Pack Mules with Handlers in 28mm

My loaded-down mules and their equally loaded-down handlers moving along a path in the forest

So, one of my frequent readers upbraided me for not posting more often during this "social distancing" time. Although I have been spending time regularly on working on hobby stuff, nothing has been finished since my last post -- other than 7 more concrete medians. I didn't want to do another post about that because they look exactly like the first batch of eight. However, Dave and other readers may be happy that I finally did finish something off today!

You can see how many sacks, bags, and other burdens are piled up on these poor pack animals

I honestly have no idea where I obtained these 4 pack mules (donkeys?) from, nor who their manufacturer would be. I did an extensive Google search, but came up blank. I hope one of my readers will recognize them, and I can label them as such. I dug them out of my unpainted lead pile (actually, it's in a very organized wheeled cart, if you're curious...) about three weeks ago, and primed them. However, what with working on the medians, barrels, dumpster, trash bags, etc., I hadn't progressed on them much. Once all of that was finished, though, I began to work on them more wholeheartedly.

The handlers look like French-Canadian voyageurs and Native Americans, to my eye

There are two poses of donkeys (mules?) along with two poses of the handlers. Both are heavily loaded down, which makes me think they are meant to be from the American frontier period -- possibly French & Indian War era voyageurs. One of the handlers looks like a Native American rather than a Frenchman, while the other is your stereotyped, heavily-bearded Frenchie with his cap. So, I painted them up that way, with an eye for them being "generic," and being able to use them for pack animals for just about any period. Luckily, they have no firearms or equipment that would pigeonhole them into a specific period.

The whole line of muleteers make their way through the Eastern Woodlands

One thing they do have is LOTS of bags and loads festooned on them. The handlers are veritable human pack mules (donkeys?), themselves! I certainly wouldn't want to walk around all day carrying what they are carrying. Although this looks very colorful, it does present a challenge to paint. If you paint all of the sacks and such the same color, they will fade together as a blob, and not stick out. If you paint them in distinct and bright colors, they will be overwhelming to they eye, I thought, and look equally bad. So, what I did was to set out all of the faded colors that I have that sacks and bags and such might be colored. The more than a dozen paint bottles were lined up across my desk. I would select one, and then go through the eight miniatures, men and animals, and paint maybe one sack in that color. The effect turned out good, I think. The loads look realistic but not an amorphous blob of the same color.

I used faded colors to show these poor souls have been on the trail for months on end

The handlers I painted in faded colors, figuring they've been on the trail for months and would likely wear the same sweat-faded garb day in and day out. I wanted them to have a very dirty look to them. In fact, when I finished with them, I just had to play a song from Mark Knopfler's latest solo release called, "Trapper Man." It paints a picture of these gentlemen exactly how I imagined them, "...Trapper Man's in from the hinterlands, filth and grease on his clothes and hands..." I decided not to attach a lead from the handlers to the donkeys (mules?) because I wanted the miniatures to be usable without each other, as well. I really like how they came out, and hope they make it to the tabletop one day soon.

What else have I been working on? Well, I have been spending a LOT of time laying out my gang warfare rules, Mean Streets: War in Gang-infested Cities. Sadly, my publishing program, Adobe InDesign finally died. The software no longer works with the latest Mac OS. I got my money's worth out of it, though. I used it while I was editor of the HMGS Great Lakes magazine, The Herald, for years. And I haven't been editor for more than a decade! It somehow made the migration from my first MacBook to the MacBook Pro that I still use for hobby stuff now (my latest MacBook Air is used pretty much just for schoolwork). However, when I went to fire it up, it wouldn't work. So, the long and short of it is I bought a new desktop publishing program -- Affinity Publisher. It has been a slow learning curve using it. Figuring how to do this function or that function isn't as intuitive as I'd hoped, but I am progressing with it. I try to use lots of graphics in my rule book layouts for First Command Wargames, so that makes it slower going.

My proposed cover for my gang warfare rule book for First Command Wargames

Anyway, here's a shot of my proposed cover artwork. I would honestly like feedback on it. Don't be afraid to comment and say you don't like it. Usually, my I fall in love with what I do as cover art, but on this one, I'm still not sure.

Some Indians and Frontiersmen

Some 28mm Native Americans originally intended for the raffle for Advance the Colors 2018, but not finished in time

This batch of 6 Indians and 5 Frontiersmen were intended to be my donations to the Advance the Colors 2018 raffle. However, with about a week before the convention, I realized that I wouldn't get them done in time. So, I stopped work on them and donated some from my collection. Since then, I was able to continue working and now finally complete them.

28mm Native Americans from (I believe) Irregular Miniatures

Only one of the 28mm Indians is from my favorite manufacturer, Conquest. He's the guy in blue loading his musket. The others are -- I believe -- from Irregular Miniatures. I am happy to be corrected if what I'm saying is not true. I am pretty sure the two poses that are firing are Irregular, but I can't swear on it. Anyway, I painted them up in my standard way, and decorated them each with individual warpaint. My favorite is paint is probably the one with the half blue, half red face. I should do more like that, but I think I'm worried about it not turning out and "ruining" the figure.

Some 28mm Frontiersmen from a huge bag I picked up at a flea market long ago

The frontiersmen are all from the large bag I bought at a flea market years ago. I am not 100% sure of their manufacturer, but I have painted a number of these up already. I painted them in a buckskin kind of theme, and was fairly happy with how they turned out (like the Indians). They're not the greatest figures in the world, but when painted up, they do the trick. Not that I really need more French & Indian War figures right now, but since I'd begun painting them I felt I had to complete them.

What's next on the painting table? Well, I have done the flesh on a big batch of 13 28mm Dark Ages archers for Saga. I thought I was cleaning out my unpainted bin of them, but recently found another stash of them in my "Unarmored Vikings" bag. Not all in that bag were Vikings I noted. So, I may pull out  more and do them up more specifically for Viking, Briton, Saxon, etc. Or I may leave them sitting and do something new. We'll see...stay tuned!

New Settlers for the Ohio Territory

    28mm Blue Moon frontiersmen from their Ohio Valley pack

I had hoped to get this last batch of Blue Moon frontiersmen completed before I left for Historicon, but it did not happen. I ended up not needing them for my game, but when I came back, they were first on my list to finish off. I enjoyed painting the Blue Moon boxed set. The figures were interesting, even if they were not sculpted to the standard of the Conquest Miniatures I normally paint. There were some mold lines that I could not cover up with a hobby knife, and a decent amount of flash to clean off. Still, once painted, they look nice on the tabletop.

    Five women and children settlers -- not sure of the manufacturer, as I bought them painted and touched them up

I also finally got around to touching up some settler women and children that I've had for years. I am not sure who makes the figures because I bought them painted off of a friend years ago. They were not badly painted, but I wanted to base them up to match the rest of my figures. As long as I was doing that, I figured that I may as well touch them up. All I really did was a bit of highlighting and drybrushing to give them more depth. That, and I added eyes. The figures were previous painted with just a black slash for eyes, so I gave them my usual 28mm treatment. The figures are actually meant to be captives -- you can see the leather wrapped around their wrists. I briefly toyed with the idea of looping several together on a multiple base. It would look nice with wire or something to show them roped together. I ended up decided not to do so because in my games, players can rescue individual captives. I let players cut one captive free, and a multiple base would complicate that (or force me to change my rules!).

I think that after painting these figures, I'm going to take a break from the French & Indian War. I will still work on terrain for it, but I think I have plenty of miniatures painted up at this point. What's next? Stay tuned, and you'll see...!

Lead Painters League, rounds 7-11

It was a good finish to the Lead Painters League. I made the difficult decision after finishing up my Round 10 entry to forego the bonus points for a newly-painted entry for Round 11. The decision was part time constraint, part tactical. I knew with my upcoming schedule that I would be pushing it to finish an entry to the best of my ability. I also knew that -- after 10 rounds -- I would be facing an opponent whose painting was at least equal mine (and likely better!). I needed to wow the voters, and I had an idea how to do that.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's pick up where we left off!

Round 10: Safeguard the Aerie 15mm/25mm

This was a round I was worried about from the beginning of the league. It was a theme round and I had to really dig to find figures that fit it in my unpainted collection. The theme was fantasy monsters, and they were specific about no weapon-using, anthropomorphic creatures. Out went my idea for using some Splintered Light Miniatures figures! Also, it could not be real creatures -- so, out went the idea of painting dogs, wolves, deer, or other Woodland creatures I had! I dug through the drawers where I keep my unpainted lead and found a bag of 15mm hippogriffs, as well as two 25mm ones. I decided to do a mama and papa hippogriffs guarding an aerie full of younglings.

I decided to make them flashy, with realistic and interesting wing patterns. So, I Googled a bunch of paintings of hippogriffs and chose the ones I liked best. The castings are not the  most spectacular (especially the 25mm ones), so I knew this would be a tough round. I thought they figures turned out nice, and I posed them next to one of my cliff sections for some additional eye candy. However, my opponent's miniatures were not only better painted, they were an amazing, cool-looking castings. So, I lost fairly soundly, 364-107. I would enter the final round 5-5. Round 11 would decide if I came out of Lead Painters League 10 with an above or below .500 record.

Round 11: The Words of the Prophet

 

So, what was my idea to wow the voters in Round 11? Well, as you can see above, I would use quantity AND quality to do my best to win this round. I envisioned a scene with a shaman speaking to a crowd of Indian warriors around a campfire. I would use only my favorite and best-painted miniatures in the photograph. I pulled out my boxes and sorted through my 28mm Indians. I wanted only poses that looked natural around a campfire -- no aiming, slashing, running, etc. As I pulled out each figure, I sorted it into 3 categories: "Best of the best," "pretty good," and "not bad."

I ended up using only the first two categories once I began setting up the scene. I dug out my best trees and tried to make the scene look like a night-time one. It took several photographs to adjust where each figure was standing so it wasn't blocking the ones behind it. Even doing this for several shots, I still missed one or two weapons in other's faces. The picture came out great, though (I felt). My thinking, tactically, was that a win was worth 30 points while a newly-painted entry gave only a 10-point bonus. What use getting 10 to lose 30?

I was a bit worried when I saw my opponent's entry on Sunday morning. It featured an amazing Japanese kimono and very characterful miniatures. However, most of the people responding to the post praised my scene and felt it was very cinematic. I started off with a slight lead and widened it to a 296-186 victory by the end of the week.

This victory notched me 15th place out of 34 entrants. I was VERY pleased with my 6-5 record -- especially considering that with the Swiss System, you are matched against entrants with similar skill levels. All in all, Lead Painters League 10 was a success for me. I painted 10 rounds of new entries, and resorted to previously-painted (but newly-staged and photographed) miniatures only in the final round. In the end, I had reduced my unpainted lead pile by 58 new miniatures...yet another definition of success!

Midway Point in the Lead Painters League: 3-3

There have been few pictures on this site of my newly-painted figures, lately. The reason for that is I have decided to once again enter the Lead Painters League. This competition on the Lead Adventure Forum website matches work by painters head-to-head each week. This year, there are 34 participants, and the competition level is very high, in my opinion. After six weeks of the league, I am a solid 3-3.

One new things this year is that matchups are done on a Swiss Chess format. It has had a humorous (for me) result that led me to calling myself the League's Whack-a-Mole. Much like the old arcade game, I am smacked on the noggin, and trounced severely in contests. However, that means I sink towards the bottom of the standings and get matched up against more equal competition. After each loss, I've been fortunate to win my next round. This rises me up in the standings, only to be -- you guessed it -- swatted back down in the next!

One reason I haven't been posting regular updates on what I'm working on is that you receive bonus points in the competition if they are "new" -- with no pictures having appeared of them before on the internet. So, as the Lead Painters League draws near, I tend to draw a veil over what I'm working on and not post updates with pictures of the figs. However, once their round is over, we're free to publicize our figs as normal.

So, without further ado, here are my first six rounds of the Lead Painters League!

Round 1 (Theme round - "Seated/Laying Poses"): Passing the Peace Pipe

These figures are 25mm Old Glory, and are actually from their Plains Indians collection. However, the styles of dress are still similar in many respects to they were in the Eastern Woodlands period. My favorite figures are the two with the wolf headdresses. As always for Lead Painters League entries, I go a bit further in my detail work. The beadwork on the center figure and the detail on the blankets came out pretty nice, I feel. These figs will be good for village raid scenarios, whether as objectives or simply eye candy. I lost this round 275-83.

Round 2: Painted for War

These are probably my favorite miniatures that I have painted for the competition, so far. They are from Bob Murch's "Flint & Feather" line of early Woodland Indians. I picked up 3 packs of them as Christmas presents this year (thank, Mom and Dad!). These are the first batch I painted up. I chose them because they have the wooden slat armor that some early Woodland Indians used. It is an option for players in my current campaign playtest of the Beaver Wars in Ohio. This is a supplement for my French & Indian War rules, Song of Drums and Tomahawks. Check out the warpaint on these guys! I am particularly proud of the three in the middle. It is interesting how my painting of warpaint on Woodland Indians is evolving. Before, I was very conservative on warpaint -- shooting for more of an occasional decoration to give the effect of a painted group. Now, I'm more willing to take risks and cover more and more of the figure with warpaint. Also note the extra detail in the leggings. Much as I love my Conquest Miniatures Indians (the manufacturer of most of my Indians), I have to admit Bob Murch's figs are simply gorgeous! I won this round 435-16.

Round 3: Hunting L'Anglais

 I had the double misfortune in round three of not only facing one of the league's more accomplished painters, but also in that they also chose to paint 28mm Indians. Sometimes I can luck out and win a matchup because my colorful Woodland Indians are a brighter, more eye-catching entry than a perhaps better-painted, but duller colored, opponent. No such chance here! This batch is a mix. The two French Coureurs de Bois (woods runners) are from my staple Conquest Miniatures line. The three Indians are "Skraelings" from Footsore Miniatures. I really like the Skraeling figures and have painted up a number of them already. In fact, having eight of them completed (but not photographed yet) was the tipping point for me entering the competition again this year. I painted up these two French to make 10, which constitutes two entries (minimum five figures). I really like how the French came out. These two are a good example of what I do when painting miniatures that are supposed to have a fairly uniform look. Coureurs de Bois tended to have red caps and white shirts. I used a tan color for the basecoat of one and a light gray for the other. Drybrushing them white makes them look similar but different. I used two different shades of red for the hats, too. Despite all this work, though, I was thoroughly crushed this round, 474-18.

Round 4: Guard the Canoes

So, a pattern was developing that would hold true for at least the first six rounds. I lose on odd numbered rounds, and win on even-numbered ones. The Whack-a-Mole effect. I get thoroughly beaten and then drop down far enough to be matched up against someone more at my skill level in the subsequent round. Were these figures better than the previous, "Hunting L'Anglais" entry? I don't think so. In fact, when you take into the account the Frenchmen, I like that entry better. To be fair, my favorite in this round is the guy in the center with the blue leggings. The color combination of red and blue stands out, and I really like his warpaint and tattoos. These five figures are more from Footsore Miniatures "Skraeling" line. The three with warclubs are my own modification. The figures come with spears, which were kind of out of fashion by the time of the French & Indian War period that I most of my games cover. They are simply a paperclip with a bead on it, covered in blue tack and glue. This was by far my closest match of the competition, so far. I barely squeaked out a win -- 254-231. My opponent was a very good painter -- one that, I generally consider superior. To check out his entry and make your own call, click here.

Round 5 (Theme Round, "High Middle Ages"): Fearsome Friars

This is the first matchup where I thought I should have won when I ended up losing. No criticism of my opponent's entry, but I was thinking my friars would pull this one out. These are Old Glory 25mm Monks. I know that Old Glory figures are not highly thought of among the Europeans that make up the bulk of the members of the Lead Adventure Forum. So, I pulled out all the stops to jazz them up. I painted them a base tan color, then applied a series of medium brown washes to give a better shading effect. I then applied a very light tan dry brush to set off the highlights that had been covered by the wash. It was actually very refreshing to paint these figures. No warpaint, no tattoos, no packs and pouches and sundry festooned all over the figures! It was fun to get out my scratch-built monastery with beehive huts to stage the photo. Alas, even the setting (and chickens and goats) could not help the doomed friars pull out this match. I lost 295-112.

Round 6: Sisters Tending 3 Sisters

 This was my least favorite of my six entries, so far. I almost went back and re-photographed it prior to the deadline for the round. However, I decided that they looked good enough and stayed with my original submission. These are more villagers from Old Glory's 25mm Plains Indians collection. However, I decided I liked the stark, black and red pattern on the central Indian woman. And I also felt the detail on the dresses of the two Indian girls was good. The faces I wasn't overly pleased with, but Old Glory does not always give you the best sculpts to work with! The "Three Sisters" corn pieces are my own scratch-built creation. For more information on how I did them, check out my entry on Three Sisters elsewhere on the blog. As I type this, I am way ahead in this matchup. Once again, are these figures better than the ones I've lost with? No, it is simply a more favorable matchup. I am winning this one 377-37 right now with just a few hours to go in voting.

So, that sums up the first half of the league (there will be 11 instead of the normal 10 rounds). My record sits at a solid 3-3. Considering the level of the competition, I am quite happy with how things are progressing...!

Women and Children...Definitely not First!

    25mm Old Glory Indian villagers - the one on the left is probably my favorite of the batch

I think this batch of seven 25mm miniatures broke the record for sitting on my desk, half-painted. A complete lack of motivation kept them there, as weeks rolled by into months. It is not that the figures themselves were unattractive, uninspiring, or difficult to paint. The six Indian women and one child wore deerskin dresses or the occasional cloth blanket. They had not equipment to speak of and were relatively cleanly cast miniatures -- especially for Old Glory. It is just that the "painting bug" -- as I used to call it -- had fled into some hidden spot.

I rallied a week ago, though, and was able to polish them off this week. With the restart of the Beaver Wars campaign playtest looming, I would possibly need Indian civilians soon. So, it was good old deadline pressure that drove me, doubtless. Far more reliable than the bite of any shy painting bug, it seems needing to get something done for a project is what motivates me most consistently. I know that I used to treasure my hours of painting miniatures because of the therapeutic relaxation that it provided. Am I losing this? I hope not.

    I used brighter colors on the cloth blankets and more faded, dull ones on the fringed, deerskin dresses

Anyway, I had been on the lookout for suitable Native American civilians for a couple years before my friend Mike happened across these. He was looking at Old Glory's 25mm catalog online when he noticed they made a package of Plains Indians villagers. Mike had noticed they looked very similar to depictions of villagers of Eastern Woodland Indians we'd seen. Now, if you're familiar with Old Glory, you know their figures come in large packages -- 30 figures, in this case. Mike decided he didn't need 30 and offered to split the bag with me. We'd divvied them up at Cincycon earlier this Spring. These seven were the first I had prepped and begun painting for the tabletop. My motivation had stalled when their skin and the basecoat on their deerskin dresses had been applied.

I'm not the biggest fan of Old Glory. Their greatest selling point is their very reasonable pricing. However, these poses weren't bad, for the most part. Some were actually very nice. So, they were fun to paint up once I got my mojo back. For their deerskin outfits, I used a variety of medium brown to light tan shades. I applied a lighter tone to each as a dry brush, and then added accents and pattern decorations in dull reds and faded blues. The cloth blankets were done in much brighter colors -- all with a patterned border or series of stripes. Once again, I referred to my copy of The Narrative Art of Robert Griffing: The Journey Continues. It is my indispensable tome for what Eastern Woodland Indians looked like. 

    Several generations of Indian villagers depicted...the little girl looks remarkably self-possessed!

I really like how they turned out. I think the patterns and decorations on their dresses really make them pop and appear realistic. As strange as it may seem, I was actually inspired to paint up the rest of my allotment of the figures. When you think how long they sat unpainted on my desk, that's all the more remarkable. Need won out, though, and instead a batch of Footsore Miniatures Skraelings won out, and sit primed and next in line. My playtest group may be much larger for this second go-around of the Beaver Wars. So, I'm figuring I'll need more Indians who aren't armed with a musket, and instead hold bows or hand weapons, as theses do.

Still, the women and children may be next. A few of my scenarios for the campaign require civilians. So, I DO need them...right?

Can I call them the "Stink-eye" Tribe?

    28mm Old Glory Indians (well, one is a Falcon fig -- can you guess which one?) from the "Stink-eye Tribe"

I am sure that sometime during my decades of painting miniatures it took me longer to complete a batch of figures than these. However, I can't think of any recent examples. These 8 Old Glory 28mm bow-armed Indians have been partially painted and sitting on my desk (or conveniently hidden out of sight in a drawer) for months. Not years, but definitely quite a few months! Well, they're done, now. I want to call them the "Stink-eye Indians" because they have been sitting there, glaring at me, for so long, impatiently waiting to be done.

My friend Mike gave them to me when he purchased a horde of them at a flea market for a great deal. I needed more bow-armed Indians for my Beaver Wars campaign playtest, so I eagerly bumped them ahead of other projects in the queue. I wouldn't say I lost all motivation to paint shortly after I started on them, but I certainly had a lot of other things jump up and grab my attention. It didn't help that they were Old Glory figures, either. To me, Old Glory is the minimum of baseline of quality in historical miniatures. If you go much lower, it is not really worth investing your time in them. They aren't great figures, but they aren't horrible, either. They certainly do not hold a candle to my usual Conquest Miniatures. But when Mike handed me a batch of these for free (my favorite price, I admit), I chose to paint them over putting in a new order with Conquest.

    More Old Glory"Stinkeyes" ready to participate in my Beaver Wars playtest!

Since they weren't the world's most stunning miniatures, I decided to experiment a bit on them when it came to warpaint. I am normally fairly conservative when it comes to warpaint on my Indian miniatures. However, I tried out a couple whole torso warpaint schemes. Plus, I used a different technique for the red paint on the scalp. I actually liked how both experiments turned out. So, though these will never be my favorite figures in my collection, I was able to use my painting of them to improve my skills a bit.

Next up, is a batch of 7 28mm Indian women produced by (wait for it...) Old Glory. Once again, my O.G. pusher Mike purchased a batch of these online and asked if I wanted to split them with him. Since there is a decided shortage of 28mm Native American women, I agreed. After this, I think I want to take a break from Indians. Not sure what it is that I'll paint, but I can definitely use a change of pace. Hopefully, it won't take me as long to complete the Old Glory women as it did the men of the Stink-eye tribe!

Indian Youths from 2 Different Manufacturers

As I get closer to beginning playtest of my campaign rules covering the 17th-18th century Beaver Wars here in Ohio, I realized I needed more figures armed with bows. And specifically, figures that could pass as Indian "youths." One of the aspects of the campaign is players will create their army list for tabletop battles immediately prior to the game. An option they have is to choose Indian youths -- weaker, less effective figures -- to bulk out their numbers, if they desire. Seeing as how I have few to no figures that fit that category, I decided it was time to get some painted up!

    Footsore Miniatures "Skraelings" painted up as Indian youths

At Historicon 2014, I'd purchased one pack of four "Skraelings" from Footsore Miniatures. When I'd seen them in the dealer area, I was immediately struck by their clean, simple lines. I figure that Indian youths will have less equipment than others because they have not had a chance to accumulate any. The fact they were armed with bows was perfect, too. Youths probably would not be entrusted with a firearm until they became much more common that was typical during the Beaver Wars. I was almost scared away by the fact that the hand with the bow is detached and you have to glue it in. I am NOT a fan of "assemble your own" figures. Those boxes of plastic figures from Wargames Factory are my own private vision of the inner rings of Hell!

I persevered, though, and purchased one pack of four. Somehow, in showing the figures to my friends, a hand/bow piece was lost. Luckily, I was able to find a suitable replacement in my 28mm Dark Ages miscellaneous bags. The hands have a pin end which fit into a hole on the wrist stump fairly well. Still, I would rather not have to glue anything together on my 28mm miniatures -- which is probably another reason I love Conquest Miniatures Indians so much. There's plenty of variety there -- no need for kit-bashed variety created by mixing and matching weapons and body parts.

The figures were incredibly simple to paint, and I will likely order some more soon. There are two main poses - one running and one standing and firing. Each type has a slight big of variety, i.e., the two running poses are marginally different. I like the long, flowing, "Conan the Barbarian" type hair that they are sculpted with. It looks very much like what I picture an Indian youth.

    25mm RAFM Indian Archers

The last two figures I painted in this batch of six are Indian archers from RAFM. Theses are smaller (and thinner) than today's 28mm figures. So, they fit the bill for Indian youths, as well. The detail is noticeably worse than either the Footsore Miniatures or the normal Conquest Miniatures that I paint up. However, I had them in my unpainted lead drawer, so onto the desktop they went.

Next up on my desk are three 28mm Pulp figures. With the conclusion of Dakota Smith's Oriental Adventures first story arc, my friend Tom has volunteered to run the next adventure. That means that *I* get to play. Which means I need my own league. It was fun to dig through my Pulp drawer and pick out three figures and create a back story for them. That's for next update, though...

Lead Painters League 8, Round 9

"Wampum or womp them" -- my Round 9 entry featuring more 28mm Conquest Miniatures Indians. I won this round 380-112, bettering my record to 5-4. Incidentally, it guarantees I will end up at least with a .500 record, which was my goal for this third time entering the contest.

So, to me, this round would decided if I met my goal of a .500 record or not. I didn't have a lot of confidence in winning the next and final round, which was a WW I theme. In this round I was submitting more 28mm Conquest Miniatures Indians. I feel they are one of my strong points, and I tend to do fairly well with them.

This batch included a chief holding a belt of wampum, along with four warriors. So, I decided to call it "Wampum or womp them" -- meaning, will you accept our belt of peace or do we go to war? I really liked the look of the figure and wanted to make sure I did a good job on it. So, as always, I leafed through my Robert Griffing book, which contains dozens of painting by the specialist in depicting native Americans. I found a particularly striking blanket worn by a chieftain and adapted its gold on dark blue colors to the figure. I also used more washes to give a range of color rather than simply base coating and dry brushing. I tend to add more highlights to, a technique I've learned from Joe -- the artist behind the website An Hour of Wolves and Shattered Shields (http://www.hourofwolves.org/). He is ahead of me on so many levels in painting, but he tends to add in multiple lighter layers in a single color, and I've tried to replicate his work, even though I don't have his skill or talent. The rest of the warband were bare chested, so I put extra effort in on the tattoos.

I posed the group of five in front of some of my Acheson Creations longhouses. The Indian style palisade behind them is also from Acheson Creations. I highly recommend everything put out by Acheson. Their resin is deeply detailed which makes dry brushing these a snap. The scalp poles are scratch built, while the cookpot and hide stretcher are 1/72 scale plastic pieces from toy sets.

I was highly gratified by this win, as I was matched up against a painter of similar skill level. So far in this season, I had been beaten by all the painters of superior skills and lost to all those of what most would judge a tad below my skill level. I don't say that to sound arrogant, but I would say I am a better painter technique wise than I was, say, five years ago. It is not a judge of potential, but at where somebody is on their level of learning. Anytime someone tells *me* "I could never paint that...!", I respond it is simply practice. You get better with each figure you paint. So, it was nice to win one against a painter I judge to be mid-tier, like myself.

Next round is the finale, and a WW I theme, so we'll see how I finish the league...!

Lead Painters League 8, Round 8

 

"Regardez les bois!" -- 28mm Foundry French infantry -- was my Round 8 entry. I ended up winning fairly solidly, 435-36, raising my record to 4-4.

I went into this round being pessimistic about my chances. I was 3-4, and in my opinion, these 5 French line infantry from the Seven Years War were one of my weakest entries. Most people rave about Foundry 28mm figures, but I felt these weren't the greatest. Their faces, for example, were shapeless blobs that I had to work really hard to bring out some definition. The rather bland pearl-gray uniforms would also work against me, I felt. I did like my idea for the scene I would photograph. Calling the picture, "Regardez les bois!" (Look at the Woods!), I thought the Indians emerging from the trees aiming their weapons at the wagon escorts gave it a nice implied violence and action.

As it turned out, this one was a fairly resounding win. I was matched against some 28mm Uruk-hai that were painted in a very dark color scheme, which made it difficult for voters to see the detail. So, I ended up winning 435-36 and raising my record to 4-4. That put my goal of ending this league with a .500 record (5-5) within reach. I would only have to win one of the next two rounds to attain it.

The figures were painted a very light gray first, then given a thorough dry brush of white on top. The blue cuffs and other trim were given a couple shades of lighter dry brush to give them a dash of color. I continued with my new way of doing European style flesh, too. I give them a base coat of ordinary, somewhat ruddy flesh. I then doing a dark orange wash over the flesh areas. I then pick out the highlights with a very light flesh tone. This method worked well for my earlier Rogers Rangers entry, and I decided to stay with it. I like the contrast it provides against the red brown basecoated Indians.

All in all, I think these figures will look fine on the tabletop. They are no works of art like some of their Indian opponents, but they will make a solid addition to my French & Indian War scenarios.

Lead Painters League 8, Round 7

 

"Raptors? They bred raptors?" -- my round 7 entry, that went down to defeat 350-144. I honestly felt they had a good chance, but they were matched against some incredibly colorful 28mm Conquest Miniatures Indians...hey! That's not fair...!

I actually had these guys done before the league started. I planned them as a change of pace since I was submitting so many French & Indian War themed rounds. Wouldn't you know it? They got matched against some very well-painted 28mm Conquest Miniatures Indians...! I guess it is only fair, considering how many rounds of those types of figs I've submitted in my three Lead Painters Leagues...ha, ha!

I broke new ground on technique in the subtle banding of the raptors. I did several layers of watered down paint for each stripe, and the results really repaid the effort, in my opinion. These are some of the most subtly shaded figures I've ever painted, in my opinion. Maybe TOO subtle, considering my opponent's bright colors. Oh well...*I* was happy with them.

The eggs, if you're curious, are last-minute rolls of blue tac that I was inspired to throw into the scene. I dropped to 3-4 after this round, continuing my tradition of losing anything resembling a close race. The voting was about 70/30 in my opponent's favor. The good thing, though, is I have yet to be "blown out." Everything is no worse then this ratio. This has kept me in the middle of the pack, and I am usually the highest placer for contestants with the same record. I've decided that my goal for this league is to end up at least 5-5. I was 4-6 in both of my previous ones, so I figure it is a good goal...

Lead Painters League 8, Round 4: 28mm Conquest Miniatures "Winter" Indians

NOTE: I changed this to my Round 4 entry after photographing it...

 

My Round 4 entry in the Lead Painters League: Winter Hunt. These 28mm Conquest Miniatures Indians came up short against a well-painted entry 380-128, dropping me to 2-2 in the league.

In honor of the cold and snowy winter we've had this year, I thought I should paint up Conquest Miniatures' pack of 28mm Indians in winter dress. Even though round 2 will be right around April, I wouldn't be surprised if winter has yet to release us from its grasp. I realize now that this probably wasn't the most practical purchase I've ever made. Four of the five Indians I painted up are wearing snow shoes -- which means I'll have to flock them on a snowy type base. That means they won't match the rest of my Indians, and will look quite out of place on an ordinary, non-winter battlefield. Oh well...I bought them because they looked cool. And whether I find many uses for them on the tabletop or not, they will still fulfill that purpose...!

Although the pack contained six miniatures, I am trying to be ultra efficient in this Lead Painters League and paint the minimum five figures per round -- at least when I do 28mm figs. I decided to be even more efficient by painting this batch simultaneously with another set of five Indians. Painting 10 28mm figures at a time is probably about as big as I want to go. It was helpful to have them all at the same stage -- base coating, dry brushing, detailing, and so on.

I started with the flesh, like I usually do on 28mm figures. I paint Indians a base coat of Iron Wind Metals Red Brown, then dry brush Howard Hues Middle Eastern flesh, followed by a highlight of Ceramcoat Flesh. One of the figures is in what appears to be a coat made out of animal (bear?) skins. The other four wear thigh length tunics. As I often do when pondering what colors to paint minis, I examined a good source. In this case, "The Narrative Art of Robert Griffing: Vol. II, The Journey Continues." This large book has dozens of reproductions of the artist's paintings. Pretty much all of them are from the French & Indian War period, or right around that time. I picked out my colors, matched them up with the paints I own, and wrote down the details on the temporary cardboard bases I glue figures onto to handle while painting.

Lately, I've been experimenting with using washes instead of simply dry brushing everything. Two of the figures used this technique, while on the other three I employed the more common base coat and dry brush. Since I would be entering these in the contest, I added quite a bit more beadwork and decorative details on the Indians clothing and equipment. When it came time to add their warpaint, I went back to the Griffing book for more inspiration. Though expensive, the book is an incredible resource as Griffing's work is authoritative and highly regarded.

When it came time to wash the figures, a semi-disaster struck. Since I am getting down towards the end of the bottle of ink wash I'd mixed up, I'd noticed it produced a much darker color than I really wanted. So, thinking to thin it down, I added in some distilled water. For some reason, this caused a dirty fog or sorts to appear in different spots on the figures. After all that time and work on them, it was pretty annoying to have this happen. I'd read online that a shot of clear gloss will often "erase" a fog caused by spray clear coats. So, I decided to try something similar here. I purchased a bottle of Vallejo Clear Gloss arcylic resin paint and brushed it on them. Although it did not fix them completely, it did make the surface look beetter.

I was stumped at first on how to produce a snowy base for the miniatures. Then I remember my old method of using Liquitex modeling paste. It produces a white surface that can be made smooth or rough depending on how much water you add after it is applied. First, I glued some rocks or branches down to be poking up through the snow. Then, I carefully applied it -- constantly having to soak up any that had slopped onto the snowshoes of the figures. Once dry, I applied to watered down washes of the lightest blue I own. Snowfields often have bluish shadows, and I wanted to replicate the effect on the miniatures. And finally, wherever the Liquitex cracked as it dried, I covered this up with white glue and applied a thin patch of Woodland Scenics "Burnt Grass." I was very happy with how the snow bases turned out.

In general, I am still disappointed with what the wash did to the figures. This will probably be the last time I use that ink wash on miniatures. Remember, I did a second batch of Indians simultaneously, so there will be one more entry using it. I plan on trying to add some black paint to the Vallejo Clear Flat paint and see how that works. I will come back and add pictures of the painted Indians after this entry has finished its week-long contest.

Lead Painters League, Round 3: Rogers Rangers

 

My Round 3 entry: Rogers Rangers. These 28mm Conquest Miniatures scouted out my second victory in the league, 466-18.

After running my French & Indian War game for 8 players at Advance the Colors 2013, I was overjoyed to see how successful it was and how much the players liked the format. This meant I could plan even larger battles! Note the word "plan," because for that game, I had nearly every miniature I'd painted for that period on the table. Which I naturally interpreted as meaning I needed to buy more figs! I picked up two packs of Conquest Miniatures 28mm Rangers, amongst other things. I sorted through them and snagged the five poses I liked best, and scheduled them to be painted for round 3.

One of the things I like best about participating in the Lead Painters League is that it forces me to improve my skills. For this batch, that meant trying a new washing method to give some depth and shading to their green uniforms. My black washes on green clothes never really seem to come out looking that nice. So, it was time to experiment!

Normally, I start out painting the flesh of a figure first -- you know, the "inside out" method. However, washes can get messy, so I did the Rangers' green jackets first. I took a very pale and sun-bleached green (Ceramcoat Stonewedge Green) as my base coat. Then, came the experimenting. I used Ceramcoat Yew Green for the darker wash color. I put a few drops in the palette and added water. My first consistency was too watered down, and added too little shadows. I added another drop of paint, and it was better. It took a third drop before I was happy with the effect it was giving me.

There are a lot of images online and painting guides to help with Rogers Rangers. They show different varieties. For their Indian-style leggings, I chose to make them leather for better contrast. The really interesting part of the Conquest Miniatures Rogers Rangers is how UN-uniform they are. From what I've read, that rings very true. Many times they personalized their equipment. Their jackets may have been one of the few uniform things about them. These figures hold true to that -- especially when it comes to their headgear.

And finally, these were the first batch of figures that used only the new final black wash method I have started. I am using a mix of Vallejo's Glossy Varnish and Glossy Black. I like how it brings out the shadows better than the previous ink wash I was using.

I will post a picture of them painted once voting on their round is complete.

Lead Painters League 8, Round 2: On the Warpath

 

"On the Warparth," 28mm Conquest Miniatures Indians -- my entry for Round 2

I have always joked that every Sunday morning, when I wake up and check the matchups in the Lead Painters League, I'm secretly dreading seeing myself matched up against "Frank." Well, it finally happened. Frank is a German painter who participated in my first Lead Painters League (#6), but took last year's #7 off. He is without a doubt one of the most skilled painters on the Lead Adventure Forum. And quite possibly, my favorite painter -- at least alongside "Dr. Matthias." So, when I saw that I was matched up against Frank I knew this round would be a loss.

I was disappointed only in that this entry is my favorite of my first four. But that's the way it goes in the LPL! Your best entry ends up matched up against an elite one, while your lesser submission goes up against a more beatable opponent. My disappointment soon disappeared, though, when I saw the score in the match.  No, I wasn't winning. I was holding down close to 40% of the vote, though. To me, against Frank, that is a victory. It is not just a moral victory, but almost an affirmation that, hey, maybe I'm not such a slouch painter! Frank usually slaps down his opponents in the 90%-10% range. And here I was -- an admittedly middle tier painter at best -- giving him a run for his money.

Honestly, I think it is not only because of the miniatures -- which I *did* put all kinds of details I normally wouldn't onto -- but also the staging. My cliff pieces that I created last summer turned out great, and I've talked about them on this blog more than once. They really set off the photo, and may have swayed a number of votes. Couple that with Frank's submission not being one of his usual, drop-dead, stunners, and I gathered quite a few points in this round. Votes equals points, and I came away from my 303-186 loss with a handful more than I would have expected, going in against my opponent. So, in this case, I came away happy with a loss...!

A batch of Frontiersmen to add to my French & Indian War troops

    28mm Frontiersmen for the French & Indian War

When I came back from Advance the Colors 2013 last month, I was really jazzed up about the success of my French & Indian War games. That next Monday I was sifting through my unpainted lead and set out these seven frontiersmen. I believe most of them are by 28mm Foundry, but I wouldn't swear to it. There looks to be two different sculptors' styles, at least.

    These guys are meant to be able to play the role of settlers, French Coureur de Bois, or even Rangers

The first week I blazed away at them fairly quickly. Then I got sidetracked by my Southeast Asian Temples, which started stealing more hobby time from finishing these guys off. So, they say about 3/4's of the way completed on my painting desk for a couple weeks. I finally got back to work on them last weekend and forged my way through "Strap Heaven." These figs have more straps with various bags and other equipment festooned all over their bodies. I like that word...festooned. I try to do each set in a different color to add interest.

    A French Canadian militia man with a pirate figure able to stand in as courier de bois or other assorted inebriated frontiersman

Anyway, I am happy with how these guys turned out. The one guy is obviously a French Canadian militia, while another is a pirate figure that a friend won as a prize in a game at Historicon 2013. He looks like he'd pass as a drunk-as-a-skunk French courier de bois, so that is how I painted him up. I expect most appearances he makes on the tabletop will be as eye candy or simply window dressing. You never know, though. He could be some sort of objective in a pulp game...try to coax clues from the belligerent, drunk French woodsman!

    "Zut alors, Reny! Beaujolais again...?"

I am definitely stocking up on my collection of European troops for my French & Indian War skirmishes. I suppose I'm getting close to having enough to run an Indians on settlers game. I like these figures to be able to, well, wear several hats on the tabletop. I want them to be good settlers or frontiersmen. I also want them to be stand-in courier de bois or even Rangers. Outside of regular troops, very few men wore uniforms in this period. Most had civilian dress, which I tried to recreate with these guys.

    Three assorted 28mm frontiersmen

On the painting desk now are 5 Benedictine monks. They are meant to used for Dark Age skirmish games, but since monastic attire didn't change much through the centuries, I could use them in pulp games, as well. Speaking of which, the first batch of temples is nearing the end of the painting stage and about to enter the flocking one. Hopefully, I'll have figures of them soon!

    I really like how the equipment -- especially the Indian-style bags -- came out