Thursday 12 January 2017

From Peter D 28mm SYW Highlanders (45 points)


A second post for today, but no points bomb.    I have finished another 8 men for my 28mm SYW Highlanders.   Once again these are from from Perry, taken from the AWI  line.

It was a bit of a fight getting these to the finish line.  I had them based and terrain last night, when I realized that I had painted the lapels green instead of leaving them scarlet!  So hasty repaint while getting base paint all over my left hand.  Then the extreme cold, a flood in my university office and an emergency deep freezer defrost.  But here they are.  Phew!

I have to say that I have really been enjoying working on these figures, which is a good thing as I have a total of 30 to finish and I'm less than half way there.  The poses are wonderful and the details crisp which really helps pick out lapels and lace work.  Unlike some I have never had much problem with flash on Perry figures and these were no exception.  I could be that I don't notice, that I pick less popular molds or just that I am use to flash clean up having grown up painting Airfix soft plastics and early 1980s era  historicals.

Uniform wise of course the big item is the kilt, in this case the full meal deal belted plaid.  The tartan for the 87th (Keith's) Highlanders was "Government or Black Watch), which is one of the easier ones to paint.  At the time this was likely not strictly regimented (that's a Victorian intervention) and my guess is that various woollen mills were give an order based on an approximate description.

I used a dark blue base coat (mix of 50:50 Paynes Grey and Ultramarine Blue) with a cross hatched green pattern on top.  With the pleats and fold in the back, the green pattern become more "impression of cross hatching".  Over all the aim is to get a pattern that is a combination of dark blue and green in approximately the right tartan.  Pictures of reenactors (have I mentioned dhow much I love Pinterest) show that from any distance, the colours bleed into each other and the actual tartan becomes indistinct.  Add movement to the mix and you want a blue/green blur.

To provide some justification, I present as Exhibit A my go to source picture on Kilts.
Moi circa 1975 aged +/-13




By my count that is 8 figures @ 5 points each =40 points.  Woohoo, yeah me!

Quite the workload today, Peter! Frozen outside and broken freezer inside too, kinda ironic that! ;) I do like your idea of tartan painting and that rather helps build up the coourage to give it a shot myself. I'm pretty impressed with these bonny lads as you've even gotten the impression of their niffty socks down as well. I'm going to pip you another 5 points for the blackwatch, but that is also in part for the aged photo of yourself .


39 comments:

  1. You certainly did capture the effect of the kilts nicely. I really like how your Sharp Practice force is developing. I hope things warm up for you tomorrow!

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    1. Thanks Jonathon. Warming this afternoon, but still minus 43 this am.

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  2. Fantastic submission Peter - whilst I'd love my British FiW force to include some Highlanders, I'm baulking at doing the uniforms that have so impressively delivered here. Well done and Slainte!

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    1. Thanks Paul. I suggest you buy a few and give it a try.

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  3. Great stuff Peter! Highlanders are always amazing to paint and field on the table.

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  4. Great looking highlanders, I find this a really helpful post, your technique of painting tartan has convinced me that I could paint my pile of ECW highlanders that have sat in a box for the last few years!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks Iain. Give yours a go and see what turns out.

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  5. great stuff Peter. I paint tartan in a similar impression style and I think you nailed it..

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    1. Thanks Dave, I apply the two foot rule to tartans.

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  6. Tartan can break a man, Peter - I speak from bitter experience...
    Great work on these braw laddies!

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  7. Wonderful mini's and a, ummm, an Inspiring photo of your self. I've been afraid of painting kilts / tartan patterns but will likely give it a try. The re-enactor photo is truly inspiring...

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    1. Thanks Miles, grab yourself some Single malt and set to it. As for the photo, given mid-70s fashion sense it is a good thing that I am not wearing trousers (and there's not many times people say that)! Think bell bottomed burgundy cords.

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  8. Great work Peter - any effort on Tartan tends to bring thoughts of just binning the whole project, so great work, an excellent results.

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    1. Thanks Greg. To my eyes the stuff that you do with modern camo patterns and the myriad of 30K/40K minutua is waaaay tougher.

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  9. L overly work and way better than I could do

    Ian

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  10. It is lovely to see these Highlanders, some of the iconic troops of the British/French wars in North America. Your instinct for painting the tartans is spot on, they look great.
    I was going to ask you if anything was worn under the kilt in that photo, but I would be afraid that the answer might be "No, but I was younger then!".
    Bravo on these bonny lads.

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    1. Thanks Padre. Don't ask question unless you can handle the answer....

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  11. Nicely donePeter! That red came out especially well.

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    1. Thanks very much. I'm happy with the scarlet, it's a little bright but that's ok by me. Better too bright than too dull when they are on table.

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  12. Great looking bunch of Jocks, Peter. Your basing has improved by leaps and bounds.

    But that photo... Sorry buddy, but you look like a very serious cross-dressing Boy Scout. Thankfully things have improved in the intervening 40 years. :)

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    1. Thanks Curt. And thanks for the tips on basing along the way. As for the photo, well 13 year old looking serious...

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