09.23.08
Artillery Train
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These are from the RSM line owned by Dayton Painting Consortium (DPC). Very nice figures and priced well. The set comes with 4 horses but I used only two as I think these are supposed to be lead horses with a rider. Since "historical accuracy" is not required, these fit the bill. The base is made from bass wood from Hobby Lobby and Liquitex resin gel. This was covered with black gesso and then drybrushed with various colors. The static comes from a GF9 line. I used vinyl sheet magnet underneath to secure the miniatures in the storage box.
The only "conversion" I made was to add a rifle to the figure on the left. DPC is pretty good about giving you extra bits and pieces youcan integrate as required. I guess I’ll now have to add a Toorkish set!
09.16.08
Cuirassier Command
I am considering giving the regiment the informal name of "The Lillies" as they are in all-white uniforms. (OK, except for the kettledrummer – I followed the Napoleonic practice of having the uniform reversed for musicians.) The flag I think I will use is a French Royal flag shown below.
I will be mounting the individual squadrons on mounts that are unique per squadron. I am thinking bays (dark brown) for the 1st, roans for the second, and dapple grays or blacks for the third. There’s no specific reason for this except that it would be different.Clicking on the images below will give you a larger image whereas the one above will not… after all, the flag is not necessarily detailed! If you want a copy of the flag graphic, let me know and I’ll email it to you. Anyone with any clever ideas as to unit history is welcome to contribute!
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09.15.08
Wet Palettes
Here’s a review of the Privateer Press wet pallette from the privateer boards that I thought I’d share:
"When I heard that Privateer Press was putting out a wet palette for
figpainting I did some research, and learned how to make my own.
Ironically, I ended up using a Privateer Press blister box, a sponge,
and some wax paper. Total price tag – FREE (I had all the materials on
hand.)
It worked great. Wet palette painting has added a huge new dimension to
my work, and I demonstrate it all the time at the Friendly Local Games
Store.
Friday I picked up the P3 Wet Palette, figuring that it would be better than what I’d put together. Boy was I wrong.
The P3 system appears to have been designed to wick water slowly (the
"sponge" is a sheet of blister foam. Not absorbant at all, though it
LOOKs like a sponge) up to parchment paper that is designed to wick
water quickly. The box is not air-tight, and has a lot of air in it
thanks to the high lid. The result? Paint dries out in a day at the
most. Other flaws — after a day or two the paper has a tendancy to
curl right up under your paints, quickly drying your blends. The pad of
20 sheets, therefore is good for a minimum of 20 painting sessions and
a maximum of 40 (assuming your sessions are paired back-to-back. )
My system (kitchen sponge, wax paper, Privateer Press blister box)
wicks water quickly to the paper, which wicks water quite slowly. I’ve
had paints stay good in there for WEEKS, and have painted with the same
little puddles for several sessions in a row.
I’ve been experimenting with the P3 palette for two days now, trying to
see if I can get it to do what I need it to. It has failed for me
repeatedly. It’s better than NOT painting with a wet palette, but it’s
far too expensive ($20) for a plastic box, a sheet of cheap foam
padding, and a pad of parchment paper that conspire to not work
together as well as something you can build for free.
I love the P3 paints, and adore the miniatures. It’s a shame this product is such dross.
09.11.08
Cuirassiers
I will be using the Spencer Smith AA5 Staff Officer Charging for the officers, AA1 for the standard, and AA4 as the trooper figures. You can get these directly from Spencer Smith miniatures. They will loosely follow the color scheme for Austrian Cuiraissiers – white uniform, black cuiraiss, red trim/facings. The standard bearer is already painted in these colors. The staff is a brass spear which I purchased from VVV. Unfortunately they are no longer being produced as it was not a big money maker.
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The kettledrummer is made from one of the charging staff officers. The conversion was pretty straightforward once I discovered I had the round head straight pins I could use for drum sticks. The drums them selves were made from a piece of greenstuff that I placed on a flat base and then rounded until I was happy with the effect.
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No clever new name for the regiment yet. I’ll have to cogitate on it more. Suggestions appreciated….
09.09.08
Flags and Heraldry
I skimmed through a number of websites looking for Spanish style flags I liked and came across a few designs that will form the basis for flags of Todos Santos.This one starts with the Flag of the Land of Valencia.I did not use the red and yellow stripes that flag had as I want to try and keep regimental colors close to the uniforms adopted, in this case yellow and blue. I added the name of the regiment across the top and then, in a hom,age to the OSW group, useda modified group logo for the device in the center of the flag. I’ll print this off in color on photo paper and mount it on the flagpole. I suppose I should have flipped the device on the left section of the flag horizontally as then the lion and soldier would bemoving forward. Ah well, maybe next time….
08.24.08
Toorkish Drill Practice
The reason I haven’t received them yet was because my card I gave them kept declining when Rich tried to run it. I had ensured that there was money in the account since it was a debit card so I knew I should be able to meet the charge with no problems. When I called him up to clear it up with him, I asked how much it was for, as I had only ordered 16 Bosnians firing and three or four Jacobite samples so it should only have been around $30 or so. There was a pause on the line and Rich said… "Oh, well, did you get the numbers off of the website?" "Yes", I meekly replied, feeling like a schoolboy that had been caught in a prank. "Ah," Rich responded, those codes are for *bags* of figures. Your total came out to be $100 +!" He offered to send me the latest price list for the single figures and fixed the order for me. That’s service with a smile, knowing that your customer is dim-witted and treating him nice anyways. So, Thanks DPC, I appreciate it.
I am experimenting with some different lighting effects and camera settings and these pictures came out the best of those that I took. The one on the left was edited in Fireworks (although you could do the same with The Gimp) and a background dropped in. This is the "Volley Fire, Present!" picture — what the enemy would see closing in. The second is also edited with Fireworks and shows a bird’s eye view of the front rank’s volley going down range. These figures were a lot of fun to paint as they don’t have a lot of the froo-froo that their European counterparts do. Highly recommended for any aspiring ImagiNation general!
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08.17.08
BeegGun
Known affectionately by her crew as "Beeg Gun" this is just a single gun battery (although if I can find the manufacturer of the gun I might get another). The commander, Salami al Baloney is on horseback encouraging his crew. These figures are all magnetized on the bottom of the bases for storage purposes. The commander is a Mameluke from the RSM Turkish line and the foot officer is a generic Turkish officer. The crew are actually RSM artillery and Rich told me that if I needed a limber, they just use the regular limber and swap out the limber riders for some of the Turkish cavalry riders. I may have to do that yet! The colors were selected to match the remainder of the regiment. I will probably give the artillery crew some paraphernalia but I couldn’t find the ziplock where I had stored it all (isn’t that always the case!)
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08.14.08
Toorkish Officers and NCOs
Albay Sapkasiz (Turkish for Colonel Hatless… according to online translators) on his Lusitano. Again, this is an RSM figure on Litko bases. The bottom is magnetized so I can store it properly. He is in a discussion with one of his company commanders which must not be going well as he has his sabre drawn!
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The company officers and supernumeraries are attired as shown below. The sgt for each company is shown on the left. There will also be a regimental sergeant major but I’m thinking of using a rifleman with a turban similar to a Mameluke’s for that role. The drummer is an arty figure with arms repositioned and drums made from green stuff. The drums are pinned on each side. The flag was put together in Macromedia Fireworks and I used an online translation service for the motto, so although it’s supposed to mean "no fee too big" it probably means something eschatological!The picture on the right shows all of the regiment’s drummers in a jam session. I think they are practicing for the tryouts being held for the band at the Duchy of Stollen.
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I am making good progress on getting the 1st two companies painted. Here’s an in-progress shot.
I hope to have them done by the end of the weekend.And since someone pretended to have an interest, here’s a shot of my painting desk – completed now that we have been moved in for a while.
1) left side: top shelf is a CD/tape player for audio books,next shelf down, paint shaker, storage of CDs/Tapes, GW paints I repackaged a while ago in Western Plastics bottles,
2) drawers contain basing materials, infrequently used tools, styrene, the odd detritus that we use,
3) front, Reaper paints with most frequently used on bottom, organized by Reaper number 
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4) right side, inks, Vallejos, washes in numerical order,
5) under desk on right side is a toilet paper holder for wiping brushes, etc.,
6)center, cutting board, kitchen counter top for desk, daylight bulb in lamp from Ikea, brushes and frequently used tools in jars on right side, obligatory caffeinated drink (Diet Coke!)
08.12.08
The Toorks Are Coming!
The regiment will be formed with three companies in the "standard" organization in the Young/Lawford book. Since it is an Imagination regiment, I will be gleefully using miniatures across the RSM Turkish line to make do. Here is what I have so far.
The commander, yet to be named, will be riding on a Lusitano, a Portugese horse that is like a Palomino in color but with a dark mane, tail, and socks. Some of them have black hindquarters. I don’t know if I will go that far or not. The commander will have a Turkish cavalry saber in his right hand.
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The standard bearer will not be the RSM Turk standard but will be the Janissary figure in the left of the photographs below. I drilled out his hands and inserted the flag pole supplied by DPC and it looks pretty good.The infantry companies will be fleshed out with Bosnian riflemen in the style of the pictures below (the Bosnian is on the right). The officers will be Janissary officers as shown by the center figure.
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I did a lot of painting on these fellows tonight. The officers, flag bearer, drummers, and NCOs (the latter two to be shown in a later post) are finished and awaiting the men coming from the depot. The first two companies (32 in total) have had trousers, boots, and vests issued tonight in a marathon painting session. (I was listening to Thunder Run on Books on CD – a great account of the attack into Baghdad). I imagine the remainder of the uniforms will go slower as I’ll have to paint smaller areas and then black line. Hopefully these will be finished before the final company comes in.
The standard is shown below. It was done in Macromedia Fireworks and then printed off on a color printer. The Turkish slogan can roughlybe translated as "No fee too big"! If by chance someone wants a copy of this, I’ll send you the two panels I made for the flag as a JPG and a PNG.
