Painting Blue Moon Boxer Rebellion Buildings/WIP (Jan. 28: British legation)

[War In 15MM]

Since June I have been working on my 15mm Boxer Rebellion which has a 55 Days At Peking look.  While I have figures from Preiser HO, Frontier and Old Glory 15s, most of this collection is built around the Blue Moon 15s’ figures and buildings.  Having said that, I actually began by scratch-building new walls for the British, French, Japanese, Russian, German and US legations so that I could give those legations two looks: pre-siege and siege.  At the beginning of July with those walls built, I shifted my attention to figure painting.  As of mid-December I have finished more than 900 figures for this collection: Boxers, Imperial Chinese Army, Chinese civilians, Great Power civilians, and military for British, French, Japanese, Russian, US, and Italian defense forces.  With those done, this week I turned to painting the structures that will make up Peking’s legation area plus the buildings that surround that area.  I’ve started with Chinese civilian structures… all from the Blue Moon collection.  I still have about 10 more Blue Moon Chinese buildings to paint plus some ceramic Chinese structures originally intended for use as decor with potted plants.  When the Chinese structures are completed, I will turn to the British, French, Japanese, Russian, and US legations (both pre-siege and siege versions).  Since I have not seen any painted versions of these buildings, I’ve decided to share my work on them in an ongoing WIP thread here.IMG_2265 by Richard Garretson, on FlickrIMG_2267 by Richard Garretson, on FlickrIMG_2269 by Richard Garretson, on FlickrIMG_2271 by Richard Garretson, on FlickrIMG_2273 by Richard Garretson, on Flickr

[FifteensAway]

Quite lovely work - as always expected from your talented hands.  And far out in the lead as also expected.  Don't get upset with me, sir:  I just may be 'stealing' many an idea displayed through your fingers from your rich imaginative brain.   

I did at least 'touch' some of my Boxer stuff today!  Next year, with some luck, progress will resume.

[Codsticker]

Your buildings look great- just the right amount of colour. 900 figures is very impressive in such a short period.

[marianas_gamer]

Very nice start! Would you be disappointed if I told you that I prefer the ruined versions?  Very atmospheric. They will be impressive en mass.
Lon

[Byblos]

Very well painted ! That's a lot of flavor !

[Marine0846]

Love the buildings.
I look forward to seeing what you done.
I know it will be great.

[leadboy]

Have always enjoyed your imaginative and comprehensive collections and very much look forward to following this thread on one of my favourite periods!

[War In 15MM]

Thanks to all of you for taking the time to write and for the very kind remarks.  I will have several more painted Blue Moon Boxer Rebellion structures painted this week and will post them in the next few days.  Please check here for those.

leadboy, I agree it's a great period with the opportunity for lots of great architecture (thanks to Blue Moon).  I have wanted the opportunity to do this project for years and hope my work on this project won't disappoint either of us.

Lon, I agree, and ruins are so forgiving to paint.

FifteensAway, it's great to hear that you'll be getting back to the project soon.  I'll be looking for your work.  You may already be aware of this, but I am posting all of my work on this project on my Weekly Workbench.  This week I posted these pictures plus their reverse sides as well.  The Weekly Workbench can be seen at www.warin15mm.com

[princeman]

Beautiful work! Those are lovely castings but unfortunately I had chosen 25/28mm years ago.

[War In 15MM]

Thanks princeman.  I divide my focus between military/historical in 15mm/18mm, and Pulp/Adventure/Victorian/etc. in 28mm.  Sometimes that works out better than other times.  In this case the figures are pretty basic; nice, but pretty much the basic stuff, but Blue Moon has done a wonderful job providing a lot of great architecture for their 15mm/18mm Boxer Rebellion range if you are interested in the 55 Days At Peking look.  I'll be posting more of the finished/painted Chinese civilian buildings soon.  Richard

[War In 15MM]

Work on the Blue Moon civilian Chinese buildings continues for my Boxer Rebellion collection.IMG_2276 by Richard Garretson, on FlickrIMG_2278 by Richard Garretson, on FlickrIMG_2280 by Richard Garretson, on FlickrIMG_2282 by Richard Garretson, on FlickrIMG_2284 by Richard Garretson, on Flickr

[DintheDin]

Very well done, sir!
Especially your work on the stonework and the rubble is top notch!

[War In 15MM]

DintheDin, thank you.  Richard

[FifteensAway]

Of the second batch, I like the beige one with the blue windows next to the ruin the best.  Perhaps that is because it leans strong in the direction I'm planning to paint my own Beijing buildings - or Peking if you prefer old school. 

[War In 15MM]

FifteensAway, before I began the actual painting of these buildings I believed that I was going with the beige look as well.  What turned me in the direction I am going is the sculpts themselves.  Very few of these Blue Moon buildings are plain stucco walls.  They use lots of bricks and stone with some stucco.  Since I wanted a look for the city that would blend together in a more unified whole, I decided to do the bricks in Vallejo Saddle Brown, the stone and some brick, in Vallejo Sand Brown, and the stucco in a mix of Vallejo Sand Brown and Beige.  From time to time I did some of the stone in Vallejo London Grey, but that tended to be done when I needed some definition around doors and windows that the Vallejo Sand Brown didn't provide.  I've tried to stay with red, blue, grey and green for roofs, doors and windows.  I think the color combinations will give the unified look I want.  This week I've completed the painting of the French and Japanese legation compounds (pre-siege and siege versions), and I plan to begin working on the painting of the Russian compound tomorrow.

I was fortunate to find two appropriately sized  Malifaux Foo Dogs for the bases outside of the Japanese legation's main gate.  Are you putting something on those bases (if so what) or leaving them clear?