Going for a "Dip"

Well,after a lot of asking questions around and viewing results I've decided I will give army painter a go.
I have a lot of miniatures sitting on my shelves(whole armies)that will probably never see a gaming table unless I try a different method.
I want every figure I paint to look great and that's fine if you only collect a few skirmish units or 1 or 2 armies,however I collect far more miniatures then that and basically I'm just wasting a great deal of money.Every time I look at my armies covering my shelves I feel overwhelmed and stressed.
After viewing several painters I realized army painter is my answer.I'll continue to paint some of my armies in my traditional manner and some other ones I'll go with army painter in order to finish some things.
What I like about army painter is the flexibility it seems to offer.Most other methods at 25mm or larger require you to completely paint them to include highlights in order to have a good result and cutting corners won't work.Army painter allows you to just paint the base colors and apply the shade giving you a decent result that is fine for the wargaming table.However,you can add highlights and "upgrade" the miniatures for a more pleasing appearance if you wish and that's very nice if you change your mind at anytime and decide you want a more quality finish.
For myself I can see this method will speed up my painting regardless if I do a basic job or add highlights for these reasons alone:

White or gray undercoat-I normally prefer a black undercoat,but I'll use white or gray when using army painter so the colors don't get lost.The big benefit will be it's easy to apply your paint in one coat saving quite a bit of time.

Black lining-No need for this with army painter and again this will save buckets of time as I won't need to keep re painting the black lines to keep them straight or from spillage.

Eyes-No need to do this tedious process that consumes massive time as it's a waste of time if your using army painter.

Less steps-You need only paint one shade per color and this of course saves massive time and even if you highlight that is only 2 steps.

If you combine all that listed above in terms of time,then of course my painting time will be hugely reduced!(Yipeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!)

It will be nice to paint some armies with my normal method and then paint some others in the loose army painter style and actually get some things finished.
I'm looking forward to trying this out and I really hopes this works as I really want to look at my mini's and think it's possible to play them all someday!

Well,I need to order some army painter tomorrow or this weekend and get started on my Trojans(Yep,decided I'll try AP with these too) and some ECW.Fingers crossed!:-)

To do or not to do that is the question

I'm not a huge fan of army painters or washes as I prefer my stuff completely painted,but I'm even less of fan of looking at a huge amount of unpainted miniatures on my shelves.
I have a very large ECW army(among others)sitting there and I would love to see it on a battlefield,but I have other projects that take precedence for the next year or two that I want painted to a high standard.
This situation has me thinking that Army painter might be the only real solution.I've seen some decent looking armies done with it and so I'm giving it some thought.
I did use a short cut with a black shade method on my Normans in 15mm and I'm more less pleased with time and results put in.Maybe I'll try the army painter with some of my 25mm stuff to get some things finished,allowing me to paint other armies to a high standard,but at the same time finishing other ones while I'm at it.
I'm still on the fence,but I'm close to getting off.

Meeting House

I imagine Giles is looking at this building and thinking something looks very familiar.:-)Indeed he would be correct!I based this meeting house heavily on his Old Kennett Meeting House with a few changes of my own.
I really liked the Old Kennett Meeting House he has in his blog,but not the price he paid for it.No doubt it's worth it,but I don't want to pay a large sum of money for terrain.So,my only answer was.........build it myself!:-)
It took some time to do as I made it out of balsa wood,foam card and just plain cereal box card,modeling knife,ruler,and pencil for stenciling .Overall,I'm pleased with the result and I plan on doing some more buildings.
I like the idea of a meeting house on the table as this reminds you were they gather to discuss the revolution and adds to the atmosphere.
Outside the Mayor greets the porter in an enthusiastic cheer as he brings much needed ammo and supplies to the local militia.
Buildings:My own
Miniature Company:Perry Miniatures

Civilians

This is the start of my civilian collection for scenery.I've been admiring these miniatures from the Perry's for sometime and now I've had a chance to paint a couple.The first is what I believe is a patriotic older gentlemen/mayor waving the marching troops on to victory or he could just be giving an enthusiastic greeting.
The second is a two wheeled tumbrel used to transport supplies and/or ammunition.
These models(like all Perry)have been a lot of fun to paint and I'm looking forward to doing some more.
Miniature Company:Perry Miniatures






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Baggage/Camp(15mm)

This baggage/camp is also black shaded like the rest.It's the beginning of what will be a larger baggage/camp when I'm finished.The nice thing about it is that I can use it for both my Normans and my Vikings as it pretty much works for both.
Miniature Company:Old Glory 15's

Norman Crossbowmen(15mm)

More black shaded Normans featuring some crossbows.These crossbowmen are also simply dressed like the archers and if anything are looked upon as even one step under as archers were often trained and skilled unlike the crossbowmen.This wasn't always the case of course,but often was.
Miniature Company:Old Glory 15's

Norman archers (15mm)

Here are some archers using the same technique I've used for the rest of the army.I kept the colors simple to reflect their status.Normans were not famous for their archery,but did have proficient archers available that they used with some effect.
Miniature Company:Old Glory 15's