Charlie's 15th century - Exciting photoshoot! (Aug 21)

[Charlie_]

Thanks all!

I don't think I've said this before but the blending of the paint on the armours is excellent Charlie 

Nothing to it except a dark wash (GW Nuln Oil) and the briefest, lightest highlight/drybrush of silver (only on the fully armoured men-at-arms). So simple I feel like I'm cheating!

Though also I think somehow my camera works some sort of magic on it too, the armour always seems to look better in the photos than 'in the flesh'.

[Atheling]

Thanks all!

Nothing to it except a dark wash (GW Nuln Oil) and the briefest, lightest highlight/drybrush of silver (only on the fully armoured men-at-arms). So simple I feel like I'm cheating!

Well, the results are excellent! I might give your drybrush then dark wash of Nuln Oil a try. How thick is the Nuln Oil wash going on Charlie?

[Charlie_]

1 - Basecoat silver.
2 - One coat of Nun Oil, straight from the bottle.

Done! At least for lower-ranking figures.

Then for figures in full plate armour, I use the Nuln Oil again to carefully get in the main gaps between armour plates, where it needs a little extra definiiion. A second coat on the bits of mail between plates.
And then a VERY light drybrush of silver, just to catch the edges and nothing more.
And finally perhaps another smooth layer of silver on some of the large, smooth plates, such as big Italian-style pauldrons, but only if they are looking a bit dark/grubby and want a little extra polish.

And matt varnish to finish.

[Atheling]

1 - Basecoat silver.
2 - One coat of Nun Oil, straight from the bottle.

Done! At least for lower-ranking figures.

Then for figures in full plate armour, I use the Nuln Oil again to carefully get in the main gaps between armour plates, where it needs a little extra definiiion. A second coat on the bits of mail between plates.
And then a VERY light drybrush of silver, just to catch the edges and nothing more.
And finally perhaps another smooth layer of silver on some of the large, smooth plates, such as big Italian-style pauldrons, but only if they are looking a bit dark/grubby and want a little extra polish.

And matt varnish to finish.

Thanks Charlie. I'll give it a go soon as I've got some armours to paint- 11th CE but it should work on splint greaves and helmets too.

[Charlie_]

https://fullharness.blogspot.com/

French heavy infantry

I've finally finished the French infantry I've been working on for a while.

The original plan was to have two units of thirty. I ended up painting up enough models for one of thirty and one of twenty.... But I just couldn't find a way to group them together that was satisfactory. The first question was how I would mix the fully armoured and lightly armoured models - one unit of foot knight and one of lesser infantry, or both units a mix of the two? Or one slightly better armoured than the other?

The other problem was with figure poses - I wanted them to have a closely-packed look, with polearms lowered or at a 45 degree angle, like my existing pike and halberd units. Just using the Perry plastic sets as they are doesn't quite achieve this. At the same time I wanted a lot of them to have livery jackets - I've shown some conversions I did in previous posts, which I'm very pleased with, but getting enough figures in the right poses with the right equipment for two units was proving tricky.

In the end I chose to scrap my plan for two units, at least for now. I chose thirty of my favourite to make one unit that fits my vision, where every figure has its place. That does mean there's lots I haven't used, but a lot of them will find a home somewhere else in the future. I also did use some with shouldered weapons, but the overall effect is still of advancing/attacking troops.

I won't list all the conversions in here, but the most notable ones are new layers of clothing (padded jacks and livery jackets) sculpted over existing clothing.



The finished mix of troops features both fully-armoured men-at-arms and lesser polearm troops both heavily and lightly armoured. This could represent some knights who have dismounted to lead the infantry in an attack.







The banner is swappable. In these first pictures it is the banner of Jean de Daillon, Lord of Lude. It can be exchanged for any other French commander I have made flags for. I've also got a generic French flag available to them.



The French are still severely outmatched against the Burgundians when it comes to heavy infantry - they have just one unit available to them in my collection, whereas their opponents have five, most of which are much bigger! They will at times have the opportunity of having the Swiss on their side though. The French do have the lead in heavy cavalry and archers.

[Tonhel]

Very impressive work! Some serious dedication and focus!

I am going to read your Full Harness blog, as I think it will be very inspirational.

In your blog you mention the 3D sculpts of the Swiss for Steel Fist miniatures and that the sculptor has also released other work? Do you have a link or the name of the sculptor? I would love to see his other stuff as those Swiss renders look great!

[David H]

Impressive!
It makes me want to get my 15th century stuff out, but I must stick to my queue! 

[Captain Harlock]

Looking really good and I like the break away from the usual war of the roses conflict

[HappyChappy439]

Great work! The St. Denis livery coats really make them stand out against the Burgundians!

[Charlie_]

Thanks all!

In your blog you mention the 3D sculpts of the Swiss for Steel Fist miniatures and that the sculptor has also released other work? Do you have a link or the name of the sculptor? I would love to see his other stuff as those Swiss renders look great!

I believe if you google 'Piano Wargames' you will find the answer... Though I cannot claim to be 100% certain of that, I do not speak for Steel Fist.

Looking really good and I like the break away from the usual war of the roses conflict

Of course, the continent provides much more interesting wargames ; )

[Tonhel]

Aha, yes, I know Piano wargames. I backed his two latest kickstarters. His Napoleonics are fantastic. I didn't know those Swiss were his work. I wouldn't mind a range done by him for the Holy Roman Empire. The timeframe of Frederick III or Maximilian I. :-D

[Charlie_]

I wouldn't mind a range done by him for the Holy Roman Empire. The timeframe of Frederick III or Maximilian I. :-D

I also wouldn't mind that!

[Charlie_]

https://fullharness.blogspot.com/

Some more skirmishers

I've finished another small unit of skirmishing missile troops. As before, these are designed to be used as Germans or Swiss. Most of them feature 'kettle hats' in various Germanic forms.





They are a mix of some old miniatures painted years ago, a blend of Perry metals and plastics, with a few new ones added. Three of them are also 3D prints from the soon-to-be-released Warsteel Miniatures range, which at the time of writing is currently running as a kickstarter campaign. I was kindly sent a few samples to try out.





They scale well with Perry, as the picture below should demonstrate. Note that they don't come with integral bases, so I've glued them to 2mm Renedra bases first to compensate, and then these themselves are stuck to the unit bases.



Overall they are quite thin and delicate, especially the handguns, crossbows and feathers. They come with separate heads, which are very nice - one of the Perry figures here has also been given a new Warsteel head (the crossbowman with green sleeves). It's interesting to compare that particular head (a kettle hat with a scarf and feather) to a similar Perry one worn by the crossbowmen in the middle - the 3D prints allow for much finer details. The rim of the helmet is much sharper, the scarf is narrower, and the feathers are more delicate. This isn't better or worse in my view, just different! But they mix in just fine, and I will definitely be using a lot of these very useful heads extensively for upcoming units.

I now have three units of ten skirmishers each for the Burgundian/Hapsburg side, which is more than enough.

[Captain Blood]

Another great looking unit Charlie 

[OSHIROmodels]

Brill