Painting 15mm Figures

AB - Battle Honors Comparison

2011-03-22T09:13:00.000-07:00

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

2010-02-06T19:53:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-02T19:46:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-02-15T08:31:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-04T09:54:00.001-08:00

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

2009-01-03T07:10:00.000-08:00

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

2008-05-05T07:33:00.001-07:00

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.

French Legere

2008-04-14T13:18:00.000-07:00

I've been asked to provide an opinion about OG French Legere figures. I like the figures, but the offering is VERY limited. Either the figures come charging, or skirmishing. Also, elite companies are not offered with plumes. The picture below shows an Old Glory Legere battalion charging.

By contrast, the AB line offers a different range. Below are pictures of AB Legere marching - I prefer this pose because of the way I store and transport the figures, plus the Old Glory figures make it tough to form columns when the stands don't fit together. AB also has figure variations for elite companies, which is also nice.

Making Flags

2008-03-24T06:46:00.000-07:00

Some have asked me to post a description of how I make flags. It is fairly simple; I use Napflags (primarily), but also I purchase some of them in 25mm and reduce them for 15mm. In doing this, the manufacturer of choice is GMB, but I ALWAYS purchase the GMB flags I want before reproducing them. In other words, I don't replicate purchased flags more than once, and I do NOT condone the absconding of copyrighted material. Don't forget that if it weren't for copyright protection, the wonderful choice of stuff to buy would not likely exist! Napflags offers flag files free of charge, with no restriction on how many one reproduces. Ergo, it is a good practice to donate to the Warflag website (the site Napflags are available from) to keep it up and free. I first open the Napflag JPEG files using the MS Paint program.

In the Paint program, the desired flags are selected and copied to the clipboard. To print the flags, I paste the selected image into MS Word and resize on the page. Resizing can be a challenge, as the size of the image on the screen is NOT necessarily what comes out of the printer (even at "100%" zoom). Trial and error is the only way to get the proper size, but I'd estimate that the flags shown below should be resized to just about 4.5" on the scale at the top of the screen. This produces flags that are just about 16mm in height, which is roughly the size of the British regulation King's and Regimental colors.

The image is then sent to the printer, an HP PSC 750 - by now an antique piece of equipment, but highly effective in making 15mm flags! Once the flags are printed, I find that the printed images need to be coated with a flat lacquer, due to the fact that the ink is water based, and without the lacquer coating, the colors will run when trying to glue and paint them. I like the Armory's matte sealer, which is generally available in hobby stores.

The flags are cut once the sealer is dry, either with a hobby knife or with scissors. The inside of the flag is then painted with white glue, folded around a temporary "pole" (in this case, a piece of brass wire). I usually allow the white glue to set for a little while before making the "waves" by using a small paintbrush handle as a shaping tool.

Once the white glue is dried, all that is left is to paint and fix the flag. I like the Napflag images because the colors are vibrant, and there are files with "texture" embedded into them. I use the "textured" flags because of the variation in color that actually serves to define the features of the flag far better than the non-textured flags. For British flags, I'll start by painting the edges (folding the flag causes the edges to become mis-aligned) with shade colors. The blue is shaded with Vallejo Prussian Blue (#965). The red is shaded with a maroon color - almost any maroon color would work, and in this case, I used one of those cheap bottles available at Wal-Mart, FolkArt True Burgandy (#456). At the same time, I cover any obvious incongruities in the printed color on the flag.

Highlights are then applied - blue highlight color for this flag is Reaper Miniatures Dragon Blue (#18014), and the red highlight is Vallejo Vermillion (#909). The highlights are painted on in a more or less diagonal direction from the inside top of the flagpole to the outside bottom of the flag. White is highlighted with Vallejo White (#951), although almost any white would work. Once the highlights are applied, the painting of the flag is complete, and can be fixed to the figure.

In my opinion, one shouldn't use the cast flagpole that comes with a 15mm figure. The reason is that it is very fragile, and they tend to bend and break when one plays games with them. My solution may be a little counter-intuitive to some - I simply don't use a pole. Instead, I cut the molded pole, remove the flag from the temporary brass pole and super glue the flag to the molded figure.

The last pic shows the figure completed, with the top of the pole glued in where it should be. This should show why 16ga wire makes for the best temporary pole - when the flag is removed, the white glue used to shape the flag also preserves its shape around the wire, which fits perfectly with most molded flagpoles.

Some wonder whether this procedure, which leaves a large part of the flag without an actual pole could possible be robust enough for use on the game table. My experience is that this procedure works exceptionally well; if a figure is dropped or bumbled somehow, one simply needs to straighten the flag, and it looks as good as it did the day you affixed the flag to the figure! Next up will be an article on painting piping and lace.

Some RHA Pics for fun

2008-03-16T08:23:00.000-07:00

These are pics of a recent weekend project to paint some Royal Horse Artillery from the Penninsular era. The figures are AB - quickly assuming an equal plane in my opinion with Old Glory 15s. The differences are sort of a trade-off; the sculpting is exceptional with AB, and the casting is always clean. OG has great energetic poses, and of course, cost a ton less. For most people using the 3 foot rule, OG would be the hands-down winner, but then there are oddballs like myself who like to paint detail that it would be impossible to see at 3 feet, just because a) I'm bored, b) I paint much more than I game, and c) it is always a challenge just to see if you can do it.

The painting procedure is similar to that of the Hussars in a previous post, except that black primer was used instead of white.

Some Skirmish Pics For Fun

2007-03-09T10:40:00.000-08:00

Here are some skirmish pics of some of my 15mm figs in action.

Basing the Hussars

2007-01-26T16:28:00.000-08:00

Well . . . after an incredibly long hiatus, I'm back with the promised article on basing the Hussars. This technique was detailed by reigning 15mm expert Ian Marsh on the Wargames Journal website. I've modified it slightly, but I like the effect, so here it is.

The materials used for this project include white glue, super glue, Games Workshop Modeling Sand, Games Workshop Static Grass (no - I'm not a devotee of GW, I just like the color of the static grass, plus the sand doesn't have any "impurities" in it), acrylic paint, and bases that I purchased from RenaissanceInk.com. These bases are made from masonite, are highly durable, and don't warp over time.

The first step is to super-glue 1/2 of the figures to the cavalry bases. Once the glue is dry, white glue is diluted with water and painted onto the exposed surface of the base. The base is then dunked in the GW modeling sand and left to dry. I do 1/2 of a stand at a time because trying to get in between the horses with a brush big enough to paint glue onto the base is challenging to say the least.

Next, the other figures are super-glued to the base and allowed to dry. Once the super-glue is dry, the remaining exposed base is painted with diluted white glue and dunked in the modeling sand. The stands are allowed to dry for quite a while (these were left overnight) before anything else was done.

The next step is to find any obvious bare spots on the stands, cover the bare spots with diluted white glue, and re-dunk in the modeling sand.

Once the sand and white glue are dried, the whole stand is painted with a slightly diluted coat of Tamiya's acrylic Flat Earth (XF-52). Once that is dry, a light drybrushing of a sand color is applied (here it is Ceramcoat Maple Sugar Tan). When this is dry, a very light drybrush of a light desert color is applied (here it is Howard Hues Geo-Hex Desert).

The final step is to randomly apply spots of diluted white glue to the base and dunk it in the static grass.

After this is done, I add the cavalry standard, and the regiment is done. The final picture is one of the Hussars in a Shako British Light Cavalry division.

2006-08-25T06:33:00.000-07:00

Wow. I have now committed a real faux-pas in the blogging world and didn't realize it. I got busy with work, and neglected to post for a while - sorry guys. I'll post some pics of Spanish and Portuguese for the time being, and create my "basing hussars" article soon.

British Hussars, Step-by-Step

2006-07-30T10:38:00.000-07:00

To start, I glue the Hussars to their mounts, as with the Spanish figures (image 1). Next, they are glued to popsicle sticks and undercoated with a primer one could get from any auto parts store. Here I have a picture of Rust-oleum white primer, which I used for the British Hussar figures that have been pictured so far. The nice feature of this brand is that it takes washes and dry-brushing exceptionally well, due to its dried texture. For the white undercoat technique, I allow the primer to dry, and then apply a wash that is a mix of brown and black, per the Paintfront technique (please see the first pictured post for the URL) - images 2 & 3. Next, I paint the horses, darker shade colors first (image 4). The first color I apply is something akin to Reaper Aged Brick #19048. This is applied somewhat thinned, with the brush of a #1 size dipped in water just before the paint, and then applied to the figure. About 2/3 of the horses are painted like this, others with a lighter base and some with black.

After the first color is dry, even with horse figures, I only apply 1 or maybe 2 highlights (at the max). One highlight color for the horses with the Aged Brick base color is Reaper Woodland Brown #18024. One can mess with numerous shades both lighter and darker – it really doesn’t matter, since any army of that period mixed horseflesh in its cavalry units out of pure necessity (images 5 & 6).

To make a Palomino horse, a base color of a Maple shade would be good, with a highlight of a light tan. Black horses are highlighted with a dark gray, such as Valejo #994.

Manes and tails are another matter; I prefer predominantly black, but white, tan, or any variety of the bunch would do. For white manes and tails, I apply a base of a medium gray (Reaper “Granite”) highlighted with white. Black manes are highlighted as with the black horses, and tan highlighted with something considerably lighter, like a Maple color. This horse has a black mane and tail (image 7).

I’ve read, primarily from the legendary painter Ian Marsh, that horses sometimes have “socks.” To paint these, I thin black paint, and paint all the way from the knee down to the hoof, and repeat as necessary to obtain a graduated appearance from the color of the upper part of the horse to black at the hooves. Then, I highlight the black as noted above, and directly proceed to undercoat the white part with a medium gray, about ¼ of the way between the hoof and the knee. This is then highlighted in white, giving the appearance of “white socks” on the horse. I have it on some authority that these “socks” are usually seen in pairs, though I can’t verify that.

The muzzles are fun to paint – for white muzzles, I basecoat with a flesh color, like one would use for a man’s face. I then highlight with white, which gives a pretty good sense of a white muzzled horse (image 8). For flesh colored muzzles, I basecoat with maroon and then highlight with flesh.

The leather harness could be painted any color. Black is a good choice, but I also like to leave the horse’s base color on the harness and highlight with a military leather color (e.g., Valejo #818). Final touches include adding a silver color to the bit and buckles on the bridle (image 9).

After the horses are complete, I start on the troopers. I chose to apply shade color to the predominant color of the figure, which is a Navy blue (image 10). This is then highlighted with a medium blue, which also serves as the shade color for the bag on the busbie (image 11).

Next, the face, hands, and bottom of the pom-pom are shade colored maroon (image 12). Flesh colored paint is carefully applied to the raised flesh surfaces, namely the nose, cheeks, chin, and fingers (image 13).

Black items are then painted, including the busbie, sabretache, boots, etc. (image 14), and then highlighted with dark gray (image 15). The same shade of dark gray is used to shade the overalls (image 16). The side stripes of leather are shaded a dark brown, as is the hair and all gold features.

Light brown is applied as a shade color to the only yellow feature on the figure, the busbie cord, then highlighted with yellow (image 17). This same light brown highlights the hair, while white areas, including the fur on the pelisse are shaded with a medium gray.

White areas are highlighted next. There is no dark, dirty secret to painting intricate details like the lace and piping. The key is to get a really small brush with a really sharp point, and also to choose your figures judiciously. Details like this can be painted much more easily when they are sculpted well – that is to say that piping and lace are raised. This is why I like Old Glory figures – they are easy to paint in this respect. AB are also excellent figures. The very tip of the brush should have a very small dab of paint on it, and ride along the raised piping and lace features (image 18). One dirty dark secret to details like this, is that if you muff it up on your first try (as I did with this figure), you can always apply a very small wash of the jacket’s shade color (Navy blue), which will collect in the recesses, and you can re-touch the lace. The same technique is used for the vandykes, which I have elected to be outlined, rather than solid white.

Next, the leather side stripes are highlighted with the red leather color, and silver articles are shaded with Reaper Gun Metal #08111. This gunmetal color is also used for the buttons on the overalls (image 19).

Finally, the silver and gold features are highlighted with their respective metallic colors, including the flint and lock on the carbine, trigger guard, sword, hilt, stirrups, etc. And voila! The figure is finished (image 20).

Next up: basing the Hussars.

Some French for follow-up

2006-07-28T21:34:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of French figs I'd painted. These represent my experiment with different manufacturers. My brand of choice is Old Glory, but there are also AB, Fantassin, and Battle Honors mixed in. All are painted with the black undercoat technique, as described in my last post.

Some beginning stuff

2006-07-27T12:15:00.000-07:00

These pics represent figures that I have already painted - just so you can get a feel for the style of painting I do. First is the 42nd Highlanders; Old Glory 15mm. There are also other units, such as the buffs, and a brigade in column with a skirmish stand. All of those figures were painted with a black undercoat, and the highlighting was exaggerated due to the small scale. For the blues, I used a navy blue, highlighted with more of a medium blue. Red was produced with a base color of maroon, highlighted with vermillion. The cavalry figures were painted as an experiment with white undercoating, following the procedure noted on the Paintfront website (http://paintfront.tanaka-world.net/). The result is that the horses came out with a far higher definition of the musculature than black undercoat horses. Next up: some French.

2006-07-27T10:16:00.000-07:00

O.k., this is my first blog attempt, so if it seems inept, that would be because I am inept at blogging. In this blog, I will post pics and procedures for painting 15mm wargaming miniatures. My current project is armies of the Napoleonic Iberian Penninsula campaign, which include French, Spanish, Portuguese, and British troops.

In addition to showing the finished products, I'll attempt to share my techniques with you, which I have borrowed from other, more illustrious painters (giving credit where credit is due).

Blogging for the first time - be gentle!

2006-07-27T09:16:00.000-07:00