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!

Latest offerings from Armies Army...and a bit more!

It's been a little while since my last post, for one reason or another, but I'm quite a bit lazier than most of you out there. Before I continue, I would just like to congratulate Keith of Armies Army for more than achieving his goal with the Kickstarter- I'm so pleased personally, because it will give me, and you, another range to explore. Well done all those that supported him.

So, my latest offerings are from the aforementioned stable, and are the last few in what I thought was the latest release, but now I have Militia and Spetsnaz to catch up with!

Here's a group shot of the last few RUSK HQ troops that I have finally finished. I managed a head swap for the commander, and used one from the GZG sprues.

I tried really hard to get the end of his cigar to glow, but I'm pretty sure the camera hasn't picked it up! A simple head swap, and a little coil of green stuff for the neck scarf.

Here are the others- I think the painting is a bit tidier than the last batch I posted. I was a little impatient to finish them and make a new post, which doesn't make for a good job usually.

I'm afraid I couldn't come up with anything too inspiring for the Mule colour scheme, so just did a basic green, and then used some of the fantastic product from Modelmates that I saw on a couple of blogs called, not surprisingly, Rust Effect. I haven't really used it properly, but it really is a top effect. There are a couple of good videos on the Modelmates website to show this stuff to its real potential. Well worth a look if you haven't done so already.

This guy is from CP Models. Because of scale creep, he is a fair bit bigger than 15mm, but as he is now the top man in my Rebel force, I can tolerate the size- a big man for a big job!

When I saw this walker on The Scene's website, I thought it would fit well with my lo-tech rebel force, so I  distressed it a bit with the Rust Effect, and then added some dried mud from MIG Pigments. Not particularly well executed, but I'm still finding my way with both these effects. Also, this is the first time I used my airbrush. I didn't get too ambitious, and just went for a two-tone camo, but there isn't sufficient contrast to show on the pictures. However, I was pleased with my first experiments, and it has given me some confidence to try for a better effect next time round.

Just the other side, featuring a nice rusty oil drum, again from The Scene. Incidentally, when I got the walker, amongst the order I bought some of the 15mm skips for scatter terrain- they are fantastic!

Some time ago, I painted these two APCs from Peter Pig in an awful desert colour scheme, having first undercoated them black! I don't know what possessed me, because they looked awful and went in a drawer to be forgotten about. However, since I set up my airbrush and spray booth, I stripped the paint off and started again. They have the same two-tone camo scheme as the walker, again not too easy to see here, but as part of the Rebel force they needed to be made a lot tattier and 'reclaimed', so I went with the rust and mud as mentioned above. I'm starting to get the hang of it, although still plenty of room for improvement!

Here's the other one, similarly treated. I rather like these APCs and have a hankering to order a couple of Vulcans from the AK47 Range from PP.

I've just realised that I have more figures painted that have yet to be photographed- Khurasan's Seal/ DEVGRU team, and their Exterminator squad in extreme environment suits, the latter with a stolen colour scheme- yep, I'm up to my old tricks again.

Yesterday I took delivery of Armies Army's Militia and Spetsnaz minis, and based them last night, so I'm off to prime them now, with a view to painting some up as soon as possible. A slightly different colour scheme for both, I think, but with something in common to tie the whole force together.

That's it then, thanks for taking the time to look in. Any hints/tips/advice always gratefully received!

First Pictures

Here are the first pictures I have taken of my 15mm miniatures.

First of all, some Peter Pig US Marines-picture a little dark I'm afraid. I'll get the hang of it. These are painted in a generic 'desert' colour with no camouflage, as I intend to use them for several theatres of war, and I'm probably pretty poor at paining camo at this scale!

Next, a couple of vehicles, again from PP-a rusty Toyota technical, and a shot up Mercedes taxi, the former gloss varnished but not yet matt varnished, and the latter just painted yesterday and as yet unvarnished.

Some Insurgents-PP and Flashpoint minis-

Finally, a few shots of some GZG 15mm figures-some with converted heads(I haven't got too ambitious yet).   The utility 'truck' with the machine gun on the back will form part of a 'Hit and Run' squad, much like the SAS and LRDG from WW2.

I would welcome any constructive comments about the minis-I know the pictures are a little dark, I'll address that next time round, but I just wanted to get the blog up and running asap.

Next up, some Rebel Minis Fedayeen, and maybe a Brit WMIK!