Sunday, October 10, 2010

Roman Test Paints

The first eight figures for my Imperial Roman Army are being a painted as a test.  The first six figures were all block painted and then washed with the GW Sepia wash.  The 2 figures in the rear were painted the same way but were washed with Army Painter "Soft Tone".  I've learned from my Napoleonic painting that one gets a much better effect brushing on the Army Painter "dip" and there is a lot less wastage from the silly slinging process.

My friend, Ernie at Architects of War, is now carrying "Little Big Men Studios" shield transfers and I picked up some.  Wow! they were a snap to put on and really look great.  I got the two on in the photo without any issues at all - what a great product.  Of course the whole goal is to ensure people look at the pretty shields rather than my rather pedestrian paint job.

Overall I like how these came out.  I did learn an important lesson in painting these chaps up -  DON'T GLUE THE SHIELDS ON BEFORE PAINTING!  Painting would have been a lot easier if the shields remained on the sprue for a bit longer.  Never-the-less, I liked painting the guys and look forward to doing the rest.

I do apologize for both the picture and painting quality - I'm having some minor motor control issues today with my left side due a very limited but sometimes recurring after effect of a pair of strokes in 2006.  These were painted with one hand and a vice.  My progress will be a bit slow but steady.

OK, the Saint's kick-off is at 4:05PM EST so I need to go and get ready for the game.  Gotta love painting and American Football!!!!!

11 comments:

jmezz382 said...

Great looking stuff. Your right Football and painting ... just add a beer and your perfect !

jmilesr said...

Well, I just kind of assumed was beer was implied by the combination!

I prefer Bass for painting and Guinness for terrain making - I wonder if that's a bad sign!

:)

DeanM said...

They're looking good; and painted with one of your hands out of action (so to speak).

It looks like some of the figures have greaves - are these guys from the veteran set? I'm thinking of getting a box - the only Romans (small scale) that I've had in the past were the Airfix 1/72nd set. I like the transfers a lot too. Regards, Dean

jmilesr said...

The figures are from the Warlord Veterans set. The sprues are almost identical to the regulars set with the exception that the shields are damaged, the head sculpts look more grisly - bandages and beards, and there are fewer figures throwing pilums.

I really like the Warlord Romans - if your interested check out the Starter Army deal - it's very well priced.

Guidowg said...

Nice miniatures. I like your idea of painting a couple of figures to try different methods, I tend to leap before I look.

Great blog by the way! I'm new to this blogging thing but have been gaming for way too many years.

Cheers.

jmilesr said...

Guidowg - thanks for the nice comment. Welcome to the blogging world!

Steve-the-Wargamer said...

Miles - nice work - shield transfers do indeed look good... if it was me, I'd leave the shields on - less figure to paint, just leave it black as in shadow!! :o)

Doc Smith said...

Hmmm, its good to experiment when you've got a lot to paint. It avoids some of the pitfalls when you get stuck into the big job. I'd be leaving the shields off too for these. Much easier to do both figures and shields up nicely to finish.

Cheers,
Doc

Scullmeister said...

I've been a Bears fan since the days of 'The Fridge'

john de terre neuve said...

I agree, it is always a good idea to test paint a couple of figures, I am usually half way through a battalion and suddenly figure out the bit that I have painted over is quite important,

Hope you get return of those fine motor skills.

John

jmilesr said...

"Fine" motor skills might be a bit of an over-statement given my natural grace pre-event. I do think it's safe to say I'll never be a prima ballerina - and that's a devastating blow to the arts world.

I'm doing fine - I could be a lot worse off than a little sluggishness.

Back to painting Romans!