Laser-like focus

Painting is still largely restricted to evenings chez-nous. I am fortunate in having on-going work (I have been working chiefly from home since last year), plus some voluntary work that I do and there is always loads to do and/or to fix around our place. Not to mention getting myself into a play-by-email game of 'Diplomacy', which demands a bit of attention.

With painting I have a laser-like focus... that is if the broad ‘plastic mountain’ constitutes a focus! Of course, lack of focus is common to many (most?) wargamers, but I suspect that I have a very different approach from most when it comes to putting paint to figures.

I have literally hundreds of figures on the go at once. I switch my focus to progress some more than others during any particular painting 'session'. It means that it is quite a while before I bring figures to completion, but when I do there are many of them.

The figures that are at the front of the current painting queue: WWI French & German infantry (foreground), Napoleonics at three scales and Saxons, early Russians and Swedes of the Great Northern War.

 

Napoleonics at three scales: 2 mm at left, 1/72 at right and 1/32 at rear.

 1/72nd scale Napoleonics, most of which are almost completed. Ykreol, Hat, Airfix, Zvezda in foreground, Airfix and Italeri (as Vistula Legion) behind.

1/32nd scale Napoleonics, French line infantry and Russe Deutsch Legion (31st infantry regiment), Airfix, Armies in Plastic and Hat figures. These are for my 'telescoping scales concept'. Initially I'll use these for brigade-scale rules (Napoleon's Battles and Volley and Bayonet), but they could also suit for small-scale rules (Chef de Bataillon or Company Commander).

2 mm Napoleonics (French infantry, cavalry and artillery) almost completed and some river sections (all Irregular Miniatures). As with the 1/32 scale figures they are for my 'telescoping scales concept'. The blocks could be battalions, regiments, brigades or even divisions or corps. I think that I need to tone down the blue of the rives and lighten the bases for the figures!

2 mm Napoleonic French on the go. Keen-eyed readers will observe the 5e chevau-légers-lanciers at front right of photo.

Another departure from the norm, in recent years I have moved to painting figures after gluing them on their bases, including cavalrymen as ‘one piece castings’ (i.e. glued to horses). I find them easier to handle and any detail that is difficult to reach I will never see anyway! Many years ago I was introduced to the idea of using pill containers as palettes, so ‘decant’ paint into them to use (partly to protect the main paint in the container from deterioration). I put a small amount of the paint that I am using into an old pill case (different sizes for colours that require a lot or a little). I have the obsession about using up each colour that I decant, as far as possible, hence I go looking, for example, for figures with bits of red to paint, if I have some of that left over after having painted red coats, or such. Having a lot of figures on the go helps with this!

Currently Great Northern War figures (Mars Saxon infantry plus Strelets Russian dragoons and Zvezda Swedish artillery (the latter two as Saxons) and also some Strelets and Zvezda streletsi as early Russians) are getting first dibs of the paint. As I noted in a post back in 2014 Mars figures fit in the category of being ‘ugly’ in the raw plastic, but looking great painted and being lovely to paint as one finds more and more detail.

Currenty getting first dibs on the paint: Great Northern War Saxons, Swedes and some early Russians (Mars, Zvezda, Strelets figures).

Looking a bit more closely at the Saxon infantry. Mars figures that look a bit rough unpainted but look really good when painted, are most enjoyable to paint and have loads of detail.

I now only have flesh, silver, some white, some yellow facings, buff belts/some trousers and painting horses to go on these Great Northern War figures—as far as the base coat is concerned. Once that is finished, I’ll black-wash them plus the WWI French and Germans and Napoleonics that I will also have got to the end of stage 1. I'll then put on my basing mix (paint, PVA glue, sand/tea leaf/coffee grounds), next comes the final bits of touching up and highlighting before varnishing and a good coat of Plastidip. As with most things in life, the last 10% always takes a while.

I threw the Great Northern War figures into the painting mix a week ago because I took delivery of ’Twilight of the Sun King’ rules and want to do a small game with them (Battle of Fraustadt initially at brigade scale). These rules were brought to my attention by a review on the marvellous 'Un Marius Sinon Rien' blog. After reading a further review on wargamer.com website I decided to give them a go. I have nearly enough Swedes, but needed some Saxons to oppose them. I’ll compare the rules with the rules GåPå that I have tried once and liked and likely also the Polemos Great Northern War rules (by Nick Dorrell one of the authors of ’Twilight of the Sun King’). I intend to keep going with painting Great Northern figures so as to ‘finish’ Swedish, Saxon, Polish-Lithuanian, early Russian (and perhaps some later Russian and Danish) armies. As I paint units for these I’ll be including further Napoleonics (each scale), WWI and perhaps some 1/32 WW2.

WWI French and German infantry. I suddenly and unexpectedly got the urge to do WWI wargaming late last year.

Looking a bit more closely at the Germans. Fun to paint and I found them surprisingly fiddly with all their 'kit' in different shades of brown and grey. The brown blob on the centre-left base is an example of my basing mix.

Example of a pill container that I use as a 'palette' to decant a little paint (and sometimes to mix colours). Fortunately its a rare day when I take a pill, so I get the empties from other people.

Once the figures above have been completed, these 1805 French, Russians and Austrians will be first in line to get the paint. The Airfix British grenadiers of the American Revolutionary War are painted as grenadier companies of the 'Oudinot grenadiers'. Voltiguers of same above them (and a Russian gun). Russian infantry second from the bottom and Austrian grenzer in the bottom cake box.

I really enjoy painting and get ‘withdrawal symptoms’ when not able to do any (work, other commitments, too hot).