Fred's 2015 Painting Diary

[fred.]

I've been painting up some Jacobites over the last couple of weeks - in a rather piecemeal fashion. Decided to get them based up tonight.

They are still rather work in progress - but I think I have done enough to go for the Harwood method on the rest.

Sorry the photo is pretty dreadful - couldn't get enough light into the front even with a the aid of a reflector (well a bit of folded white paper)

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Nice. Maybe tone the blue bonnets down just a shade? 

[fred.]

I think that might be more the photo than the paint.

But they will get an overall brown wash at some stage.

[jchaos79]

Nice minis!

[Techno]

Look damn fine to me, Forbes !
Cheers - Phil

[jambo1]

Very nice work yet again!! I find these threads so inspiring but soooo bloody demoralising at the same time!! 

[fred.]

Thanks chaps!

Did a bit more work on the bases tonight, another layer of sand in the lower areas, then lots of brown paint.

The photo has come out better too



The base at the front right (with the flag) was painted by the original owner, the other 3 by me.

I'm wondering about lightening the wood colours - they are currently very dark brown. I always struggle with the wood bit of weapons, all the stuff you see in museums is really dark wood, but is that just because its old, or would it have been stained at the time for durability?

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Very nice kit.

[Techno]

Wot Lemmey said !
Cheers - Phil.

[paulr]

 

Great job matching the original look 

[jambo1]

Very nice, the Jacobite figures are very nice, i have a small band of them still sitting ready for painting, going to be start of a wee rebellion campaign. Your painting hs given me some good ideas.

[fred.]

Thanks chaps.

Jambo, glad it's given you a bit of inspiration to get going with you Jocobites.

They are some nice figures - and the plaids give them a different look to most other forces. And aren't too hard to do. I have gone with a base colour and one colour of stripe. I did try some with a black marker pen, and this went well on fairly flat surfaces but worked less well on more textured surfaces.  

[Subedai]

'...I'm wondering about lightening the wood colours - they are currently very dark brown. I always struggle with the wood bit of weapons, all the stuff you see in museums is really dark wood, but is that just because its old, or would it have been stained at the time for durability?...'

I would go for a lighter colour although dark or aged wood is probably more accurate. Unfortunately  in this scale it just looks dull unless set next to a light colour for a highlight. I use Vallejo Orange Brown -not very accurate but looks good.

[fred.]

Yes I've used Orange Brown on my Mongols (probably from your sugestion )I'm not sure about it for these figures - might try a few. You are right that the dark brown just blends in. I might use Vallejo wood stain, which will dark has a nice orange hue to it.

[fred.]

Over the last few games, I'd noticed that my trees were looking a little the worse for wear. So as rain had stopped real gardening, I got the model trees out and sorted through them - pretty much all the armature and clump foliage ones looked like they could do with some 'spring growth'



and



So after a couple of hours of UHU fumes and Cricket commentary the forests are looking rather more healthy



and



I'm thinking that I will give them a spray with thinned down PVA to try to stop most of the shedding - anyone any ideas on how to do this??

[Techno]

What a damn good question, Forbes.
Would 'ordinary' sprayed matt varnish work ?
I genuinely haven't got a clue, regarding this.
Team ??
Cheers - Phil

[Subedai]

For my trees I dip the whole foliage area in a PVA water mix that has the consistency of thick soup and then dip them into my flock colour of choice. While they are still in the flock I squeeze the foliage bits a little to spread the PVA and enhance adhesion. After that I give them a good spray of thinned PVA from one of the garden spray bottles to really seal the surface. Worked a treat on my boards as well.

If I use clump foliage on its own then after gluing the clumps to whatever form of armature I am using at the time with contact adhesive, I then dip them into watered down PVA and hang them upside down to dry. The whole thing sets rock hard. 

[fred.]

If I use clump foliage on its own then after gluing the clumps to whatever form of armature I am using at the time with contact adhesive, I then dip them into watered down PVA and hang them upside down to dry. The whole thing sets rock hard. 

I would never of thought of dipping in thinned PVA - doesn't this change the look of the trees?

Various sites talk about spraying in 50/50 PVA water to seal both flock and clump foliage.

[petercooman]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUCuFz-SKoQ

or

http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/Item/S191/page/1

[Subedai]

I would never of thought of dipping in thinned PVA - doesn't this change the look of the trees?

Various sites talk about spraying in 50/50 PVA water to seal both flock and clump foliage.

Not really. if the mix is thin enough most of it just runs straight out. Another alternative for more precise coverage is to use an eye dropper or a soft brush to get the PVA mix directly onto and into the clump. The only trouble with this is that the brush picks up bits of foliage as you dab the clump.