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Author Topic: My Empire of Progress  (Read 4737 times)

Offline Major_Gilbear

  • Scatterbrained Genius
  • Posts: 3153
  • God-Emperor of Dune
Re: My Empire of Shame
« Reply #15 on: September 20, 2021, 08:28:04 AM »
[...] after almost 29 years of collecting it, only 20% of it is painted.
It's a lovely collection of models, and 20% of an army that size is still better than most people (including me) ever manage!

[...] I plan on never getting rid of The Empire.
And well you shouldn't! You have enough stuff there to make at least two very large Empire armies, both from different eras, and you could even do them in different provinces' livery if you like. Worst case, you could have a civil war between them.  ;)

As others have suggested, Contrast paints are a quick way to block in lots of bright heraldic colours, although these work best over an undercoat that is smooth and not too porous. You may therefore need to paint the models with a thinned coat of white first, to ensure that your primer coat doesn't leave you with a blotchy/uneven finish.

Some colour primers are also a good idea, and I would absolutely consider:

Green/brown/black/whatever for all the unit trays. Easy win here, and it will immediately "finish" the look of your painted units.

Silver. Good for the Steam Tank, artillery guns, and any units that are mostly armoured (like knights).

Light brown/Tan. Good for the Griffon, artillery carriages, horses, flagellants, wagons, and anything else that's going to be some shade of brown. Choose a lighter colour than your final intended one though, and then you can just apply a wash all over (which will darken it) before adding highlights to finish. The lighter shade also works well as a base for any flesh colours.

Finally, I would group all the painted stuff together, and see what else you would like to field, and start with that. The painted section is already very inspirational; it makes sense to grow the painted portion from that core of units with things you fancy playing with, rather than "starting again" by doing more of the same units you already have. (At least for now anyway!)  :)

Good luck, and I look forward to seeing your progress.

Offline Roo

  • Mad Scientist
  • Posts: 628
Re: My Empire of Shame
« Reply #16 on: September 20, 2021, 08:41:13 AM »
My two Penneth is play some games nothing better for inspiring you to paint new units to cover deficiency in your force, counter your opponents forces…it’s a great collection and a serious investment in time and money so enjoy it at your pace don’t try to do too much too soon.  Keep posting progress!

Offline Kaluthmar

  • Assistant
  • Posts: 24
Re: My Empire of Shame
« Reply #17 on: September 30, 2021, 01:41:58 AM »
I finished off my first new unit this week, a detachment of swordsmen from Altdorf.


I also finally based some Ostermark spearmen and a warrior priest I had painted years ago.


With the swordsmen, and a correction to my spreadsheet, I have 176 of 739 painted.  As I am an anal-retentive engineer, by my tally, it took just under 15 hours to paint the swordsmen, but I am very happy with how they turned out.  I will need to learn to take better photos as they look better in person.

Mark, I admit, "My Empire of Shame" was a bit of a clickbait title.  It is more along the lines of my Empire of Annoyance in that I should have painted more in the years before house/wife/kids.  During that time, I did purchase almost everything new for the Empire that GW put out, as I am a bit of a completionist.

Major Gilbear, the models primed years ago were done with Armory spray primer, and the recently done ones were sprayed with The Armory Painter white and grey.  Do you think that a spray of a gloss varnish would give the correct smoothness for contrast paints to work properly?  I was thinking of getting some next time I am at my FLGS, but I have never used them before.  I had not thought to paint the movement trays, that is an excellent idea, thank you. 

To keep motivated, I had planned to start with some infantry and rotate which province they come from, that way I am painting some of the same poses over and over, but in different colors.  Once that gets a little boring, I will alternate in cavalry, monstrous cavalry and steam tanks to keep it fresh.

Offline fred

  • Galactic Brain
  • Posts: 4359
    • Miniature Gaming
Re: My Empire of Shame
« Reply #18 on: September 30, 2021, 06:31:58 AM »
Good progress!

Don’t over think the contrast paints, buy a couple of pots and try them!

I never use GW primers. My figures are a mainly hand primed with Vallejo Grey Primer - which is a very very pale grey, or Halfords grey spray primer, which is a mid grey.

The contrast paints work great over the light grey Vallejo primer. Over the mid-grey they are much less effective, but a white dry brush over the grey works.

Offline Major_Gilbear

  • Scatterbrained Genius
  • Posts: 3153
  • God-Emperor of Dune
Re: My Empire of Shame
« Reply #19 on: September 30, 2021, 04:10:37 PM »
Wow, forty more models done already - well done!  :D

Major Gilbear, the models primed years ago were done with Armory spray primer, and the recently done ones were sprayed with The Armory Painter white and grey.  Do you think that a spray of a gloss varnish would give the correct smoothness for contrast paints to work properly?  I was thinking of getting some next time I am at my FLGS, but I have never used them before.  I had not thought to paint the movement trays, that is an excellent idea, thank you.

I would gloss varnish by hand one model, and then use it an another regular-primed model to try Contrast paints on. That way you can see which effect you prefer before you commit to doing a whole unit. If you have something like an artillery crew, where there are a few models which wouldn't look out of place if they were a little different from each other, that would be a good place to test them.

Generally, Contrast paints are strongly-coloured and quite runny. You apply them fairly thick, and the stuff runs off the raised parts and into the recesses - much like a wash, but thicker so that the raised parts are tinted more strongly. You do need a fairly smooth pale undercoat for this to work most efficiently, but they will work over other surfaces and colours too (even if you get different effects). If the undercoat is too rough, or absorbent, or the colour isn't bright enough, then you may find the results of the Contrast paint are a bit underwhelming for their cost compared to just regular thinned paint - hence my recommendations/suggestions.

You can also make your own versions of Contrast paints by adding paint, some ink, and various artists' paint mediums to an empty pot, but if you have a very large number of models to paint then the consistency of the "official" paints may be attractive.

Offline Kaluthmar

  • Assistant
  • Posts: 24
Re: My Empire of Shame
« Reply #20 on: October 21, 2021, 03:08:53 AM »
Finished up another unit.  24 Altdorf handgunners with full command options.  These guys had fewer grimdark details than the swordsmen.


I also painted the banner on this standard bearer.  I painted him ages ago and later swapped out the metal banner pole with a plastic banner from a command sprue.


I am planning on purchasing or making some waterslide decals for the heraldry as my free hand skills are weak.  As I seem to have some motivation, I will work on the largest unit next; 40 Averland halberdiers.

Offline MillsyTheScouse

  • Student
  • Posts: 13
    • Canister & Grape Wargames
Re: My Empire of Shame
« Reply #21 on: October 21, 2021, 04:22:02 AM »
Awesome stuff! I have a similarly large Empire army, about 2/3 painted. You have a couple of things I am yet to get my hands on including the early wheel-less mortar.

There's no shame whatsoever in having a large collecton of unpainted stuff. If nothing else it is YOUR hobby so enjoy it how you like. Perhaps more importantly, if I had not collected so much stuff back in the day I wouldn't be able to manage it now. Stuff is way more scarce and postage only further compounds the already crazy prices.

Revel in your collection sir! Paint it when you feel like it or just look at it when you don't. My SWMBO occaisionally finds me just standing in front of the display cabinet "reviewing the troops"  ;)

Offline Kaluthmar

  • Assistant
  • Posts: 24
Re: My Empire of Shame
« Reply #22 on: December 22, 2021, 09:23:59 PM »
I finished another unit last week.  40 halberdiers from Averland.  As I suspected, the process dragged on in the second batch of 20, but now my largest single unit is complete.



I think a steam tank might be next.

Offline Pattus Magnus

  • Scatterbrained Genius
  • Posts: 2000
Re: My Empire of Shame
« Reply #23 on: December 22, 2021, 09:57:24 PM »
They look quite good, so call that a success even if the process dragged on! It is probably a good idea to paint something you’ll enjoy working on, such as the steam tank - it helps rebuild enthusiasm for a project. Keep up the good work!

Offline tin shed gamer

  • Supporting Adventurer
  • Scatterbrained Genius
  • *
  • Posts: 3332
Re: My Empire of Shame
« Reply #24 on: December 23, 2021, 09:07:57 AM »
Well here I was feeling pretty chuffed I'd managed to paint a total of fifty foot figure's. ( 20 great swords 20 spear men 10 archer's) Then you rock up with one unit that's 80% of my entire infantry contingent.  lol.
Mind you I did manage to paint up a fair chunk of my fantasy castle in between units. I've also got some Highland miniatures Winged Lancers as test pieces on the go to.So I'm still moving forward.

Your coloured in collection is moving on at a pace. I think your on the right track punctuating grinding out units with a statement piece be it a hero/ champion or a war machine.
I personally find I keep motivated by keeping only the things I have painted visible. I have a box with several units built and undercoated under the desk.( the rest is unmade in a bag.)
I randomly grab a unit out of the box and avoid concentrating on the actual contents of the box. Grind through that unit place it with the other painted units and allow my self a couple of days of glancing across at my progress( and a degree of feeling chuffed that it's beginning to look like something. ) Then that warmth warm fuzzy glow to hit the undercoated box before it wears off, and it dawns on me there's still a shed load to paint.
Or more commonly before Mrs TSG realises I'm not actually sculpting but 'playing with my toys' lol

Offline Metternich

  • Scatterbrained Genius
  • Posts: 2559
Re: My Empire of Shame
« Reply #25 on: December 23, 2021, 07:53:07 PM »
Inspirational.  I love the old Empire figures (so Renaissance).

Offline Kaluthmar

  • Assistant
  • Posts: 24
Re: My Empire of Shame
« Reply #26 on: May 27, 2022, 02:50:12 AM »
Work was a bear the first three months of this year, so I didn't paint much.  To get back up to speed I decided to work on some terrain.

I painted the guardhouses/outhouses first as a test.  Then I painted the tower.

They were surprisingly fun to paint.  I used mostly craft paints and homemade washes.

Offline diehard

  • Mad Scientist
  • Posts: 593
Re: My Empire of Shame
« Reply #27 on: May 27, 2022, 04:53:31 AM »
Don't feel bad, I have the tower, chapel and fortified  mansion built for years and they still don't have a lick of paint on them. (I did paint some of the fences though, heh heh.) They came out really nice and maybe shamed me a little bit into returning to mine. In any case thanks for sharing. And your army is awesome and something surely to be proud of.
« Last Edit: May 27, 2022, 05:21:49 AM by diehard »
We haul ours to kick theirs.

Offline Spinal Tap

  • Mad Scientist
  • Posts: 974
Re: My Empire of Shame
« Reply #28 on: May 27, 2022, 05:29:40 AM »
I think this is a wonderful project.

Offline Kaluthmar

  • Assistant
  • Posts: 24
Re: My Empire of Progress
« Reply #29 on: June 11, 2022, 01:39:49 AM »
With these twenty Averland crossbowmen complete, I have just crossed 35% painted.


 

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