Painting in Humbrols can be a slow and tedious business. One weekend in every painting cycle is invariably devoted to letting the undercoat dry out properly, to be followed, if I'm lucky, with the skin tones for the hands and faces. The weekend after that is then generally all about blocking in the main colours and then letting all of that dry. Things don't really get serious until about week three. Cavalry are even slower as I find that the horses and riders really need to be dealt with separately. It's only when the horses are finished that I start serious work on the troopers.
All this is my round-about way of saying that I haven't got a lot to show at the moment. All is not lost, however. A few weeks ago, just as I was getting started on my Russo-Germans, the Archduke sent me the following pictures of his glorious Russian Army. This was entirely coincidental, as I hadn't told him that I was working on Russians.
The Archduke has been working on refurbishing this army for the last sixteen months or so, he tells me. The results are simply magnificent.
WM
I notice his units are larger - do you know what rules he uses?
ReplyDeleteI do not, Rob, which reveals a certain amount about me. Any serious gamer would want to know immediately. I was much more interested them as a stunning artwork. Those big battalions are awe inspiring.
DeleteJust the thing to help start the day on the right footing I'd say.
ReplyDeleteBest Regards,
Stokes
The sight of Hinton Hunts en masse are a balm to the soul, Stokes, are they not?
DeleteA magnificent collecton.
ReplyDeleteI have a similar Problem with paints at this time of year, although slightly the reverse of yours, they dry too quickly!!
Aren't they, Paul. My resistance to Russians took quite a battering when I saw these, I can tell you.
DeleteA stalwart of the Wellington wargaming scene happened to pop round the other day (he was actually visiting my next-door neighbour) and was incredulous that there was anyone out there still using Humbrols. I must learn to try out new things one day!
Wonderful pictures, superb!
ReplyDeleteThe Archduke is one of the greats, Phil!
DeleteAbashed but strangely proud to see my lads on WM's august site. In answer to Rob, I have my own rules which are quite flexible as to unit size, but do require a five man infantry base which is completely unfashionable. People whom I respect have been kind enough to agree that they are definitely Old School.
ReplyDeleteA very impressive collection there Archduke! It has reminded me that my original HH army was also based in fives with 20 figure battalions. Will we be seeing those famed Austrians?
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting Matt.
We all love parades. I particularly like the shots down the long lines of cavalry...very evocative. whilst there are masses of HH there there is also a nice intermingling of other manufacturers, especially innthe command roles.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the kind remarks, gentlemen. LG is of course spot on. I had to be a bit creative for the commanders. Kutusov and his adc are Qualiticast Prussians. Uvarov's adc and Tuchkov's adc (beside the Pavlovs) are SHQs. Otherwise the command figures are HHs in one guise or another. As to Austrians, Ian... nur Geduld sag ich Ihnen, Sie kommen. But they are not far up the refurb queue, I'm afraid.
ReplyDeleteThank you for talking a bit about your painting regimen. I (and I am sure many others) would like to see a step by step evolution of a unit, with photos at each stage of your painting process. Let's call it the "From bare metal to Gloss. You could post shots of the bare metal figures, then with primer, then face and hands painted; to blocks of colour; to detailing, to gloss application, etc. I love the way your figures turn out (I like to think of them as "military jewelry," if I may say so), and I would love to learn how to do the same. Since it is a slow process, posting each step would give us something to see between the "big reveal" at the end, and would help us improve the look of our own figures.
ReplyDeleteI'd thought of doing that, Captain, but assumed that anyone interested in this blog would be an old hand who'd find anything I had to say on the subject very old news indeed. However, there may be a couple of Hinton Spieler tricks that people will find useful, so I may give it a go!
DeleteAlthough I am an old hand at painting in my style, I would like to attempt some figures in the Hinton Spieler "bright and shiny style." I am sure you have some Hinton Spieler tricks to share. I look forward to seeing and reading about them!
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