I've been hard at it on the 5th Westphalians this weekend and have finished the first half of the battalion. I suppose this makes them the 2.5th Westphalians.
I've been painting my infantry in half battalions like this since I started this project nigh on five years ago, but I still haven't found the secret of making the second half nearly as enjoyable as doing the first half. There is a rather interesting late substitute for my officer and my converted drummer to do in this case, however, so I'm hoping this will keep me keen.
Yours, shining on
WM
I've been painting my infantry in half battalions like this since I started this project nigh on five years ago, but I still haven't found the secret of making the second half nearly as enjoyable as doing the first half. There is a rather interesting late substitute for my officer and my converted drummer to do in this case, however, so I'm hoping this will keep me keen.
Yours, shining on
WM
I also paint infantry in halves. Whilst the second half might be less enjoyable I am at least motivated to get the unit finished and ready for the table.
ReplyDeleteOne option could be to finish painting the first half and then go and paint something else, another half of another unit, and then return to finish the second half of the original unit.
Hmmmm...there is a certain regiment of cuirassiers on the go, now you come to mention it...I may revert to these for a while.
DeleteMagnificent! I note the crisp round buttons Matt, do you still use the cocktail stick method? I tried it on some 20mm figures I'm painting for Old John, but could not get them as neat as that so reverted to fine brush. Going to be a beautiful battalion once done, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteI gave up on the toothpicks years ago, 'Lee. It's all done with a brush these days. This is much more reliable, although I find I have to work really quickly or the paint dries out and goes all lumpy.
DeleteThey look lovely as ever Matt.
ReplyDeleteThis may be of interest, I dunno. I literally have hundreds on the go at once. I don't paint them all at once though, but tend to focus on one group/unit/type at a time which keeps it to more around 50–100, perhaps fewer that I am actually working on in a particular painting session. This still means that I can spend a whole night's painting on one colour--the definition of tedium to you I should imagine! It also means that it is months before I actually finish anything, but when I do I get a large 'pulse' of completed figures. Everyone else that I know (or from what I can tell in blogs) works on a smaller number of figures and churns out beautifully painted end-products each week or few weeks. Not sure why I have bored you with all this...?!
That's not boring at all, James. I'm intrigued, although I'm sure I couldn't work like that. I discovered long ago that the only way to make myself paint was ensure that there'd be lots of short-term rewards. If I don't make reasonable progress quite quickly I start to lose heart. This is why hussars are always such a bugger!
DeleteStick at it, it always seems harder to contemplate than actually do.
ReplyDeleteI find I fall into the slough of despond when they're nearly complete. It's the feeling that they're still not done but the remaining bits are small fiddly details and the inevitable retouching of mistakes. On the other hand when I do finally take the plunge I'm always pleasantly surprised by how quickly I got them finished. Of course that still leaves me with my drawn out basing and varnishing process...
I think you just revealed to the world why I go for such quick and simple basing and varnishing schemes, Rob!
DeleteYou're right though - the key thing is to just get stuck in. When they're nearly done I find I tend to pick up the pace - I really want to see the final result by then.
While I used to do a whole battalion at once (24 being just manageable) I had literally just decided to switch to twelves as well. Yesterday I finished the twelve extra French line needed to bring the 17th up to strength and found the process much more enjoyable than the somewhat interminable process of painting 24 of everything!
ReplyDeleteHave to agree with Rob on the basing. My process is clunky at best. I notice you (and many others) use some sort of sticky tack to hold the figure in place. What product do you use and does it hold well? Currently I glue mine to the figure holder with white glue, but there is invariably some repair to do where the excess glue pulls off paint from the side of the base.
The product is called Blu tack (TM), which one can buy in all good office stationary shops and supermarkets. It's what we used to stick posters onto our bedroom walls with back in the earlies. I've been using the same blobs of the stuff over and over again for nearly five years. Amazing stuff!
DeleteThey are looking lovely Matt...
ReplyDeleteI think they are going to make quite an impact when the are all finished and based.
All the best. Aly
Thank you, Aly. They'll certainly have a bit of heft, being somewhat beefier than your average Hinton Hunt. Garrisons, being very finely cast, also have a rather intimidating uniformity compared to HHs, which tend to end up with a slightly shambolic wibbly wobbly appearance. This may just be my painting of course.
DeleteWhen I started my project I was painting in small batches of 3 at a time which was pretty inefficient but I found more than that a bit daunting. More recently I tend to start small and work to a crescendo, first a test figure then 5 more to make up a nice half-dozen then another 6 or 7 then the remainder in one batch. Don't know why but for some reason this is working for me at the moment!
ReplyDeleteThis may be the answer to my cavalry shyness Ian!
DeleteWhatever the pace they certainly look the business!
ReplyDeleteCheers Matt. Every bit of encouragement helps. I really like the way these are shaping up, which is always good for keeping up the momentum. They're actually quite simple, although I decided to complicate thing for myself by fussing over all the pack straps etc. even though there not all that well defined on the figures.
DeleteSecond half challenges, or not, they're coming along beautifully. My own bugbear over the years has always been getting those last few smaller details done before glossing.
ReplyDeleteBest Regards,
Stokes
I'm the opposite, Stokes. When I can see the light at the end of the tunnel I break into a charge. My record was the ten-hour session needed to finally crack the Estorff Hussars. Wellington Woman wasn't very pleased by that.
DeleteBy my count you're over half-way and more like 13/24ths!
ReplyDeleteYou are of course correct, Rob! Maths was never a strength. I'm not proud of this.
DeleteThey look splendid, minis and flag!
ReplyDeleteMerci, Phil. Reste en sécurité, mon vieux.
DeleteYou could save the officer, ensign and drummer for the second half. That would give you something to look forward to in batch number two.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a plan, CN! Stay safe, Old Chum.
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