French 20th Dragoons - AB, Part Three

Hi all,

So here we are on day five of this project having started on Sunday, I have finished the riders last night and have started work on the horses.

There is method to madness here, in that by leaving the horses to last I am allowing the artist oils to dry thoroughly.

Please excuse the quality of these "on the paint table" shots as I am simply trying to illustrate progress. I will post some "beauty" shots at the end so you can see the full effect.

Both Paul and John have highlighted a common issue among us who paint, and that is the speed we are able to turn things around and get jobs done. Obviously this comes down to time available and our ability to discipline ourselves to get on with things. I don't think this is easy as there would be a lot more painting going on than there is.

I am quite pleased with the leopard skin effect on the Officers helmet

The first thing I would say, is "hey guys don't beat yourselves up", at least you are painting which from what I see puts you in the 20% that do. The other 80% are watching or paying someone else to do it. If I achieve anything with this blog, I would really like to inspire and encourage all wargamers to paint their own figures and proudly get them out on the table. I thing it's a big part of our hobby and you miss out if you don't get stuck in.

The other thing is about working on the "psychology of painting", which comes to my point of building self discipline. If you don't paint regularly it might be because you don't have a habit. I seem to remember the training books suggest that to get a new habit you have to do something continuously for thirty days to "embed" it in the behaviours, and that it takes another thirty days for it to become an unconscious habit.

As well as building the habit I have my own personal mantra that helps me deal with a problem that's common to all of us toy soldier collectors, boxes and draws of unpainted lead. I always tell myself that no matter how lovely a figure sculpt looks, it's just a glorified fishing weight until I put paint on figure and get that baby on the table.

As you can see, my method of painting is stage driven and I find this also helps to reinforce the habit by giving me "lines in the sand". I get a great feeling of achievement when I sit down in the evening knowing I have completed another stage in a painting project. This is only reinforced when I sit down to the project the next day and delight at the work done with so much less to do.

I think it's also worth saying that I produce my figures to a plan. Again the training speak says, "Fail to plan, plan to fail". Any plan worth its weight is always written down, and so before any painting, I plan the armies I want to create and write it down, ticking off the units as they get put in the tin.



These are some of the strategies I have used to enable me to move seamlessly from one job to the next, week after week, and start to build forces of multiple units. This process also has to be managed in the time we have available. I am now at the stage that I feel guilty if I don't paint at some time during the day. However I am a family man and time with the ones I love takes precedence over my hobby every time so I paint most evenings at home but always finish off early in the evening to spend time with my wife.

I would end by saying that I find painting a great way to relax after a day/week of work and I don't find it a chore. I think this is important because why would you want to do something if you don't find the fun in it. Most of us have that in our lives anyway when we are at work.

I hope these thoughts are helpful and provide food for thought. I don't for one minute want to suggest that what I do would suit everyone else. We all have to find what works for us, but I do believe that a lot of the stuff that gets in the way of us painting more, more often  is common to all of us. I hope some of my ideas might help you to get the job done.

So back to the 20th Dragoons. I am still on target to get these guys done this weekend so if you have enjoyed the journey so far, stay tuned for the finale.

French 20th Dragoons - AB, Part Two

A good day yesterday, with a successful mid year appraisal out of the way at work, and my wife and younger son away in London visiting Kings University, I was in the mood to get stuck into painting while the house was quiet.

So I decided to get the riders first highlight done and the first colours on the metal work. I started at 7pm with a break mid evening to have tea and watch a "D-Day as it happened" programme I recorded from last month with my eldest son, I painted through to 11.30pm. Thus I post the results this morning, Wednesday 17th July.

Ok so, all first highlights done except the white stuff, which is showing as buff in the pictures. The tricky stuff with these figures is working out the shape of the sabre hand guards when held in the gauntlets, the various straps bracing the muskets and sabre scabbards.

After setting up the last two figures on the right I suddenly realised that what I initially thought were sabre scabbard straps were in fact the coat tails flying backwards in the breeze as this chap commits to the charge. This required the addition of extra yellow to highlight the turn backs that are exposed.

These chaps are in the pre 1812 uniform changes and are on 1801 saddle furniture and using the model 1801 sabres, hence a lot of the metal work is more towards steel rather than brass.

The plan is to have these guys "in the tin", by this weekend with the next two units primed and ready for work next week. I have ten battalions of Xan infantry on their way in the post as I write this, so there's no time to waste. So much to do, so little time, what fun!

Stay tuned for more updates

French 20th Dragoons - AB, Part One

I already have three regiments of French dragoons in my collection, but to play some of the scenarios I have planned I will need at least six possibly eight. The first of these scenarios is to put the Vimiero battle as a whole on to my table, see my Vimiero full fat scenario in the down load section. This game will require six regiments and so I am into putting together the next three.

I have decided to model my French units on those that spent much of their time taking on Wellington's army. Thus the next Regiment of Dragoons will be the 20th, one of the regiments at Albuera.

I thought it might be interesting to show this unit coming together as with the Portuguese I painted earlier in the year and so I will record the process as I go.

The "block painting" begins with the dark base coat applied to the riders and the base horse colours to their mounts

AB figures are a work of art and lack no attention to detail. This requires a bit of homework before starting if you want to get the best from them. I turn to my own library of reference books and colour plates, such as Rousselot where I can make sure I know what each part of the figure is before painting.

However with the resource of the Internet available to most of us, there is no reason not to spend the time getting familiar with the subject.

The Officer and trumpeter get their horses in stand out colours with the bulk of the regiment in chestnuts and browns

I am using the Coat d'Arms range of horse colours for my base colours. I have been really pleased with the coverage and colours.

Picture taken in the evening with all the block work done and ready for the first highlight colours

The great part about three colour block painting is that once you have the foundation colours in place you get a psychological boost knowing that the fun bit, applying the highlights, is coming next and that the models will require less paint as you move through the stages.

Getting into a "painting groove" is all about managing the mind. I try to explain to friends, who have difficulty sitting down and painting, that you have to begin with the end in mind and then get motivated by the completion of each stage. The first stage for me is always a bit laborious, but as I get ever nearer to completion, I find myself getting more enthused imagining how the models will "pop" as the next colours are applied.

AB figures are full of detail that require close attention to get the most from it

The horses after the artists oils have been applied. They will need at least 24 hours to dry thoroughly before further painting

So to summarise the work so far:
The Dragoons, Dark Green coats, saddle furniture, Dark Yellow facings, turn-backs, tops of riding cloak on the valise, trumpeter's coat, Mid Stone, riding breeches, Buff, gauntlets, cross belts, waistcoats, tops of boot leggings, trumpeter's helmet horse hair, Chocolate Brown, muskets, helmet turbans, leather work of saddle, Black, all metal work on helmets, swords, scabbards, boots horse hair main on helmets, chin scales, gilt ornaments on officers horse furniture, trumpeter's trumpet.

For the horse colours just refer to my Portuguese Dragoons post.

British Facings & Lacings for the Vimeiro Campaign

For those who would find it useful, I have put together the detail I have gathered on the colours of British infantry facings and lace, by brigade, for units that took part in the battles of Rolica and Vimeiro.

You can find the PDF in my Resources and Downloads section

Tamiya's Small Pointed Brush - Update

Last December I posted how pleased I was with my newly acquired Tamiya paint brush after a long fruitless search for something reliable and long lasting. It already had had five weeks of use at that time.

I guess I should state up front that I do not hold shares in Tamiya, although based on my feelings for this lovely piece of kit I'm seriously thinking about getting some.

 

The reason why I've posted this now is I was chatting to a friend about painting and stuff to get at Salute, as you do, when I found myself telling him that if he bought nothing else this month he could do a lot worse than getting one of these brushes.

 

So why is it so good? Well bear in mind that I have been painting little toy soldiers for forty years and I've got through a few brushes in my time. I think on average, with using the brush pretty much every day, my brushes lasted, i.e. kept their point, for about three months. I may have been able to increase that slightly by washing them out occasionally in Tamiya paint thinners, that helps get out those microscopic particles of acrylic paint.

 

Ok, so I've now been using the same brush for over five months, working on all the figures I have blogged about in that time which include at least 6 x 24 man battalions of British and French infantry,  12 x Portuguese cavalry, three batteries of artillery, crews guns and limbers and casualty figures plus a few General officers. I think I can also include about forty 28mm Wars of the Roses figures used in our Xmas club game.

 

The "point" is my brush still has one and shows no sign of fraying. In addition I bought two new ones as a back up so at this rate probably won't need a detail brush for the next two to three years.

 

Anyway, if you are thinking about getting a new brush soon, you might want to consider this one.

 

Painting Tutorial Part 3 - British and French Casualties

This final stage is by far the quickest as at this stage we are only applying relatively small amounts of paint. I find I can move quickly from figure to figure adding these highlights. As you can see I have endeavoured to avoid mixing lighter shades of any given colour, but occasionally you will have to.

The Brits with their final touches done

Ok so the final touches include:
Flesh - Vallejo 955 Flat Flesh
Red areas - Vallejo 910 Orange Red
Blue areas - Vallejo 965 Prussian Blue mixed with 820 Off White roughly 2:1
British Canteens - Vallejo 901 Pastel Blue
Brown Trouser/Back Packs - Vallejo 929 Light Brown
Buff Straps/gourds/bread bags, British jacket lacings - Vallejo 976 Buff
Metal work on muskets - Vallejo 865 Oily Steel
Yellow plumes and cuffs/collars - Vallejo 915 Deep Yellow
Green Plumes/chords - Vallejo 967 Olive Green
and lastly the French turn backs start out red, then add Cd'Arms 231 Mid Grey, topped off with Vallejo 820 Off White.

I will finish these guys off with Ronseal acrylic quick drying matt clear varnish, followed by a coat of Vallejo matt varnish thinned 50:50 with water, and that is job done apart from basing, but you know how to do that!!

One thing I would stress is that good reference books should be close at hand during painting, as it is easy to forget what item is what colour. I hope you find these painting guides helpful.

Painting Tutorial Part 2 - British & French Casualties

Now we move on to highlighting the block painting. But, before I go though the stages and colours used, I should point out an error I noticed at the conclusion of the first part. I put up an illustration of a redcoat with buff facings and indicated that these units should have buff straps, forgetting to paint that onto my models!! So I have gone back to the buff figures and repainted their straps with Coat d'Arms 510 Mid Stone.

So continuing my psychological theme, I like to highlight the big areas first so I can see the progress and get a feel for how the figures will look. The next six shots show the figures at the end of that process but before doing the detail areas.

So first up I highlight the flesh with Citadel Kislev Flesh. The redcoats get a highlight of Vallejo 957 Flat Red and the French Blue gets Vallejo 965 Prussian Blue. Whist those two colours are on the pallet I also use the blue on the British canteens and the red on any plumes and shoulder boards and French turn backs.

Redcoats with their first highlights added

The Grey areas get Coat d'Arms 525 Uniform Grey, except the French grey, white areas which get a highlight of Coat d'Arms 231 Mid Grey.

The French with the blue jackets and white waistcoats picked out with highlights

British White trousers and belts get a highlight of Vallejo 820 Off White, and any black surface gets a touch of Vallejo 898 Dark Sea Blue. Finally my Highlander casualty gets a criss-cross pattern on the kilt of Vallejo 896 Extra Dark Green.

The Highlander's kilt with the Extra Dark Green pattern. I also added Vallejo 965 Prussian Blue in the dark blue squares in between the green.

Any brown areas, such as French back packs and Spanish cloth trousers get highlighted with Vallejo 983 Flat Earth. Don't use this on the musket woodwork.

At the end of this part I then do all the detail areas. The next three shots shoe the figures at the end of the detailing stage. Note it is at this stage that I start to add lace detail to colours and cuffs.

Shako plates and brass work including buckles on cross belts, and musket butts and trigger guards, Vallejo 801 Brass. Note with the British I apply a dot of matt black on the cross belts before applying the brass.
Green plumes and shoulder boards - Vallejo 967 Olive Green
Yellow plumes, collars and cuffs - Vallejo 953 Flat Yellow
Bread bags, gourds, buff facings and straps - Vallejo 914 Green Ochre
Steel work on muskets - Vallejo 863 Gunmental
Musket woodwork - Vallejo 875 Beige Brown
French shako chords White = Coat d'Arms Mid Grey, Green = Vallejo 968 Flat Green, Red = Vallejo 985 Hull Red.

Next up Part Three, final highlights and varnish.
 

Painting Tutorial Part 1 - British & French Casualties

I like to paint. I like to spend time getting figures to look right. I have owned figures for many years and I am that kind of wargamer who is prepared to invest a bit of time up front to be able to enjoy looking at those figures over the years to come. I also feel obliged to honour the skill of the sculptor by understanding the detail he/she has managed to capture and make that work stand out by good painting. My technique reflects my commitment to those guiding principles.

I often speak to people who struggle getting their figures painted, and if it is not your first love in wargaming there are other alternatives. However if paying someone else to do it isn't one of them, then mastering a technique and mastering ones self to apply it is very empowering. So I have found painting figures in stages a useful psychological tool to progress a project. The feeling of sitting down to the job knowing that you have already done x y and z helps keep things progressing. I now often spend a minimum of an hour a day working this principle, and my enjoyment of the process has grown accordingly. If you are looking to get better at and spend more time painting then try following this technique. It takes 30 days to build a new habit.

Ok with that pre-amble, what follows is a step by step plan for painting Napoleonic British and French 18mm infantry, that should give you an easy on the eye result.

Typical British Line Fusilier with buff facings, hence buff straps. White straps would be normal for other units

French Line and Light Infantry in the Peninsular War

My painting technique is based on the three colour highlight system, using a base, middle and highlight for each colour. As I am painting my British and French casualty markers I will illustrate each colour as I go.

As with the basing tutorial, I tend to work through my units in three steps, so after priming with a black undercoat, I would block paint in the base coat.

STEP 1 - Base Coat

The British get the flesh pressed

With block painting I am just getting the basic colours set up. I don't leave the primer showing and so paint one colour up to another. The base coat will give all the shadow and delineation I need.

The first colour I start with is the flesh areas using Citadel Ratskin Flesh, don't you just love these silly Game Workshop paint names!! Still never mind the name, I find this shade gives a good dark base to the flesh areas

I find the Ratskin shade gives a good base to flesh

Next colour would be the uniform starting with the coat and for the British red jacket I start with Vallejo 985 Hull Red which gives plenty of depth to all the areas in shadow. In addition, the fusiliers amongst this group, identified by the lack of elite company wings on the jackets get their shako tufts painted as well.

Redcoats in Hull Red

Likewise with the French I start with Vallejo 899 Dark Prussian Blue. One of my casualties will be a Legere and so I have given him blue trousers as well.

French in Dark Prussian Blue

I then move on to typically grey areas, such as rolled greatcoats, trousers, gaiters and white areas such as lapels, belts and waistcoats on my French, not the British. The Grey compliments the blue on the French as a base coat. The British redcoat needs a warmer base coat for the white areas.

I like to give my figures a campaign look and so some of my figures will be wearing Spanish material for their trousers. This was typically a local brown cloth and I use Vallejo 941 Burnt Umber.



Grey great coats and gaiters

Next up any muskets and French back packs are painted a Chocolate Brown, either Coat d'arms 519 or Vallejo 872. Note I don't worry too much about painting the whole musket and pack brown. We will come to the metalwork and straps later.

Any areas where the white goes is grey

 

Did you spot the mistake? The Highlander above just got his knees painted! I often miss a figure, so just go back and fill in the bit you missed ready for the next step.

Muskets and Back Packs plus brown Spanish cloth

The final main areas to cover are the base colour for the British white summer trousers which I use

Vallejo 976 Buff  and while I'm at it I'll tip the white of the fusilier tufts



The last main colour to do is Matt Black, which I now go over the shakos, boots, sword scabbards/bayonet frogs, British back packs, ammo pouches and metalwork on the muskets

Once these main areas are done I will add a few base colours to the detail areas such as cuff and collar facing colours (Hull Red, Dark Prussian Blue etc) , voltigeur/grenadier shoulder boards, bread bags (Coat d'arms 510 Mid Stone) and water canteens (Dark Prussian Blue), and water gourds for the French (Coat d'arms 510 Mid Stone).

Note I don't paint the chords on the shakos. I like to highlight the shako before I add any detail.

The final area to complete Step One is to prepare the British belts and straps with the Vallejo Buff and the Highlanders kilt with Dark Prussian Blue.

That's about it, you can now walk away and look forward to the fun part of this paint job. Next up we start to highlight and make these little chaps start to "Pop".