F&D Continental Mounted Officers

Saturday Morning found me progressing through a number of large units and looking for a minor distraction. Although there were a number of candidates, I decided on these two Continental Officers I had ordered from Jim over at Fife and Drum.

My goal with these was simply speed. I wanted to see how quickly I could paint these while keeping them eligible for most game tables. First of all, the castings are full of detail and very clean/crisp to work with. The thinner and more proportional size created an unexpected challenge as it was a break from what I've been familiar with. I didn't think that something as simple as this would provide a challenge, but it did.

I believe the end result was satisfactory, finished in a morning's painting alongside other figures. They probably do look a bit "rushed" in places, but after all...they were.

American 12pd Artillery

After a long time on the edges of the painting desk I finally put the finishes on these guys. I used Eureka's Molly Pitcher Crew along with two Front Rank 12pd guns.

I'm always trying to do things that are new to me when painting. With these I wanted to experiment with 3 different shades of white on the same figure to perhaps represent different weaves, cuts, or fits. I believed the shirts to be a loose fit so I chose to paint them the most white. The waistcoat I saw as a slightly more refined garment, so I used the menolith white to give it a slight sheen. The pants I imagined to be the tightest fitting clothing and as always when a person is working, they are the first to get scuffed, scraped or dirty. I decided on a slightly more gray shade to reflect that condition.

I'm unsure of the results, but these guys were, for me, an experiment in this direction.

From 2012 to '11

As 2011 closed with a flurry of non-wargaming activity and I've not had much opportunity to add on the blog. Most of my painting since October has been for other people and a unit or two I painted to sell on ebay, but I should have some of my own pieces to post shortly. My time at the painting desk has greatly increased and looks to be steady on in the near future.

The biggest development has been the arrival of Contessa Rin, born in December. The picture is roughly 20 minutes after she arrived. At that point, she looked like a set of lips and some hair, but luckily we found the rest of her.



I'm trying to convince the wife that 5 is enough, but time will tell...