Progress - Celtic muster

This week I managed to get some more Celts done - some were with Contrast Paint on white or grey and some black undercoat with normal acrylics - I had to resort to the home made wet palette for these as the paint was drying too quickly due to the heat.

The aim was to try and make sure they all looked the same, so some of the black undercoat figures had Army Painter washes over the first coat of acrylic followed by highlights / touch up. After a coat of quick drying acrylic gloss varnish, most got based.

The Minifigs went on loose order bases as they are waving arms about - all mu other Minifigs are on loose order bases so it made sense to continue.

The Freikorps 15 were all based on close order bases, in some cases a challenge due to poses and weapons. They do look suitably wild and will represent better quality warbands.

Most are plain colours but some got fancy cloaks.

The figures were mostly eBay purchases in different lots; as figures turned up they were cleaned and primed and stuck in a box and painted in lots, some using Contrast Paints, others black and layers. The FK15 grew and I was unsure what would be light javelins. As it turned out, I had enough to move all but one with a small shield to the lights. Some more Minifigs light infantry also appeared.

As mentioned, I have moved to the idea of Strength & Honour - here you have a base representing a Legion or a warband. I've gone for 2/3 size (80mm v 120mm) to fit on the small table and decided on a warband being 6 x DBA elements - I will have to make some sabot bases and magnets eventually. So two bases wide and three deep.

Skirmishers can either be formed units or used to support other units.

Light infantry could be 6x bases but 4 is probably more practical. Cavalry will be 4x bases due to the deeper bases, so 4x 3 for 12 or 4x2 for 8 LC. At least that's the plan.....

When time allows I will have to mix up some basing gunk. In the meantime I have enough painted Essex for another close order warband and some "odds and sods" for either command stands or to make up another loose order warband. That would give 6x close order warbands and 14-15 loose order warbands. I'm tempted to add more close order - I have the figures - but am trying to finish the remaining Celts and Germans. A few of the latter have had some Contrast Paint splashed on them and are awaiting an Army painter wash.

While it may seem like overkill, I have no idea how big the forces will be generated by the campaign. I have been tying the game strength points to numbers of units. This gives the Celtae and Belgae a theoretical maximum of 18 units each. With the Aquitani (4 units) that's a whopping 40 units! Anything that big would have to transfer to the dining table just to fit them on.....

Painting - the "wash and brush-up" method

As promised, here's an attempt at a step-by-step guide to the evolved painting method using Contrast Paint and Army Painter washes followed by acrylic touch-ups / highlights.

As I was painting, I did think of a new name - the "Henry Cooper" method - as in the Brut adverts "splash it all over" although to be fair the later bits are more Tommy Cooper - "just like that"  😆😆

Minifigs 15mm Celts (Gauls / Britons) - grey spray primer.

Step one Contrast Paint

I just try to keep it as neat as possible, but inevitably some colours splash over parts you don't want. Instead of touching up - re-priming and reapplying Contrast, I just cover up the errors with step 2...

Step 2 Army Painter ink wash - in this case Dark Tone to replicate the black undercoat method. You could use Strong Tone, especially for flesh. Note it results in a "what have I done...." reaction first time. If possible, I try for a "pin wash" in the deeper recesses, but often, as here, the whole figure is covered.

Step 3 highlights in acrylic - here I have just done flesh simply to show how just this lifts the figure.

Now the same for the main colours...

Step 4 Fine detail - in this case the black and white, with shield designs in black, followed by white, red and yellow normally - it also allows for a mix of white, yellow and red for hair and moustache highlights

Final stage, metals, a lighter flesh highlight to faces and raised areas and any corrections. Also the base got a coat of Vallejo khaki - I read somewhere covering the paint splashes on the base makes a big difference.

Hopefully this is of interest - just my way of trying to match black undercoat figures.

The Contrast Paint and AP wash were a couple of sessions after work, maybe an hour at most. Rest of painting was about 4 hours yesterday and two today so maybe 7 hours total for 20 figures - roughly 21 minutes per figure - more than the WW2 in simpler uniforms.

Marching ever forwards......progress filler report

Or as Stew would have it a "PBJ post"!

I was conscious I had not posted since June. Truth be told, weekends had produced little of note - heat, exhaustion from work meant minimal progress. 

I took a week off as a much needed break from work, thinking I could clear some backlog of painting. Alas! I trusted to the weather forecast as being "less hot" only to find how wrong that forecast was!

Stuck in the amber zone with temperatures reaching 30 degrees, painting has been minimal. The first part of the week was windy enough to prevent spray priming, so sadly it doesn't feel like much was accomplished....

I did manage some painting using Contrast Paint, Army Painter ink washes as when the heat allowed, touch up with acrylics. My patent method I now think of as a "wash and brush up"....

Today I got around to basing the previously painted cavalry.

The excess basing "slop" ( a mix of Polyfiller, PVA, acrylic tube burnt umber and a bit of sand) was used for some hastily constructed ditches...

I also varnished the painted Celts, a mix of Essex, Freikorps 15 and Minifigs (all second hand eBay purchases), the latter being already basically painted received a wash and retouching with a bit of detail added here and there.

Here's the near completed stuff.

I also managed to clean up and prime more bits:

Remaining Celts

Germans and baggage:

Original German host awaiting paint:

So you may ask, why do I need more barbarians?

The answer lies in the potential choice of rules. After considering many, I am beginning to settle on Strength & Honour, nominally designed for 2mm. I see no reason why you cannot use 15mm, it being the base that's important.

I'm aiming for 80mm wide bases. 50mm deep for Legions and close order warbands, 65mm deep for loose order - 5x DBA elements for Romans, 6x elements for barbarians. Cavalry 4 elements on a 80mm by 65mm base. Skirmishers thinner with just 2 elements side by side unless massed.

This meant looking at how many bases the figures would fill and what additional painting was needed.

Camping it up....

Due to work and the heatwave in the UK, progress has been slow. Attempts at painting being hampered by the paint drying on the brush....

I did manage to finish off the barbarian camps that had been prepped....

In addition to the simple palisade, a simple ditch and bank.....

Then a wagon laager...

While I had some base mixture left over, some Gallic auxiliary cavalry were finished off.

My attempts to make progress on the Imagi-Nation Interwar Balkans was frustrated by the hot weather. Some highlights and touch-ups were made.

Ruritanians

Graustarkians

Transbalkanians

Hopefully, with cooler weather forecast, more progress can be made with painting in the coming weeks.