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Miniatures Adventure => VSF Adventures => Topic started by: Ray Rivers on 25 March 2012, 02:22:34 PM

Title: The British Empire!
Post by: Ray Rivers on 25 March 2012, 02:22:34 PM
As my Yank army comes to a close, I have decided to begin a British one.  8)

They will most likely end up on Venus...  :D

Here is my first (test) mini by Empress:

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v732/lavaslair/British%20VSF/RayRivers_RD_3_Move_It.jpg)

Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Dr. The Viking on 25 March 2012, 05:54:51 PM
He looks like great! Now paint some one hundred guys and battle away.  lol

(I totally get the animals - they're depictions of his inner self: he is sheepish, an arse and a cow-ard!)
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: mattblackgod on 25 March 2012, 08:52:34 PM
Nice brush work.
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: joroas on 25 March 2012, 09:03:38 PM
Quote
cow-ard!)

The animal suggests that he is bull-ish............  lol
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Ray Rivers on 25 March 2012, 09:11:03 PM
Though you can't see them in the photo, the large testicles tipped me off that he was, indeed, a bull.  :)
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Mister Rab on 25 March 2012, 09:17:22 PM
They will most likely end up on Venus... 

As Gilbert and Sullivan almost wrote, "a soldier's lot is not a happy one (happy one)"

I'll be following this with interest, Ray  :D
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Ray Rivers on 25 March 2012, 09:22:54 PM
Thanks mates!

There will be a few more for the LPL with hopefully, better photos.

Given how long it took me to do my American army, I figure this thread should still be active within the next couple years.  lol
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Malamute on 26 March 2012, 03:59:09 PM
A great start to your British. Hurrah!  :)
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Chairface on 26 March 2012, 05:39:20 PM
I look forward to each addition with great anticipation!
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Ray Rivers on 26 March 2012, 09:01:33 PM
I'm starting with the boring stuff first... the normal chaps, the "thin red line" and all that...

My general thinking though is that the army will be small in number, supplemented by native troops and lots of gizmos and gadgets.

Should be fun!
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Mister Rab on 26 March 2012, 09:14:32 PM
native troops and lots of gizmos and gadgets.

Intriguing  8)
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Bugsda on 27 March 2012, 12:13:26 AM
I think it's supposed to be Lions lead by Donkey's Ray   lol
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Ray Rivers on 15 April 2012, 03:07:07 PM
Next installment of my British Empire on Venus project:

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v732/lavaslair/British%20VSF/RD6_Ray_Rivers_Stand_to.jpg)

The thin red line gets a little longer...  ;)
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Mister Rab on 15 April 2012, 04:09:29 PM
 :-* Those are really lovely, Ray! Fabulous faces and lovely bright, without being cartoonish, uniforms!
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Chairface on 15 April 2012, 06:42:56 PM
Indeed they look wonderful! And doing up the rank and file first is a great idea. It's a motivational tool.
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Dr. The Viking on 15 April 2012, 08:00:40 PM
Lovely redcoats!

Keep this up and you'll wind up with a lovely little army.
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: mattblackgod on 15 April 2012, 08:48:00 PM
Nice paintjobs!
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Ray Rivers on 15 April 2012, 09:43:30 PM
Cheers, all!

To be quite honest, they are not the easiest minis to paint. But they definitely have character.

Hopefully as I progress they will get a bit better.

Thanks again for the encouraging comments.

 :)
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: gamer Mac on 15 April 2012, 09:47:55 PM
Nice job Ray. :-* :-* :-*
LPL is a great way to get a new army well on its way.
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: tanktastic43 on 15 April 2012, 09:51:14 PM
Nice paint job.

Well done.

tt43.
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: OSHIROmodels on 16 April 2012, 08:10:17 AM
Looking good Ray  8)

Another force to keep an eye on  :)

cheers

James
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Ray Rivers on 22 April 2012, 03:23:26 PM
The British Empire receives heavy (7lb) artillery support...  :D

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v732/lavaslair/British%20VSF/RD7_Ray_Rivers_N_Battery_5thBde_RA.jpg)

The top part is a bit dark and the close-ups a bit light. Boy do I hate cameras!

Super miniatures, though, which were really fun to paint.  :)
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Malamute on 22 April 2012, 05:00:30 PM
Splendid stuff Ray.  ;D

My favourite is the mounted officer. :D
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: gatetraveller on 22 April 2012, 05:34:08 PM
Beautiful work!

Could you tell us a bit about the paintjob on the artillery crews?

I really like the blues and how well they work together!
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: aggro84 on 22 April 2012, 06:40:49 PM
Looking great Mr Rivers.  :-*
Very bold crisp colors!
Lovely work.
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Ray Rivers on 22 April 2012, 08:39:37 PM
Thanks, kidlings!  ;)

For the artillery uniforms I used Foundry Deep Blue Shade (20A) as the base color, Black as the shade and Foundry Deep Blue (20B) as the highlight. The hardest bit actually was getting a nice yellow lace color. Over white I painted the lace using Foundry Yellow, but it looked very anemic. So I then when over it with the Light and it still didn't seem correct. In desperation, I then went over it again using the Yellow shade... and bing! I had the color I wanted.

I have no idea why the red on the crews look pinkish. Obviously a result of my incredibly poor lighting and photography.

The mounted officer is very cool, I like him a lot too!

My little army, it seems, keeps on growing...  :)
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Chairface on 24 April 2012, 03:23:39 PM
Ray, they're gorgeous.  The blues just pop out!
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: artshiraz on 24 April 2012, 05:00:21 PM
Greetings

a great way to start a new way and improve on it. I like your Brits
.. In desperation, I then went over it again using the Yellow shade... and bing! I had the color I wanted.
Huh.. that is yellow shade ? 2A ? Amazing how it turns out on that background.

As to your red looking pink.. did you use Scarlet (38) as your red? I used it on my British Troops (Round six) as I don't have Foundry's Brick Red. The scarlet tone is a bit pinkish.

I look forward seeing your Venus expeditionary forces expand.
Thank you so much
Jo
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Ray Rivers on 24 April 2012, 09:20:26 PM
Hi art!

Yep, that is Yellow Shade 2A. Like I say, first I went with the normal Yellow base, but the color was too weak. Then I used the shade on top of it and I guess the effect was to strength the color overall without actually taking on the Shade color, which is too orangy. In other words... I got lucky.  :)

As for the Red..  o_o ... normally I will use GW Red or Foundry Bright Red, but I wanted to do up my Brits nicely and with a strong but not brilliant color, so I shelled out some bucks and bought the Andrea Red Paint Set. The Andrea reds give a nice deep color (though they are a bit difficult to get used to because they have some much damn pigment) but I think I just had too much light for the photo and it washed it out.

I also have a unit of Empress Lancers to do and want to have a unit of highlanders as well. So we'll see where this goes as I haven't really thought it out yet very well except for the basic units.

Thanks for your interest.  ;)
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Captain Blood on 24 April 2012, 09:31:22 PM
Great collection there Ray. Are you going to use them to fight Zulus, or only Martians?  ;)
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Ray Rivers on 24 April 2012, 09:37:55 PM
Are you going to use them to fight Zulus, or only Martians?  ;)

I guess they could do... but that would be a bit boring don't ya think?  :)

The cool thing about the Brits is they will fight anybody!  :D
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Captain Blood on 24 April 2012, 09:42:47 PM
We always have  ;)
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Dewbakuk on 24 April 2012, 09:49:04 PM
The cool thing about the Brits is they will fight anybody!  :D

We always have  ;)

Except the Portuguese, never been to war against the Portuguese. Been to war alongside them on many, many occasions, but not against. They even created a drink for our soldiers/sailors that could be brought into the UK and bypass the 'wine' tariffs/regulations. And they supply us with cork for our gaming boards  ;)
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Ray Rivers on 24 April 2012, 09:50:52 PM
Ahh... Port!  ;D

Yes, would be damn well unsporting to go against the Portuguese!
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Malamute on 24 April 2012, 09:57:25 PM
Ahh... Port!  ;D

Yes, would be damn well unsporting to go against the Portuguese!

Exactly, couldn't have that, what would I drink to accompany my Stilton Eh?
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Ray Rivers on 29 April 2012, 03:08:38 PM
80th Regt. of Foot.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v732/lavaslair/British%20VSF/RD8_Ray_Rivers_Cease_Firing.jpg)

These minis were painted before my artillery unit. The officers helmet came out too grey, but I was unable to fix it for the photo due to time constraints. The blokes uniform and helmet need work. I think I have that worked out now and if you look at the mounted officer (which is the last red coat I painted), you will see how the rest should come out in the future.

So these give me two basic regiments (though incomplete) to start off my new force. Once the LPL is over I'll be going back and painting up the remaining chaps to fill them out and then post a photo of the entire army.

 :)
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Malamute on 29 April 2012, 03:31:20 PM
I like 'Em Ray ;D
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: gamer Mac on 29 April 2012, 03:32:40 PM
Nice work Ray :-* :-*
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Dr. The Viking on 29 April 2012, 04:29:24 PM
Nice work!
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: XCIV on 29 April 2012, 08:17:21 PM
Good stuff, Ray. And aren't those Empress minis wonderful?

I need to get back to finishing off some more of mine.
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Ray Rivers on 06 May 2012, 09:14:38 PM
Reinforcements arrive in the form of Ironclad Clanks!  :D

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v732/lavaslair/British%20VSF/RD9_Ray_Rivers_Clanks_Forward.jpg)

Love these miniatures...  ;D
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Dr. The Viking on 06 May 2012, 09:24:37 PM
Uuuh!

Prussian clockwork automatons!  ;)

Lovely! I really like what you did with them. IN fact I think I'll just redo mine along those lines some day..  ;D
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: mattblackgod on 06 May 2012, 10:33:39 PM
Nice stuff!  :-*
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: aggro84 on 07 May 2012, 12:57:29 AM
I love the automatons!  :-*
I also like how you chose to photograph them.  lol
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Ray Rivers on 07 May 2012, 04:05:00 AM
 ;)

As they say: "if it can go wrong..."  :)
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Haarken on 07 May 2012, 03:45:28 PM
Gorgeous project, really loving those clanks.
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: whill4 on 07 May 2012, 07:00:53 PM
I really like your style of painting. Very bold, clean and crisp. Very nice indeed. Also, who is the manufacturer of the clanks?
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Ray Rivers on 07 May 2012, 08:28:46 PM
Cheers all,

The clanks are made by Ironclad Miniatures. I've bought quite a number of things from them and they really are great for VSF.
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: whill4 on 08 May 2012, 12:09:58 AM
Oops. I didn't get it. I thought Ironclad Clanks was just a descriptor. Thanks for the reply.
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Pappa Midnight on 08 May 2012, 01:02:06 PM
Just saw what you did with those Clanks......... Awesome....
I was looking at those and thought "nah!" but you have done a cracking job on them. Might have to buy some now......
PM
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Peter@BattleScape on 16 June 2012, 02:18:23 PM
Ironclad do fantastic figures and Steam Tanks as well as many other items.  When we took over the shop here in Australia they were the first port of call to expand the ranges stocked.
I have ALL of their Steam Tanks in my own collection as well as these clanks. I was also very lucky to be sent a number of as yet unreleased figures by John with our last order and I have to say they are fantastic.
The job you have done not only on the "Clanks" but on the other figures is amazing...looking forward to seeing further developments.

Pete

 
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Ray Rivers on 16 June 2012, 07:11:32 PM
Yep!

Ironclad does some really nice stuff. I've been quite happy with everything I have gotten from them.

Certainly looking forward to them expanding their ranges.
Title: Re: The British Empire!
Post by: Mac Finn on 17 June 2012, 04:51:08 AM
Ray
Just found this thread... amazing stuff, keep them coming!

Mac