15mm Modern Israeli Infantry Painting Tutorial

 

You might need to sit down before reading this article as I have sat down and painted some 15mm (yes 15mm !) Figures for the first time in ages.

Just to prove that I did it I've done a little a video of the painting 😁 

I go through the paint from start to finish and show all the colours and techniques whilst I do so, I even manage to make my usual wet palette jokes 🤪

This is the start of my Arab Israeli project for the mid 80s, the figures are part of the Team Yankee Oil War range and I've purchased a few figs and vehicles over the last few months (which watchers of the Monthly Utubes video update) will have seen. I have to say overall, the quality of the Team Yankee models are very good and I think these have come out reet grand.

Not sure about rules yet, Team Yankee seem very much aimed at the GW audience and everything seems to die very quickly. The presentation of the rules is very high and I am going to try them but with an alternative activation system. I going to trial both a card based and an order chit based system and see how it goes.

I've also got Battlegroup Northag in the house and have looked at 7 days to the Rhine, but videos of the latter have put me off that as I have had bad experiences with multi activation games.

Hope you enjoy the video and you should see this Project growing over the Summer and Autumn months.

28mm Republican Roman Infantry Painting Tutorial

 

As I approach the end of my Punic Wars Legion build its time to answer one of the most asked questions I get, no, not the "why are you in my garden at 2 in the morning dressed as a chicken" question, the how do you paint those question.

So above is a Utubes video covering the very same, an in depth paint along video as I complete a base of 28mm Victrix Allied Italian Legion Triarii. I have covered everything including basing.

In between moaning about wet palettes and the "thin your paint" brigade I do actually give some tips about getting decently painted Big Armies to the table, apologies its a bit long but it covers a lot of stuff and techniques and it's free !

So if you're not spending your weekend listening to the Yarkshire Gamer Podcast

https://kenrtai.podbean.com/e/episode-1-world-war-of-the-roses/

Then give the vid a watch, better still do both, you are in lockdown after all 😉

Naval Wargaming, a basing and painting Tutorial : From Box to Table

 

I did a Painting and basing tutorial a few years back before my venture into the motion picture world of the Utubes. With a few additional ships being added to the collection for our early WW1 Naval Campaign I thought it would be a good idea to refresh that initial tutorial with a video version, link below,

The video is about 40 minutes long but there is a lot to get in, I'm torn between the multi part tutorial and the long form directors cut, let me know your thoughts.

The ships used in the tutorial are 1/2400 scale, from Tumbling Dice. This is the first time I've bought ships from this company, they have a lot less detail than my usual GHQ models but they are a 1/3 of the price, Tumbling Dice also specialise in the pre WW1 period which gives lots of choices not avaliable from GHQ.  Sadly postage and import duties rule out WTJ for the moment. Below is a quick review video of the ship models.

Our WW1 Naval Campaign stalled a couple of years ago as circumstances led to the next game being larger than the avaliable table at Yarkshire Gamer, fingers crossed, post lockdown, my local club will have premises to suit.

Hope that the videos prove useful, any questions just ask. Some pics below of the ships above.

Don't know why but blogger is let me put my usual photo labels in today.

From Box to Table : 28mm Carthaginian Foot Painting Tutorial

 

It's been over 5 years since I last did a From Box to Table feature on the blog, but with my increased use of the Utubes for Yarkshire Gamer content got me thinking and I thought I would try the format in moving pictures.

First subject for the new Box to Table are some 28mm Gripping Beast Hannibals Veterans. Helping out are some LBMS shield decals.

The first video covers preparation on the figure and the shield and covers painting metallics on the model.

The second instalment covers the main painting process.

Whilst the third and final episode goes through the flesh, washes and shields with a bit of a review of the two units I completed at the end.

Each video is about 20 minutes long.

Hope you found the videos of use and it was interesting for me to watch them back to see how little I use detail brushes 🤣

I'd be interested to hear what you think about breaking the video down into 3 parts as I have compared with a single long video like I did for my Horses in Oils videos.

I've got some WW1 Naval Ships on the table being finished off and I've done a Box to Table video on them too which I will post up later in the week.

How to paint horses using the oil paint wipe method

If you exclude "what are you doing in my back garden dressed as a chicken ?" one of the most common questions I get is how do you paint you horses. The other, how do you do your sea bases will be the subject of the Yarkshire TV treatment soon, however for now here is a video run through of painting horses in oils.

It's quite lengthy (45 mins plus) but I have covered everything, equipment, paints, techniques, figures etc so if you are interested in trying out the oil method give this video a go.

You can get through horses at a fair rate of knots too, any questions just ask.

Questions Answered

On the various formats this video has been posted on there have been a few common questions so to save me posting the same thing on different formats here they are,

How long is the drying time post wipe ?

The drying time post wipe is obviously variable around how much oil you use, room temperature etc but is considerably less than an unwiped figure.

I leave mine a minimum of a week before I start using acrylics for reins, saddle, white markings etc. I would give it a couple of days minimum in a warm room.

The problem area will often be the recesses around the harness as this is where the deepest amount of oil paint sits. If your unsure try a test patch.

It's never a problem for me, the big selling point of this method is speed of painting so I paint in batches of 50 to 100 horses so they sit around sometimes for over a year to be painted.

What are the best colour combinations ?

The first thing I would say on this is that another of the strong points of this method for me is the hundreds of different combinations of colours and the subtle effects you can achieve, even using the same oil colour but with a different consistency will give a different effect so it's very hard to quantify. My top tip is to find stuff out by trial and error.

Golden Rule number one is that the oil paint must be darker than the acrylic base otherwise their will be no contrast

If you want a colour combination to try as a test I would use a Vallejo 70856 Ochre Brown base with a Brown Madder (or Burnt Umber) oil layer.

The darkest oil paint is Vandyke Brown which is almost black. This works best with the dark base coats so try 70814 Burnt Cadmium Red as a base. Others to try are darker browns like 312 (Panzer Aces) Leather Belt, 70983 Flat Earth, 70921 English Uniform, 70879 Green Brown.

Going lighter next up would be Burnt Umber, this is a very dark but slightly redder colour than Vandyke Brown. It works best with dark ochre type colours so Ochre Brown, 70914 Green Ochre 70825 German Pale Brown are good.

In between Burnt Umber and the next colour is Raw Umber, this is a very earthy brown and doesn't have the sheen of other colours, I use it sparingly over German Pale Brown and 70874 USA Tan Earth.

Next lighter are Brown Madder and Brown Transparent Oxide, I have put these two together as they are very similar but give a subtle difference in effect, the transparent oxide being, well more transparent. These are the most versatile colours and work well with the Burnt Umber colours. Go to is Ochre Brown as mentioned above. Also good are 70977 Desert Yellow, 70912 Tan Yellow, 70913 Yellow Ochre.

Finally the lightest Oils Burnt Sienna and Brown Ochre, these only work with quite lighter colours and I sometimes mix a bit of Burnt Umber in to darken them up. Go with Desert Yellow, Tan Yellow, 70847 Dark Sand, Yellow Ochre, 70976 Buff.

Hope that sends you in the right direction. I encourage experimenting with the colours, try some of the light bases like Dark Sand with Brown Madder for example and see if you like it. So long as the oil paint is darker than than the base it will work, you will find the best combinations for your taste.

What consistency of oil paint should I use ?

Paint straight from the tube is too thick, get some distilled turpentine like in the video, put a small amount of oil paint on a none absorbent surface (size of your little finger nail) add a touch of turps to the brush, pick up some oil paint on the brush and mix them together on the surface.

You are looking for a consistency off oil, thin enough to flow easily over the horse and get into all the recesses but thick enough to give a full colour coverage.

28mm A13 Cruiser Tank - From Box to Table

Blitzkrieg Miniatures Finest

There is nothing better than having a game to play to get the paint juices flowing and our current ongoing WW2 Desert game had that very effect, sufficient juice was squeezed to get these done.

I am a big fan of the Blitzkrieg Miniatures models, they are normally a very high standard and these early war A13s are no different, great detail with very little clean up work required. Since I last bought from Blitzkrieg they have moved onto turned metal barrels. They are much more sturdy and really look the part.

I have done this post in my usual Box to Table tutorial style mostly so when I come to paint some tanks next year I can remember what the hell I did with the last lot !

Starting with the model straight out of the box, in the picture below, you can see there isn't much to do construction wise. My modelling skills are minimal to say the least so this is my idea of a perfect kit ! I painted 3 models, enough for a squadron in our rules all together as a job lot.

So above we have the model completed and primed. My usual Matt Black Car Primer from Halfords (a UK Car Parts Store) completes the picture. You can see the background changing on the photographs as games come and go whilst I try and get these painted.

With a WW1 Naval Playtest going on in the background I have sprayed the model with Army Painter Desert Yellow to get a good flat coverage of paint to work on.

Next up is a spot of dry brushing on the base colour to add a bit of depth, the model in the distance has been given a heavy over brush of Vallejo Desert Yellow (70977) which is a slightly different colour to the spray paint and adds a bit of life to the model. Then in the middle I have dry brushed the whole model with Vallejo Dark Sand (70847) and finally closest to the camera I have added 50% white to the Dark Sand and used that to add a highlight on the edges of the vehicle.

You could leave the vehicle like it is and detail it as a purely dark sand vehicle however I am a big fan of the "caunter" camouflage scheme popular in the early part of the desert war ( we only play with kit that was in theatre in 1941). Above I have added a second colour to the tank, Vallejo Olive Drab 70889, on the right and highlighted it on the left.

My final caunter colour is Vallejo Dark Blue Grey 70904, which is shown above as a base and then with a highlight. I could off course block in each of the colours first and then dry brush the highlights but I find I get less cross over between the paints when I do it this way. A quick search of the Internet or a dip into a good book will give you a template of a scheme for your model.

I have not bothered using masking tape to get the lines between the colours, I have a reasonably steady hand and prefer the more natural look freehand painting gives. With regard to the colours I have used, you could debate them all day and in fact people on TMP have done so. I know the blue is not an official caunter colour however it is well documented in many veterans memoirs and was a colour that would occur as a reaction to the weather conditions on the original paint. It works for me.

Getting toward the end now, I have added a wash of Army Painter Strong Tone to the tank to bring out the detail. I used a complete wash on the wheels and I have painted the ink into the recesses on the rest of the tank, wiping off any excess. Also done at this stage are the tracks, I use a base of GW Tin Bitz and then highlight it with Vallejo Gunmetal Grey 70863.

Which brings us to the finished model. I have added the red and white stripes on the vehicle again by hand. I started with a base of Vallejo Silver Grey 70883 then sketched in the red bars using Vallejo Burnt Cad Red 70814, then tided up the white with Vallejo 70820 Off White before highlighting the red with GW Mechrite Red. To tone it down and weather the stripes I have dry brushed the area with Dark Sand and then put on a light wash of Army Painter Dark Tone on to bring out the rivets.

For additional details I have added some decals, supplied by the wonderful Doms Decals and a tank commander to two of the vehicles, I have a box of these guys hanging around, I think the pointing one is a Perry's figure whilst the other one is from Warlord.

Three shots of the finished article showing the various angles.

The finished Squadron

And then to finish off the post a picture of the unit in its first action, the eagle eyed will notice that one has already brewed up in the background, remarkably the other two haven't broken down yet. Its a great looking tank but sadly it doesn't work as good as it looks.

6mm Adler ACW - Confederate Infantry - From Box to Table

Hoods Division in Quick Time

Those of you who tune in on a regular basis will be aware of our ongoing ACW fest, our re fight of Gaines Mill. Having sorted the Army lists I was fine for the Union troops however I was well short of Rebels. Luckily I never throw anything away and lying in a box in the depth of my gaming room is a big box of unpainted Adler Miniatures untouched for at least 15 years.

If you haven't seen them Adler are superbly detailed "6mm" figures, I put the scale in inverted commas because they are a bit bigger than 6, especially when compared with the old 1/300 Heroics and Ros figures, they don't mix that well with other manufacturers stuff but that's fine because they do everything you need. You can check out their full range HERE.

So the mission was on to "knock out" a quick division of Confederate Infantry, I picked Hoods as they were next on the orbat I was working on when I last painted some of these (many years ago), I decided to do this post in the familiar Box to Table format showing the process from bare metal to on the table ready to game.

Adler Miniatures are supplied in strips of 4 with a small spacer between each base as shown at the top of this photo. 1st job is a quick clean up of the figures with a craft knife. Generally the figures are very good and usually a quick snip at the end of the bayonet is all that's needed. I then prime the figures with my usual Matt Black spray paint. Finally to get them ready for painting I temporarily fix them to a strip of wood with some white tack. Generally I work on 12 figures at a time.

I work up a Brigade at a time which is generally 100 to 150 figures. With Confederates I am looking for a generally ragged look and I will paint each batch of 12 in slightly different colours. Here I have started on the left with pale blue grey on the trousers, then in the middle mid grey jacket with finally on this set a highlight on the jacket.

Starting to add a bit of detail now with the blanket roll (any colour you want !) then in the middle I have painted the Musket and Flesh with Beige Brown and at the end of the row I have done the bayonets silver.

On the home stretch now by painting the hat, then in the centre painting the Flesh with Beige Red and finishing off with a wash over the hat, flesh and musket with Strong Tone Wash.

I have been particularly vague about colours because with Confederates you have more or less a free range, line up every single shade of Brown and Grey in your paint collection and pick them at random for each piece of clothing.

And that's it for painting, next up basing. All my old stuff is based for Johnny Reb II as per the rules i.e. 5 stands per unit. Over the years whilst playing big games I have often thought about more efficient ways of basing the figures. I toyed with the idea of basing them on a single base in line but decided that would be too restrictive. I also considered movement trays but with 200 or so units that's a lot of work. I finally decided to double up the ordinary stands and leave a separate command base, this reduced the number of elements I had to move when playing but retained a reasonable amount of flexibility for changes of formation.

I have also taken the opportunity to move from card bases I cut myself to pre cut MDF. The photo above shows the process.

1. Cut the figures free from their strips and glue to MDF base.
2. Sculpt a base around the figures, covering up the bases using filler.
3. Paint the base (when dry) with Miniature Paints Earth Brown.
4. Dry brush with a Dark Sand / White mix.
5. Paint patches of dark green on the base at random.
6. Dry brush green areas with yellow.

The Finished Division

I leave a flat space at the back of the command bases to write in the unit name. I use a colour coding on the bases to determine who is commanded by who. So in this instance Hoods Division has been allocated the colour Green, each Brigade is then given a separate colour so, for example Laws Brigade is white, so all of its bases including the commander have a green and then white line for ease of identification when playing.

I give each of the units two flags, 1 typical Confederate Battle Flag the other a unit flag which is usually a state flag, again this is to help with recognition on the table rather than strict historical accuracy. I probably take about 20 minutes per strip of 12 figs so for me I'm fair motoring through them.

So to finish off a selection of pics to show off the Division.

Divisional Command Base containing the main man Hood

Brigade Commanders

Hoods former Brigade of Texas and Arkansas Troops

The Gaines Mill Game is done and dusted look out for the write up soon. Currently on the paint table are some 28mm WW2 Tanks and more WW1 ships can't beat a bit of variety !