No More Butterflying!!!

Hello again! Nice to be back, on a more regular basis! Although the next post may have people groaning again in despair - as I've decided to put a hold on my Swiss Impetus army for a while, and return to Mauritzania!

'But you've only just started on the Swiss!' I hear the cry. Well true, but it suddenly struck me over the weekend, whilst I was sorting through old figures, just exactly HOW many projects I've actually started. The biggest reason why I've not actually got any projects finished off, is because I've not finished any projects off. Simples really! So it became pretty apparent that I might as well return to old projects - and first on the list is Mauritzania. If I had carried on with my Swiss, it would be at least June or July before I had finished that particular army, then I would need to paint some Burgundians (which I'd need to buy) as opposition. More time, more cost, little point. Other projects - on the other hand - have all been started and I have figures for them. In some cases, I have already begun to paint up figures for the different units. So.....2013 will be the year of continuing on already started projects. Mauritzania, ECW, and if I have time, my Napoleonics. Hopefully the backlog of castings and buildings will be reduced. Above you'll see two gentlemen of the Comte de Tescaux's regiment arguing over a similar moral dilemma to mine.....'Look,' says the Colonel, 'let's just chill and go for a drink. Maybe start on something else, no worries, find a new project.....' 'No!' replies the Ensign, 'Forward! To more disciplined wargaming and painting!' Lets's hope I can follow his fine example! See you soon!

Walls!! (and not a sausage in sight......)

As promised, some pictures of the wall section I have recently made. It's about 5 inches (12cm) long, and made entirely of cardboard, on a plasticard base. I was inspired by an article in Wargames Illustrated ( I forget which issue, but it was the one with the Crimean War theme), which featured the amazing work of Dave Andrews. Dave has a name 'well known' in the wargaming world, not just for his work at Games Workshop, but for painting, model making and sculpting with more 'historical' subjects. Dave's work has always inspired me, right from my first view of his figures and terrain in the 'Shieldwall' supplement for the Warhammer Ancient Battles rules. I'd always liked his work and especially his terrain - including the walls - and I've often wondered how to make them. Up until now, I've either used brick walls from Hovels, or resin walls I've picked up from conventions, then repainted. But a close up view of the walls made for Dave's Crimean War table, showcasing the new range of Crimean figures from Great War Miniatures, suggested that I could make them out of cardboard. So armed with some sharp scissors, a load of cardboard off-cuts, and some PVA glue, I set to.

 

The card is quite thick, just over 2mm, and each piece is about 12 mm long by 7-8mm wide. I then cut off random angles at the corners, and then layered them up on the plasticard base, (about 5 rows) supergluing the first layer to the plastic. I then used pieces slightly wider and curved at the top as coping stones, glued at slightly different angles, to show wear and age. When this whole construction was dry, I coated the wall in a slightly watered down PVA and sand mix, to add a bit of texture, and then let that dry as well. The painting was done using Games Workshop's Scorched Brown (I'm not sure what the new name is after the recent alteration to their paint range) as a base coat, liberally applied to all the niches, crevices and corners; then a range of creams and buffs and browns, gradually getting lighter. I'll post up the exact colours (mainly Foundry paints) another time, when I get my card index back (see previous posts!....) The base is sand and PVA, painted with my usual combination of GW paints, then static grass, Woodland Scenics bushes, and grass tufts courtesy of Antenociti's Workshop. A balsa wood fence post, painted up with dark greys (sun bleached wood), completes the whole thing. I eventually hope to make a few more of these sections, as despite using over 100 'stones' of card, and taking almost 2 hours to do, it's been well worth it. Hopefully even the maestro Dave Andrews would approve! Until next time, tootly pip!! ( Swiss on the paint rack tonight - watch this space.....)

 

Peninsular Architecture.. and some voltigeurs!

Here are some of my French Napoleonics again - this time with added Voltigeurs! Two of the chaps have been done so far, and the next two have been started, but have been packed away with the house cleaning mentioned in my last post etc. Hopefully they will be done soon! When I have them all done, I'll post some more details on paints used and colour schemes etc, but safe to say it's a mix of Foundry and Games Workshop colours. Figures are Foundry (naturally!), and the buildings are from Hovels 'Spanish' or Peninsular War range.The two buildings are H11 Double three storey house with ornate balcony (without the balcony!) and H13 Taverna with arched porch. You might spot some cut up bits of the door mat that makes up the wheatfield, that I've added to the stable interior at the back of the Taverna. This was mixed in with PVA glue and added on to the floor of the building. The paint scheme for the buildings eludes me at the moment, as I have packed away my card files, but I have to say as a wargamer, make a record of paints or combinations of colours you use! It's saved me much heartache over the years, as I can refer back to colour mixes that I've tried. Only problem is, that like much of my stuff, it's temporarily in storage!

On another note, I've started on my Impetus armies - work on some Swiss Handgunners began on Monday night. Hopefully next time, I'll have some pics! See you soon!!

 

 

Far, Far , FAR too long!!!!!

Hello all!

Apologies for being away for so long - 10 months is quite some time!

There has been much activity at Pell Mell Towers, though not on the painting and gaming front, and my lack of blog posts are certainly indicative of that! However,something far better has been happening, and September saw the arrival of mini-painter number 2, so with two small people taking up our time, life is very different! Massive hugs and love to the young fella - a potential opponent in a few years time - and big love to the Lady of the Towers, who did the hard work of carrying him for 9 months, and much of the hard work since!! His big sister loves hm!!

In other news,  most of my painting and modelling 'stuff' is now packed away in boxes, as we prepare to put the house on the market and try and move. After having most of my modelling stuff around me for years, this is a very strange state of affairs and somewhat un-nerving. However, we'll press on, and hopefully 2013 will be a successful year in  gaming terms as well!

 Imperial Romans, painted up for WAB. They represent the Augusta Sebosiana (?), a cavaly unit based in Britannia after the invasion of AD43. These chaps could do with a quick revamp - they were painted about 5 years ago, before the age of proper matt varnish! Not bad though!

Foundry early Saxons - still some of the nicest figures the Perry twins sculpted. These chaps are based on individual bases, and represent the rear figures in a unit for WAB - single bases for casualty removal. The unit didn't get any further than this, though with the purchase of 'Hail Caesar' rules, they might get a recall to the warband next year...... we'll see. Still some of my favourite figures I have painted.



Here are some Foundry Egyptians - again work of the Perry Twins, and forming part of my WAB New Kingdom Egyptian Army. Different paint schemes, basing colours and scorched static grass - not bad! Again they need a new coat of slightly matter varnish, but still not bad. Another army desperately crying out for the 'Hail Caesar' treatment me thinks.......

However, I haven't been completely lazy over the last few months - some painting has taken place, and modelling as well! I'll try and get some pics up in the next few days, but since the last post I've been painting my French Napoleonic voltigeurs, Peninsular War buildings, making some dry stone walls, and generally being a bit of a butterfly!! Good news in some senses, not so much in others. Any how, 'til I get the photos done, here's some old work to keep people smiling - some Imperial Roman cavalry, Early Saxons, New Kingdom Egyptians, and finally the backside of the Comte de Tescaux' Regiment from my Mauritzanian adventure! All these figures are from Wargames Foundry, and have been painted over the last few years, and represent projects that 'never quite got off the ground'..... well that's about to change, fingers crossed!

2013 will see me focus on just two or three projects - definitely Mauritzania - more on that another time, my Napoleonic stuff (with possibly some variations), and my English Civil War collection. However, there is time for a slight, final distraction before the big push starts - something completely different....... a couple of late Mediaeval armies for the 'Basic Impetus' rule set!!! The butterfly will rear its beautiful head again briefly! And yes, I still  haven't got my head round laying out text and photos in Blogger!! Until next time - Keeeeeeeeeeep painting!! ( if only I could find my paints........)

Grenadier Company

Hello again! Below are the latest addition to my French infantry battalion - the Grenadier company. These chaps seem to have taken ages, but finally they're completed. They are all Wargames Foundry figures, and as three of them are all the same figure, I've tried to introduce a bit of variety to them, with different coloured overalls, patches, blankets etc. To the right, you can see them in marching order with the First Company, and below, in the courtyard of a tavern somewhere in southern France, before marching off en route to Spain. The final figure in the company is the Sapeur, wearing his bearskin and brandishing his axe. Although sappers would normally have been with the 'Head of the Column', they were often drawn from the Grenadier company, and I like to think that he has returned to see some old comrades in arms - in truth it was just to break up the monotony of the same grenadier figure!

I hope you like them - next up will be the other 'elite' company of the battalion - the Voltigeurs - or light company. See you soon!

Hello again - with a new project!

Hi everyone. Firstly, an apology for being away so long - I know it's been a big gap between posts, but I lost the blogging 'bug' for a while. Any way, it's nice to be back, and there's a new project in the offing! Mauritzania is on the back burner for various reasons (which I'll go in to at another time), but don't fear - it will be back!

Anyway, the new project...... well it involves the alleged pinnacle of wargaming - 28mm Napoleonics. I have had a copy of the Black Powder rule set for a while, but haven't got round to trying it out yet. The idea is to build up two forces to carry out a Peninsular War scrap on a small scale, using various amendments to the rules that I've picked up from various blogs and wargaming websites. Judging by various comments, the ability to be amended appears to be the beauty of Black Powder, in the sense that it gives a great framework that can be tweaked to fit the situation of the individual gamer. In my case, it's a lack of space, limited funds and only a certain amount of painting time........like most gamers then I guess!

First up then is the start of my French forces. I've had some of these figures - from Wargames Foundry - for about 8 years, but failed to get any paint on them.... until now. This is the first fusilier company of my first battalion, somewhere in Spain circa 1813. Enjoy! Next up will be the grenadier company, in a few days time. Until then...au revoir!

Back again!

Well, it's been a while - a scarily long time to be honest, and the plan to update this blog every two weeks or so has fallen very definitely by the wayside! 'Real life' (TM), redundancy threats, and car accidents have transpired to stop some painting progress, but hopefully we're back on track now, and the job is safe, we have a new car, and the holidays are here! Things haven't been totally quiet though, with scenery being the focus over the last few weeks. I've also started work on the Comte de Tescaux' Regiment - with their off -white, blue and red uniforms. The test figure for this regiment is on the left.
First up though, is a Hudson and Allen barn, which I picked up a few years ago at the Vapnartak show in York. Sharp-eyed viewers might remember it from earlier posts. Eagle-eyed viewers will spot that I didn't show the base off in earlier posts, for the simple reason that it wasn't done! Now it is, and it can be shown in it's full glory. Also on view are some of the dry stone walls from Coritani miniatures, which I've collected at both the Derby and Partizan shows over the last year or so.
My recipe for basing is fairly simple - after the standard diluted PVA glue and sand/small gravel mix, it's all painted using Games Workshop paints. I start off with Scorched Brown as a base coat, then dry brush up in successive layers Dark Flesh, Bestial Brown, Bubonic Brown, then a final drybrush of Bleached Bone. This is a recipe I picked up a few years ago in White Dwarf, and it works well. All my figure bases for 'European' theatres are painted like this, and the edges of figure and building bases are painted with GW Graveyard Earth. Rocks are either left in their 'drybrushed' state or are painted a mix of greys, washed with GW Badab Black wash, then dry brushed up with Foundry's Arctic Grey 33A tone. The walls started off already pre-static grassed when I bought them, so this was stripped off with warm water and a scourer - be gentle! Then they were undercoated in black, then drybrushed up in the follwing order - GW Adeptus Battlegrey, Codex Grey, and finally Fortress Grey. Static grass is added using patches of diluted PVA glue, then some grass tufts from Antenociti's Workshop - summer I think - and bushes using Woodland Scenics clumps. All spot on!

I've also discovered a new technique for painting wood as well - moving away from the traditional brown, to a more faded and sun-bleached grey colour. Shown in my rather out of focus scratch-built barn, this consists of a black undercoat, followed by a drybrush of Foundry's Granite 31A shade, then 31B, and finally a drybrush of Rawhide 11B. For a bleached look, finish off with a final brush of Rawhide 11C. I washed the 'wood' with GW Badab Black again in small quantities, and 'greened up' the structure with Foundry's French Dragoon Green 70. However this process is in reverse, starting with the 'C' shade higher up the building's foundations, then a layer drybrushed on of the 'B' tone, finishing with the 'darker ' (ie. damper) 'A' tone.

The building on the right - with the Regimental Ensign of the Comte de Tescaux's Regiment and his Colonel arguing about dispositions - is the first piece of Mauritzanian 'Real estate', representing the Toll House cum Border checkpoint. It also doubles up nicely as a roadside tavern - hence the table with roast chicken and tankards outside! The building and walls were picked up at Partizan in Newark this May, and are from Hovels.
The walls are actually from the 20mm 'Battleground' range - a suggetion from the very helpful chap on the Hovels' stall - and they work very nicely too, with slightly smaller, more in-scale bricks. My recipe for brickwork was also a bit experimental, but finished off being a GW Scorched Brown basecoat, with drybrushed layers of Foundry Brick Red 59A, then Madder Red 60A (in small patches), then Brick Red 59B, and finally Mediterranean Flesh 125A and GW Dwarf Flesh in small patches. Wash with GW Ogryn Flesh and Badab Black in small patches, and 'green' up using the above technique with the Dragoon Green! Simples! The plaster on the building is the Foundry Butter Fudge 55 pallette, and the roof is the 32 Slate Grey pallette. I've made the building and the surroundings 'modular', so the tavern can be used in isolation or with the barn and walls together.




The Roast chicken and table/chair set also come from Hovels as well - it's these little things that add to the whole feel of the piece. The final picture is of my first wheat field - more on that, and the next instalment of the Comte de Tescaux's next time - which hopefully won't be so long! I may also have progress on the Mauritzanian Guard Regiment too! Until next time!