I've gone for 6mm in an area which Pendraken doesn't quite cover and because I want seriously enormous forces on a smallish table. I'm looking for advice on painting them (I'm using Captain General rules, just as a matter of interest). Is it a case of what looks good at a distance, even more so than 10mm, as I imagine it would be, and how do you best achieve that effect?
Many thanks in advance for your help, chaps.
Somewhat brighter colours, rather less detail, otherwise as per 10mm in my case.
Thanks for that, Ithoriel. As some of them are Ottomans that will mean very bright colours :)
Over the decades I have painted sh*tloads of 6mm but only the Irregular blocks so this method might need a little adapting.
Black undercoat -to my mind essential. Always use bright colours and in shades that are slightly lighter than what you really want to make them stand out. In metals use silver not steel. If you are putting them on textured bases than again use bright colours. You can really go to town if you want by adding a highlight, I started doing it then concluded life was too short.
Examples of blocks below.
ECW Parliamentarians:
(http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad152/subedai/6mm%20Figures/2245b9a9-2d11-4c8d-846e-03c47e46dc5d.jpg)
and
(http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad152/subedai/6mm%20Figures/24d908a0-54bb-4cc7-a1e7-40d633ccf1ff.jpg)
Not that different from other scales, either:
1) Black with bright colour built up on top in layers leaving deep shadow (the Baccus way :D)
2) White with bright colours blocked or washed on, finished with a "dip" wash (my preferred way)
Key points:
1) Don't paint for the detail, paint for the effect.
2) Sharp and precise with fewer colours looks better than every last bit painted.
Most important thing:
Light, bright, clean block colours well based on pale neutral bases
A bunch of mine can be seen on my Flickr page (see sig)
Not the best but effective
Zippee,
Just had a quick butchers at your ECW Parliamentarians. The painting is brill on both the chaps and the bases.
I go for grey spray with a vallejo black shade wash, paint in block colours then give them a wash with W&N nut brown ink
(http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt334/SteveW_04/f36d62fe-b72e-44fc-88a7-157a500286ac.jpg) (http://s625.photobucket.com/user/SteveW_04/media/f36d62fe-b72e-44fc-88a7-157a500286ac.jpg.html)
Wow! Thanks a million for the advice and the excellent photos. Lots to learn from here.
Quote from: Zippee on 03 May 2014, 07:05:39 PM
Key points:
1) Don't paint for the detail, paint for the effect.
2) Sharp and precise with fewer colours looks better than every last bit painted.
Most important thing:
Light, bright, clean block colours well based on pale neutral bases
Zippee has summed it up well here. It is all about the contrast between main colours; jacket/trousers, shield/tunic...
Quote from: Subedai on 03 May 2014, 07:02:47 PM
Over the decades I have painted sh*tloads of 6mm but only the Irregular blocks so this method might need a little adapting.
Black undercoat -to my mind essential. Always use bright colours and in shades that are slightly lighter than what you really want to make them stand out. In metals use silver not steel. If you are putting them on textured bases than again use bright colours. You can really go to town if you want by adding a highlight, I started doing it then concluded life was too short.
Examples of blocks below.
ECW Parliamentarians:
(http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad152/subedai/6mm%20Figures/2245b9a9-2d11-4c8d-846e-03c47e46dc5d.jpg)
and
(http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad152/subedai/6mm%20Figures/24d908a0-54bb-4cc7-a1e7-40d633ccf1ff.jpg)
Lovely work on those mate
Excellent advice, as always on this forum. Lighter is better. Have a look at Peter Berry's Baccus website. It has a good "How to" section, which gives first class advice as to basic technique. Then, my advice would be, have a go at a bit of trial and error, to find out what suits you. You may decide there is one part of your figures which you really want to stand out, and concentrate on that. One piece of advice I would offer from personal experience is that the smaller the scale of the figures, the bigger the effect of the basing and the flags on the overall look.
Good luck!
Molllinary
Quote from: Fenton on 03 May 2014, 07:28:15 PM
I go for grey spray with a vallejo black shade wash, paint in block colours then give them a wash with W&N nut brown ink
Love your Rapier Egyptians.
Waiting for some Rapier Sumerians - hope I can do them half as well!!
Cor, really nice work on all those photo's!
Quote from: Ithoriel on 03 May 2014, 08:40:30 PM
Love your Rapier Egyptians.
Waiting for some Rapier Sumerians - hope I can do them half as well!!
Thanks
They painted up really easily...though I confess the chariots were a complete bollox due to the riders not fitting in the back of the chariot
Thinking about it I may have washed these with a very watered down AP strong tone ink rather than the W&N nut brown
What a wonderfully helpful forum this is! Thanks again for all the excellent help.
Quote from: Subedai on 03 May 2014, 07:26:58 PM
Zippee,
Just had a quick butchers at your ECW Parliamentarians. The painting is brill on both the chaps and the bases.
That's very kind, thanks
You've performed miracles on those Irregular blocks - I tried them years ago with Macedonians and Napoleonics, ended up binning the lot. I just couldn't get into the casting or "see" the figure.
Nice examples gents!
When 6mm was my chief love, I undercoated in white, not black; brighter final result. I'm not sure if this is useful counsel.
Thanks,everyone, especially for the photos. FK, I will be using white as undercoat and then brighter shades of colour. I'll post results as soon as enough are painted. Thank you all once more.
@ Fenton. Thanks.
@Zippee. Thanks to you as well. With the Irregular blocks it depends entirely on the range, some are much better than others. Having easily distinguishable items ie pikes and muskets makes the rest of the colours fall into place. I think some of them may have been redone because I don't remember the little officers stand when I got the first lot (back in the late '80's, early '90's).
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Byz9L-Smk1w/Uu6OT_PezbI/AAAAAAAACF0/ML2IbWEKxNA/s1600/2014-02-02+18.06.16.jpg)
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EMxbOBJPX5k/Umk_kcsEPxI/AAAAAAAABv8/k374DO7Nvtk/s1600/DSCN7099.jpg)
So long as you use bright colours, you can be a little rough with the block colours. Use a good dark wash and then do a very quick highlight in the original bright colours. The wash hides all of the original roughness and the highlighting makes 'em pop!
Some more pics can be found here http://irregularwars.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Hail%20Caesar%20%28in%206mm%29 (http://irregularwars.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Hail%20Caesar%20%28in%206mm%29)
:o Ew that is a close up shot of my Iranian archers........
Very nice work! 8)
Wow! Nice pike and shot, Subedai! In Dutch formation, no less?
Those are superb Egyptians, Fenton! Are they really 6mm?
Very nice ancients, Irregularwars!
Super stuff!
Rob :)
Yeah they are 6mm I will get them finished at some point
I wish I could get to grips with the Irregular 6mm as I really want to like it but seem to have mental block about painting it
You've set a very high standard with these photos! Excellent stuff! Thank you for sharing them.
Quote from: Fenton on 04 May 2014, 03:57:43 PM
Yeah they are 6mm I will get them finished at some point
I wish I could get to grips with the Irregular 6mm as I really want to like it but seem to have mental block about painting it
I find them the easiest of all the 6mm types to paint, probably because most of the colours are hinted at with lines or dots rather than blocks of colour. Also, an added advantage for CO troops is that you only have to paint the front and back, the sides cannot be seen apart from the end figures.The black undercoat makes all this possible and you can certainly knock 'em out once you get a head of steam up. When I painted my ACW Union army I did 60 blocks in an hour -they were already undercoated I hasten to add.
I think maybe its because what little irregular I do have was bought in Australia from Eureka who have their own moulds. I think those moulds are quite old now and so quite a bit of the detail has been lost...I will maybe order some more from Irregular themselves to see if there any different
Look damn fine to me !
Cheers - Phil
I've a bunch of Irregular blocks that I've never quite gotten on with either. Tried white undercoat > bright colours > wash down but they look "washed out" like I got the contrast out of whack on the TV.
Might clean them off and go black > bright block colours, or try grey > black wash > not quite so bright colours. Hmmm. The piccies and suggestions have me pondering when I should be working :)
Quote from: Subedai on 04 May 2014, 05:43:34 PM
I find them the easiest of all the 6mm types to paint, probably because most of the colours are hinted at with lines or dots rather than blocks of colour. Also, an added advantage for CO troops is that you only have to paint the front and back, the sides cannot be seen apart from the end figures.The black undercoat makes all this possible and you can certainly knock 'em out once you get a head of steam up. When I painted my ACW Union army I did 60 blocks in an hour -they were already undercoated I hasten to add.
That's very encouraging, Subedai, as my 6 mms are from Irregular :)
You say that some of your chaps are Ottomans; here are mine all done with a black undercoat.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_QlvS4-f-iA4/TS3jmjnlZmI/AAAAAAAAARg/qc9xQl8IguM/s1600/SAM_0370.JPG)
Ignore the base colours, at the time they were ok but now are too dark. I have changed them from the green to the earth colour of my boards.
Before
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JZO8uLrz4Ww/TfSsQ_NxpeI/AAAAAAAAAcw/KVhgMRViwDE/s320/SAM_0046.JPG)
After
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YKovCVguqB4/TfSsRCdVgtI/AAAAAAAAAc4/d72l1XtVFkU/s320/SAM_0051.JPG)
Hope this helps.
More of my 6mm armies can be seen on the blog;
http://thewordsofsubedai.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/some-more-of-collection.html
http://thewordsofsubedai.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/more-armies.html
and
http://thewordsofsubedai.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/old-figures-new-pictures.html
Hope this helps.
Currently knocking out some Baccus ACW for Altar of Freedom. have gone for white undercoat, blocks and lines of paint then an overall coat of GW Agrax earthshade. Works a treat and is very quick.
Many thanks for that impressive Ottoman display, Subedai, and for the suggestion about base colour, too. Lots of great ideas here.
Here are a couple of shots of the latest 6mm ACW for altar of Freedom painted as per my previous post.
(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g440/dourpuritan/IMG_1005_zps62c0fa03.jpg)
(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g440/dourpuritan/IMG_1002_zpse129533c.jpg)
The pictures arent showing up
They are for me, lovely stuff! 8)
Not showing for me either - user has removed content message from photobucket.
That's odd because I can see them. Wondering if I can do a conversion of Altar of Freedom to cover Europe 1859-71. Would then use my old 6mm for that and my newer 10mm for battalion based games (eg Black Powder).
I cant see them even if I copy the link and go straight to your photobucket page
Really have no idea what has happened. I've been back to my Photobucket page and they are there in the album Altar of freedom. I can still see them on the forum page. I loaded them onto the page in the same way I have always done, so no idea what is going on.
Security settings on Photobucket maybe? If you're logged in and others are logged in who can see them, whilst I'm not...
Will try to post again
(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g440/dourpuritan/Altar%20of%20Freedom/IMG_1005_zps62c0fa03.jpg)
(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g440/dourpuritan/Altar%20of%20Freedom/IMG_1002_zpse129533c.jpg)
Yup, that worked!
Very nice indeed.
:-bd
Cheers - Phil.
Worked! Very tasty :)
Look great
They're cute little fellas. :-bd