Perrys War of the Roses

[fred]

I do like the look of the foot knights.

Regarding the basing - I don't think its a case of being not good. Its more of a style thing - current basing tends to be more broken up, with areas of bare earth with various shades, tufts and areas of flock. Whereas yours is a pretty solid dark green - (probably over sand?). Yours is neat and sets the figures off - but its quite plain, and perhaps not that natural looking.

A couple of quick things to try, try dry-brushing the green with a yellow/green to highlight the texture you have. Or try adding some tufts of grass (or flowers) this will give some height and break things up.

[killshot]

Nice work, I'm sure the army looks fantastic en mass. 

[Gallahad]

The knights and foot-knights are really the high points of the army.  Great realistic shading on their armor.  As others have said, the army is really let down by the bases.  Even a simple PVA glue+static grass would dramatically improve the look of the army.

Something like this:  http://www.miniaturemarket.com/gf992001.html would increase the visual appeal of the army substantially.

[von Lucky]

Michael - we're sounding overly harsh - your painting is nice. There's a few tutorials on YouTube on simple basing techniques, for example:



The product Gallahad suggests with or without flowers/lichen/small green foam clumps or similar is relatively simple to add ontop of your bases. As stated, all you need is white (craft) glue, an old brush and your choice of basing material(s).

[Captain Blood]

Harsh indeed 

Given that Michael has gone for a striking, uniform, almost 'toy soldierly' look to his painting (and I mean that in a good way), I think the block green grass basing suits the figures well.

It's not what we're used to, granted, with our grit-and-static-grass-tuft basing orthodoxy
But is it any the worse for that? It looks like the figures are standing on a coarse lawn or in a meadow. Personally, I like it.
(And if you look closely, I think the green has been drybrushed with a lighter colour).

I would say it needs a wee bit more depth to the basing texture - because you can still just about make out the integral bases on the figures.
But I have no issue with the uniformity of finish and colour. To my eye, it suits the style in which the figures have been painted.

I think the whole collection looks really effective. I bet they'll look striking on the tabletop when the whole lot are complete. Looking forward to seeing that.

[Nord]

I don't think a change would necessarily be an improvement, as CB has said it's a a different style that suits the figures and the style of painting. As with anything in your own collection, if you like it, stuff everybody else and stick with it - forge your own narrative (as some might say). On the other hand, if you do want to change, there are plenty of guides around on t'web, and plenty of places to buy static grass or tufts to give it a different look. A more natural look, which is different to yours, not necessarily better. I was merely voicing my own opinion, I hope it didn't come across as harsh, just commentary.

[Charlie_]

Do you have a picture of all the units together? That must look good.

For what it's worth, if you did decide to add to the basing or other parts of the models, it looks like it will be easy to add extra layers of depth. Example - a quick wash on all the flesh areas followed by a lighter highlight would add loads, and it looks like they are all lining up ready for this next stage!

[Knight of St John]

Thank you all for the advice. I will add a picture of all the collection so far but it will be a couple of weeks due to work and the Boswoth thing next Saturday.
Michael.