From MartinC - 28mm ACW Confederate Infantry, 8th Louisianna (91 points)

So work and drinking have got in the way this week, not at the same time though. Only one unit finished, the 8th Louisiana, which completes the infantry for the confederates. I still have some artillery and a couple of spare units to paint to complete all the ACW troops.

I decided to paint these in grey, not all the rebels can look scruffy all the time. The uniforms are washed with black ink and then I retouched the top of the folds etc. J added some extra colour to the blanket rolls, including the end front ranker who has brought his quilt from home. The faces were washed and again retouched  on cheekbones etc. but I'm not overly happy with the results. The faces on the models are fairly featureless and so there are few places for the wash to pool. My detail work isn't good enough yet to compensate and so they just looked tanned.

Dale Winton - an orange UK TV "Celeb"

More work needed here, I have some very wrinkly figures and a new brush to practice with for next week. I'm very hard on brushes - gone through 2 already during the challenge.

Finally I've started to play with interesting bases and these guys are advancing (my infantry always advances) through long grass made from Tajima long grass tufts and the remains of the cornfield I used on a earlier unit, my first attempt at interesting bases. Finally the bare patches are covered in coconut matting collected from my hanging baskets before the birds nick it.

I'm starting to run out of figs on the ACW painting, and have started to paint up the random stuff I purchased in the sales - I'm a sucker for a bargain and almost never buy to a plan. Expect more variety moving forward.

From Curt:

Another great regiment to add to your collection Martin! I quite like the wild foliage on your bases (Tajima is such a great resource for groundwork). As for washes you may want to try a brown wash instead of a black as it often easier to control and gives a more moderate effect (GW's Earthtone is good). In regards to flesh detailing I can recommend the Formula P3 Flesh Wash from Privateer. I find it's far more subtle (and natural) than anything GW has produced (and should help keep the Dale Winton effect to a minimum). Both of these products can be 'cut' with water which allows you to layer to taste.  Just my two Confederate Dollars (i.e. interesting to collect but perhaps next to worthless)...