Sunday, February 26, 2012

Sudanese Archers


Here are some 15mm Sudanese archers for my Ayyubid Muslim Arab army. The figures are from the fantastic Legio Heroica Muslim Crusade range . The gentleman who makes and sells the figures is a real nice person and a pleasure to deal with and so I highly recommend the brand.

I've been searching for a way to speed up the painting process without losing too much in quality and I think I've found it....Devlan Mud wash from GW! After several attempts with army painter I've come to the conclusion I don't like Army Painter because:

-It's difficult to control where the stain goes.
-I have to repaint most of the figure to get it looking good therefore saving little time.
-It stinks and is sticky to use.
-I have to wait 24hours after application before I can work with it again.
-It's expensive if it drys up which it often does.
-When sealing it often leaves a light grey film over the miniature.

Devlan Mudd wash ignores all the above. I can much easier control the shadow effect by how much water I add to the wash. I simply apply the wash to the recessed areas leaving the raised parts untouched and so no need to go back and repaint anything. I then add one quick highlight and it's finished. In effect it completely replaces one complete painting stage saving time in switching bottles and adding the paint. For me it's much quicker then using AP and gives a better controlled effect without the all negative hassle. I'm a very happy painter at the moment!

Bye bye AP/Varnishes and Helloooo GW washes!! It seems GW does get things right on occasion and considering how little you need and how effective it is I'd say the price is actually very reasonable and quite fair something of an oddity from that company!

Miniature Company-Legio Heroica

Monday, February 6, 2012

Aztec Eagle Warriors


I've finally started my Impetus Aztec army as I felt this is the perfect year to do so with the heavy Mesoamerican mythology prevalent in the news,discussions and programs this year. If some of you are not aware the Mayan prophetic calendar runs out in December this year and supposedly the world with it. So, looks like I'd better do it this year or.......;-).
The army will be based for Impetus which I believe is perfect for this both in gaming style and the basing. Impetus allows one to really explore basing and I love this aspect as I find it really fun part of modelling and painting. I'll of course be doing the Spanish as well for the Aztecs to battle at some point.
The figures are from Foundry which are the only ones I'm collecting for my Aztecs. Sadly, the range is from one of the discontinued lines Foundry has without any real good reason decided to end.( see my rant here for more on my opinion on this) Happily I already collected most of what I needed before the discontinuation and the rest I got off the forums. The primary reason I collected for this period was because of the Foundry figures for this range which are just wonderful and the other was to keep practising painting in colours I normally don't use.
The unit presented here is of Eagle Warriors or rather Eagle knights advancing through some ruins directed by their captain which may be familiar to those who have followed my blog as I originally did him as a single model. The ornate back banner was something worn only by captains/leaders and was a conversion piece with the banner coming standard and the banner bracket holder self made.
The small platform and stairs are self made and the bushels/bushes are from Heki. I mostly used Foundry paints and some Vallejo and MIG pigments for weathering.
Thanks for viewing!:-)