The painting table - May 2022

My painting table is unusually crowded at the moment.  Mainly this is due to the 2mm ACW production line.  On the table are bases that just need the bases a dry brushing in green so they will be out of the way PDQ.  Towards the top right are a couple of 2mm artillery bases but I can't rebase these until more MDF bases arrive in the relevant size

There are also some Brigade Models small scale scenery buildings from their Medieval and ACW ranges and some 6mm Hun Light cavalry, from both Irregular and Baccus. The later have been waiting on my attention for quite a while now!  There are also a few bits n bobs awaiting repurposing for my 6mm ancient armies and a small number of O8 3mm armoured vehicles for the 1980's cold war gone hot games.

The current state of play

I'm going to try to make inroads into these before I post a June painting table update, well it would be embarrassing to keep posting the same picture wouldn't it!  Lot's to do and so little time to do it so if I don't make progress feel free to nag at me!

2mm Altar of Freedom - recruiting the troops

 It's been a while since I posted anything about my dabblings in ACW gaming.   The interest hasn't waned but I had nothing significant to report.  Unlike the news, which must fill a certain amount of pages or a TV time slot even if there isn't any actual news, I felt no need to report that I had nothing to report!  Still here we are so there must be something to report now.  This being that I am rebasing the test figures onto 'proper' MDF bases and have a test unit of cavalry that is far superior to my home made attempts.  The bases are 60 x 30mm from Warbases.  AoF uses these as the standard for infantry, cavalry and HQs.  Generals and artillery are mounted on 30 x 30mm, although the rules do suggest that for base purists artillery should be on 60 x 60mm squares.

US dismounted cavalry ready for action

I have toned down the figure’s bases to something nearer the green of the MDF base since I took the photo above.  The figures are Irregular Miniatures from their 2mm horse and musket range.  Open order infantry to the front as dismounted troopers, horse holders behind and lastly a mounted reserve.

I have rebased the HQs as well.  Again these are from Irregular’s 2mm range.  Strips of small and large tents, Army command posts and some covered wagons.  I know the flags and flag poles are well over scale but it makes it easier to ID them on the table.  I thought about using some Sibley tents but I couldn't find a 2mm source and they were phased out from 1862 anyway so all my tents are ridge type dog tents or larger wall tents.

Various US and CSA HQs

I have also started rebasing the home made infantry blocks.  These are made with match sticks trimmed to 25mm in length glued together in pairs so each ‘rank’ of soldiers is one match stick deep.  I’ve been playing about with the printed paper skin I glue around the matches to create the look of ranks of troops. The version I’m using for the new units is slightly deeper so the two ranks appear a little wider apart.  The images aren't perfect but they are a huge amount better than the detail I could paint at this scale.

Basic Infantry bases (pre dry brush)

All the bases are textured in the same way using block paving sand which is glued to the MDF with PVA.  This is then dry brushed in olive green and for variety I add a sprinkle of Woodland Scenics' fine turf in ‘burnt grass’ colour.

3mm Infantry bases

This is a follow up to the post on 3mm basing a made a couple of days ago.  I'm doing it for completeness sake as a couple of people asked about the basing.  

Basing vehicles was easy infantry caused me a bit more of an issue.  The BAOR force uses specialist teams of less then platoon size in some front line roles.  These are mounted in the FV103 Spartan based on the CVR(T) chassis.  That vehicle provides transport for dismountable Blowpipe manpack anti-aircraft teams and Milan ATGM teams.  It also provides the mount for fire control officers for artillery and mortar support.  Its a smaller vehicle than the FV432

So I was going to need to be able to distinguish between platoon sized infantry units and specialist teams.  The team based solution seemed obvious, mount them on pennies just like the vehicles.  For an infantry platoon I clearly needed a bigger base to reflect the larger frontage so after some humming and hawing I decided on a rectangular base and plumped for 40mm x 20mm as a reasonable compromise.  This gives a platoon a game frontage of just over 150 yards.  Its not an exact science though as frontages differ in different terrain, attack or defence postures.  So I'm going to go on record as saying the base shows the unit's 'centre of gravity' not necessarily the actual operational footprint at any given time.

A BMP company and dismounts

For figures per base I have worked on the basis of the platoon transport being represented by one vehicle so its troop payload can be represented by the same number of figures as that single vehicle's passenger count, give or take a figure.  This works well for the BAOR with a standardised system of transport but less well for the Soviets who have a number of different APCs and IFVs in use at the same time.  In general BTRs carry slightly less men than BMPs so I just went with an average.

The bottom line is that it doesn't really matter.  A base is a base and provided both sides have the same footprints no-one is disadvantaged.  If it was real issue I would mark the same central spot on all bases and measure weapon ranges from that point.

One issue I have found with the Oddzial Osmy infantry is that as they are cast in strips they need to be separated into smaller groups or individual figures.  Although the bases have some narrowing where you might want to split them it is difficult as the metal they use is very hard.   My trusty side cutters struggle to cut it, so instead of the random groups I wanted to use I often end up with lines of troops.  I suppose its the price for the level of detail the casting metal makes possible.

The basing technique I use for the infantry is almost the same as that for the vehicle stands except more untextured base is left. So That involves random patterns in undiluted PVA with fine sand sprinkled on then more random patterns of PVA with my flock mix.  It breaks the bases up while still allowing them to stay visible on the playing surface.  probably not at all realistic but it works.

The Soviet dismounts are listed for FFT as having options of for each company of either three Rifle Platoons, or Companies with mixtures of Rifle Platoons, ATGM and Rifle or SAM and Rifle Platoons.  in each Company one platoon can be changed to a ATGM equipped one and/or a SAM equipped one.  The photo above has one of each option.  That then brings in the issue of telling them apart.  While I can tell the difference opponents might not be able to so the rear corner (left in the photo has either AA or AT marked in black and a coloured dot; light blue for SAM and Green for ATGM (sky blue cos the SAM is shooting into the sky and green as the ATGM is shooting ground targets I'm literal minded that way!).  It makes sense to me honest.

3mm basing and unit ID techniques and my storage solution.

1. The finished base effect

 As promised here is my basing technique for the Oddizial Osmy (which incidentally means Eighth Division in Polish) 1/600th models.  The first thing to realise is that these are small really small and even though they are cast in a hard white metal they lack heft so I am basing vehicles on UK 1p coins to add weight and make them easier to handle.  Yes I really did throw money at this project! Pennies are cheaper than washers and still easy to get hold of and of course they are a uniform size and thickness.  Out of some half remembered childhood memory of some old law about debasing coinage I always use the 'tails' side so as not to desecrate the Queen's face on the other side.

The first step is to create a smooth surface to place the model upon.  I use Milliput for this as it sticks to the coin really well.  It also has the advantage that as a two part epoxy putty it will harden even if wet so I can smooth it over using a damp finger tip.  I recommend a small dish of water for that rather than licking the finger as Milliput has an interesting after taste!  A piece about the size of a garden pea seems about right to cover a penny.  I smooth that all over the surface of the coin making sure to get all the way to the edge and even a little over.  I trim off the excess around the rim with a piece of card.  I just use whatever I have to hand.  Use cardboard to trim the edge as some of the wet Milliput will stay stuck to the card an harden rendering the card useless after a while so it has to be changed.  The idea is that the Milliput is only slightly higher than the rim of the coin and doesn't extend beyond the edge.  For larger vehicles I make to grooves to represent the track marks behind the AFV.  Once that is done put the base aside to harden.  The trick is to make up batches of about 20 - 30 bases at a time ready for the next stages.

2. Milliput layer and painting done

3. Side view showing the depth of Milliput used.

Next I paint the base, for this I use Vallejo Green Brown (Model Color 70.879) for this.  At some point I need to get this colour matched at a DIY store and get some acrylic house paint in the same shade as I do seem to use this for a lot scenic work.  I paint the Milliput surface and all around the rim of the coin.  This actually needs two steps as there is a small part masked by my finger tip where I hold the penny.  Painting in batches allows the first bases to have dried ready for me to paint the uncovered part by the time I have dome the last base.  I could tack the bases onto  a roof nail or similar I suppose but it would take longer to tack the base to a nail than going back to paint the masked bit of the edge.  A stripe of a dark brown (Vallejo Model Colour  70.872 Chocolate Brown in my case) in the track marks helps bring them out.  Again leave to dry before going to the next step.

4. A darker brown in the wheel ruts helps them to stand out.

The next thing to do is glue the vehicle to the painted base.  I do this after painting as a lot of clear glues dry to such a high gloss finish that it's hard to get paint to take on it.  Again, yes you guessed it, set aside to dry.

5. With vehicles glued on things are starting to come together

The last step is to texture the base.  There are a number of ways to do this.  Over the years I have settled on a couple of variations on the theme of sand and flock.   I apply some random areas of neat PVA glue to the base and sprinkle a fine sand over the base.  The sand sinks into the PVA and leaves a slightly raised area.  I knock off the loose sand and leave it for the PVA to dry.  I then do the same again on the bits that didn't get a sand covering but sprinkle flock onto those areas.  My flock isn't actually pure flock its a mix of a summer (or it might be spring) meadow flock (which has coloured bits to act as flowers) and a short static grass.  I sprinkle this by taking a pinch between my fingers and rubbing the finger tips together like sprinkling salt on a meal.  This seems to create a bit of a static charge which helps the grass part stand upright.  Once done I turn the base upside down and give the underside a sharp tap as a further incentive for the grass to stay upright.  And that, as the man said, is that!  It isn't necessary to cover every bit of the base in sand and flock as the base green-brown colour blends in really well.

6.  You can see how the sand sits 'proud' of the bases here.  

If you need to ID the models, which I do for Fistful of Tows, then a small patch of colour on the edge of the coin identifies the vehicle type and by default the regiment and a dot of contrasting colour (or two or three) shows which battalion they belong to.  For FFT models have to stay within a set cohesion distance of other members of their parent formation.  For Soviets the cohesion unit is the Battalion and for NATO it is Companies which requires a little more complexity using two colours of dot one for Battalion and one for company.  There is no real need to track formations beyond that.  I place this mark at the rear of the base as hopefully my troops will be advancing away from me!

7. Unit ID.  Green for T-72, left stripe is regiment 1 second is battalion 1 and 2. 

The last part of this post deals with storage.  I'm a big fan of the Really Useful Box range of plastic storage containers.  I use the 4 litre size with two of their hobby trays in each for most of my DBA armies.  However, those trays wouldn't do the job for these models as the spaces in each division of the tray would be too big and too deep to hold 3mm models securely, so I looked at using foam insert trays instead. 

8.  The foam trays in use.  

A quick trawl around Google lead me to a business called Just Lasered.  I contacted the owner via Face Book and explained what I needed and he designed the trays, checked back with me to be sure it was what I wanted and had them with me within a week!  Each tray has 80 x 2.1 cm diameter holes and  each tray has an offset so that by reversing the direction I place each one the holes do not line up.  Pennies are slightly over 2cm in diameter so the bases drop neatly into the hole with just enough space around so that when I lift the tray the model stays behind making it easy for my fat fingers to pick them up.  Better yet the trays are designed to fit exactly into the 4 litre Really Useful Box. I can get four 1.25cm thick trays plus a 1 cm topper into each box.  Great price too at £1.50 per tray, although postage hiked that up by another £4.50.  If I had ordered more at the same time the impact of postage would not have been so great I suppose.  So that is storage for 320 models in each 4 litre box.  More than enough for this project.

3mm tanks - second try at basing.

 After yesterday's horrible basing mess, I thought to try a different approach so I over painted the horrid green with a more muted tone and added some of my bock paving sand and flock from my 6mm basing supplies.  It's not in the least realistic but it does work a lot better than the olive green.

I'm not ashamed of the basing now!

I also hit the painted tanks with a light wash of my old favourite Agrax Earthshade which reduced the contract between the green and the black in the cammo scheme.  As I have mentioned before it also matts down the finish which is a bonus.

The base is a UK 1p coin 20mm diameter

The painting took almost no time at all under coat in white, top coat of Russian Uniform, the black pattern is German Grey with a tiny bit of Sky Grey mixed in to lighten it the thermal wrap on the gun barrel is Khaki and the dry brush was Bone White (which is actually a nice buff colour) all Vallejo acrylics.  I'm very happy with the results.

One thing I have learned is that getting a good picture of the painted tanks is tricky.  Finding someplace with a good light source is key.  Even daylight on a dull day (as it is today) doesn't create the candle power required!  Then getting my phone's auto focus to target the right point took several goes.  I really need a light box and to get my digital camera out.

Peasants and Pilgrims

For Billington Moor (see earlier posts) I am going to need to represent the less well equipped Great Fyrd.  ADLG counts these as levy and DBA 3.0 as solid horde (7Hd).  Now hordes or levy crop up in a number of army lists in both sets of rules so I decided that some generic units of ill armed peasant types would give me the flexibility to use any thing I created in a number of different armies.

Baccus is my preferred figures range but the nearest they have for representing what I wanted were clubmen from their 17th century range.  So I went with Irregular’s Peasants and pilgrims from their medieval range.  These are noticeable smaller than Baccus but using a slightly thicker base would help disguise that.  I also wanted to have some figures representing slightly better equipped troops in the front ranks.  So off went an order to Irregular for the peasants and pilgrims along with some Viking spearmen.  I also took the opportunity to order some laser cut 2mm PDF bases from Warbases which would give me a thicker base than my usual 1.5mm plywood bases.

Ordering was easy Irregular now having a proper online ordering and payment system which is much easier to use than the old system.  Both orders came within a couple of days, well packed and with no damage.  The laser cut bases were a bit of a revelation to me as I have always cut my own using a straight edge and a Stanley knife.  Because these are laser cut there is no variation, all totally accurate. I’m a convert.  Next time I will try the 1.5mm plywood option.  The figures were less impressive but acceptable for what I wanted.  There was a fair amount of flash between the figures on all of the peasant castings.  The Vikings were much better but compared to Baccus the casting detail is much less well realised.  Still these are figures from an earlier generation of sculpting styles so differences in quality are to be expected. It was nothing that a couple of hours with some micro files and modelling tools couldn’t deal with.

Ready for priming.  There is detail there just in low relief.

Unlike Baccus who cast figures as strips with space between each figure Irregular has three styles of castings  based on old WRG base width requirements.  Close order castings  are shoulder to shoulder 6 figures wide.  These can’t be separated into smaller groups unlike the open and loose order blocks which have some gaps.  Both castings I had chosen were loose order so out came the side cutters to break the castings down into the smaller groups I needed.  I wanted to have a frontage of 8 figures per rank so groups of four and of two were the order of the day.

Painting makes a huge difference to Irregular’s 6mm figures.  The detail is there but it is often surface detail with little depth so careful painting is vital to pick this out.  The thing about Irregular's 6mm figures is that initially they look a bit like vaguely man shaped blocks but after painting they look fine.  I tried a different undercoating technique for these, using a coat of Vallejo ‘Earth’. I wanted these troops to be less colourful so I used a range of muted earthy shades with the odd bit of colour on headgear to make the figures show as individuals.

I will let you judge if the final result passes muster.  Only another 144 figures to make the remaining 6 elements to do then.

The dead lay all around

I have been considering how to create some markers to show units who have taken 'hits' in ADLG.  Under those rules units degrade in combat rather than being pushed back or destroyed as is the case in DBA and it's offshoots like DBMM.  The downside of the extra granularity is the need to record the effect of combat.  Despite having used micro dice in my own rules for 2mm ECW I prefer a table with markers that appear to be battlefield debris or casualties where possible.

With that thought in mind I thought I would have a look at making some markers using Baccus casualty figures.  They do these as specific dark age castings and although they come with a mix of kite and round shields at 6mm scale it doesn't really show up.  There is a mix of cavalry and foot all prone and hors d'combat. I should be able to fit them onto UK 1p coins as a base with a bit of trimming.  The castings come as strips but the base between the figures is thin and easily cut back with side cutters.  I struggled a bit with the cavalry casualties as it was hard to see how the rider was laid across the horse but reading specs and the magnifier lamp helped.

Casualties clustered around a 1p coin for scale (1cm grid)

I have done without the buckets of blood and gore effect for these I don't think it adds anything.  Plus I find it hard to make it look anything other than a bit cartoonish. 

I'm considering going for one standing casualty as one hit, one prone casualty as two hits and two prone as three hits as that lets me keep to 1p basing.  I just need to source some standing 6mm casualties or kit bash some from the bits box.  But that may change if I can find a way to squeeze three figures onto each coin as I could then go for a simple count the bodies system!