Hi folks!

Been awhile since I have posted due to many personal, mostly health reasons, but I'm back painting, so I thought I would update the thread.

So here we go...

These are the French Dragoons I entered into the recent painting contest:





Here are 2 regiments of Zouaves:



I painted up a "Hero Brigadier" and 4 small terrain pieces:



And last but not least... My Corps Commander base:



Hopefully I will be adding to the thread soon. 

Very nice work

Quote from: Duke Speedy of Leighton on 19 March 2026, 05:29:40 PMVery nice work

Cheers, mate! 

really nice

Beautiful work there Ray !

Thanks, ya'll!

It's been a long time since I dragged out my camera and I'm having a real problem getting nice close-ups with it. Just for kicks I tried the camera on my mobile phone and was really surprised by the quality of the photos. I think next time I take some photos of my troops I will try first with my mobile phone. (That being said by someone who has refused to own a mobile phone until only about 9 months ago.  )

Just seen these over on LAF - but happy to get a second look! Great work Ray

About cameras - I own a DSLR with fancy lenses - quite a few years ago I swapped to using my iPhone for taking photos of figures. And the iPhone cameras have just got better since then. 

I'm sure with the DSLR I could get great pictures, but it always seems to take a lot of setup and trial and error with settings. With the phone, it just works. 

QuoteI'm sure with the DSLR I could get great pictures, but it always seems to take a lot of setup and trial and error with settings. With the phone, it just works.

We'll see, but I agree that my normal camera takes a long time to get the photo I want and *poof* just like magic, I was able to take an unprepared shot of my little army in it's cabinet and the level of detail was amazing.

So next time... we try the phone FIRST.  

Quote from: Leman on 07 July 2021, 08:05:55 AMIncidentally, as my figures are based on 25mm square bases, I represent infantry column movement (the only formation for movement in the Thomas rules) as 2x2 bases. This is more aesthetically pleasing than one behind the other when  using square bases. Cavalry do everything in 2x2 formation, but infantry must change formation to line to fire and cannot move in that formation (except British in Crimea and Spain).

What are your opinions on Neil Thomas' 19th Century rules? For something so simple, I thought there was alot of nuance. I hd the same concerns regarding his basing recommendations for line and column.

Quote from: streetgang on 20 March 2026, 03:14:42 AMWhat are your opinions on Neil Thomas' 19th Century rules? For something so simple, I thought there was alot of nuance. I hd the same concerns regarding his basing recommendations for line and column.

I'm not familiar with the rule set, so it is difficult to comment. I understand they are fast play rules. In general, I prefer rules with 2 actions per move. So, for example, change from column to line (1 action), and fire (2nd action). I would be a little hesitate about rules that didn't allow movement in line, though, again, as fast play rules it is obviously an abstraction and there is nothing to stop folks from making a "house rule" to allow movement in line if they so choose.

At 71, I mainly am a painter at this point, so I am not focused on rules and gameplay.

Great work on those figures ! 

Quote from: Ray Rivers on 20 March 2026, 05:54:07 AMI'm not familiar with the rule set, so it is difficult to comment. I understand they are fast play rules. In general, I prefer rules with 2 actions per move. So, for example, change from column to line (1 action), and fire (2nd action). I would be a little hesitate about rules that didn't allow movement in line, though, again, as fast play rules it is obviously an abstraction and there is nothing to stop folks from making a "house rule" to allow movement in line if they so choose.

At 71, I mainly am a painter at this point, so I am not focused on rules and gameplay.

I remember purchasing his book and liking the abstracted concepts but there were some "holes", more of a guide rather than a proper ruleset. It didn't stop me from basing my mid-19th century figures for his rules.

I ended up using Field of Battle for my 19th century games. I like how they play.

Back to your figures, they are stunning. I'm really impressed with your flags. Your blues look realistic but also "pop" in color. Great brushwork.

Cheers, Techno and streetgang!

I actually enjoyed painting the flags, but of course, with tricolors, that isn't so difficult.

For the blues and reds, I base coat with a dark color first and then overlay them with a brighter color to make them pop. For the blue I base with Foundry Deep Blue and then "highlight" them with Foundry Deep Blue Light. For the red I base with Citadel Mephiston Red and then "highlight" with Foundry British Red Coat. For the gold I use Citadel Retributor Armour and then I do an actual highlight, if you will and when necessary, with Miniature Paints Bright Gold.

So the system I used is similar (though reversed) when, with a black primer and you want to get a strong light color such as yellow, one would first paint the area white and then overcoat that with the yellow.