I seem to have become hooked on Congo... Edited 21/3/17 with villagers

[Leigh Metford]

I find it interesting that the up-close roughness of finish you get with Quickshade isn't apparent at standard tabletop viewing distances, and as we're painting for the tabletop and not close range examination... . The only issue I've had is that when shading white with the recommended soft tone you end up with effectively a light khaki (there's a tip for those painting light khaki uniforms), which means having to go back and virtually repaint with white. You end up taking as long as you would using a two-layer system from the outset.

Way back when, before I became aware that the term 'Arab' was a cultural designation, and that only the upper social echelons would have been of pure or mainly Arab blood, I also painted some of my Zanzibaris' skin in lighter, Arabesque tones. The colours used on your Emir and his off-sider are about right for the Swahili masses, whilst the skin tones used on the rank and file wouldn't look out-of-place on the leaders.

Anyway, it's all coming together very nicely. 

 

     

[Mason]

Blimey!
You really are powering through these.
 

They look luvverly!
 

[Furt]

Great results and a great output - very impressive!

[philhendry]

Thank you!

And here they are, my Forest Tribes column. A shot of the whole column to start with, in distinctly non-columnar formation.



Then the chieftain and witch-doctor



And some archers



And some pygmy archers - nasty little fellows!



And then some warriors



And bundukis



Young warriors



And, lastly, three scouts

[pauld]

They're great!

Your wonderful columns inspire me (because I need to get my Zanzibari finished)

... but at the same time make me want to give up and throw the brushes in the bin 

Excellent work

 

[Argonor]

I need to up my game at speed-painting 

Great stuff - do the warriors wear green parrot (or other bird) feathers , or do you envision the headdresses as leaves?

The button-counter in me cannot help pointing out that some of your forest-tribesmen are wearing savanna-animal furs  - but they look great, and as this is a very pulpy, although colonial, game (and we can all paint our minis how the heck we want to) it is just as it should be! Besides, your leopard fur comes right in time for me to use as reference along with photos from the internet (I want to paint some Zulu 'armbands' as leopard fur). You have it spot on with the darker patches inside the black dots! Love it! Keep it flowing! 

[philhendry]

I need to up my game at speed-painting 

Great stuff - do the warriors wear green parrot (or other bird) feathers , or do you envision the headdresses as leaves?

Thank you!! They're sculpted as feathers, so I'm imagining them to be green parrot feathers.

The button-counter in me cannot help pointing out that some of your forest-tribesmen are wearing savanna-animal furs 

Yes, I know, but I don't care - I just wanted them to look cool!

but they look great, and as this is a very pulpy, although colonial, game (and we can all paint our minis how the heck we want to) it is just as it should be! Besides, your leopard fur comes right in time for me to use as reference along with photos from the internet (I want to paint some Zulu 'armbands' as leopard fur). You have it spot on with the darker patches inside the black dots! Love it! Keep it flowing! 

The darker spots only seem to occur where the overall coat colour is a little darker - places where the coat is light seem to have mostly black spots.

I'm currently pondering how to paint my 'African Kingdoms' column. The Foundry figures are mostly Azande, so they probably ought to have mostly red/terracotta clothing and head-dresses, and black and wicker shields. My White Men Expeditions column already has some figures in that sort of scheme, so I'm probably going to do the clothing in a sort of faded blue - not unlike denim - and keep the red headdresses and black decorated shields.

[philhendry]

So, here's my 'last' Column for Congo: The African Kingdoms... Which seem mostly to be Azande.

First off, an overall view of the column



Then the king and war drum



And the scouts



Fanatical warriors



Married warriors



Young warriors



And lastly, some askaris



Next up, the 'Adventure Pack' - various 'bit part players' plus some animals.

[marianas_gamer]

Beautiful work done at rocket speed.  I am particularly impressed with your bamboo spear shafts (already being jaded by your spectacular shields  )
LB

[Elk101]

Wow, I'd be delighted with those. I echo the comments on the shields; lovely.

[Argonor]

I am particularly impressed with your bamboo spear shafts

Those are really nice! Very effective!

[philhendry]

Thanks lads!!

[philhendry]

Now I'm starting work on the 'Adventure Pack' - which contains a lion, a silverback gorilla, two crocodiles, some skull totem markers, four bearers, three African women - a princess and two hostages, and a French priest.

I've stuck 'em on their bases, primed them, and now I'm doing probably my favourite part of the whole hobby - choosing the colours I'm going to use. Hunting through my photos from years of visiting zoos, looking for photos of lions, gorillas and crocodiles. Stacks of paint pots all over my desk, finding colours which are on the light side of 'correct' and which look attractive together. These are the reasons why I 'need' hundreds of pots of paint!

[philhendry]

Here are my latest Wargames Foundry Congo models - the contents of the 'Adventure Pack', which contains most of the additional models you need to play the scenarios in the rulebook. I do have more models to paint, but they can wait until I've made some scenery and played the odd game.

First up, Father Marcelin, Princess Ikwané and two hostages



Then four bearers



And four skull totems



A pair of crocodiles



And last, but not least, a lion and a silverback gorilla

[Argonor]

Good standards, all around - I particularly like the crocs!

Very useful set for all kinds of adventure/pulp games as well, methinks! Am tempted to get it - but I must resist until I have some more stuff painted up for them to complement.