28/07/2013

Whilst digging in the lead pile.....

I quite often sit in front of my desk, eager to get painting, but for some reason stall, and so I pull over boxes of unpainted stuff to mull over, trying to whip up some inspiration. Last week I found some GZG figures I purchased a long time ago that had slipped way back in the queue. These are from the Free Cal-Tex range, and upon closer inspection, I thought the detail suggested some sort of Police or Paramilitary Police Force. Decision made, I wanted to depict something that was fairly obviously police, but with a bit of a difference. What I have finished up with is something a little more Space Opera then Hard Sci Fi, but I was reasonably pleased. What's that you say? Pictures? Oh all right then, you've persuaded me.

A very simple colour scheme of Vallejo Prussian Blue, highlighted with the addition of increasing amounts of white, GW Codex Grey body armour/equipment/helmet, picked out in white, weapon is Vallejo German Grey, details picked out in Codex Grey.


Here they are, sneaking up on a suspected terrorist holed up in the building to the right, while one of his accomplices is held under guard. Buildings from Mad Mecha Guy (I love 'em!).

That bloke in the window is asking for it- a pistol against all that firepower!!!

Here they are with the paddy wagon!

The other figures I have painted this week are more of the new GZG power armour figures. I added a picture of one of these minis last post, so here are the others I have done recently.

Nowhere near as nice as the camouflage painted versions of these minis that Mr. Harold displayed on his blog 'Clear Horizons' but I'm quite happy. Once again a simple colour scheme- Vallejo Russian Green base, Army Painter Strong Tone wash, highlights in base + white a couple of times, equipment in Vallejo German Grey, again highlighted by the addition of white. Weapon is German Grey detail picked out in GW Codex Grey. Visor is Vallejo Gold (996).

Sneaking through the woods, power armour whirring smoothly.....

Having tried various varnish options, I am using a paint on gloss varnish from Games Workshop, followed by a spray coat of their 'Purity Seal' (almost) matt varnish. I have been reasonably happy with this solution, although I am running out of the brush on gloss varnish, so would welcome some suggestions for an alternative, but having heard so much about it, I made an order to Atenociti for some Testors Dullcote. Well, I tried it this morning, and I have to say I am rather impressed. I quite like the finish- in fact, all the above figures have been coated in this stuff. Usually I post pictures of minis pre-varnish rather than post, as I tend to think they look a little better, but I thought I would risk it, and it seems to have paid off!

So, that's it for now. As I say, if anyone can suggest a good protective gloss varnish, and I am gradually moving away from GW stuff by the way, I would be most grateful to hear from you. Well, it would be great to hear from you anyway!

All the best 'til next post. Now, where's my barbecue mitt...........




06/07/2013

Armies Army gets a Commander!

In between my weekend chores, grass cutting and other such domestic boredom, whilst watching the Lions, I managed to sneak in a few minis as no-one was looking!

It's a mixed bag, back to Sci Fi from the Napoleonics, from 3 different manufacturers:

First up, my Commander from Armies Army's Neo-Brits:-

This is a quirky figure- perhaps not anatomically correct- but this style is what draws me to these figures, they have a certain charm.

To back him up, another Armies Army mini, toting, as you can see, a vicious looking minigun. Any miniature with a minigun is all right by me! I believe this figure is in power armour, judging by the improved carapace armour and the exo-skeleton support to the legs....



Following that, here is another figure in power armour (I believe), from GZG, one of their latest releases. I saw some of these painted up on Mr. Harold's blog, Clear Horizons (and if you don't follow it yet, do yourself a favour and trip along there- fantastic blog) and it motivated me to trial a paint job. Nice mini with plenty of detail.

Lastly, a figure I've had for a while, primed and based but sadly neglected, from Khurasan, I don't recall which pack, but it's a nice simple paint scheme for a robot- Vallejo oily steel, black wash, oily steel drybrush, and a little white detailing.

So I've assembled them for a group shot, though no-one seems to want to smile for the camera!

There we are then, I'm just off to stoke up the barbecue- lovely weather here in the UK at the moment, so I shall be looking for something frosty to drink while I cover the washing in smoke. Adios Amigos!!

03/07/2013

A Slight Diversion

As I mentioned in my last post, I thought I would make an attempt to paint something different, just to shake me out of a bit of a rut, so I bought just a few 15/18mm AB Miniatures Napoleonic range from 'Fighting 15s' here in the UK. I put up some pics of some of them unpainted, but having spoiled a few with paint, I decided, possibly against my better judgement, to post some pictures for your amusement (and probably 'abusement'!). I know that there will almost definitely be historical inaccuracies in both colour and uniform adornments, but for those of you out there who have a much greater knowledge of uniforms of the period, be kind- these figures merely represent a little diversion from the norm, but I have enjoyed painting them.

First up, some reclining marksmen from the 95th Rifles:

I still have to varnish and apply static grass, so the bases look a little bare.

There were 3 poses of Riflemen in the prone position in a pack of 9 minis- the other was a mixture of these two- reaching for a cartridge to reload, but wearing a shako and not bareheaded.

These other two pictures are, obviously, Royal Artillery. This was in small part a labour of love for me because it was my father's regiment in WW2, although I believe he had weapons that were slightly more sophisticated! RIP Dad.



I think the challenge of painting something completely different was good for me. I had to be more disciplined to get close to something historical, and it was nice to use some brighter colours. One of my sons bought me the Vallejo Napoleonic paint set for Fathers' Day, so that is all I used, apart from the brass on the barrel of the 9 pounder.

I think I will go off on a tangent every now and then and try something different- I have some WW2 vehicles and figures, Peter Pig Moderns, and I took advantage of the offer from 15mm.co.uk and ordered their Use Me ruleset for zombies, which included a set of zombie figures. It seems that my blog is incorporating more than Sci Fi, but only in a very small way.

I have an idea for running some solo Sci Fi games, and writing them up as a running narrative with pictures from the games, to produce an ongoing story- would there be any interest in that do you think?

Thanks for reading!