILLS IT!"



Friday, 3 September 2010

More Gripping Beast 28mm Teutonic Knights

Gripping Beast Teutonic Colonist Spearmen
First 5 of 24 inc Command and musician

Close up

More close ups

Rear View.
I want these guys to look nice and Grubby, although its snowing they have either been in the field for a while or the tracks have been churned to slush by horses and wagons.
For the muddy clothing I used GW Devla Mud (Excellent product) and washed several times, gradually reducig the coverage and moving towards the feet this gives a graded muddy effect.
The snow is from "Woodland scenics" I paint the bases noemally and finish them with some winter grass (I used GW Glade grass) then mix a paste of the scenics snow and add lots of water, apply it to the base in blobs and when still wet sprinkle on more snow from the shaker. It sets like concrete, I demonstrated this to my wife by sandpapering her nose with he dried left overs. Hmm, cold back for me for a few nights!




Sunday, 29 August 2010

Gripping Beast 28mm Teutonic Knights

Grand Master

Another view

One more shot

Finally got around to painting some of my own stuff. These are the first shots of my Gripping Beast Teutonic order WAB army, I have 1500 points worth and these came as one of GB's £100 army deals which I used the profit from selling my Ultramarines to finance.
Im basing them on snow bases to represent the order during their various Baltic campaigns, its interesting to read about the orders history, I do this for most of my projects to gain insight and generate enthusiasm, the order originated in the middle east during the crusades then moved to North Eastern Europe and from what I can gather had a habit of getting their arses kicked in battle, they lost almost all the major engagements they where involved in but still gained a reputation for being very arrogant in dealing with locals and other organisations. Hmm........ very German. But, they looked cool and field a lot of cavalry so make an iteresting WAB army with a lot of punch.
Ill post details of the army list with ore photos later.

Tuesday, 1 June 2010

Immortal Plastic Hoplites

Left side of figure including shield Transfer.
Right side of model including inside of shield.
Ive rabbited on in here a bit about being a pro painter yadda yadda yadda, here is one of the advantages, I contacted Stephen May of Immortal miniatures a while back offering to paint some of his new Plastic Hoplites in exchange for a few boxes to make my own army and he agreed hopefully impressed with some pics of my painting. The models arrived last week and here are the first pics of one painted, so I also thought I would do a review of the models while I was at it.
The box contains enough sprues to build 34 Hoplites with a mixture of tunics, linen and Bronze armour and predominantly spears but some swords too. The shields are in 2 designs with the more common Hoplon types being in 2 sizes and are attached to the arms with excelent detail inside the shield rim. The quality of the casting is superb, there was no flash to remove on any of my models and the box also contains enough bases for all the models in 20mm square which is a godsend and saves procuring seperate bases at extra expense.
The helmets represent several designs and the modeller can choose the crest style depending on the era he is representing, excellent.
The box also contains shield transfers, waterslide type, with a number of historically accurate designs which have been very well researched and produced and are of a very high quality.
Lastly the box cotains an unexpected Gem, a reference book with descriptions of hoplite equipment including their colours and designs and a description of the historical periods in which they featured, this is clearly a labour of love from someone who is an expert in the period and who has looked carefully at the archeological and historical evidence when preparing his product and then released something for the love of the period rather than as a money making venture.
Overall I am very impressed with these, they represent excelent value for money at the price and I'm glad to paint for Immortal and proud to be associated with them.


Friday, 14 May 2010

The muster continues

Slowly getting there, having to prioritise some commision work for Warlord but WAB wise I have 160 points here....