Help for Paul and coach WIP

July 17th, 2010 Steve Posted in AWI Comments Off

Here ya' go Paul. 33rd Foot musicians in all their glory.

Below, for the rest of us is my WIP on a 4-horse coach to add some class to the AWI. This uses parts from the MiniFigs 18th and 19th-Century kits. The chassis and coach body is 18th, while the driver's seat is 19th and I have used both pairs of large wheels from each kit to get that 4x4 look and to help it cope with the roads in C18th America. The HumVee of its day...
There is still a lot of painting to do on this, and the horses too. With the left-overs I should be able to knock up a cabriolet to have mouldering in a barn.
The kits go together pretty well considering the age of the moulds, shame they don't come with instructions! I had a few head-scratching moments and did initally glue the driver's seat in the wrong place.
..and I have just worked out that about 10 years separate the painting of the 33rd above from the hessians in the last blog entry. Overall I think I have managed to keep the style failr consistent depsite the time and the use now of GW washes.
Cheers

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Hessian WIP

July 14th, 2010 Steve Posted in AWI Comments Off

As promised, here are some pictures of the Hessians done so far. Above are the officers. The centre figure is from Foundry, a Prussian Freikorps figure sculpted by Mark Copplestone. The rest are all Perry. Below are the drummers and standard bearers and the bottom shot is of some firing musketeers. The latter need their overalls finishing off with some thined paint to smooth out the highlights.
Most of the shading has been achieved with GW washes.

This unit should be finished ina couple of weeks, depending on how things go.
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Photos

July 7th, 2010 Steve Posted in AWI, Terrain Comments Off

Just a few shots of some troops on the new terrain. Above some loyalists of dubious ability survey the enemy across a cornfield.

Below, the British advance cautiously across the river:

The British Legion and 17th Light Dragoons advance towards the militia lines:
Someone has to tidy up afterwards...
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Waggon, civilians and riflemen

July 4th, 2010 Steve Posted in AWI Comments Off

Apart from adding some traces with black cotton, I have finished the 4-wheel ammo waggon. Again, this has been painted in a neutral colour so it can serve on either side. I'm pleased to have this done as it was a Father's Day present. Another shot below:
I have used the second figure from the waggon pack to add to the wenches who normally stand outside the tavern:
Next are a company of riflemen I painted up, making plenty of use of GW washes:
Finally, the assembled civilians:
The terrain boards are progressing, but the pond still needs lots more varnish and the cliff board needs to dry out and have flock added. Photos in the week.
cheers




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Slow weekend

June 28th, 2010 Steve Posted in AWI, Terrain Comments Off

Crikey, what with all the sporting action (being generous to the England footie team) and being out on Saturday night not a lot got done on the gaming front this weekend.
I did manage to make some progress in revamping a TSS board with a big corner hill on it and carved a pond into a plain board.

I won't even get a chance to get my planned game in at the club this week as I have to go to a conference in Wakefield...so I'll have to look forward doubly to next week.

Oh, and it is too hot!

...although this does mean that stuff dries nice and fast.

Top discovery last week: B&Q sand-less filler. Ready mixed, very little shrinking/cracking and ultra light weight which really helps to take the strain off the terrain boards.

cheers
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Mill board progressing

June 25th, 2010 Steve Posted in AWI, Terrain Comments Off

I think there is enough varnish on the river now, so I have added the flock and some clump foliage to the watermill board. I still plan to add some long, dry grass tufts and some turf ground cover over the weekend, but the board is 95% done now. There is space to put a bridge over the river or to scatter on some grave for a ford.
It turns out that the river is a little more blue than my first river board, that is more greenish, but it is a variation that I think I can live with. I'm certainly not painting either again!
Overall I am pleased with the result and I think this will be a great addition to my AWI battlefields. I'll look to getting some photos done soon using this board for a diorama.

cheers
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Building latest

June 19th, 2010 Steve Posted in AWI, Terrain Comments Off

Now around 99% finished, here is the modified Hovels building. I have opted for yeat another white finish, this time with wine-coloured doors and shutters.
The groundwork has been done in the same way as the terrain boards in the last post but with lighter drybrushing, including patches of green fence paint. This has then been enhanced with static grass. The barrels and bags have been given a wash of GW Devlan Mud.
The wooden areas are painted with a mix that starts with dark grey/olive drab/light brown and is then highlighted by adding in more light brown and then a cream colour.
The roof tiles are similar but with more grey in the mix and less brown, highlighted by adding a touch of white. Much better overall than just using greys.
The brick chimneys are painted light brown and then glazed using an acrylic rosewood colour woodstain from Cuprinol (originally purchased to paint my front step). This gives a nice brisk red finish and dries in about 30 minutes.
Below are some further shots of the house and yard:
I now need to wait for the PVA to dry before finishing off the step outside the annexe door (made from an offcut from the resin fences) and painting the apples in the barrel by the back door.
The terrain board is not forgotten. It has had 2 coats of green fence paint - but it is cold today so drying is very slow and everything is still a bit wet and shiny at the moment!

cheers
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Building latest

June 19th, 2010 Steve Posted in AWI, Terrain Comments Off

Now around 99% finished, here is the modified Hovels building. I have opted for yeat another white finish, this time with wine-coloured doors and shutters.
The groundwork has been done in the same way as the terrain boards in the last post but with lighter drybrushing, including patches of green fence paint. This has then been enhanced with static grass. The barrels and bags have been given a wash of GW Devlan Mud.
The wooden areas are painted with a mix that starts with dark grey/olive drab/light brown and is then highlighted by adding in more light brown and then a cream colour.
The roof tiles are similar but with more grey in the mix and less brown, highlighted by adding a touch of white. Much better overall than just using greys.
The brick chimneys are painted light brown and then glazed using an acrylic rosewood colour woodstain from Cuprinol (originally purchased to paint my front step). This gives a nice brisk red finish and dries in about 30 minutes.
Below are some further shots of the house and yard:
I now need to wait for the PVA to dry before finishing off the step outside the annexe door (made from an offcut from the resin fences) and painting the apples in the barrel by the back door.
The terrain board is not forgotten. It has had 2 coats of green fence paint - but it is cold today so drying is very slow and everything is still a bit wet and shiny at the moment!

cheers
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River Board Painting

June 18th, 2010 Steve Posted in AWI, Terrain Comments Off


I have been starting to paint up the river board today. This started asa plain flat terrain board from TSS and has been substantially modified to create a river, a flat area for a watermill and a water channel taking water from the river to the mill wheel. Above is the board with its base coat of rustic brown, followed by a coat of a lighter brown made my mixing the brown paint with a bit of white, terracotta and yellow.

Below is the board after a heavy drybrush with a lighter and yellower shade. The rocks (made from cork bark) have been painted with various shades of grey.


The following photo shows the board after most areas have been given a very heavy drybrush with a sand-coloured masonry paint:


Lastly, the first bits of green going on. I use a green fence paint as this is very thin and allows the colours underneath to show through - like a glaze does when painting figures. Eventually most of the "yellow" areas will be green, but they need to dry first! This may seem an odd process for a board that started green anyway, but it does give a very tough playing surface once finished.



The river bed has also been painted in the same green paint.


Tomorrow I'll finish the green and continue with the river using progressively darker blue and indigo. Afer that the wooden edges of the water channel can be painted and the process of varnishing the river can begin. This will involve multiple coats and possibly some varnish being poured into the river. How long this takes will depend on the river.


I now return you to England v Algeria - hope this goes OK

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Rustic Brown

June 17th, 2010 Steve Posted in AWI, Terrain Comments Off

As you can see from the picture above, the construction, groundwork and bits & bobs are done on the house and it is time to get out the Cuprinol Rustic Brown fence paint to undercoat it. I have used this for terrain for a while. It is cheap, profides a good seal for vulnerable foam etc and dries to a useful medium brown colour - not as dark as something like Sandtex Bitter Chocolate.

Below are some shots of the undercoated building, drying off in the evening sunshine:

As well as the building I have also moved along with the next river terrain board, now it has had a good week drying slowly while weighed down with paint tins etc to limit any warping.
First is the pre-undercoat shot:
...and then after a sloppy coat of rustic brown. Some bits are still wet and you'll have to excuse the shadow of the tree!

Between the evening sun and tonight in the garage, these should be ready for some more paint tomorrow evening when I get in from work.
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More work on the house

June 16th, 2010 Steve Posted in AWI, Terrain Comments Off

More progress tonight as I was to knackered after work to take my stuff to the club. The house has had the following work done:
1. More foam has been used to enlarge the brick foundation of the annexe and this has been sealed with acrylic paint to protect it if I use a spray undercoat
2. The roof has been tiled with thin card and attched to the annexe
3. Smooth polyfilla has been used to blend the new roof into the existing one
4. I have abandoned the covered store concept and it just wasn't looking right
5. The resin fences left over from the Hovels livery stable have been cannibalised to add some edging to the base

More views below:


Tomorrow I'll finish the groundwork with sand, add some barrels etc and get the whole thing ready for its undercoat. The boards used to edge the new gable end will have their ends trimmed so the finish horizontaly rather than vertically.

I have also titivated some old vignettes with the same static grass as I have used on the AWI scenery.
First is the French "military advisors" - these are SYW Prussian officers from the old foundry range sculpted by Mark Copplesone, with a cunningly painted Perry/Foundry uniformed militia figure doing double time as a french infantryman.

Next are a couple of fine wenches to staff the inn. The left hand figure is from the WestWinf gothic horror range (Headless Horseman villagers) and the other is from the very old Foundry French Revolution range.

And lastly a cart (always useful). In this case a redoubt cart and a horse & holder from an AWI butterfly gun.

cheers






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Converting the next house

June 15th, 2010 Steve Posted in AWI, Terrain Comments Off

This is the next house on the workbench. It is the Hovels model of the house from Guiney Station (where Stonewall Jackson passed away). I am adding a small workshop annexe to this, leading to a covered outdoor store which will be filled with barrels, etc. Ignore the colours, the whole shebang will be repainted after construction is complete.

I started by gluing the model to a base of 4mm MDF of about 20cm x 24cm,
enough to accomodate the structures but without too much excess space left hanging around.

The annexe is constructed from 5mm thick foamcore, the wall height being 5cm, the length of the annexe is 5cm and the width is 5.5 cm. The apex of the annexe roof is 8cm, giving a gable end of about 45 degrees.

The photo below shows the construction of the workshop annexe. Windows are made from chopped up fly-swatter, framed with matchsticks and the overlapping boards made from thin card. The windows, card, etc were stuck to each wall BEFORE assembly. This allows any bits of card that "stick out" to be trimmed with scissors before putting the building together. The bottom 7-8 mm of each wall has had the top layer of card cut from the foamcore to expose the foam, into which a brick/stone texture has been embossed with a biro to match the resin model.


The next stage will be to tidy up the corners of the building with more matchsticks - including where the annexe joins the main building. After this I'll make a roof to cover the annexe and reach out to the two posts to form the covered store area. The roof over the annexe will be covered in "tiles" of thin card, but the part over the store will be treated to look like a tar roof.

Gaming tomorrow night - Charlotte scenario again.

cheers
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AWI Camp

June 13th, 2010 Steve Posted in AWI, Terrain Comments Off

Before emabarking on the next round of tree and fence construction I set up a little diorama today, using the newly finished camp (Renedra tents), home-made trees and a few other bits and bobs I have recently finished. The scene is of a British camp somewhere in the Carolinas circa 1780. A patrol of 17th light dragoons ride off to scout the local woodland, while Cornwallis and his officers look on.
Above is the whole scene. The good weather let me set up in the garden. I think the trees look quite effective. The fences help to frame the scene and make more difference than you might think.

Here is Cornwallis's map table. The maps were made by reducing imaged of real maps of the period (thanks, Google) down to a suitable size - approx 2x3cm using a 1000 pixels per inch resolution.
Above, the 17th LD gallop out, past the commissary tent at the back and the surgeon's tent in the foreground - note the stretchers, these come as part of the bell-tent pack from Renedra along with the camp fire that you can see next to the map table.
Another shot of the gallop above, the trees making an effective background.


The generals look on above. Major hanger seems to be trying to tell them something...
I have used plenty of sacks and barrels from Hovels with extra barrels from Renedra to add some atmosphere to the camp, while keeping it quite generic so it can be used for either side, or even in other periods.
Panoramic shots of the camp and house.

Below are a couple of more close-up shots taken from between the terrain features for a more "realistic" feel.
Hope you like these, please leave comments if you like.
cheers
Steve
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Terrain workshop - tents, etc.

June 7th, 2010 Steve Posted in AWI, Terrain Comments Off

Above, little bases that will make up a camp for one side or the other. The dog tents ar largely divided into groups of 2 or 3. The larger bases are "themed" into a command base of 2 bell-tents and a table, a medic base with 1 bell tent, a dog tent and some stretchers and a commissary base with 1 bell tent, 1 dog tent and lots of bags, boxes and barrels.
The trees have had some texture and strengthening added with a mix of PVA and filler (above).
Below is a picture of the river board. I have poured in a dilute PVA mixture to seal and level the river bed. Note the heavy items holding the board flat while this dries - to prevent undue warping.

Lastly, a close up of the canal section that will hold the wheel of the water mill. This has been lines with a couple of laers of matchsticks before pouring in the PVA.
cheers






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Terrain Workshop 6th June

June 6th, 2010 Steve Posted in AWI, Terrain Comments Off

A quick update on progress.

First, I have added a picket fence to the brick house I painted up last week. This sets the model off nicely and will help it to sit in its landscape.Here is the next terrain board in progress, a "straight" river with an inset area for the watermill to sit on:
...and lastly, some pictures of some very experimental trees. These are made from both real twigs AND florists wire for a combination effect. These will get a coat of PVA/Polfilla tomorrow and we'll see how they look.




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