Atheling's Anglo Danes- More Command Bases- UPDATED P.15- 28-02-2023

[syrinx0]

Nice writeup.

[Atheling]

Nice writeup.

Thanks Syrinx. Hopefully it will be useful to some folks. It's pretty basic but I wanted to keep it that way so as not to overcomplicate things.

I'm considering doing a heraldic version as I don't paint my heraldry in the traditional way of "fat over lean" and it might be of some interest. That will have to wait until I get around to getting back into my Late Medieval/Early Renaissance stuff as I'm sticking to my "rule of threes" project wise

[Atheling]

I just had to buy these Footsore Miniatures Matthew Bickley Anglo Danish sculpts just as soon as they were available. The sculpts are just so dynamic and full of life; they have the actual appearing as of in the maelstrom of melee. Matthew has the are ability of capturing movement/acts of violence like no other historical sculptor that I can think of, with the obvious exception the Perry's. He is right up there in my humble opinion.

They took a bit of time to make their way to the front of the painting queue as I have a "Rule of Three" which has served me well since I got back into the hobby in November 2019. If you are wondering just what on earth I mean by the "Rule of Three" it is quite elementary. In the past and for many a year, my wargaming projects were forever being superseded due to the ever present Wargamers Butterfly Syndrome, in extremis! I would start one project only to skip to another on a whim. On return from my near five year hiatus away from then hobby I realised that things had to change! If I was to get close to completing any given project then my methodology had to be adjusted. Thus the "Rule of Three" was born. The concept is simple. Do not prep more then three separate projects in one go and do not under any circumstances allow the prepped miniatures to encroach on more space than the space I have available one shelf. This has worked for me very well over the last year and I am definitely sticking to it. It has (of course) not prevented me from straying but if I do get distracted, I carefully put one of the projects out of sight place it in a file box, each mini wrapped in bubble wrap if they have been primed and/or undercoated. This way I have an actual clear visual (my one shelf) indication of just what I need to focus on. Oh, it has also saved me a lot of money!

OK, enough digression.

While I have been waiting for this years Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge to start I was feverishly beavering away at my fourth unit of Anglo Danes to add to my Swordpoint army. I floundered a little (real life) and did not manage to get more than sixteen miniatures completed leaving me with the very back ranks still to do. In case you have been counting, yeah, there are only eight presented here; the next batch of eight have been glossed and are patiently awaiting the matting down process.

Enough of my rambling.....




















Cheers

[Stuart H]

Superb painting Darren,

Totally agree of your rule of three, makes such a difference and things more manageable but never reached this quality even when disciplined.

Stuart

[Atheling]

Superb painting Darren,

Thanks Stuart- very kind of you to say so.

Totally agree of your rule of three, makes such a difference and things more manageable but never reached this quality even when disciplined.

I'm still a little amazed at my new found discipline but as time has gone on over the past year and the results have become more concrete, it has been easier to stick to it.

Here are a few approximate 'life' sized pics of the mini's..... (they would not upload so I'll hyperlink them). Some are a bit large but I hope you get an idea 

[Lord Raglan]

Drop dead gorgeous Darrell 

[Atheling]

Drop dead gorgeous Darrell

Cheers mon ami.  I was hoping to have the unit complete before the Analogue Painting Challenge but it was not to be. Are you taking part perchance mate?

[nikkobourges]

Hello,

Superb paintjob on these dynamic miniatures !!

Nikkobourges

[Atheling]

Hello,

Superb paintjob on these dynamic miniatures !!

Nikkobourges

Thank you for the encouraging words  Nikko.

Footsore are releasing more Matthew Bickley Anglo Danes in January which I'm quite excited about.

[syrinx0]

More great looking miniatures.  Very nice work.

[Atheling]

More great looking miniatures.  Very nice work.

Thank you for the goodly words Syrinx0. Next batch in a day or two- if the gloss has gone completely off

[Captain Blood]

They’re great figures. And very tidy paintwork.

[Atheling]

They’re great figures. And very tidy paintwork.

Cheers Richard, more to be released in the early new year. Which leaves me with a minor dilemma.....Do I wait until the new releases are bought and painted before coming up with a final composition 

[Atheling]

Another set of eight Anglo Danish Huscarls and Fyrd complete for the fourth unit. Three more units to and 12 bases of skirmishers to go but they will be on hold for a while as I am going to be digging back into my Early Byzantines. It has been roughly eight days since they received a coat of gloss varnish and a couple since the first matt varnish layer was added. As is so easily done when spraying a matt varnish over that of a gloss it is easy to miss bits (which of course I did!) so had to wait another day to apply another coat. After a week of waiting to get them finished an extra day is a trifle really.

There is a good mix of miniatures ranging from (very) OOP Gripping Beast Patten brothers), more contemporary Gripping Beast Colin Patten and Soapy), Footsore Miniatures (Bill), Saxon Miniatures (Colin Patten) and finally Drabant. If any of the miniatures prior to painting seem like they are just not going to fit it was the Drabant miniatures. They have much larger proportions then the rest. I think the painting process provides some sort of homogeneity which binds the miniatures into a whole creating e believable unit.

If you scroll to the bottom of the page you will see a couple of images that show how the miniatures fit together on the 40mm x 40mm bases. I chose to go with the smaller size bases as opposed to my normal 40mm frontage and 50-60mm depth as I was looking to create that hunched together in a Shieldwall look. not unlike some of the sections of the Bayeux Tapestry.




















I used to use superglue for this job but have been a grateful convert to being more patient and using PVA so I can better adjust any miniatures which look out of kilter with the rest of the unit.

[Gibby]

Excellent work, I particularly like the shields! I own some figures very similar to those I can see among yours who have very shallow hands for gripping spears, and I am always paranoid that the spears will break off. What brand of glue are you using?