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Thursday, July 2, 2015

State of the Painting Desk

With sizzling summer temperatures outside, one might think painting would pick up as I head down into coolness of the basement for long painting sessions.  That has not been the situation. Increased travel and more time spent outdoors on the bike and in the yard have decreased the amount of time spent bent over the painting desk.

Given those distractions, the paint desk did see some activity this week.  On the desk are three works-in-progress.  Up front are 24 Wargames Foundry Sikhs from the Indian Mutiny range.  These fine fellows will likely see service in one of Kevin's many colonial expeditions.  In the center are eight Renegade Libyan javelinmen to be fielded as two, four figure stands of skirmishers for Impetvs.  In the back ranks are 16 Wargames Foundry Landsknecht/Swiss handgunners.
It is the latter group of handgunners that is giving me the most consternation and hesitancy.  These represent the first of the many Renaissance figures I need to paint in order to fill out a collection purchased from Phil this past winter.  The problem is that I am filled with indecision about how to tackle these potentially, colorful troops.  When I gaze upon the serried ranks of Phil's excellent pikemen, I wonder, how can I do these justice?  Oh well, somehow paint will get applied.  Perhaps, after the first few of these kaleidoscopely dressed handgunners are under my belt, I will see the light.
One final note, I took advantage of Front Ranks' recent offer of one free figure for each BP10 spent.  When I made the 28mm Napoleonic push over the winter months, I discovered that several units were not up to muster.  Also needed to recruit a few more skirmishers too.   The 28mm Napoleonic project should be set for the foreseeable future. 
Having a forecast of hot, hot, hot for the next two weeks, an opportunity to escape the oppressive heat in the coolness of the game room would be welcome.  Another episode of the Raab battle is possible this long, holiday weekend.

27 comments:

  1. Wish my painting table looked as busy as yours!!!

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    1. That is an easy one to solve. Prime a bunch of figures and stick them into your painting queue.

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  2. Jonathan,

    Regarding "Impetvs" . . . do you prefer Basic or "improved Basic" or Full . . . and why?


    -- Jeff

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    1. Jeff, you ask a complicated question. Quick answer is "Improved Basic" but I will have to think about why and get back to you.

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    2. Me too . . . from reading (I still haven't played any of the three versions yet).

      By the way, there is supposedly a new "Basic 2.0" version (with revised Army Lists) due out later this year . . . and I gather from Lorenzo's comments that evading will be included:

      http://impetus.ativiforum.com/t449-basic-impetus-2-0


      -- Jeff

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    3. Appreciate the forum thread link. I recall reading that BI 2.0 will carry a nominal fee. Is that what you recall too? Regardless, it will be well worth the price!

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  3. Renaissance Handgunners ...it begins!

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    1. The arquebus (/ˈɑrkɨbʌs/ ark-ə-bus or /ˈɑrkwɨbʌs/ ar-kwə-bus) (sometimes spelled harquebus, harkbus or hackbut; Italian Archibugio, Dutch haakbus, meaning "hook gun"[1]), or "hook tube", is an early muzzle-loaded firearm used in the 15th to 17th centuries.... ;o)

      anyway.... I prefer "Hand gunners" easy for me to pronounce across the war gaming table! :o)

      cheers,

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  4. I'd call them Arquebusiers myself, but whatever!

    You don't have to go off the deep end with colors. I often choose a "Theme" for a unit. Say, for example, Red, White and Blue. You probably have at least 4-5 different shades of Red and Blue if not more, If you do one figure with Torso Blue 1, next with both pants Blue 1, nest with arms Blue 1, next with 2"quartered" arms/legs, then start with Red 1, then White, and then do much the same with the other colors and shades, then the slashing, etc it will do most of the job for you. You can throw in other colors for minor ornaments like ribbons and bows as desired.

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    1. I prefer arquebusiers too but they are called "handgunners" in the Foundry catalog and have the added benefit of being easier to spell.

      RE painting. That is sound advice and quite logical in a programmed approach!

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    2. I second Peter's painting approach, basically that's what I did with the 28mm Swiss and Landsknechts, using 4 to 5 base colors and work from there....

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    3. Phil, your work is beautiful. Don't think that during my despair the thought of sending them to you for a matching paint job did not cross my mind.

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  5. Happy to see the ITW collection coming along, those are beautiful sculpts and a wonderful period! So, Jon - tomorrow we kick off "Le Tour"... Personally I can't wait to see the drama on Tuesday's "pavé" stage, which could see some of the GC contenders in real trouble.

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    1. These Foundry gunners will mark my first painting attempts so I have only just begun. Thankfully, this project has been spotted several large pike blocks from Phil's very talented hand.

      Le Tour. Yes, Saturday it begins. There are really a number of potentially very interesting stages this year. The pave sections on Stage 2 might pose some concern for the GC boys but the damage should be limited with only 13km of the nasty bricks. Some of the mountain stages look especially gruesome when you examine the profiles. Stage lengths seem to be down a bit this year. That should make for more dynamic racing. TdF is pulling tricks from the Vuelta. For me, the TTT seems to show up a little late this year at the end of Week 1. At 28km and some notable lumps, the GCs will be anxious to keep their teams together.

      Should be fun!

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  6. Nice work in-between outings, Jonathan. I love these longer days (sunlight). Good for the soul.

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    1. I enjoy the longer summer days too. Beats the very short amount of daylight hours we experience in the winter.

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  7. Nice looking projects. Shouldn't take long to knock those out :P

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  8. My goodness, Jonathan, your eclecticism is outdone only by your productivity.
    Colour me envious, any way you want to paint it (torso, head, legs, slashings, quarterings) :)

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    1. "Colour me envious, any way you want to paint it (torso, head, legs, slashings, quarterings)" -- ba da bing!

      Outstanding!

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  9. Your painting desk is almost as cluttered as mine!:-) Hmmm that Front Rank offer sure looks tempting!

    Christopher

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  10. The painting desk looks nice and active. Congrats on the 500/5000 mark. I'll refrain from diluting the draw as I am a very infrequent commenter (sp?).

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    1. Thanks, Sean!

      There is no prerequisite to be a frequent commenter.
      If you are interested in entering the prize drawing. Please do so!

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