For my core Afghan/Pashtun Tribal force I am building 2 units of Tribal Infantry, 3 units of Irregular Infantry and one artillery gun to reflect my representation of the uprisings on the Northwest Frontier in 1897 to 1898. I like the alternative basing method of 3, 2, 1 for The Men Who Would be Kings , which allows me to create mini vignettes with the basing, and allows me to organize the figures that way when I paint. What I have been doing is painting half of a unit at a time - units that don't have standard uniforms take longer to paint since I can't really do an assembly line.
Above are the first six figures of the unit. I am still painting painting the figures as Pashtuns from the Afridi tribe using the Afghan Tribal Infantry from Perry Miniatures. As I have mentioned before, the Afridi's are noted as wearing black and blue garments; but from contemporary photos, illustrations and diaries, this is not a hard and fast rule. The team photo above also gives you an idea of the variety of combinations that are possible with the hard plastic box Afghan Tribal Infantry from Perry Miniatures. Okay, enough with the previous six, on to the next six.
I haven't done any real painting since we made the decision to move to our new location. I wish I had taken a picture of the figures before I starting painting again but imagine the above 6 figures about half finished which is how I left them at the end of October of 2022. I like to use the top of soda caps when I paint my figures. I just use a little glob of white glue to affix the figures and then carefully, usually with a hobby knife, pop them off to get them ready for their stands.
When I put the figures together, I model them as best as I can with how I would like them to look in a "Hollywood", cinematic presentation. That is one of the advantages of the 3, 2, 1 basing method. I base my figures on Litko bases (no more cutting for me!) using globs of white glue.
For my basing material, the basic "ground" is a mixture of hobby sand and railroad hobby gravel with the occasional larger piece added for bigger rocks. I put globs of white glue in a few places, water it down and spread it out over the whole base with an old brush, and then I dip the base in my container of sand. I usually let it dry overnight since I primarily do my hobby at night, and then I will add static grass with the same white glue method and anything else that might be extra on the base.
This will be the Leader for Irregular Unit #2. I always mount the Leader on a single base since, unless the unit takes a Leader casualty, they will be the last figure to be removed in The Men Who Would be Kings .
I'm very pleased with the way they turned out. Once I get a bigger place for pictures set up I'll take some pictures of the entire unit together. Next up for the frontier will be my second unit of Tribal Infantry: The Up Close and Personal in your face Fighters!
The break of eight months does not seem to have had any adverse effects on your painting Neil - they look great!
ReplyDeleteI also use a base to hold figures during painting, but I use Blutack rather than white glue for temporary adhesion.
My basing technique is similar to yours although I use a layer of Polyfilla type paste on the base rather than white glue and sand - it ends up with a similar effect, however.
I think I used something similar or the same as a Polyfilla type paste when I was doing my 15mm armies for Flames of War. I use to apply it with a small screwdriver. Am I on the right track or is it something different?
DeleteVery nicely done. The miniatures are beautiful and the pictures well composed.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much. One of the items I have been working on the last few years is taking better pictures.
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