War of the Roses - Bowmen (Nick)

Beware the Ides of March! ...or something like that, although we're nearly into April and alas these are my first finishes of 2023.

I have prepped and assembled quite a few minis so far this year, and at least 'something' every day, but my attempts at painting kept ending in frustration almost like I had forgotten my own techniques - I think maybe some burnout after the frantic end to last year.
In fact these very figures were on the 'naughty step' for a long while until one day some simple base texturing and all was well again.

These metal figures are samples from the c15 Medieval range by Eureka Miniatures on which I decided to try out liveries for my new War of the Roses wards to use in Never Mind the Billhooks Deluxe and make a characterful change from the usual grey plastic from Perry Miniatures:

I have used the same tried and trusted technique as my other War of the Roses figures, using Games Workshop Contrast Paints and some additional highlights over pre-shaded white prime, just substituting alternative colours for the livery to the previous orange and green - by coincidence this will give me four different colourways using eight unique colours.

For those interested, the liveries are (L to R): Sir John Tuchet, Lord John la Zouche & Sir William Hastings all of whom have local connections in one form or another.

So all in all not the start I had hoped for in the New Year, in fact just one figure a month rather than one a day - but hopefully I'm on the road to hobby recovery and more will follow soon.

Pond Wars Frog (Carl)

Something a bit different this time!

This is a model from a growing group of swamp warbands I'm working on for Open Combat. This is a Frog from the Pond Wars range at Eureka Miniatures . How or why a frog is armed with a musket is not a question any sane person would ask, they should be asking where's that frog with a musket pointing it?!

Loved working on this model, loads of character and it'll be another fun little warband for Open Combat when I've finished them all. Yes there are more on the way!

ECW Irish Drummer (Carl)

Another addition to the Irish brigade for my English Civil War Montrose force.

This time the drummer for the Eureka Miniatures Pike block I'm putting together.

ECW Irish Priest (Carl)

Another model has joined my growing band of ECW Irish for my Montrose force.

This one is another from the range by Eureka Miniatures, a priest putting the fear of God into enemy and ally alike.

Japanese Ashigaru (Carl)

I was going to wait until I'd finished another model before posting this one as it sort of goes with it, but progress has slowed a bit this week.

This is one of Eureka Miniatures Ashigaru. Reading around the subject of uniforms it seems that the Ashigaru didn't really have much in the way of uniforms so this one (and the three others I'm painting) will all be having different treatments of the cloth. The armour will be consistent across them though, so that will hopefully tie them together.

Eureka Miniatures 28mm ECW Irish Musketeers (Carl)

I've gradually been building the beginnings of an ECW Montrose army in 28mm and while the main chunk painted is currently Highlanders I want to include plenty of Irish too.

These lovely models from Eureka Miniatures are the first Irish to join my slowly growing forces. Not a full unit, obviously, but a start on the way to the first group of musketeers.

Sharp Practice - WFR Russian Jager Officer (Nick)

Another one finished courtesy of the new 'paint on brush' every day routine mentioned last time, it's definitely working (and I hear Carl's still on track too, with some Roman archers no less).

This time a Russian Jager officer as a counterpart to the French officer in the last post, and another 'rescued' Contrast Paints experiment - again, figure from the Wars of the French Revolution range by Eureka Miniatures:

This one actually took longer to finish than anticipated as the finer details took some complex, cross-referenced research but I now feel a lot more confident going forward although NCO's and troops are different again!

I guess the good news is that in the meantime paint has been thrown at other random models so there might be more finished before year end.

Sharp Practice - WFR French Chasseurs Officer (Nick)

Time to hang out the bunting and ignite the fireworks? ...maybe not, but another miniature has been completed as the nights draw in at the end of the year.

Yet another departure from anything I've done before, and my first proper Napoleonic(ish) figure since those Airfix plastics of my youth - I say Napoleonic(ish) as it's a French Light Infantry officer from Eureka Miniatures and their 'Wars of the French Revolution' range, a completely new period for me just before what is generally accepted as the Napoleonic era and quite fascinating.

Starting as another experiment with Games Workshop's range of Contrast Paints this one didn't quite go to plan originally and so was put to one side in shame!

This last week he has been 'rescued' with the application of some highlights and detail using more usual acrylic paints and techniques, and I'm beginning to see how useful the Contrast Paints can be when used in conjunction with other mediums as a basecoat & wash all in one - something my good friend James Morris suggested when I was looking at buying into the Contrast Paints.

This week has also been a revelation for both myself and Carl's painting regime, as we had both stalled due to other commitments and finding it very hard to find time and/or motivation for a 'painting session' - then YouTube suggested I watch a video by the always excellent Zumikito Miniatures on how to get/keep yourself motivated to paint on a regular basis: 6 tips to paint more miniatures when MOTIVATION is low

Now we already know about being set up ready to go, and removing other distractions etc. but the one thing that stood out for me, and then Carl when I shared it, was his #4: set an easy daily target ie. put some paint on your brush even if you don't paint anything - silly as it may sound it was just what we needed, and a real game changer that hit home with both of us... the above is just one on the results for me, and Carl has finished at least one figure too so one week into painting rehab and we're both doing good and getting to our paint station at least once every day because of it.

Onwards and upwards, I can hear my paint station calling and a brush with no paint on it... Vive la France!