After last weekend's complete inactivity, I was determined to do something hobby related.
So Friday afternoon saw me sorting and cleaning up some more Egyptian infantry for 1967. Surprisingly, this didn't take me as long as I thought (although I am conscious I seem to have developed a problem in my left thumb; holding small figures produces intense pain in the ball of my thumb, noticed previously when trying to clean up some 15mm).
So buoyed up was I by this that I pressed ahead with trying to prime them white. First setback! An annoying wind on what was an otherwise very hot day resulted in the spray being applied too thickly in some areas, as I wrestled with the improvised spray booth, the wind and spray can.
Somewhat deflated, I considered stripping completely and starting again. However, I ended up just scraping the really thick paint off and retouching with brushed on white acrylic. I then discovered the pose mix I had chosen was different from the first batch, so had to clean another 9 figures..........I opted to prime by brushing on white acrylic.
Painting was thus delayed until today using Contrast paints. Fortunately I had written down the colours used, so didn't have to spend time working out what I'd used.
27 figures in about 4-5 hours and I'd had enough. Will check over and retouch where necessary. Also fettled about with a pair of Roco JS 3; not one of their best models, it's a very early one. It has had a new barrel and some details added. Was not happy with the turret so added a circle to raise it. Still too small, but it will have to do. The rest of the armour is made up of early Roco (T-34 and T-54) or Roskopf (BTR-152) so it's not as if it will stand out......
The Soldier King Estavian army is proceeding slowly, nearing the half way point with 12 infantry regiments and 4 cavalry painted.
Getting some work accomplished is better than none. Keep at it, Neil!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jonathan.
ReplyDelete27 figures sounds like good progress to me.
ReplyDeleteThanks Peter. They are 20mm.......
ReplyDeleteThat said the Contrast paints do speed things up. Using either black undercoat and 2-3 layers or basecoat with washes would have taken me a lot longer.
OK what you get is not on a par with figures painted using the methods above, but they are more than presentable.
As I was painting, I was thinking how well Contrast paints would work for biblicals; the flesh colours work well and the colour palette would be limited.
I want to see if there's a way to combine the Contrast paints with the Army Painter washes. I'm considering trying washing a white primed figure with dark tone or strong tone before the Contrast colours, so the deepest shade will remain in the undercuts.