Pages

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Welsh Bonnedig Archers

Quick post up of my progress on the 12 levy archers for the Welsh warband.  I'm using a hot glue gun for all my 28mm basing. A bonus is that the glue smooths out the transition from the base to the miniature.  The color palette here is simple and earthy, given they're a peasant levy.

I'm using Americana Light Cinnamon for the base coat, followed by Cocoa and then Sand for the highlights.   I took extra care in applying my base color to the ballast, given the trouble it took to paint the 10 wee toes.

Half the figures below have a single highlight of Cocoa and half have a 2nd highlight of Sand, popping the texture nicely. Static grass goes down after a protective coating.
I'm really enjoying painting for Saga.  I have to say that it's the most fun I've had painting...ever, really.  The siren song of 28mm skirmish is you don't ever get bored painting the same figure over and over.  Now that the levy troops are complete, it's on to 24 Welsh warriors.  This is where I can stretch my color palette and bring in stripes, checks and the like. Dawnsio ar y dibyn!
A new Saga faction-the Undead Warband 

25 comments:

  1. Nice work as always, Monty. Your ground ballast must be tough on the levy's bare feet! Looking forward to seeing your treatment of stripes, checks, and plaids. Perhaps you will field a gaggle of grunge Welshmen?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Jonathan! Seattle grunge, stretching all the way back to the 852!

      Delete
  2. Yep. Are you planning on working up a backstory?

    Just heard they are releasing rules for the e arly Rus. Getting harder to resist this, and you aren't helping Monty ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're on to me. This project unfolded so quickly that I'm a bit behind and off in posting. A Welsh backstory is almost ready for my warriors post!

      If I could find partners, there is nothing that you haven't tried that I wouldn't try as well. All of it looks wonderful. If you do let the magpie in, don't fret as it's a pretty low figure count to get to the table.

      Delete
    2. Early Rus? Are you kidding me? That is where a majority of my historical academic work has been done so there is no way in heck I will be able to resist that. That will be fun!

      Delete
  3. Well done, Monty. These poor Welsh have a very nice look. Lookinn forward to the men with more means ;^). The eyes are looking good, by the way.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brent! I bet the Welsh would love to meet your Irish! Both forces share some interesting similarities. I just read there are accounts of Welsh warriors fighting with only one shoe on. Probably because they threw the other at the enemy!

      Delete
  4. Very, very nice work Monty...I love the colours of the tunics, and the enigmatic eyes!
    Phil.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Phil! Thanks, I do like the Undead look it gives them, but then again, I've been watching too much Walking Dead lately.

      Delete
  5. I like the earth tones on these as well. The archers look like individuals but also have a uniformity by your use of the browns. I'm having a hard time getting the hang of basing. I'm using PVC glue and it is hard to control the flow and it tends to ball up on me. I may give the glue gun a try after seeing how yours have come out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anne, thanks for your comments!

      It takes just a couple of tries to get the hang of it. Let the glue heat up thoroughly and pull away the gun after application so the glue "string" catches on the base and doesn't come away like a string of spaghetti.

      Delete
  6. Very nice work. My glue gun's been dead for years and never needed to replace it but considering I have the plastic rods for it it would be a good investment.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Andras!

      You're half way there! I only started using the glue gun when I switched to 28mm. I dug around in a drawer of old craft supplies from when my kids were little and discovered it. What other hobby supplies are waiting to be discovered?

      Delete
  7. Very nice looking unit of archers. I am very impressed with the detail work you've done - particularly the toes! Best, Dean

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dean! I have to try incorporating your style of painting things I'd normally wait to paint last on a figure. And luckily, the batch of warriors are a mix of shoes and toes.

      Delete
  8. Very nice work, your basing method is very similar to mine.

    Steve

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh, im really impressed with the faces too, i've always been a bit rubbish at painting skin, yours look very smooth and you have managed to capture the character of the figures, nice job.

    Steve

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yorkie, that is very kind of you to say. I have to give credit where credit is due. The Foundry flesh triad is wonderful to work with. So much so that I'm still thinking of buying a whole set of Foundry. I just have to get past the price...

      Delete
  10. Replies
    1. Thanks Jonathan! It gets better from here. The levy are just the warm up act. Time for them to exit the stage and let the headliners take over.

      Delete
    2. Blogger is doing something weird. I got your 2nd comment but its missing entirely from my blog. Not even in the spam folder.

      Yes, there is another supplement in the works and then more after that. If I go Early Rus, I know where to check for info! I have a hunch they'll take this to ancients. I'll scream like a girl if I find out they're doing Roman, Gaul and more. And then get busy painting.

      Delete
    3. I would be excited about the possibilities of an ancients campaign of Saga skirmishes that lead up to and impacted a large battle of Hail Caesar. Now that would be fun!

      Delete
  11. Hi Monty,
    so fast!you are "Monty Austin" the six million dollar painter! you do a top work on the Welsh band as you done on the Normans! who are the next to be painted? Early Rus? the sublte Byzantine with a nice touch of Varangians?

    thanks for sharing your 28mm figure basing tips;-)

    Cheers

    gilles " the one euro painter ;-) "

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gillies! I'm in the throes of New Love so pretty much every spare minute is spent at the painting table lately. Wait till you see what I bust out next week.

      I'm thinking about my next warband (always more projects) but I haven't settled on an idea yet. Byzantine would be very cool to paint! And you always make me lol. Have a great Sunday, sir!

      Delete