Saturday 16 January 2016

From TamsinP - 6mm Confederate Infantry (308 points)

You've all been wondering when I will drop my first points bomb of the Challenge. In the past I'd have dropped one or two by now, but you need wait no longer for here is my first (and maybe only) points bomb of the year.

For your delectation I present you with 616 Confederate infantry. These are 6mm figures from Baccus



As I wanted to create some variation in clothing, etc I made the decision to paint all of them as one batch. Never again. Painting the same tiny detail on 616 figures (particularly flesh - 616 faces and 1232 hands!) is enough to reduce any sane person to a gibbering wreck who has lost the will to live. However, I was slightly ahead of the game and only had the will to live to lose.

(numbers in parenthesis after colours are the Vallejo Model Colour codes unless otherwise indicated).

For those who are interested, after basecoating the figures with a mix of Sky Grey (989) and Light Grey (990), I then randomly selected 0, 1 or 2 figures per stick (6 strips of 4 line or 2/3 strips of 4 skirmish order) to get jackets or trousers in either of 2 different greys (Sky Grey/Field Blue (964) mix, Neutral Grey (992) or 3 different browns (Brown Sand (876), Beige Brown (875), English Uniform (921)/Beige Brown mix). 


I also gave each stick a 1 in 6 chance of having one guy in Sky Blue (961) trousers removed from a dead Union soldier. 


To vary the officers a bit, I gave a 1 in 4 chance for his jacket and trousers to be Dark Bluegrey (867).


Hats were done in 6 different colours - Sky Grey, Basalt Grey (869), Black Grey (862), Tan Earth (874), Cork Brown (843), Chocolate Brown (872). The order was varied according to a matrix I worked out.


Blanket rolls were done in 4 colours - Luftwaffe Uniform (816), Green Grey (886), German Camo Pale Brown (825), Mahogany Brown (846). As with the hats, I used a matrix to vary the order.


Half the strips had Orange Brown (981) belts and bayonet scabbards, the other half black (950). Officers' belts and sword scabbards were also done in black as were all the cartridge boxes. Similarly, half the water canteens were Dark blue Grey (904). The breadbags and their straps were Pale Sand (837).


Faces and hands were done in Flat Flesh (955), hair was German cam Medium Brown (826). The strip bases were Burnt Umber (941).


The musket stocks and the flag staffs were painted Light Brown (929). For the metallic parts I used Model Air paints - Steel (065) for muskets barrels, and Gold (066) for the tips of flag staffs and various bits on the officers. The drums were painted with a mix of VMC Copper (999) and VMA Gold, then given rims of Flat Red (957); the skins were Pale Sand.


Once all the painting was done, they got a coat of brush-on matt varnish before basing. To create further variety I mixed up all the strips with the same belt colour and randomly selected 5 strips to go with each command strip.

Now for the dangerous part - close up pics of 6mm figures!!












Phew! I'm going to take a break from 6mm Rebs for a short while and paint something else. I still have two bases of Zouave infantry, cavalry (mounted and dismounted), artillery (crews only - I painted the guns last year) and commanders to paint which will appear later in the Challenge once my will to live has returned!

I guess the points thing goes here: 616 x 6mm foot should be 308 points. The flags are commercial from Baccus so won't get any points - and I do know that I need to go over the edges where the white is showing.

I thought it would be good to greet the day with a hearty rebel yell and this entry from Tamsin fit the bill quite nicely. 
Wow. This is a rootin' tootin' passel of Rebs Tamsin, make no mistake. 
You've done a beautiful job on making these figures varied enough to keep them from turning into amorphous grey lines. Also, I think your basing came off very well, making them look like they are in proper battle formations, yet not cluttered with unnecessary terrain which can make 6mm basing seem too busy. Very clean and impressive work.
This 308 points will vault you nicely among those in the top 10 - Well done Ms. P!
 

41 comments:

  1. Once the challenge ends I will repaint my 6mm ACW. I am inspired enough. Thank you for doing these it is just the push I need.

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  2. Wow, just wow. I can't even...wow!

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  3. 600-odd figs? No wonder you've been quiet!

    That's some pretty fancy paintin' there, Tex!

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  4. 600-odd figs? No wonder you've been quiet!

    That's some pretty fancy paintin' there, Tex!

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  5. impressive work, well done Mrs Tamsin!
    your determination and patience are rewarded.

    so tee? coffe? chocolate? any refreshment with your tablet of motivex pills ( the secret weapon of the painter);-)

    thefrenchjester " straitjackets for all!"

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  6. The perfect scale for big battles. The regiments are fantastic here! Impressive work!

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  7. A triumph - you've got Picketts charge in 6mm scale!

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  8. Sensational Tamsin! I love the differences in detail, and the basing in particular. Can't wait to see the whole army.

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  9. Just brilliant. I'm always amazed by 6mm. The details and quality is superb. Big badda boom

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  10. "I do know that I need to go over the edges where the white is showing"
    Probably a good thing you mentioned it before DaveD felt it necessary to chastise you :-)

    I imagine this must be a mixture of considerable satisfaction and immense relief to have these chaps out of the way. As taxing as the task was it's clearly paid off in spades and you should be very proud of the wee buggers!

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    1. I did notice ... but am far too polite...

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  11. Epic results in an epic scale - I LOVE the variation in the colours.
    Fantastic work Tamsin!

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  12. how bloody many! .... cracking job T

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  13. Excellent stuff! I really wouldn't have the patience to paint that lot, so hats off to you

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  14. I'm floored. I have enough trouble with 28mm - I can't even fathom trying to paint belts on a 6mm figure! Amazing work!

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  15. Epic stuff Tamsin! Wonderful results. Now go get some sleep before Tuesday - you've got another reject to babysit!
    Cheers Peter

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  16. @ curt - thanks! I prefer to keep these bases fairly "clean" as I don't want it to look like they're heading to Dunsinane ;)

    @ Clint - so sorry to be the cause of that! ;)

    @ Slowpainter - errmm, thanks? :)

    @ Evan - yup, that's what's been keeping me so quiet:)

    @ Gilles - merci! As for what kept me going - coffee and cigarettes. and chocolate :)

    @ Juan - thank you! 6mm is a great scale for big battles. Once I've got these painted, I hope to get some in against the Union army I painted last year :)

    @ Miles - cheers! Pickets? I didn't know they were on strike... ;)

    @ Dux - thanks! The rest of this army will be along at some point before the Challenge ends :)

    @ Martin - cheers! Badda bing! :)

    @ Millsy - thanks! It is a relief to have the little beggars out of the way, especially as they've come out so well :)

    @ Paul - cheers! It was a bit of PITA to get the variation, but well worth it in the end :)

    @ Dave D - how many? 616! Glad you like them (even if the flags do need the edges going over still) :)

    @ Paul - not so much patience as sheer bloody-mindedness. Thanks! :)

    @ Bill - it take s a small brush, paint at the right consistency, a steady hand and regular breaks! ;)

    @ Peter - cheers and I will! :)

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  17. So I have been watching the slow-match burn on this point bomb over on your blog and the final explosion now that it's here is impressive. Very well done

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  18. Very nice Tamsin. Even at that tiny scale you can see enough that they look great. The variety in uniforms is visible. Nicely done. I know what you mean about hitting a big group in one go being painful. I'll not be painting another Uruk-Hai any time soon.

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  19. Very nice Tamsin. Even at that tiny scale you can see enough that they look great. The variety in uniforms is visible. Nicely done. I know what you mean about hitting a big group in one go being painful. I'll not be painting another Uruk-Hai any time soon.

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  20. Very impressive - quality and quantity-wise. The varying of clothing makes it even more so.

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  21. ow heck that's impressive! It really does catch the feel of an army on the move. Stuff of legends this!

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  22. Great work on the grey bomb Tamsin!

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  23. @ Adam - *boom!* glad the finale was up to expectations :)

    @ Aaron - it's certainly the largest number of figures I've painted as one batch, even if they are individually tiny! :)

    @ Dean - thanks! :)

    @ Sander - they definitely look the part :)

    @ Francis - cheers my good chap :)

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  24. Bloody marvellous and my Lee (not yours) asked me to do rebs for him. I just fixed him with a glare.

    You have done these so very proud, looking forward to the rest. I will have to dig deep to take back the lead

    Ian

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  25. Awesome work! I love the look of massed 6mm, the impression they give is really something on the table top. You have done a wonderful job on them and are braver than I. I can only manage a few bases of 6mm at a time, I don't think I could manage 600 at once, I have issues with more than 50 at a time.

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  26. Very impressive - so so many. But a great effect enmass.

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  27. Thatsxa damn fine haul Tamsin

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  28. Thatsxa damn fine haul Tamsin

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  29. That's some great work on these Rebs Tamsin! Your basing sets them off nicely.

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  30. @ Ian - I've only got about 150 points more to paint of the Rebs (unless I put in an order to Pete for some more) so you could still beat me :)
    Very wise move giving Lee the evil eye when he suggested you paint his Rebs for him ;)

    @ Byron - cheers! I don't think I'll try anything as daft as this again - I think 4 bases worth is about the max that's reasonable to paint in one go :)

    @ Dannoc - thanks! The mass effect does work well with 6mm :)

    @ Kevin - cheers! :)
    How's your hand doing?

    @ Moiterei - thank you! :)

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  31. I dunno Tamsin...I don't think there are enough figures here...was kind of a let down...

    Great work :)

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  32. Fantastic stuff, I love how you've created a matrix to get the variety.

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  33. @ Greg - *smack* behave! :)

    @ Barks - thanks! With the matrix it was easier than just randomly picking figures for each colour :)

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  34. Very impressive painting and basing. A suitably motley group of rebs. Great pictures by the way. You can really see all the work you did to detail these.

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  35. They look very nice, Tamsin! I like how the uniforms differ in hue and color. The flags are great too.
    As an FYI you coulda gotten more for 1st Nation if you added the Choctaw Brigade or the Cherokee Rifles. Gen Stand Waite was the only undefeated general of the ACW and he was the last one to surrender too. ;)

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  36. Awesome entry. Basing, composition, cheer size,everything is top notch

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  37. very good - the variation is spot on to make it interesting and I'm impressed you used a matrix! I just randomly choose which wouldn't work nearly as well with this many figures.

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  38. @ Sean - thanks! As always, I probably painted more detail than was necessary :)

    @ David B - hmm, that gives me an idea for later in the Challenge ;)

    @ Iannick - thanks! :)

    @ Jamie - cheers! It was tough work getting the Machines to let me use the Matrix for something as daft as painting figures, but I promised them a look at some steamy pics of Trinity and they agreed ;)

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  39. Brilliant! You REALLY captured the "ragged reb" look perfectly for the scale. Great work!

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  40. Amazing! Really excellent work. The baseing is so very good as well. Every year more of these 6mm insanities appear and they look so good they make it more and more tempting. Cheers

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