Monday, July 30, 2012

(Dismounted) Australian Light Horse

I got a little distracted from my other current projects over the weekend (moderns, Greeks, WW2 Soviets and Paras…). Maybe it was time to do something a little different. I was getting tired of working on individual figures (as many of the recent modern ones had been) and wanted to do something simple (i.e. without patterning/camouflage). What the exact thought process that led me to pull a pile of (dismounted) Australian Light Horse out of the drawer and paint them up I doubt I’d be able to retrace… but pull them out I did and below are the results…

Unfortunately this is yet another one of those smallish projects that I feel like; “gee, I could totally finish all of these up in a week or two if I stayed focused… and then they’d be done…” Unfortunately I have a couple dozen projects at the same level of completion – It’d just take a week or two… but adding them all up that’s over a year’s work!? Which to do first!?

It probably won’t be these (largely because I have very few opponents finished for them – I think I have one unit of Turks I painted a couple years back - or maybe just PART of one unit… looks like there’s only 10 there…

Anyway, it’s be good to get back to doing some Great War Stuff… but I think it’d be more productive to work on some more West Front stuff… Germans… Canadians… Rebuilding the Vimy Terrain

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version):

These chaps are from Brigade Games.

Vickers team from the same.

Two of infantry I painted over a year ago. The other day I was looking at an Osprey book on the the Australian Army in WW1 and they were all illustrated in a brownish khaki serge… and I got to second guessing my decision to do them in a more greenish serge. So I partly repainted those two with a more brownish serge and started a couple more… and then started second guessing myself again and decided the brownish khaki looked like rubbish and blacked them out and started all over again with the green!?

I am an idiot.

Now that I have a whole unit painted in the greenish serge, however, I am sticking with it!?

I can see why Curt’s decided to go with grey… Who can argue with that and tell him he’s wrong – it looks JUST LIKE the photos! When I first read about his project I couldn’t decide whether it was freaking brilliant or just pretentious and Silly! I’m definitely leaning more towards brilliant these days…

Speaking of me being a daft twit… I was getting excited over the last month as My painted figure total climbed ever higher slowly approaching 700x28mm foot – while my figures purchased stayed steady at just below 1000 (which is, I’ll admit, an absurd amount regardless) and I was thinking I might actually be able to hold off on buying anything else and painting MORE then I acquire this year!? HUZZAH!? Bu then last week I was looking something up and discovered that North Bay Games and Hobbies had dropped the pack prices on their Foundry and assault group figures to $5… Five bucks for an eight figure pack… So I ordered all the Foundry stuff I could possible ever imagin making use of (which wasn’t much) and all the Assault Group stuff I could imagine ever making use of (and then some) and then then I went to place an order I was informed that they’re doing the same for Renegade…. So I bought ALL the Renegade Great War stuff, which, fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it) ended up only being one blister of Germans and a boxed set of Early War French Cavalry…. So now my acquired total is through the roof again for the fourth year in a row…

I need to have a clearer plan… and stick to the plan… and ignore crazy sales – no matter how insanely good they may be…

But eight 28mm figures for $5… tell me you wouldn’t have…

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Who knows…? I wouldn’t have guessed Australian Light Horse would be the next post when I put up the previous post… so…

As with any time a new batch of toys arrives in the mail, I’ll probably paint a handful of them in the next couple days… because, y’know… new stuff is EXCITING stuff! 

14 comments:

  1. I'd go with the pretentious and silly myself... ;)

    Very nice work Tim. I quite like the cornflower blue on some of the lads.

    I'm jealous that you snatched those Renegade from North Bay - great deal!

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  2. Thanks Curt!

    The French Cavalry box wasn't quite as deeply discounted... and what I'm going to do with all those flamethrowers...!?

    The sweetest Great War deal to be had was the two packs of Foundry Great War British Artillery in helmets - which will be enough to crew three or four Reviresco 4.5 inch Q.F. Howitzer... When I get around to picking a few more up... (Ugh... buying MORE stuff...)

    There's still apparently lots of other Renegade stuff - ECW in particular, Terry mentioned...

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    1. Cool, I need more ECW stuff like a hole in the head but as you know it not about the needin'...

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  3. I had a similar idea to Curt's grey, painting 2mm TYW and ECW minis in sepia tones so they look like the old woodblock prints from the period.

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  4. Neat!

    Did you ever try it out?

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  5. Nice work Tim, Green is a good colour for the Aussie. Don't forget that their is a Kiwi command from Brigade Games that will look nice with your collection.

    Keep up the excellent work.

    Cheers,

    Helen

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  6. I am pretty wowed by Curt's idea - it is definitely daring. But I wonder if the minis are as fun to play with in greyscale, or if just taking lower resolution B&W pics would not do the trick just as well.

    Oh yeah, your figs are nice too, Tim

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    1. I've done game reports with black and white photos of my coloured troops and terrain (sometimes to hide the fact that the colour on my uniforms may be off!), but they just don't capture that black and white period photo look the way Curt's been able to...

      I am in awe, but the practical side of me thinks "damn, you'd have to do a whole new set of terrain" - I'm always looking for ways to use... well... anything - but terrain especially - in as many periods as I can. Because I am, in essence, a lazy bastard.

      Also I can't help by think - How would Curt ever be able to play with other peoples stuff... it'd look funny if he brought his toys up here and threw them on the table with my stuff... but, really... how often does THAT happen!? Like me, Curt loves painting the toys and "putting on a show" and thus tends to supply all the toys for games he runs...

      How's the course going? Blow anything up yet?

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    2. Thanks for the kind words Tim. Yeah, when I started all this silliness I knew I'd be in for the long haul alone on this one. To keep the B&W effect consistent I knew I'd have to paint all the miniatures and create a dedicated set of terrain for it. To be frank, I hardly think about the game aspect with this project - its more to see how it will all look when its done. Its a bit self indulgent but hey, as you say, its just a hobby!

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  7. Thanks all. Between Curt and Rodger and Dean(at WAB Corner) and Mark (at Over Open Sights) and a half dozen other blogs I can't think of off the top of the head that all seem working on some excellent Great War Stuff I'm sorely tempted to drop everything and jump back into the Great War with both feet!

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  8. Really like the green surge look mate. It's what I see in the local war museum, very similar. Can you share your paint receipe for it? I would be very grateful. I really like the Vickers team. Very nice.
    Cheers
    Paul

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    1. Thanks Paul!

      I'm actually using the same colour I mixed up in a spare bottle to use for my WW2 Canadians. To me it looks similar to what you've been using on your WW2 Aussies. I think it was a mix of DecoArt Americana Plantation Pine and Artist's Pigment Fawn and then bits of this and that (browns - burnt umber, etc, and greens and tans..) until I got it right. Sorry, I know that's not terribly helpful, but that's how I get the colours I want - way more of an art than an exact science...

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  9. Cheers mate. I use Brown Voilet straight out of the bottle as a base coat on the pacific troops. Bit darker than your guys. I might have a muck around with some green paints.

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