Thursday, 8 January 2015

From PhilH - SCW Test Mini 2 (5 points)

Aha, Thursday rolls around once again and here I am with my latest offering. First up, a further test mini for my Spanish Civil War project. Yest, yes, I know that I'm getting whupped in side challenges with both Curt and Juan and should stop faffing around with single minis and dive into more substantial batches. But I've been trying to pin down the right colour the uniforms of my Spanish carabineros, frontier guards, and a test mini was required to progress the matter.

So, I expedited one through the basing process and started painting him up. Then realised he was wearing a 'mono', or workers' overalls, not his tunic. Bit of a setback, that, but I pressed on.



Still, his cap gave me a chance to test for the right colour, seeking a colour variously described as 'pea green' and 'green grey' I managed to turn out three lovely variations on 'lurid mint green' before getting in the right ballpark here. This is Vallejo green grey (humm, there's a clue there) highlighted to Vallejo 'pastel green' then with a nudge of white. 



The flesh has been tweaked once more to my satisfaction. I'm led to believe that the 'mono' would traditionally be blue or grey, particularly if he had republican leanings. Well, I baulked at painting either of those colours again, as I seem to have majored on blue and grey for most of my projects in recent memory. So brown the monos shall be, in my little corner of Spain. It gives me a chance to try out some new brown recipes, at least. 



I rather enjoyed painting this sculpt, with very well-defined detail that suits my painting style. I can't wait to get to grips with more of them.

 5 points, now we're rolling....
From Curt:Lovely work Phil! I feel your pain on working on paint recipes as I'm trying to replicate the green/blue of the Spanish Foreign Legion - it's actually making me bit mental. I think I have about dozen pots of paint on the go trying to figure something out.  Anyway, this guy looks great. The 'mono' coveralls in brown are unique but I'm sure that if we dug hard enough there would be some historical precedent that the colour was used. I also like the cap, the colour reminds me of a lighter version of Vidal's uniform in 'Pan's Labyrinth'.


The Empress models are fabulous - such a joy to paint and one can certainly tell you're enjoying them as your painting is excellent. I look forward to seeing more!

Posted by Phyllion at 12:55 pm
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20 comments:

  1. Endtransmission8 January 2015 at 13:24

    I feel your pain on ending up painting the same colour over and over again... a quick scan through my paint box shows far too many shades of grey (thankfully not 50!) and brown.

    Your test guy looks fantastic, can't wait to see the rest come together

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  2. Juan Mancheño8 January 2015 at 13:58

    Fantastic painting work in that figure. I think you have had a very good idea painting your miniatures one by one. Please, don´t change it :)
    About the brown mono... Uncommon at least but very interesting.
    Great painting work, Phil!!!

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    Replies
    1. Phyllion9 January 2015 at 02:00

      Thanks Juan but it's time to paint in groups now :-)

      Only a third of them will be in monos, the rest will look dapper in shorts or tunics.

      Delete
  3. TamsinP8 January 2015 at 15:12

    Lovely work Phil. :)

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  4. Millsy8 January 2015 at 15:52

    That brown is gorgeous Phil. A unit or three of those would look brilliant. Maybe just change the webbing colour a bit to break it up?

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    1. Curt8 January 2015 at 15:56

      Millsy's right, a contrast with the webbing might be a nice add-on. I know from looking at some colour shots of the leatherwork of the cartridge cases that it was often a light honey yellow colour (which could be a nice contrast with the brown). Still lovely work nonetheless.

      Delete
    2. Phyllion9 January 2015 at 02:05

      Yes, I think you're into something Michael.

      Black leather would be a reasonable option and fit with the Balagan painting guide. Curt's left-field honey yellow would work well on this mini I think. Do I recall that the civil guards used the same for their webbing?

      Delete
    3. Curt9 January 2015 at 02:16

      Yes, the Guardia Civil seems to have been frequently equipped with that colour of webbing but I have also seen it amongst other troops as well. (I have a suspicion that this type of equipment found its way into various units as the war wore on.)

      Delete
  5. Moiterei_19848 January 2015 at 16:19

    Maybe a tad to brown for my taste. Have to vote for a lighter colour for the webbing also. That asside it's still great brushwork nonetheless and a whole unit of them certainly will be a sight to behold.

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  6. Baconfat8 January 2015 at 18:37

    I'm glad he passed the test, I hope to see more of these next week.

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  7. Clint9 January 2015 at 02:29

    He's great Phil. Yes a change of colour in the webbing might look better but the SCW is not about looking good. So I would not change it. just my 7.62mm's worth.

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  8. david bromley9 January 2015 at 10:30

    Looks very nice! Since I wasn't a participant of the SCW, i won't argue the colors! ;) He is very cleanly painted, but a contrast to the web gear would make him perfect! ;)

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  9. Peter9 January 2015 at 16:47

    Very nice work indeed Phil - a whole unit would look very interesting.

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    Replies
    1. Phyllion10 January 2015 at 03:18

      I hope so - I've not seen any 28mm carabineros on English-speaking forums/blogs etc.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous10 January 2015 at 11:49

    Nice brown! Top stuff.

    ReplyDelete

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