Week 3, saw me working away again for most of the week, resulting in little time to get any figure painting done. Hence a late post for the output for Week 3 and hopefully a second post at the end of the week with additional figures painted as I work to catch-up on my planned schedule!
Anyways,the subject matter this week is a Squadron of Brandenburg Dragoons in the service of Saxony, who were allied to Austria and this sent troops to help relieve the Siege of Vienna in 1683.
 |
| Raw metal Brandenburg Dragoons and Officer |
Additionally there is a Brandenburg Officer to lead the contingent. All figures are 28mm, with the dragoons being from Essex Miniatures and the Officer from Riever Castings, albeit he is mounted on an Essex horse.
Once again the dragoon figures were sourced from an eBay lot, as was the Officer - which has actually been hanging around my workbench a couple of years waiting for a suitable unit to lead!
 |
Starting state of Officer figure.
Unpainted horse,undercoated figure and detailed
hands & face (over-painted by myself) |
Eagle-eyed readers will note that the officer was pre-undercoated, he did however have face & hands painted when I got him.
That said I over painted what was previously done on this figure to fit in with my painting style - so hopefully everyone will agree this previous painting also counts as an undercoat!
What I quite like about these figures is the squat, non thoroughbred look of the horses - as would befit a Dragoon unit that would have to make do with second rate nags to mount themselves, once the Cavalry units have creamed off the best horseflesh for themselves....
This unit has been painted up as a generic Dragoon unit, dressed all in blue. I used standard Ultramarine blue but added a little black to darken the tone, knowing that when the shading dip was added the colour would go even darker, befitting the dark blues preferred by the Brandenburgers.
The horses and figures were painted in my usual manner, so I will not repeat this description. However, I will talk a little about how I use Army Painter dip. Unlike the product description, I never dip the figures into the gloop!
Instead I get a good sized paintbrush and paint on the varnish, ensuring a generous covering and that it gets into all the nooks and crannies of the figure. I then set the figure aside and repeat the process on a couple more figures, before coming back to the first one.
This is usually just enough time for the dip to have 'drained' down the figure and gently pool around the base of the figure, whilst leaving the shading effects in the clothing folds and recesses of the miniature.
Where there is pooling in inappropriate areas or the pooling is too heavy - the dip is still wet enough to rework using the brush to lift off any excess dip and ensue a good smooth final result.
Set the figures aside overnight to dry.
 |
| Figures painted with Army Painter 'Dip', in their very shiny state, pre-matt varnish |
Next day I base the figures by painting the MDF or plastic bases with emulsion brown paint which has had a healthy mix of PVA wood glue added to it in the pot. This ensures that he paint bonds to the base and dries hard after I have sprinkled fine sand on the wet paint to give the base texture.
Once the sand is well and truly stuck- usually about 2-3 hours, I add more paint and sprinkle over electro-static grass to give the base vegetation layer. Again another wait until all is dry and I add various coloured grass tufts and other vegetation & flower clumps to the base - as I see fit.
 |
| Finished Officer |
Finally the whole unit is spray painted with Army painter matt varnish to eliminate the glossy dip finish and the any standards or flags are added to the models to complete the unit.
 |
| Dragoons with matt varnish applied and bases flocked |
In this case the standard is again printed from something I put together basis internet images and descriptions, I have just changed form an inkjet to a laser jet printer (Xmas present to myself) and the finish quality of the standards is so much better!
Points Calculation: 7 x 28mm Mounted Figures @10 Points each. 70 Points
A lovely horse and musket unit! I think 'the dip' is a great time saver to give good, reproducible results, although I don't know anyone who actually 'dips'. The matt varnish is essential, and that's a lovely finish with the basing and the flag.
Barks
