Mojo.

So how is your painting mojo doing? Looking around a few blogs some people seem to be losing thier painting mojo as the days lighten (well for us N Hemisphere lot). So what is you recipe for keeping those brushes working?

Mine is doing just fine I could happily paint all day - damn the day job! Having had a long break from hobby  I have come back and I actually really enjoy it , more so than gaming I guess . The community of shared interest enabled by blogs and forums seems to put like minded people in touch which can be very inspirational . I enjoy the challenge of creating new units something with a bit of unique value. Variety does help as i am sure you will have seen from me of late there has been more than usual Napoleonic fare - I have to thank Curt from Analogue Hobbies for this his Winter Painting Challenge has been fun, and I look forward to catching up with some of the guys at Salute.

A few people have asked me about how to keep focus when doing larger units so here you are :-

Method 1
Do all the prep and undercoat on them all , and then some major block work. I will then split in to sections , suchs as the officers , the grendiers and lights , then the others to finish them off, this breaks it into manageable chunks.

Method 2
 I paint listening to music , or radio - i love BBC iplayer and after a while just end up tuning out of concentrating on progress and before i know it another chunk is done.

Method 3
Plan how I am going to paint the unit. Write down all the individual processes or colours that need to be done and then start ticking them off as they go. I find this sometimes help to structure the way I paint the figure , and can mean less rework - rework and touching up is all wasted time and effort which you can mostly get rid of with planning and it also speeds up the overall process.

Method 4
Reward yourself by having something you really want to paint up next, a special , or command stand.

Mehod 5
Don't stress too much if you don't make the progress you want - enjoy the journey - it is supposed to be FUN!

So how about you? Any stratgies for getting through "the block" you would like to share?


Oh and here is the picture. I completed the 2nd Vistula Infantry (Elite Miniatures) for John D back in Janaury (thanks for the photo) , and he's got them based and flagged - and very nicely done that is too.

Proper old school gloss boys.. go on you know you want too..

Photo courtesy of JohnD

And my inane ramblings are coming up on it's first birthday - I will have to work out a giveaway for those of you mad enough to stick with me.


cheers

Vistula Lancer - completed

After a final push over this week these lads are now completed. There was more work to castings overall getting the unit composed and the conversion work sorted than the final paint jobs.No figure is just an original casting & no two are the same. 2 squadrons modelled at the charge and two ready to support.  Each has wire reins added and soldered into hands. Each officer was remodelled from the original casting,with replaced pin swords. There was major work on 3 of the 4 trumpeters. Each trooper has the lance soldered in to the hand with arms re-positioned, the straps from the lance added around the arms as well. Overall a fully unique unit , which I am very happy with. Flag and pennants from GMB.(Yes i know they lost the colours in Spain - but ya need a nice flag!). Lances made from 0.8mm piano wire.Horses were a mix of Elite, Connoisseur and Bicorne to provide variation. Based up for Grand Manner 20mm per figure frontage , 45mm depth.

The full unit

There have been some interesting modelling challenges , all over come and skills enhanced with the soldering iron. I will be adding the Lancers of Berg next year i feel.

Lt -Col Stanislaw Klicki

 As the Vistula lancers are nearing completion - just a handful of troopers left to do and the basing I decided to also complement them with a staff officer type figure Lt-Col Klicki was commander of the Vistula Legion cavalry in the peninsular and served in Russia. I had a spare French guard lancer officer figure ("Connoisseur" I think)  in the lead pile, so decided to create one from that.

I have added a flattened pin sword, replaced the cast sword knots with wire and soldered in place. I then filed off the ends of the cast racket & cords on the czapka and remade these from 3 strands of copper wire (from am old piece of household appliance flex) braided together &  wrapped around the plume and soldered in place. The racket is made by wrapping the braided wires around the end of a round needle file to create a doughnut which is then filled in with solder filling. the cord is then positioned in place as if flying loose & tinned with solder to stiffen it place. I also added wire reins. The secret to all this small scale soldering - liquid flux - Bakers No 3. The horse is an "Elite miniatures" one which was completed in the big batch done in the summer.

The blue used is the Andrea Color blue clothes set . A really excellent set of paint shades that work well.

  

I added a spare shako to groundworks as well Overall very pleased with him.

Vistula Legion Lancers - getting there

It has been a very busy week in the real world! I have completed the officers to go with the trumpeters for the Vistula Lancers and part based them (ready for colours to be applied),  also the first of the men with pointy sticks.So for your delictation.

 

Holding steady.

 Sound the charge!

 
 Hacking their way through

Flying czapka! and crashing trumpter.
"Who's idea was this charge?"

First of the lancers

I have had some different requests come in for the brushes so there may a short delay on finishing these lads while i sort out painting an Anglo Saxon warband! - that's different!

Repairs to an old friend "Mamaluke"

While down at the WHC last weekend I picked up a figure I originally converted and painted about 12 years ago. He was in need of a little bit of a refresh and repair as there was some damage to the rear legs and sword. This has all now been sorted out. The figure is a "Bicorne" miniatures one on a Bicorne heavy horse which has had wire reins added & been cut free at the front so it appears to be leaping.

In addition i have completed the trumpeters for the Vistula lancers. All have had extra wire reins added. Trumpets were made for 3 of them from scratch and then added to the converted  figures as required .

The one on the left is pretty much the standard figure with just the head turned more to its right. The falling one is the same figure and horse. I must thank Doug Mason for the knowledge & teach in of how to do this with the soldering iron (watching him create a splayed out hand just using a soldering iron is incredible)  and the inspiration of looking at his own creations.

This one had his arm released from the casting , the existing trumpet was cut away and replaced by a scratch one. The head repositioned by twisting, then the trumpet was then soldered to the hand and positioned as if being blown. The the arm is then cut & bent to match it and soldered back on . The cord of the trumpet is created from 3 strands of twisted copper wire from a normal piece of household electrical flex. This is passed around the figure and soldered to the trumpet.

This one has his sword out as if to slash down on some poor infantryman and trumpet flung behind him.












Almost finished the officers too.

Vistula Legion Infantry - part 3 & started painting Lancers

Finished off the fusiliers for the Vistula Infantry. Very pleased with how these turned out. The castings by "Elite" are first class. It was nice to not have them looking up at the sky as they sometimes seem to be.

Groundwork and photo courtesy of John D

I have also started work on the painting of the Vistula lancers. Just a test one to start with (Officer hence no lance), and I am pleased with the results. More work over the next few days to finish of the soldering and final tweaks to the rest of troopers. It will be a real one off unit once completed.

I am enjoying the modelling challenge here. Lots of extra work going into the castngs with moving arms , replaced swords, sword scabbards remade and flying loose, reins added, czapka has chords and rackets added. All good fun!

I have also come across some old 30mm Stadden figures which need a little repair and restoration before going to auction at Vectis, pictures next time

Vistula Legion Infantry - part 2

It's been a busy week , so progress has been a little slower than normal. I have finished the Grenadier and Voltigeur companies, with the fusiliers about half way there.I have also got some paint on the first of the Vistula Lancers - well it's the same colours, so i thought i might as well.

The more of them I paint , the more impressed I am with the castings. More next week

Vistula Legion Infantry

It is back to it after the break. I have been working on some "Elite miniatures" Vistula legion infantry. They are very nice casting and paint up well.

These have yellow facings and the drummers with reverse colours have yellow jackets. Yellow can be a difficult colour to work with I find sometimes. The yellows here are initially undercoated in a yellow ochre and highlighted up with a an "Andrea color" Basic Yellow which is finely pigmented and covers well. Further highlights are Vallejo Flat Yellow  and very top colour is Andrea Light Yellow. The rest of the unit is blocked up ready for fine detailing.

The French Cuirassier band has also turned up all the way from Italy. Looking forward to doing them over the winter. I have a 28mm French field hospital set on the way as well..

Repairs to an old friend. "Prince Eugene"

This week has been mainly spent working on preparing the next lot of projects. I picked up an old friend at my last visit to the WHC, who has seen much duty over the years. However he has picked up a few war wounds along the way, the horse was broken from its base, his plume was gone, his sword was broken off too. I would swear someone has stood on it!  I asked Doug Mason to repair the horse  with solder from the base to the knee joint of both hind legs. He also created the plume from solder. I was able to sort the sword out re soldering it. I then had to try and match painting that was 30 years old. Mainly used humbrols and a bit of a khaki wash to add a little ageing prior to the gloss varnish. Overall I think he is ready for duty again.
 
I seems this was an original Peter Gilder creation and still looks great. The base figure is Willie figure I am informed with the head being a PG creation as is the horse (thanks Phil for info)

Talking of the WHC. I also found an old photo from 1990. This was the invitation game held on the 175th Anniversary of Waterloo. With Peter Gilder leading the French against Mike Ingham's Brits. I was on the French side and we got a good drubbing!

Rear (Brits) - Mark Freeth, Andy Moorhouse, Mike Ingham , Ricard Harris , Steve Shann
Front (French) Me! ,Chris Flowers, Simon Clark, Doug Mason, Paul Williamson, Peter Gilder.
(Thanks to Tony Dillon & Richard Harris for clearing up a few names )

Peter was in a wheelchair at the time suffering with the motor-neurone disease that he succumbed to later that year. I think this was his last game. I was even helping to feed him. I know it was certainly sad seeing him like that. But he enjoyed himself as we all did. 


And here are another couple of Vistula legion lancer conversions completed ready for painting.

 Trumpeter crashing to the ground, hands flailing, trumpet flying loose - in my minds eye I see the canister striking!

Officer about to crash his sabre down upon his foe, drawing his arm back & leaning into the blow. The sword scabbard is flying loose on its belts, His boots are dug into the horses side for more purchase . The horse is turned to that side pulling on it reins  too. Mane and tail are reworked with the soldering iron for more movement.

Polish & Bavarian Commanders

I have had very little painting time this week as I have been travelling in the day job, and called in at Marks WHC on Sat/Sun  to check out the new Arnhem game set up. I was cajoled into calling in the Allied air power - rolling Double 6 - 4 times out 5 Yes the dice were examined and proceeded to roll 2's for other people.  So  anyway I decided to complete a few more command stands last night that had previously been undercoated. (Usual Humbrol Tank Grey 67)

Two Polish divisional generals. Both by "Front Rank" again very nice castings. I used "Front Rank" horses  this time as I felt the riders pose went well with their walking horses , so I chose one with head up and one head down. These has been completed in the last big horse batch. As per previous Poles I used Vallejo Dark Prussian Blue , and lightening from there with Flat blue mix. These were finished in Matt varnish for their new home. Again this did mean a slight refresh of the metallic once that had dried.

The Bavarian General is again "Front Rank". This time he is a bit more animated. Looking through the completed horse batch there was an old "Connoisseur" heavy horse that I thought he looked really good on, so the two were paired. The basic block colour was Vallejo Flat Blue which was highlighted up gradually and finished with top highlights of Andrea Blue (70841). After the Matt varnish I again refreshed top highlights and metallic.

As for this week I have had a project bumped up the painting table with the arrival of castings from "Bicorne" of  a 20+ piece set for a French Guard Band. They look interesting and fun to do - a nice wounded pair singing along included. Plus more work on the castings for the Vistula Legion Lancers that are in progress.

General Dabrowski & ADC

I have been working on preparing castings mainly this week, but I have been able to complete another Polish command stand to give Prince Poniatowski someone to command. General Dabrowski and an ADC figure both by "Front Rank" - really good crisp castings a pleasure to paint. Dabrowski's horse is an old favourite light horse by "Connoisseur" and the ADC's is an "Elite"one.  I wanted the stand to tell a picture of the ADC having just galloped in and pulled his horse up and the look of an animated conversation. I think it has been achieved with the choice of figures and horses and how they are placed on the base. The horses were completed in the last big batch so they were all ready waiting for a project to come along. I did however have to add a saddlecloth and saddle made from Milliput to the Elite horse (took about 5 mins to do) as the ADC casting comes without one and would normally require a S1 type Front rank horse.

The blue used for main colours is a Vallejo Dark Prussian Blue (70899) which is highlighted with with a mix of the DPB and Flat Blue. The Polish crimson is created with Humbrol 73 (wine) as a base then highlighted with a 73 and Matt white (34) mix.

Silver used is Vallejo Model air silver as it it flows easily and works well on fine detailing. This was highlighted a little with a sligh mix of white in to too. Faces and flesh tones as per my usual 4 colour method.

More castings work this week as busy preparing a Vistula Legion lancer regiment and a Dutch Belgian Hussar regiment.

Prince Poniatowski & ADC

After a few weeks of completing larger units it was time to do something from the "for my enjoyment" collection of metal. I bought some Front Rank command figures earlier in the year and really liked the look of these two and had some good reference library pictures to work from. I decided to stick with Front Rank horses. (I don't mind the light horses standing or walking - not so keen on the faster moving lighter ones or any heavier ones though - it's a personal taste thing). I looked through the horses completed earlier , but found i was going to need one of their S1 type with cast on saddle cloth for the ADC which only came with part sheepskin saddle . I did not have one of those already completed so decided just to add a saddle cloth to a completed one from a small amount of thinly rolled out Milliput (a two part putty that is easily worked into shape). This was shaped with some sculpting tools and a scalpel blade. Took about 5 minutes to do.

The rest was a simple paint job. Undercoated the figures in Humbrol 67 (Tank Grey).

Poniatowski - Has a large fur cloak on , this was blocked in Vallejo flat brown and then drybrushed lighter shades by mixing with Khaki and white until happy with the effect. His tunic was blocked Dark Prussian blue, then highlighted with a Medium blue/Flat blue mix.  The polish crimson trousers were blocked Humbrol 73 to start , then had a little white 34 added and used to highlight knee tops and creases etc. Czapka top was to be white with a cross on and then additional line detail added - this was blocked light grey first. Face as per usual. Various chords etc were added using a Vallejo Model Air Silver - this is thinner and i find it easier to use for small fine detail - as this usually involves using it in dots or dabs to suggest or pick out detail rather than just paint it all. His horse was a standing one which i had bent the head slightly before painting.

ADC-  the main block colour was Humbrol 73 (Wine) which was then over painted to gradually highlight with Vallejo Red, Flat Red, Scarlet. . Shako was blocked Vallejo Medium Blue, and highlighted with Flat blue , and hint of white then added to that as well.

They were finished in proper varnish - Gloss!

It is always important to keep the creative enjoyment going , and doing these helped.



I also completed a small screen of Connoisseur Brunswick skirmishers to add to the two battalions completed a little earlier. These were a very simple grey paint job , just a case of highlighting up after undercoating (Humbrol 67) with a Vallejo Neutral Gray and a bit of light grey really then piping facing colours and muskets. Faces as usual. I added some bit of beech branch to bases to give a more interesting effect (I now remember why i did not cut down the beech hedge.. good for nicking bits for basing!). They were based in pairs, one firing one moving,

These took about 30 minutes to complete.