New Dwarf Regiment - part five

At long last progress has moved forward. The slightly warmer weather has allowed me to spend a little more time down the shed-at-the-bottom-of-the-garden and painting has moved on apace. 

Photo One - Shows the Bottle Green uniforms painted. I used a mix of Turquoise, Midnight Blue and Woodland Green  to get the basic colour and highlighted with pure Forest Green from Foundry.

Photo Two - The next step was the Blood Red trousers and Busby pouch which were highlighted with Blood Red from Vallejo over Red Gore from GW. The yellow or gold trim is Badmoon Yellow over Snakebite Leather and at this stage the pompom is just basecoated Stonewall Grey from Vallejo.

The Busby is Scorched Brown, drybrushed over the sculpted detail.

Photo Three - The pompoms has been highlighted with Skull White and I have tidied up both the flesh areas and the Black boots.

Photo Four - Each of the miniatures has some sort of backpack or sack sculpted onto the back of the figure and to give some variety to the group, I have painted these in different colours.

After a (very) slow start, I now feel that this first Pledge is back on track and without tempting fate, I see no reason why the group should not be finished by the end of February.

I have decided to repaint the hair and beard of the horn-blower as I think the yellow hair looks a little to pale.

Once again I have approached the painting in a haphazard manner wanting to get the bulk of the sculpts painted quickly. My plan is to have this week tidying up the details and varnish by the coming weekend. Obviously all of this is dependant on the weather as I do not like to varnish in the cold or damp.

As a small group they are already very colourful and once the metallic paint goes on this will increase the illusion.

Tony

TRASH BASH 2012 - part two

The French Imperial Aeronef Le Loius Daguerre

A short history

Part two;
The French inventor Loise Daguerre was instrumental in the discovery and development of what is today called photography. The Daguerreotype was a process of capturing black and white images on silver coated glass screens after being exposed and later processed. The drawback was that the early screens were fragile and if clumsily handled were prone to breaking. The image was displayed in a number of ways - firstly re-exposed and processed onto light sensitive paper, or projected through a 'magic lantern' onto cinema style screens. There was also the dual or 'realistic' view which had two similar images situated side-by-side and viewed through a spectacle type apparatus called a Not-Kermode which gives the illusions of a 3d image.

The French military establishment were keen to see if this process could have any military uses and Daguerreotype artists were embedded with existing (or traditional) artists to capture for posterity the images of war. These embedded units were successful in recording both the horrors and heroism of war and in illustrating war journals. But I digress.

The growing conflict on Mars and the inability of the French Foreign Legion to quell and maintain order in their newly formed city-states led to a number of military suggestions as to how best to proceed. One suggestion was to properly map the different areas of the Le Mons area of Mars - The French Sector and the new Daguerreotype process was seen as the perfect solution. Developments in faster exposure times and  lighter glass plates also added to the race to develop an Aeronef-based imaging facility, hence the commissioning of Le Loius Daguerre (named after the inventor of the process).

Operational issues demanded a huge Aeronef, the largest ever built by the colonising powers on Mars to both hold the huge amounts of chemicals needed for the development process and to house the largest Daguerre camera ever built.  The camera was housed in the nose or bow of the 'Nef' and pointed both downwards and rearwards for taking images and replacing the huge glass screens. These screens were 500mm x 500mm and required a number of trained operators to position and replace, however the success of the first mapping expedition quelled all fears as beautifully detailed images were sent back to HQ. The real bonus (and one that was kept secret for many years) was that when these images were taken at fist light or sunset, they highlighted a number of topographic irregularities which when explored yielded sites of special and scientific interest, some of which later produced finds like the Golden Sun which now resides in the Paris Collection.

The process of taking these huge images required a great deal of very specialised men who would painstakingly site Le Loius Daguerre over the area to be photographed and then when all power and services had been turned off (this was required to stop camera-wobble) would expose the glass plate. Processing required a second group of engineers who would 'fix' the images and then safely store them for later examination.

Of special note was the interest (and lack of interest) shown by the other colonising countries. Germany in particular were intent on capturing the Aeronef and examining the camera and chemicals used, while Great Britain showed nothing more than a passing interest - which was due in the main to the fact that they were experimenting with a similar process - The Fox-Talbot camera and plates on board the Aeronef HMAS Canary.

More to follow.

Tony

The Black Claw - a short story

Barking Irons Online Has just uploaded my latest White Liar short story The Black Claw The story was written some time ago and so it is all the better for seeing it in print - well on-line anyway. I hope that you enjoy reading it.

The White Liar Short Stories are a great way to publish simple scenario threads and I would recommend to everyone that they look at producing a similar short story. The White Liar story threads use the tried and tested technique of starting each short story with the same opening paragraph, but allow the written free-reign as to what they write.

Tony

TRASH BASH 2012

I just couldn't resist it!  With all the part painted miniatures and half-way completed projects on my workbench I have decided that I just have to enter the Roebeast TRASH BASH competition to build a 'Scratch-Built' model from a Sweet or Candy container.

The rules state that I can show images of work-in-progress but I am going to wait until the 1st March (the entry date) before I post any. However there is no reason why I cannot tease you;

The French Imperial Aeronef Le Louis Daguerre

An Observation and Survey Nef currently serving at Le Mons, Mars (French Sector)

Part One;

Ten years after the first human set foot on Mars the Colonial Land-Grab is in full swing with Great Britain, Germany, The United Stated of America and the Belgian Republique leading the assault. Japan and France came late to the table and have never achieved the victories of the earlier states. This is all about to change with the French Government finally agreeing to build both the largest Astronef - Le Gloire and now Le Louis Daguerre an observation and survey Nef to explore and map the Le Mons area of Mars.

The Loius Daguerre is one of the largest Nef's ever constructed on Mars and was built to house the newly developed Daguerreotype Camera which uses huge half-metre square silver coated glass plates to take images of the Martian landscape and 'map' the built up areas.  The process needs huge reserves of dangerous chemicals which are housed in two large and two smaller containers built into the main hull. Early experiments have proven than an area of five square kilometres can be successfully mapped in less than three days, thereby cutting down on man-hours and the risk of being assaulted by rival States or marauding Martians.

The new technology of image capture is causing quite a stir amongst the other Earth-Bourne Governments and Le Louis Daguerre is now accompanied by at least one French Aeronef when ever out on operation's. It is rumoured that The Kaiser has raised a bounty of one thousand gold crowns for the capture of the Loius Daguerre - a rumour that is having quite an effect on the fleets of Martian Pirates.

More to follow.

Tony

New Dwarf Regiment - part four

The Pledge has hit something of a dead-end as the bitter cold weather has forced me to abandon my shed-at-the-bottom-of-the-garden and snuggle down in front of the TV.  As the snow melts away and the mornings and evening are becoming lighter I have finally got around to undercoating the miniatures. Using a mixture of cheap black spray paint and some black craft paint all eight Dwarves are now fully covered and ready for some colour.

The first 'real' Painting was the flesh areas and in my usual manner I have built up the Dwarf skin tones from a GW's Snakebite Leather base with subsequent layers a mix of Snakebite and Skull White. The final layer a wash of  the old GW Flesh Wash (the blue topped pot which I have had for some time).

For this image I have tidied up the Chaos Black areas. Checking these images - I think I might have painted the flesh a little too pale and will look at adding some pink/red to the noses and cheeks.

I am not fully decided on the Regimental name, but The Battenburgers is currently favourite. As detailed in previous posts I am planning on painting the Dwarves in a Bottle Green uniform colour with Blood Red trousers and Busby pouch and Gold trim. they should be quite a colourful unit when finished.

As I look out of the window, I can see that the snow has finally gone, the temperature is up to a 'tropical' 6 to 7 degrees and I would expect to spend this evening catching up on my painting. Two Weeks in to The Pledge and I know I have much to do if I am going to achieve the first months goal.

Tony

New Brushes from Rosemary & Co - part two

A quick update from my earlier post, after the brushes had been used, washed and allowed to dry naturally. The brushes are (from left to right) WHS Nylon/Acrylic No. 1, Citadel Standard Brush (the orange tipped handle), Winsor & Newton Series 7, No. 1, Rosemary & Co Series 401, No. 2 and No. 1.

The first thing I noticed was that the Citadel brush had not retained its point anywhere near as well as the others and that my 'much-used' W&N Series 7 ferrule could do with a good clean! In fairness the Citadel Brush has been well used and returned to a fine point after a simple dip in tap water. I will have to see about cleaning up the W&N ferrule before returning it to it's own plastic storage tube.

Not a very scientific survey, but I thought is was worth the update.

You can click on this image for a larger view.

I have found, that as a 'messy' figure painter and someone who will freely admit to serious brush abuse, that I have always felt a little intimidated by the Winsor & Newton Sable Brushes. Because of this I have in the past always reached for either a Citadel Standard Brush or a cheaper nylon/acrylic brush (as the WHS Blue Handled series) first. I would hope that I will now be a little more careful in the care and use of my new brushes, but only time will tell.

Once the weather warms up, I will write a more detailed post of how I find my new purchases.

Tony

New Brushes from Rosemary & Co.

Earlier this week I was reading on The Lead Adventure Forum about Rosemary & Co brushes, see;
http://www.lead-adventure.de/index.php?topic=37663.0

I decided that I would pick up a couple to test and after reading the forum posts decided on a couple of Sable Mix brushes Series 401 which are a mixture of Sable and Nylon.

I ordered the a No 1 and a No 2, both with the optional long handles on Monday evening and they were delivered on Wednesday morning beautifully packaged in a plastic sleeve inside a strengthened and padded envelope - superb service.

Last night had the opportunity to quickly test them against a Windsor & Newton No 7 Sable, a Citadel Standard Brush (my preferred or usual tool of choice) and a WHS Nylon No 2 (of which I have a batch of about six, which I tend to use for terrain painting).  My first impressions are favourable however they really need a good painting session and some time before I can give a full and detailed review.

I also asked for a Rosemary & Co 2011/2012 Catalogue which came in the same package and it is full of hundreds of brush choices, a really substantial catalogue and beautifully illustrated. The catalogue was so detailed that it actually causes confusion as there are so many types, styles, handle choices and quality to choose from. I am very pleased with my Series 401's, but would recommend that the long handles are a little superfluous for figure or miniature painters and I will stick with the standard length on future orders.

For full details of the range go to this link

Finally any comments concerning these or other brushes are very welcome. I for one would welcome any recommendations for style (Series or No.) or quality of future brushes from Rosemary & Co.

Tony