The Supply Train

Here is our collection of porters, water-bearers, dhoolies, camels, oxen and our (so far) sole wagon. They are all pictured below in a supply train of sorts with a small British escort and mounted officer. We have two Front Rank four wheeled ammunition wagons and two Front rank medieval wagons to be painted and added to the collection, along with more Foundry oxen and porters. (Click the images to enlarge)

The supply train

Front Rank medieval wagon

Front Rank ammunition wagon

Of particular note is the new cloth they are all on, which I picked up from a Bunnings hardware store. It was the plainest and largest I could find and for $17.95 was pretty good value. It is actually meant to be a painters drop cloth and was even made in India. Authentic! My biggest concern is the uniform color, which compared to our usual sheet is quite obvious. I do hope to remedy the blandness by copying the Lardies' own Sharp Practice tables with sand, grit, stones and Woodland Scenics bits.

Noble Indostani Cavalry

After the recent poll on whether to use a flash when photographing miniatures returned a fairly mixed response I have decided to return to photo taking without the flash. Most people said they would use it on occasion when necessary, but those who voted no, outweighed those that said yes. I am happy with the advice.

Below are some recent paints of what I am dubbing, Noble Indostani Cavalry. They are actually Foundry Mounted Sikh Nobles, but are close enough. They were actually pretty good to paint and with a good part of them being chain, relatively easy. They do require a bit of planning with their coloring, but should allow me to go even more garish in the future. The rightmost guy has parts of his plate painted green, which makes for a nice change to the all metal look. I have about 20 or so more of these guys to do, half of whom have lances. They are painted with Army Painter and the pics were taken without a flash. (Click the images to enlarge)

To flash or not to flash ...

While trying out some techniques with my camera today I took some photos with the flash on. Now I have always heard that this is a no-no when photographing miniatures, but these pics have got me re-thinking that. Is the flash picture that bad? Maybe for serious miniature painters who care to show their fine brush work, but for a simple wargamer like myself, I actually think the brighter colors are refreshing. I'd love to hear what you all think on the poll to the left - flash or no flash and why? (Click the images to enlarge)

With flash.

Without flash.

Mounted Indian Tribesmen Completed

Here are the horsemen from yesterday's post, Dullcoted, based and flocked. I always find it is hard to judge how well you have done painting until the miniatures are based - it makes such a difference. I only have two variants of horses and riders, so they do get a bit repetitious. (Click the images to enlarge)

From in front.

Showing their slung shields.

A low close up - they do look pretty intimidating.

WIP - Mounted Indian Tribesmen

After a long hiatus from painting and with the arrival of some cooler weather, I have managed to make a good start on some Foundry Mounted Indian Tribesmen. Dave was kind enough to give me a good head start with these by giving each of the gee-gees a base coat of their appropriate color. I do find painting horses a little tedious. Thanks Big D!

The forces of Indostan are seriously lacking in cavalry and these will go a little towards correcting the issue. I have two units of mounted armored Sikhs and another three units of mounted tribesmen to get done. That's a lot of horse flesh. Dave? Dave, are you there?

Below are a couple of images of the first lot. I have just applied the Army Painter Strong Tone dip. I always apply it with a brush and have never done it by dip. The scrooge in me couldn't stand to see the wasted dip after all that furious flicking! I find that I can move the dip around where it should be quite easily with a brush. It does tend to pool a lot in the creases in the clothing and on white, this can look a little too much. After it has settled I simply brush over it again to remove excess. Enough will eventually pool again to look right.

It really looks a mess at this stage after application and I always think to myself, I've just #$*!ed these miniatures. But I now swear by this stuff. Without Army Painter most of my painting would look very basic. When they are finished I will show the finished product and hopefully you'll agree. (Click the images to enlarge)

Shiny, shiny from the Army Painter.

I can see these running from the British volleys already.