Tag Archives: painting

Terrain Week

I needed a break from painting my Germans for Chain Of Command, so starting this past Thursday, and finishing today, I worked on terrain.  I planned on making some bocage, but after a trip to the hobby store, I ended up with some strip styrene to make tank traps with.  Then, I saw some great 15mm stone walls on Brookhurst Hobby’s site, so I ordered those.

bocage_start bocage_start_cross_sectionIn the model airplane section of my local hobby store, I found this curved piece of wood, as well as the flat pice I used as a base.  This will serve as the basis of my bocage.  I glued them together, let it dry overnight, then cut them with a circular saw, since I don’t have anything more subtle.  Then I sanded the sharp edges to a slight curve.

tank_traps_start tank_traps_start_2At that same hobby store, I found this strip styrene.  They had all kinds – I beams, hollow square, etc.  I thought it would be perfect for tank traps.  I used superglue to make the tripods, and glued them to some leftover wood from the bocage base.

The mini is a 15mm Sci-Fi soldier from Rebel Minis.  I’ll be using him as a size reference today. For you Flames Of War players, he’s almost exactly the same size as Battlefront’s plastic soldiers.

walls_startThese are the 15mm walls, cleaned and ready for primer.  They are resin, and are made by Peter Pig.

bocage_primed bocage_with_rocks bocage_with_rocks_paintedI primed the bocage black, glued some model railway ballast rocks to it, and let it dry overnight. Then I used some leftover Citadel sepia shade on it, and let that dry.  Last, I dry brushed it gray.  I like the black / brown / gray combination.

tank_traps_primedI used some vinyl spackling mixed with sand to fill in the base of the tank traps.  I talk about that process in several other blog posts.  I let that dry overnight, then primed it all black.

 

wall_primedAt the same time, I primed the stone walls black.

tanktraps_top tank_traps_completeI painted the tank traps and base.  I used the sepia shade on the base to good effect, I think.  I could probably use more practice painting rusty metal, though.

walls_closeup_full walls_extra_closeI’m really happy with how the walls came out, and they were really easy to paint.  A dry brush of gray, followed by a dry brush of white.  Then a green dry brush for the grass, some light dabs of tan, and a tan paint for the weeds.

The gate is brown, with a yellow-brown highlight and a black wash.

bocage_complete_side

bocage_closeup_2The bocage was a lot more work than the rest.  I used Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue.  I spread it all over the top, then stuck the foliage on it.  I used several different colors.  After it was dry, I touched it up with some more glue and foliage.  When that was dry, I soaked the whole thing in watered down PVA glue.  That took 2 days to dry, but they are pretty solid now.  Nothing is falling off these bocage.

Finally, some static grass on the edges.  I think I need a “greener” static grass.  This is “winter grass”.  I need to get some “summer” grass or something like that.

treesI had originally ordered some Woodland Scenics trees from Amazon when I ordered the foliage, but they turned out to be too small to stick on the bocage, so I based them on the last of the leftover base wood from the bocage in 2 groups of 4.

all_terrain_on_workbench all_terrain_on_grassThe fruits of 7 days of labor.

I’m going to get back to painting my Germans, but at some point I need a lot more trees, some more tank traps, some farm fields, roads, minefields, etc.  The list goes on.

I really enjoy making terrain.  It’s a nice break from painting minis.  Now I can attack my Germans with renewed enthusiasm.

Gripping Beast Anglo-Dane Hearthguard

I’m almost done with my 6 point SAGA warband.  Here’s some dane axes from Gripping Beast, which I got from their US reseller, Architects Of War:

Gripping_beast_anlgo_dane_hearthguard_bare Gripping_beast_anlgo_dane_hearthguard_paintedI primed them with The Army Painter’s Leather Brown spray primer.  I’ve become a huge fan of their color spray primers and the matching brush paint.  It saves so much time to not have to paint the various straps, pouches – AKA the fiddly bits.

I’ve found a local group that plays SAGA once a month.  I’ve played one session with them, and they are a good group of guys.  I’m looking forward to next month.

All I have left in my warband is to base my levy.  They are all painted, only basing is left.

Painting a 28mm Archer

In this post, I paint a Warhammer bowman.  I’m using these guys to play SAGA, though they may be, historically, a little later.  They look good, though, so I’m not really concerned.

I painted 12 of them.  I primed them “Leather Brown” with spray primer from The Army Painter.  This way I could skip the fiddly leather strap, etc.

I consider myself an average painter.  I’m not going to win any awards.  However, I think my troops look good on the table, and that’s the point, isn’t it?

These first 3 pics are after a base coat only.  The face, however, has a base coat and a highlight coat.  He’s blue tacked to a craft stick (with 2 of his brothers) because I do basing after they are painted.

basecoat_front basecoat_back basecoat_face

 

These next 3 are after I painted the highlights:highlight_front highlight_back highlight_face

 

And these final 3 pics are after a wash with The Army Painter Srong Tone:wash_front wash_back wash_face

SAGA: 4 Points & Warlord Painted & Based

My SAGA starter warband is completed at last.  The warlord and 4 points – 2 points of hearthguard and 2 points of warriors.

SAGA_4pts_warlaord_painted_based

In the back is some terrain I made – I’ll have a post about that later.

Next up is 1 point of levy: 12 bowmen.  I test assembled a bowman from the Wargames Factory unarmored saxons, and I just don’t like the way it looks.  So, I actually bought some GW minis.  My first ever.  I got a box of Warhammer Bretonnian Peasant Bowmen.  They look pretty good, and they come with a bunch of extras, like a wooden stake and chain defensive fortification, a dog, a nice flag banner, etc.  They are a touch shorter than the Wargames Factory minis, but no so much that it’s noticeable.

Also on deck is 1 point of hearthguard, metal minis from Gripping Beast, and 1 point of warriors, also metal from Gripping Beast.

Assembling and Painting Wargames Factory Saxons

Over the last several weeks I’ve been assembling and painting Wargames Factory’s plastic Saxons.

what_i_deal_withThey come on several sprues, body, head, each arm, shield, and weapons all separate.  It took me about an hour to do 4 soldiers.  Clip off the sprue, choose and fit the parts, clean up the mold lines, and glue.

ready_for_decalsshieldsI used Little Big Men Studios’ shield transfers.  I read that it was easier to apply the transfer if the shield was not attached to the soldier, so I did the shields separately.  If I were to do it again, I’d go ahead and attach the shields from the beginning. Applying the transfers was pretty easy.

all_assembled A bunch of them assembled and ready for primer.

dane_axes_primed_and_chainmailOne point of Hearthguard.  I primed them black, then dry brushed The Army Painter’s Gun Metal over the metal parts – helmet, chainmail and axe heads.  When I do this step next time (for my levy) I’ll use a leather brown primer instead of black.  Then I can paint everything but the belts, straps, etc.

dane_axes_washedGetting close to done.

basedTwo points of Hearthguard painted and based.

Wargames Factory’s plastic minis get a bad rap in some circles, but I think they are great value for the money.  I got them for $15.99 at The War Store, and there’s 32 soldiers in a box, so that’s 50 cents each.  Each box also has more weapons, heads, and arms than you need, so you have a lot of flexibility in your poses and armament.