Sharp Practice - a 'speed build'

[abu iskander]

Finished my first stand of troops for a SP2 project I've decided to get going on, alongside my main 6mm efforts in SYW and GNW.  Looking to be quick with this - basic/core forces for the Peninsular - French and Anglo-Portuguese.

Around 1 hour per figure for the brushwork, which is mostly CP, but with highlights applied to the flesh and the white elements. Otherwise a pretty straightforward application of the stuff as Rx'ed. I did do a bit of wet blending here and there, which added a negligible amount of time, but can be useful to add some additional subtlety - like mud at the lower ends of trousers, etc.

[OSHIROmodels]

Splendid 

[DintheDin]

Very well painted, indeed!
You've done a great job, especially on their faces!

[Shahbahraz]

I particularly like how neat the basing is. I always manage to mess mine up. It looks like you have done the figures and sabot base together, which I can never get to work, the figure ends up stuck in the hole permanently. Is there a trick to it?

[Captain Blood]

Most handsome paintwork 

[abu iskander]

Thanks gentlemen. Has been an easy build so far, am really endeavoring to be economical with the time spent.

Shahbaraz - I'm not sure if there's a trick per se, but I usually grit the base with something like Liquitex artist's stucco or whatever your texture/basing medium is first, with a blank set of washers in the insets. When I remove these I make sure to scrape any residue from the insides of the depressions. I'm also meticulous about making sure there's no basing material on the sides of the figure's individual bases when I texture them.When I do the first layer of paint I break the figures free if needed before it really sets up. That's about it...

I particularly like how neat the basing is. I always manage to mess mine up. It looks like you have done the figures and sabot base together, which I can never get to work, the figure ends up stuck in the hole permanently. Is there a trick to it?

[LazyStudent]

Very nice!

By CP do you mean contrast paints? How do you find them to work with? Are you doing any special prep work for them?

LS

[abu iskander]

Thanks, LS, I do mean Contrast Paint -- it has a bit of learning curve, and its properties vary by shade a bit, so took some time for me to get comfortable going beyond the test phase... I recommend this video (1hour 40 min, by the way) if you want to get a good handle on the stuff.

No special prep, just use a smooth primer and prep your figures as usual.

[Phyllion]

Really fine work to get these so quick and make the Contrast sing. I’ve been mulling over something similar with plastics in AWI.

[LazyStudent]

Hi Abu iskander,
Thanks for the hints! I'll watch the video at some point, when I have time. I'm still at the mulling over the cost-benefit stage for contrast paints!
Do you intended to try contrast paints on your 6mm chaps? I've read a few articles saying they work well.
LS

[abu iskander]

Happy to help, LS.

No plans to use them on the 6mm. I've tried it on the horses and didn't like the finish as much as my layered forced contrast approach, nor did it really save much time on those. For reasons based on how the paint/glaze is formulated, I think these are better suited to models with higher relief and somewhat larger surfaces.

[abu iskander]

Added the foliage to the first base.



And brushwork done on the next group.



On to some grenadiers and dragoons...

[DintheDin]

They are stunning!
Neat painting and the colors pop!
And the faces! Oooh! 

[abu iskander]

RHA crew next up along with 'not' Obediah. Neither so speedy, but needed one gun team for this project. More characters to follow, then will be glad to return to some simpler French uniforms for a bit...

[FlyXwire]

They look great!

(liking that you're basing them as "rounders", but with sabot trays, and that the seams between are nicely disguised)