Sunday, 12 July 2026

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.


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23 comments:

  1. Jonathan Freitag13 July 2026 at 00:27

    Any progress is good progress, Neil! You continue making good progress. Thermometer is turning up here out West with expectations for 36C by midweek and much hotter temperatures farther south. Summer has arrived!

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    1. Neil Patterson13 July 2026 at 08:37

      Thanks Jonathan. It was a case of get some painting done early when still cool.
      The heat in the UK has been exceptional. Sadly few homes in the UK have air conditioning, so temperatures in the 30s are "challenging" ☺
      Neil

      Delete
  2. Neil Scott13 July 2026 at 06:59

    At least you made some progress, this heat is really hampering my efforts to get stuff done. The Celts do look rather nice

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    Replies
    1. Neil Patterson13 July 2026 at 08:39

      Thanks Neil. The heat is great for drying things but not helpful when that's the paint on your brush!
      Neil

      Delete
  3. Martin Rapier13 July 2026 at 07:00

    That looks like a fair bit of progress to me. At some point I'll come back to more complex Ancient rules, so I'll add Strength and Honour to the list.

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    Replies
    1. Neil Patterson13 July 2026 at 08:46

      Thanks Martin. I'm sure I could have done more but at least did preparation for future painting.
      Strength & Honour have some interesting ideas, but some which I'm still uncertain of - Celts for example seem to be able to manoeuvre only slightly less well than Romans, which seems a bit odd (unless you rationalise as an unformed mob not really having any kind of order so "flows" in different directions). Some of the rules are a bit gamey - I cannot for example see Caesar shouting "it's all up for you Vercingetorix! Humunculus est!" Prompting a check to see if the army breaks!
      Neil

      Delete
  4. Andrew Bruce13 July 2026 at 07:23

    Hi Neil,

    A very productive week off, even if the weather didn't play ball! Your "wash and brush up" method has worked wonders on those second-hand Celts—they look superb lined up together. Using the leftover basing slop to scratch-build some quick ditches is a classic, resourceful hobby move, too.

    All the best, Andy

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    Replies
    1. Neil Patterson13 July 2026 at 08:55

      Thanks Andy and welcome. My painting style evolved into a black undercoat and layer method, concentrating on faces especially. It takes a long time so I have experimented with Contrast Paint, trying on white, grey and drybrushed black. It still lacked the high contrast of a black undercoat. That's when I hit on the Army Painter washes. You do need to go back over the colours, but I find you only need to hit the raised parts with highlights.
      Buying painted second hand figures means the base colours are done, so a wash followed by highlighting and touch up means they match my existing figures.
      It's an art mixing the right amount of "gloop" and I've never managed to store it! It helps to have something like terrain you can use for the leftovers.
      Neil

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    2. Andrew Bruce14 July 2026 at 05:47

      Hi Neil,

      Thanks for sharing the method! It sounds like a brilliant, highly efficient painting system you've developed there. It definitely beats starting with bare metal, and the results on those Celts speak for themselves.

      Cheers, Andy

      Delete
    3. Neil Patterson14 July 2026 at 07:38

      Andy,
      In a previous post I showed the process / technique in a series of pictures:
      https://aufklarungsabteilung.blogspot.com/search/label/painting

      Neil

      Delete
    4. Andrew Bruce15 July 2026 at 06:34

      Hi Neil,

      Brilliant, thanks for the link! There's nothing quite like a step-by-step photo guide to really see how a painting technique comes together.

      Cheers, Andy

      Delete
    5. Neil Patterson15 July 2026 at 09:04

      Andy, prompted by your comments, I'm thinking of posting a step by step series of photos on some Minifigs Gauls to supplement the earlier experments.
      Neil

      Delete
    6. Andrew Bruce16 July 2026 at 05:43

      Hi Neil,

      That sounds like an excellent idea! I'll certainly be keeping an eye out for that post—there's nothing better than a good painting tutorial to inspire a bit of progress on the workbench.

      Cheers, Andy

      Delete
  5. Donnie McGibbon13 July 2026 at 17:06

    Not a bad effort at all Neil, nice mix of figures, they all go together nicely. Good use of leftover basing mix, they look good. Interesting choice of rule set, wouldn't have thought of S&H but can see it working well.

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  6. Neil Patterson13 July 2026 at 18:55

    Thanks Donnie. They are almost all second hand from an eBay seller - perhaps intended for mixed units?
    I have gone for S&H mainly as it is intended for refighting historical battles, rather than an equal points competition game. There are some gamey aspects and I suspect some inbuilt play balance.
    I wanted something suitable for the campaign game.
    Neil

    ReplyDelete
  7. Aly Morrison15 July 2026 at 16:23

    I reckon you’re getting a lot more done than me at the moment Neil…
    Unfortunately this heat/ cloudy / damp/heat cycle of weather doesn’t just affect my paint it also affects me… my aching bones make it uncomfortable to paint… which is very frustrating.

    I like the Wash and Brush-up name it describes the technique very well…
    I look forward to seeing more of your grand barbarian hordes…

    All the best. Aly

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Neil Patterson15 July 2026 at 16:47

      Thanks Aly, not just you - my joints are aching as well!
      It may be down to waiting for a proper chair from work ( the old one is killing my back, hips and knees).
      The hot weather is debilitating and really hampered the painting last week. Ironically, going back to work and the morning would have been cool enough to paint!
      I really want to clear the decks of Celts and Germans!
      Neil

      Delete
  8. James Fisher16 July 2026 at 00:01

    Marvellous progress keeping several balls in the air. I always find that the prep./basing/undercoating stage takes a lot of time and, like you, it's a good thing to do when time or mojo is not right for painting. So much easier to then 'just' paint them and even better to have choice of subjects!
    Best wishes, James

    ReplyDelete
  9. Neil Patterson16 July 2026 at 08:19

    Thanks James. I agree that cleaning up and any assembly takes a lot longer than we anticipate - those bloody carts took ages! Making yokes and lots of superglue and swearing! ☺☺☺
    It makes for a good filler if not in the mood for painting.
    I used to alternate painting DBA armies, a Soldier King SSM unit and 15mm SCW unit and had prepped figures for each. I discovered the SCW figures and ancient DBA armies (Germans and Parthians) after a long hiatus, having moved to SK armies and other things.
    In addition to those and the Celts / Germans I have some SSM additions for Estavia, lots of 15mm Successors, some RSM British and some flats all ready for paint....
    Neil

    ReplyDelete
  10. Maudlin Jack Tar16 July 2026 at 08:53

    Can't have enough barbarians... The wagons are splendid

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    Replies
    1. Neil Patterson16 July 2026 at 10:25

      Thanks Jason. Those wagons! *@#%¢€¥! ☺☺
      I think I've reached the point of enough barbarians!
      Neil

      Delete
  11. DeanM17 July 2026 at 23:18

    Beautiful looking Celts! Very eye-catching.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Neil Patterson18 July 2026 at 07:38

    Thanks Dean. More to come!
    Neil

    ReplyDelete

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