My first batch of painted Vikings for SAGA. Now including Saxons! And pictures.

[Gracchus Armisurplus]

This was my first time using the LBMS shield transfers at 28mm scale. It's a slightly different job than applying them to my 1/72 Romans!

I've found that, for the most part, the hole punched in the centre of the transfers is a touch too small and needs to be fiddled with both before and after application. I tried stretching it, cutting slits in it, or 'scraping' it off the shield boss after application, with mixed results.

Also, some of the transfers are a little large so you have to cut them just a fraction smaller. If you make them too large then the edge of the transfer lays on the rim of the shield, and gives a visible ridge effect which I had to cover over on some models with liquid greenstuff before painting. Also, micro-sol didn't appear to do anything to these transfers. I hoped it would 'liquify' them like it does to waterslide transfers and let them mold to the shape of the shield, but it didn't happen for me.

My method was:

Paint shield white.
Cut out transfer and add slits to the hole for the boss to make it easier to adjust the transfer after application.
Apply transfer, wet, wait for 10 seconds, then remove.
Fiddle with shield hole as required. Usually this involves scraping the transfer away from the boss with a craft knife.
Leave overnight to dry.
Fix any shield rims that are marred by overlapping transfers
Paint/weather/shade as needed, including shield rims and bosses
Apply gloss varnish
Apply matt varnish

Finished.



If one had a steady hand and was able to paint these lovely patterns freehand, then that would be much quicker and less stressful. But sadly I don't have that steady hand and these are labour intensive, but do look lovely. I did have some issues with 'ballooning' around the shield boss because the hole wasn't big enough, and this took some time to deal with, but there's no longer a noticeable effect.

[Gracchus Armisurplus]

This is my Anglo-Dane/Anglo-Saxon warlord. The banner bearer is not quite finished, and my wife gently point out to me that I have attached the banner upside down, so that will need to be replaced in the future as well.



Here are some of his Hearthguard:



And here is my Viking warlord. His banner also still needs to be finished by adding a topper to the banner pole. I wasn't sure if I wanted to just use a spear tip or add a raven or something.





And some of my Viking hearthguard:



And finally my Berserkers. I went with the 'warrior cult of Odin' rather than the 'frothing naked lunatic' interpretation of berserkers.



Over all, I've tried to keep the vikings darker than the english by using darker metallics and darker colours to give them a distinct look.

All the shields and banners are from LBMS and they are great. They're a bit fiddly, but the results can be worth it. Essential to success IMO was cutting the inside of the transfer, the hole where the shield boss pokes through, as sometimes this hole is a bit small and cutting the transfer allows it to sit much more smoothly. Also, a trick someone mentioned on another thread was to put some blu-tack inside some cling-wrap and use it to press down onto the shield to squeeze out any water and ensure a smooth application. I did this with all my saxon shields and I think it made a difference.

And here's some terrain, and the table set up for a game:









Thanks for looking!

[Charlie_]

Fantastic stuff!

[DCallan]

Those shields look fantastic and a fine looking table!

[Codsticker]

Love the terrain. I am working on some trees right now so I pay attention whenever I see them in people's blogs and pictures.

[Dr. Zombie]

Very nice.