I rarely paint a figure these days - I regard that as precious time that is better spent researching or translating or actually gaming - but when I used to paint my own armies, I always particularly enjoyed two stages in particular: adding faces, and painting bases. Those were what seemed to bring the troops to life for me.
A couple of years ago I ordered two ready-painted 6mm armies (complete with faces) supplied by Irregular Miniatures, which I swiftly stuck on Warbases and then fielded without further effort on their naked mdf. The armies in question were my Greeks and Serbs for the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, which I used to help Konstantinos Travlos by playtesting some of the scenarios for his "Bloody Big Balkan Battles!" campaign book.
While this was functional enough, it didn't make for a great aesthetic effect. Last month I finally spent a happy four hours or so applying wood glue and static grass; nothing especially fancy or clever, but effective enough. Thus in a couple of short evenings I significantly improved two armies, to the point where I am keen to get them back on the table and into action again. The comparison shot below shows what a difference this small investment of time made:
Before and after:
Unflocked Serbs (and Montenegrins) in action, and freshly flocked on parade.
Pics of the finished Greek and Serbian armies are on Flickr.
I'm by no means the first to make this observation but it merits repetition: especially with small scale figures like these 6mm, unsightly bases can really spoil the look, and conversely, just a little effort on beautifying bases really pays off in making armies look good - an important part of the HQGE.
Good show! They look great!
ReplyDeleteThanks, comrade - all thanks to you!
Delete'There is greater joy in Heaven for one sinner converted' etc. I have, I think, been telling you this sort of thing for some years now...
ReplyDeleteIf you were truly converted, you would apply sand, paint base colour, and dry-brush at least 3 times before adding the grass (and then dry-brushing that- it does make a difference). I do this as standard in 2mm, let alone the huge display-model scale of 6mm. I will continue to pray for you...
Bruce
You are right, I was a de-based sinner ...
DeleteI quite agree about bases. I Slap the most dreadful daubing on my figures, but get them on a nice textured base and they suddenly look great. I only use flock on 6mm and 2mm bases, all the sand and static grass goes on larger scale things.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Martin. You post lots of good comments in various fora, but I don't remember ever seeing a pic of one of your games. Am I missing something obvious?
DeleteCheers, Andy!
ReplyDelete