Project Update

Okay, so I haven't been entirely idle. But things have been a little slow on the Battle of Exeter project front. I have managed to finish painting my french archers, thirty models in all. I have also bought some of the excellent CitadelSix livery transfers. I have also purchased some more Really Useful boxes in anticipation of getting more units painted.

On the rules front I have been reviewing the Perry Miniatures Facebook site, who use the Hail Caesar rules by Warlord Games and am looking at using the amended rules which can be found on there.

It has been quite the slog to get it this far, I am not a speedy painter although I am finding ways to speed up the process. I have to remind myself I'm painting for a war game, not a competition. The style and technique I am now using is pleasing to my eye at least and is getting results quickly. Big thank you to Aly Morrison's blog. The homemade dip/wash is excellent!

I have nearly finished Tudor's battle, all that remains is some cavalry and one more household unit, complete with Billmen and Bowmen and the odd flag. With that in mind I am being more careful about how I am putting my units together as they are now multi-based, which in turn is creating more dynamism in the stands.

Still, I'll need to back up all this with photographs. I will post some once Tudor's battle is complete. Until then, I'll see how I get on.

French Arrival...

Having been off with flu all week I have managed to venture out of bed and take a couple of photos of my growing French force. These will be used in part for Henry Tudor's force for my Battle of Exeter game which is slowly developing and for a another earlier campaign. The invasion of France by Edward IV in 1475 proved to be pretty lucrative for Edward and his entourage. However no battles were fought. Taking an alternative route for wargaming I am planning to fight some actions between the French and the English.

Presented here are some of the French and Bretons I have painted so far. With regard to basing I plan to get most of the force painted and based before I finish the basing.

A New Painting Studio and Workshop

All things must come to an end and time waits for no man. I have been ousted from my outbuilding by my wife, and have been banished to the top of the house, which actually is more pleasant as I'll not have to venture outside to go and paint or cope with poor lighting.

My cousin popped by to help me design the new studio. He is a capable chap and works for a furniture design company - the plan is relatively simple and I hope to have some drawing to show shortly.. Our plan is to commence work at the beginning of November with a completion date by middle of December which includes new lighting for the room, worktops and built in bookshelves.

Project Update

Following on from the last post I have managed to take a couple of pictures of the project so far. I have rebased virtually all of the miniatures I had already completed. I am pleased with the how they are shaping up. Several of the command stands I am placing on 60mm diameter circular bases (plenty more of those to complete!). I think I'll use 80mm diameter bases for C-in-C stands.

The command stands shown belong to the Earls of Oxford and Surrey. The other flag, although a little difficult to see is that of Sir Rhys Ap Thomas. On the paint bench are six stands of French Pikemen/Long Spears. Whilst I am still working towards the Exeter project I have taken a diversion to paint up some French and Breton. My next post will be about these Franc Archers.

Back in the saddle

Quick post, I am still alive and have set about working on my project. I have had time to think about how I'm working on this too. I had been painting the miniatures to a fairly high standard, which whilst was satisfying it wasn't getting enough models on to the table.

In the time I have been away I have been looking closely at Simon Chicks basing methods, his blog sites have been truly inspirational - Je Lay Emprins and Harness and Array. I have rebased most of the singular miniatures onto large 60mm square bases from Warbases. With respect to painting the miniatures I read Aly Morrison's blog and am using his wash method, made from GW washes. This is giving great results and means I am not waiting too long for it to dry as opposed to the dip method using the Army Painter Strong Tone Dip. So far I have managed three stands of crossbowmen with another three to follow.

Unfortunately I don't have any photos - something that I need to rectify so I can share the full fruits of my progress.

As an aside and in keeping with my magpie attitude to wargaming I have seen that Blue Moon are now releasing a Crusade range in 15mm which I may well indulge in, but that's for another time.

Norfolk's Battle

I know it has been a long time, but I have been busy with all sorts of other things unrelated to wargaming of late. Still I have been occasionally able to get out to the 'studio' to do a bit of work.

The picture shows Norfolk's battle for The Battle of Exeter. His Battle, like at Bosworth Field will be the Van.

I do hope that I can keep the posts to at least once a month from now on, but I'm not promising anything!

Back in business!

The last time I picked up a paintbrush that was smaller than half an inch was back in August of last year. A lot has happened in that time, but very little with my War of the Roses project. However today I was able to get hold of some free timber and have constructed a rudimentary bench/table from which to work from in my studio/workshop. It's a bit of a shambles at the moment but I have clear space to work. The lighting of the photograph isn't great as I took the photo this evening (keen as mustard me!).

I now have to meet my deadline of completing 15 miniatures a week which I know is going to be a challenge at times, but hey it's just good to know that I have a permanent place setup to paint my miniatures.

Mercenaries and Men-At-Arms

Today's post is on some work in progress. I am currently finishing off eight Partismen for Henry Tudor's force. There are plenty more to follow though.  I have twelve crossbomen sitting on the painting desk ready to be primed. More on them at a later date.

As you can see from the pictures I need to complete the painting of the miniatures and finish off their bases.

There is a little work to do on the miniatures with the arming jacks and I need to lighten the armour, which leads me neatly to the next part of my post.

Painting armour

I tend to use Wargames Foundry paint range. I bought their starter sets when they came out back in the early 2000's. I must say i am still using some of those original paints. That's either due to a lack of painting or quality paints. Probably a little of both. I must say that I never got with the metallic colours in their paint range other than the bronze colours. For the metalwork on these models I have used Games Workshops paints, in particular Runefang Steel, Leadbelcher and Nuln Oil (ink/wash).

After I have removed any mould lines or flash I base the model with a sand mix. This is made from two varieties; children's play sand and GW sand mix. I combined the two to get the right mix for what I was after. This is applied to the base before the undercoating. I use Army Painter Grey Primer as it gives the best undercoat for the miniature. I used to use white or black but it made the model either too light or too dark.

The grey is perfect to my mind for creating the subdued colours which are generally associated with the medieval era. Not everyone was walking round in the latest Lincoln Green! I appreciate as well it is a matter of taste. I really like the work of Captain Blood. The quality of his painting and the colour range he uses are fantastic but I prefer something a bit more moody.

Once the model has been undercoated I then paint on the leadbelcher colour. Once this has dried I apply the Nuln Oil wash and finally pick out the detail with the Runefang Steel and it's as simple as that. Occasionally if I have the time I will add thin layers of brown to the bottom of the armour to create dirt, not rust - these soldiers had servants to clean their armour at regular intervals. Once the metal has been completed I pick out the rest of the miniature using the colour range I have given myself.

The base is then painted, for this I use GW Karak Stone with a wash over the top of Agrax Earthshade. I then highlight using Foundry Linen (lightest of the three) before adding the static grass. Once this has dried I add the Silfour grass tufts and flowers/weeds.

Horse Painting

I recently spent some time reading over my copy of Kevin Dallimore's Wargames Foundry painting book. In particular I re-read the section on painting horses. I have about 160 cavalry to paint for my War of the Roses collection!

I have spent some time preparing the horses ready for their 'oil' coat. For the darker horses I'll be using a black oil paint mixed with a little whit spirit. For the lighter colour horses I'll be using a burnt umber. This is my first foray into using oils on horses. I am keen to see what I can achieve.

I will post a couple of pictures as they progress!

Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond WIP

My wife and I have now moved into our new flat and although there is still some sorting to be done ( not too much) I have been able to sort out some time for building and painting collection. To kick off the autumnal painting season I have chosen to paint some more cavalry, this time the infamous Earl of Richmond, Henry Tudor.

The models behind the Earl are more of the mounted men-at-arms. I started them quite some time ago, so they have been picked out for completion. I am a little unsure as to what to paint on the herald, I suppose technically I should paint the heraldic arms of Henry, however, having come from France I may paint him in the livery colours of Henry Tudor. If I go for the heraldic coat of arms, I'll need a steady hand and some new eyes, it's achievable but I am a little concerned about the end results. I don't want blobs of colour to represent the coat of arms of the Richmond!

As for standards and flags, the men-at-arms will carry the heraldic flags of the Earl of Richmond, and sir William Brandon, Henry's standard bearer at the the Battle of Bosworth Field. I have the Freezywater flags which I will overpaint to keep the colour balance with the miniatures themselves.

My next step is to finish undercoating the rest of the models and then proceed with painting the horses before moving onto the men themselves. I recently took a look at the work of Captain Blood's War of the Roses miniatures and I do like the way he has painted his lances. I may attempt to do these lances in a similar fashion, so as to add to the pageantry.

Back on track...

Well it has been some time since the last post. Nothing new there! Real life has been extremely demanding of late and I have had to concentrate on other things. However, I have had a week off and have been able to spend a little time trying to finish off bits and pieces.

I am still working towards painting Buckingham's retinue. If you take a look at my counter I have completed the billmen and all the Men-At-Arms I'll need. In between painting the models required for the skirmish I have rebased Oxford's retinue of bowmen, including the man himself and his retinue of billmen.

What I need to acquire  next is a carry case for the cavalry, more bases and movement trays. I have a clear goal, it's just a case of finding the time. As for photographing the models, I will have to sort something out, the facilities I have just aren't good enough here at home. As soon as I get some more photos I'll post them up.

Buckingham's Retinue WIP

Here are some WIP pictures. The miniatures are predominantly old Wargames Foundry models that I have revitalised. I have also included a picture of the rebased cavalry. I have opted for the oval base rather than rectangular. At a later date I'll buy some movement trays, or make them.

Tudor bowmen

I have been inspired by Captain Blood, and Pat from his own blog site, Wargaming with the Silver Whistle to begin basing my skirmish models on 2p coins. I'll get in touch with those jolly chaps from Warbases and order some of the movement trays in the near future.

This is the third time I have based these particular bowmen and I am very pleased with the results. I hope there will be more to follow.

Salute Painting Competition Part 2

It has been a little while since my last post, and it'll probably be a while before the next. However, I have cleaned all the flash of the models and have begun to start painting the models. I have drawn up this loose plan of my entry into the competition. This is just a rough guide but gives some indication of what I am trying to achieve. I want the pieces to be used in games too, so they'll be on 2/3mm MDF bases. I haven't worked out the base sizes yet but that will happen very shortly. I have a week's holiday coming up so I intend to blitz  the project.  If I don't get it finished in that week then I'll have to dedicate some time over Easter.

Salute Painting Competition 2013

I have been thinking about what to enter into the painting competition for Salute this year and after some deliberation I have decided to put together a diorama. If I get the time I will put another entry in too. The diorama is going to be based on the retreat from Ludford.

The idea for the diorama will feature a baggage train winding its way along a medieval track under the watchful eyes of the Earl of Salisbury. I will be using some of my Perry Miniatures collection to achieve this work. I hope to be able to use the same models in future games so I am going to have to be creative about the basing. When I get the chance I will post some pictures as the work progresses.

The following information has been taken from www.waroftheroses.com.

'After winning the battle of Blore Heath, the Yorkist faction regrouped at Ludford bridge at the town of Ludlow and started to advance towards Worcester. They quickly fell back when they encountered a larger enemy force led by Henry VI. The Lancastrians ended up taking a position opposite the Yorkists across the Teme river. That night a significant amount of the Yorkist army deserted which led to a full scale retreat the next morning. The catalyst of the defections was Andrew Trollope, captain of the Calais troops. Trollope switched sides after accepting the king's pardon. After the engagement Richard returned to Ireland and the earl of Salisbury fled to Calais.'

Sir Rhys ap Thomas

The other Men-At-Arms stand for Oxford's retinue is Sir Rhys ap Thomas. I hope you enjoy my efforts!

Oxford's Billmen

I have only the one stand of Billmen at the moment. I have three more to paint up. Once I have assembled and painted the other three stands Oxford and his retinue will be completed and I will move onto completing Sir William Stanley's riding retinue.

Oxford's Bowmen

I have finished Oxford's bowmen, although I do need to complete the bases, but as you can see from the previous post I think I have decided on a course of action for completing the bases.

Scurrours

First up on the update are these three scurrours. I have painted them in the colours of Sir William Stanley. I am reasonably pleased with the outcome. As you can see I have started to work on the base. I have used Gale Force 9 medium sand. I have then painted over with the Citadel colour Baneblade Brown. I have then used their brown wash to darken the base and finally drybrushed over the top with Base sand from the Foundry paint scheme. The miniatures are painted using the Foundry paint scheme, although I have used Citadel metallics and washes on the metal armour.

WIP - Oxford's Retinue

I have been busy working on Oxford's retinue. I have completed the Retinue Bowmen and the additional Men at Arms stands. This means I am achieving the target of twenty models a month. I have also completed a stand of scurrours for William Stanley's retinue. I will post pictures tomorrow...hopefully!