Moorish Spearmen - Second Batch Finished

My second batch of Gripping Beast Andalusian spearmen for my Saga Moorish army

I was so excited with how the first batch of Andalusian spearmen for my Saga Moorish army turned out that I went out and bought more paints! I am doing most of the robes in pale, almost silk-like colors. There were a few colors were I simply didn't have a paler version in that tone, or I wanted a more medium shade than the pale color I did have. So, I stopped by JoAnne Fabrics (who carries the Delta Ceramcoat craft paints I use for most of my colors) and picked up four new colors to use on this batch.

This batch of eight figures included two bannermen - and no, that banner isn't hand-painted!!

The first things I noticed when I got the eight Gripping Beast Moor "Hashdid Warriors" out to clean them up was that two of them were actually standard bearers -- not ordinary spearmen. They had both hands gripped on the place where you would add a spear with no weapon or shield. Okay. Nothing wrong with that! Banners always make an army look more impressive on the tabletop! The Gripping Beast Moors clean up easily and have very little flash. As mentioned in my first post on the Moorish army, these figures have the shields cast on and open hands for you to put in a wire spear. And that's the way I like it! No drilling out fists that are too small to hold a weapon and break apart. No epoxying anything together other than the spear in their hands -- woo-hoo! Makes my job easier, as I am super glue challenged. To ensure the spears have a firm attachment, I glue the figures to the base first so that they have two points of contact -- the hand and the base.

The overhand jabbing or throwing post is different from the rest who hold their spears resting on the ground (base)

However, the batch of eight also had two who were in a throwing or jabbing overhand pose. That meant the spear could not be attached to the base and would have only one point of contact - the right hand. Hopefully, this would be enough and I wouldn't have them popping off. In addition, I glue the spears on first before priming or painting. I figure all those layers of paint are just like extra layers of glue.

This pose had a different shield than the others (North African, I would guess), which were mostly tear drop shaped

Once all figures were cleaned, epoxied to their base, and spears put in, it was time to prime them. Unlike most other painters ( I think?), I don't use a spray primer. I brush on ordinary white paint with a thick brush as primer. I have tried black priming and simply haven't mastered the art of painting over black prime. The only thing I consistently prime black are buildings and terrain. I think the white primer makes it easier to see the details and doesn't require additional coats to cover when using lighter colors.

The robe and cloak patterns of my second batch of Andalusian spearmen -- two of my six army points are complete!!

The next step was to sit down with a Post-it Note and figure out what I wanted to do for each figure's robe pattern. I labeled the base of each figure A through H, and made corresponding sections on the note. Some of the patterns I'd used on the last batch I used again (but with different colors). I also came up with some new patterns for this batch. I have to tip my hat again to my friend Joe, aka Neldoreth of An Hour of Wolves and Shattered Shields blog fame. His gallery for his Moorish army was my primary inspiration. Of course I used my four new colors -- a pale, almost turquoise blue, a light terra cotta orange, a pale pink, and lavender. I am a big proponent of planning what you want to paint beforehand. Normally, I glue my figures to squares of cardboard which are marked up with colors for tunics, cloaks, paints, etc. Since the Moors are glued to their actual 1" square bases, I don't have the room, so fall back on a Post-it Note.

This spearman exemplifies the "medium" leathery shade and highlights rather than drybrushing I did on the skin

Another thing I do differently on these Gripping Beast Moorish spearmen than usual is NOT paint the flesh first. I actually do the robes first, because I dry brush the robes and it would be a pain to make sure that doesn't slop over on the skin. After the robes are dry brushed, I paint the flesh. I really do need to get a better brush for my dry brushing. I have one incredibly tiny one, and one rather big brush for this technique. I need a medium sized one. I prefer stiff, square cut brushes for dry brushing, and the last time I was at Michaels I simply couldn't find an acceptable medium sized one. Time to get off my lazy butt and find another one!

This is the lightest flesh shade of the three I used on my Cosmopolitan Andalusian army

On this second batch of spearmen, I simplified the flesh tones down to three. I got rid of the lightest shade I'd used on the first batch, and went with a medium brown, leathery color, and light tan. I decided to try highlighting the flesh rather than dry brushing it with this batch. In this case, I use the next shade lighter and brush it on in a watered down consistency on the nose, cheeks, knuckles, and other high points. I do like how the skin turned out better on this batch, so will probably stay with this method for the Moorish army.

Two of the poses had cloaks in addition to the tunics, so I would paint one with a pattern and the other with a border

The most time-consuming part of painting these eight figures is applying the robe patterns after the base coat is done and dry brushed. I use my lighted magnifier and tiny, golf pencil sized brush and spend several hours on this stage. I need to take a couple breaks, as my back gets stiff nowadays when I paint too long. I was really happy with how the patterns turned out. I tend to do about half with patterns over the entire robe, and the other half with fancy borders on the hems, cuffs, and sometimes neck. Not only does this give variety, it also cuts down on the number of time-consuming patterns I have to paint! The bordered hems tend to look very nice -- every bit as good as the dots I used for the patterns.

I like the way the decorated hem borders look, too -- between them and the patterns, they give a nice varied look

I also made it a point on this batch to plan to paint some turbans in contrasting colors to the robes, and others the same color as the robes. This adds to the color of the army, and variety. The next step after the robes and turbans was to paint the colored sash that these Moorish figures have in lieu of a belt. At this stage, I like to line up the figures, open up my paint drawer, and look at the figures and say, "Hmmm...." Once I choose a paint I take it out of the drawer and sit it behind that figure in line.

Another thing I like about these Gripping Beast figures is they have a minimum of equipment, which cuts down on painting time. My 28mm Native Americans were festooned with so much equipment that it seemed like I would never finish a figure! These are much more clean -- some figures don't even have a knife or sword...just their spear.

The six shield patterns I painted for this batch -- I am pleased with them, for the most part

The second-most time consuming step is the shield patterns, of course. I pull out another Post-it Note and label boxes for each figure. I will usually take a break at this point and go online and look at various Google images for inspiration. Or Neldoreth's gallery, though with this batch, I leaned on his shields less heavily. Some may wonder why I don't use decals for the shields. I know I should probably give them another try, but my first go at using them was a miserable failure. So, in general, I hand-paint all my shields in every army. I guess it is a badge of honor if it turns out nicely, but it DOES take longer. I was very happy with how the six (yippee...two standard bearers with no shields meant two less to shields to paint!) turned out. My favorite is probably the green shield with black stripe containing Arabic calligraphy -- although the rose looks nice, too.

Photoship and Google Images are my friend when it comes to creating my own banners for my armies!

Once the shields are done, I'm heading towards the wire with the only thing left being the spears, sword and knife sheaths, shoes, and...oh, yeah. The banners. Haha...payback time. So, here's how I do banners. I unabashedly use Google Images and Photoshop to create them on my laptop, then print them off on heavier weight paper at the local office supply store. Sometimes I will find an image I can rip off, er, I mean use "as is." Most times, I create them myself, often with a base black and white clipart image I downloaded. For these two, I did a little research on the excellent Flags of the World website, which not so usefully told me the Andalusian banners were probably "green and white."

I decided rather than a simple, boring half-green, half-white flag that I would use a zig-zag pattern and a band at the top and bottom with Arabic calligraphy. I always tell my students who are struggling to find something they can draw to add the word "clipart" to their search. Following my own advice, I came up with a cool template for my banner. The second banner I decided would be more ornate. I Googled "Islamic patterns" and found a really cool background image. I added in a black and white central scroll with more Islamic calligraphy. It took me about an hour to do these two images in Photoshop, then I export them (correctly sized)  to a flash drive.

The banners are cut out with scissors and then one side of them is painted with white glue and wrapped around the spear. At this stage I mold it into the curve of "flapping in the breeze" shape I want. Once it is dry, I paint the white edges of the trimmed paper in the border color. While I was at it, I also decided to do another banner for my Pictish spearmen and (because I am a nice guy) a banner for Jenny's Viking Shield Maidens. Incidentally, her banner took as much time as the other three combined, but I'll save them for another post. I will also do another post about the flocking look that I am using for this army. In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed my long, rambling post and the pictures of my second batch of Moorish spearmen! Stay tuned for more!!