Monday, November 30

More officers... and wet palettes...

Royalist Officer of Horse c 1643
by Chris Collingwood [clicky]
- splendid!
Just to prove it wasn't just a flash in the pan, I can confirm that paint brushes continue to be wielded in earnest in the loft-waffe - this time on some further officer material for the ongoing English Civil War project..

The rules I am using, would have these as brigade and higher command - they can be used to improve morale of units that require it, and if the going gets really dicey you can use them to improve combat throws for units in melee..  the downsides of which one doesn't want to contemplate...

So three figures - undercoated/primed some considerable months ago - and grabbed so as to keep the paint mojo working (it worked by the way - bear with as the next post will show further more considerable fruits of said labour)..

I have also been interested in recent video's and postings about a thing called a "wet palette" and despite having been in the paint butchery game for 45+ years, I have never used one - but I can advise that these were the first figures painted using said wet palette...  and mightily impressed I have been..  

Mine is a home made affair, and constructed using the same method I saw in a video I was watching (this one [clicky]).. One flat/sandwich type, air tight box (in my youth we would have called them Tupperware) - in the bottom put three or four thicknesses of kitchen towel - wet them down so they are wet rather than floating, put a square of baking paper over the top, then use the baking paper as you would a normal palette...  you'll find (hopefully) that the paint stays fluid and workable for longer, I did, and it is brilliant to be able to just go back to a colour you have used 3 or four layers ago and still be able to use it whereas on my old palette (a saucer) it would have dried...   NB. Acrylics only of course

Anyway - here's the first one (following) an officer of the Commonwealth in half cuirass, and wielding what I believe to be a baton..  he's better armed than most so clearly may come from money

Next - my favourite of the three - the sash is close enough to red or orange I can use him for both sides

..note the gold leaf on the saddle cloth to indicate he is gentry.... I have no idea if red/orange feathers were available - but it looks good...!

Finally a Royalist in purple..  I also broke the habit of a lifetime and put some blazes on these horses - I've always liked Lee's (of a Napoleonic Painting Therapy blog) [clicky] horses and he does this quite a lot so I thought I'd have a go...worked well, and enlivened what would have otherwise been a fairly featurless set of bays..

Last of all a group shot..  next time these guys meet it will be across the table..


So, three mounted figures, Peter Pig, 15mm, painted November 2020.

5 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. LOL.. we try, Nundanket... can't take the credit for this one.. believe Henry Hyde may have been first... :o)

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  2. Fine additions to the ECW project.

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  3. Great to see some additions to the ECW's Steve, lovely :) As for the wet palette, I have been using one for years and it must have saved me a small fortune on paints as a small blob remains usable for 24 hours or more without drying up. I also like that once the greaseproof covering is completely full it can simply be removed and replaced. One tip, if left closed for too long you will find a tendency to grow mould inside the cover, so good idea to let it 'breathe' now and then :) I find the plastic packaging from a 'grass tuft' box perfect (my current version), because they are very shallow (10mm or so) and thus makes dipping the brush more practical, and the lid closes tightly to keep the paint wet. Onwards and upwards, live and learn!

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