AB - Battle Honors Comparison

After yet another waaaaaayyy to long of time away, I wanted to post something regarding a comparison between AB figures and Battle Honors. I've seen some people trying to sell Battle Honors figures as AB figures, which is not entirely accurate. The do have the same sculptor, Tony Barton (Anthony Barton, ergo the "AB"), but are entirely different product lines.

I like both; they have the same general style, but the craft and the hobby had progressed considerably between the Battle Honors and AB lines. Probably the biggest difference one is likely to see is the size differential. Battle Honors are true 15mm figures, while the AB figures are closer to 18mm, and the difference is easily seen when the figures are side by side, so I've posted some pictures.

In the pictures, the Portuguese figures (guys with blue jackets) are AB figures, and the Spanish figures (guys with white coats) are Battle Honors. The similarity in style is obvious; however, the manufacturing and product lines are different. Rather than waxing on about 15mm figures, I'll just let you look at the figures and make your own assessment. Really, no one would notice the difference on the game table if you have consistent units - that is you don't mix the figures within the same unit. Devil's argument for that is that anyone who has been in military service will tell you that we all fall out according to height - ergo there are tall and short people in the same formation, so mixing them just make them look more like real people. I guess it's up to the gamers' taste, but style-wise, they are very similar. FYI . . .

Wrinkles in 15mm - some pics

Some pics here should illustrate the general concepts of the wrinkles noted in the previous post. I picked a few figures of 15mm Spanish figures from Battle Honors and AB (white and yellow coats make the patterns more recognizable), and in due fairness, some of the clothing folds are sculpted into the figs. I've posted both infantry and cavalry figures, although the folds are going to be very similar. Most of the folds are not sculpted, which should demonstrate the fact that if one wishes, the folds can be painted in instead.

For really fine work, like the inside of the knees and elbows, I use a size 00 brush with an extremely fine point on it. I carefully drag the brush from the inside of the knee/elbow out, allowing just the very tip to drag and make a sharp "V" to the knee/elbow joint. The rest of the sleeve or pant is painted so that the color is more or less solid in the stressed part of the fabric (the anterior of the leg, posterior of the arm), and the wrinkled part is painted in in a more or less diagonal fold pattern. If anyone is interested, I could do a step by step, but until then, these pictures should show the general idea. Happy painting!

Wrinkles and Folding in Clothes

For an interim post, some have asked to have me describe the creases and fold patterns in the clothing I paint in my figures. Really, it isn't very difficult. One only needs to observe the human body with clothes on it, and it is relatively easy to replicate in miniature.

One example would be when one's arm is bent at the elbow, it follows logically that the fabric would be stressed most at the tip of the elbow, but the rest of the fabric will give on the inside of the arm. The figures I paint follow that general principal, and really good figures are sculpted that way. Some figure brands like AB and Old Glory have the correct folds and stresses sculpted into the figure. If the figure doesn't have the right clothing effects sculpted into it, it isn't the end of the world, because the folds can be painted on without the sculpted texture. A look at the following pics should convey the general concept.






That having been said, I find quite a few figure painters who appear to blotch highlight colors on in a way that highlights the knees (elbows) and generally blocks the legs (arms). I think this is very effective, and makes for an attractive finished figure, both close up and on the game table. The style I use is not as loose, but both are great painting styles for 15mm, and the whole thing is a question of taste. Again, since I paint far more than I game, I like to see how tight I can make things like clothing folds, etc. When one plays a game, however, no one notices the tight style. I like doing things in the style I do because it is satisfying to me in the exercise of painting, so there is no "right" style.

So . . . for those of you who have asked, here are a few pencil drawings that illustrate things fairly well.

Dragoons are done, now there are 180 French infantry on the bench!

Here are some pics of the French Dragoons painted and based. For the tufts, I used the late summer color, and the "short" tufts, which is to say these are the 2mm version. The color was changed because the dragoons have green jackets, and I figured that the really bright green of the spring tufts would be a bit much.


Lately, capturing good lighting for the pics is challenging (my lighting equipment crapped out on me, so I've been relying on natural light), but hopefully these give you the idea of the effect of cavalry figures with the Silfor tufts. The painting procedure was the same as described for the British hussars, but with different colors, obviously. The flag is from Warflag, and the highlight color for the orange was a highlight I mixed myself. I simply tinted the orange color with white to make a sort of pastel orange color, which worked for this particular group.


Cheers, and I'll try to keep you up to date on the progress of my mass painting attempt.

On The Bench

On the bench as of today, I have some French Dragoons that were primed before the holidays, but sat here while I spent my time a little more wisely visiting my two daughters in Grand Rapids, MI. When I paint figures, so far I have been doing a unit at a time (i.e., an infantry battalion, cavalry regiment, or artillery battery), and this is an example. Unfortunately, with this bunch, there is one missing because I have a maid that comes in to my residence once every week, and loves to dust EVERYTHING - somehow one of these guys was knocked off the stick and is still MIA. But here they are, on the sticks, and partially painted.


One thing I like to do is finish one figure so I can copy the colors and/or techniques on the other figures, so I finished this figure to use as a model for the rest.



As with the British Hussars in a previous post, the horses get the first treatment. By now, painting horses is pretty routine in procedure, so these are less challenging than trying to paint a new uniform. Not only that, but painting horses is a fairly quick procedure, and provides me with the illusion that I'm actually making progress! Below is a stick of figures with the horses finished. When they are based, I think I'll use the Silfor technique instead of GW static grass, just to see which lengths and/or colors of tufts work best with cavalry figures in 15mm.


Below is a recently completed battalion of British Foot Guards for perusal. The bases have the GW static grass on them, and I'm thinking of adding some Silfor tufts to see what the mixed effect is. When I do this, I'll be sure to post a pic for reference.






That's it for here and for now. I'll post the Dragoons as soon as I get them completed. Happy gaming!

Silfor Report

I ran across this stuff on another painting blog - it's great stuff that makes the best, most realistic grass tufts available. The name of the product is Silfor Mininatur Prairie Tufts, and the process of purchasing and using the product is incredibly easy. I went online and purchased the material from Scenic Express (http://www.scenicexpress.com/), and the service was reasonable. No real hassles with shipping, I had the product in less than a week, and the product came with catalogs that are very useful, like this one:





When it comes in the mail, the tufts are adhered to a plastic or vinyl sheet, packed in a plastic box. This stuff comes in different lengths and different colors. Given that I do 15mm, I prefer the brighter colors due to the scaling effect, so I pick the bright green "spring" color. Also, for the 15mm figs, I choose the shorter tufts because if they are too long, they won't look right and will obscure the figure.

To apply, one only needs white glue and tweezers. Simply use the tweezers to select a tuft, grip it with the tweezers, and pull it off the plastic sheet.



Next, use a drop of white glue, apply to the bottom of the tuft, and place it on the stand of figures like so:



I've gone so far as to abandon static grass on a unit of French Legere, just to see what it would look like. Following is the pic of the Legere battalion done completely in Silfor tufts without the GW static grass I usually use.


It is also worth noting that Silfor makes great products for 25mm figs as well. For a diversion, I bought some 25mm Norman knights from Crusader Miniatures. Below is a pic with tufts that are longer and a less bright color, but you can see that it works very well for 25mm as well.


That's it for now. Happy painting, and happy new year!

Filling out the British O.B. for the Penninsula

Using the Shako rules, I'm filling out the British/Allied O.B. for the Peninsula, which requires some guard battalions, and more British foot battalions. I've been slowly shifting to AB for these because of how clean the sculpting and casting is with this line.

In this post I have one battalion of foot and one light battalion, plus a command stand. The "tree" in the command stand is from the same stuff I bought from Woodland Scenics for the Horse Artillery base. I bought the round base at Allbright's, a local gaming store, and is made by Games Workshop.

The painting procedure is pretty much the same as with the other figures, with a slightly modified technique for lace and piping, which is what I want to post next. I can't guarantee when I'll have the post finished, but I'm working on the guards battalion now, so hopefully soon.