Sunday, June 11, 2017

Lally-gaggling

At last I managed to take a brush to some of the new Prince August SYW French. They are delightful little models!

I had intended to do a  straight glossy toy soldier look, block colours, no shading etc  but the sculpting was too crisp to get the right look easily so I compromised on a little bit of shading, not too much and no highlights, then the gloss. Sort of vaguely Old School but not quite, sort of like my games. Anyway, I like 'em and am looking forward to painting more.

Wild Geese!.
Recruits for Lally's Irish Regiment drill on the lakeshore.
After hours spent combing books and the net and once again lamenting my MIA Lace Wars volumes, I decided to start painting red and green and then decide if they would be a fictional unit based on Polish War of Succession Saxon or Danish or would be Irish. It didn't take long for old habits to kick in (though not my old eyesight -they were 1/2 done before I realized I had grabbed several grenadier heads with mustaches OOps! Oh well!) and since my original NQSYW units were all painted for Fontenoy I just went ahead and painted them Lally's.

As a bonus I was reminded that during the 7YW, a 2nd battalion of Lally's was raised for service in India..hmmm....
A closer view.
Anyhow, I also got a start today on a map of the seas and lands North and East of Rosmark. Progress continues and enthusiasm mounts!

28 comments:

  1. A charming group. They will look splendid in action!

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  2. Those look great Ross. Gloss varnish does them proud.

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  3. Very handsome lads, Ross!

    Best Regards,

    Stokes

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  4. Ross, what do you use for metal and where do you source it? Yr. prairie buddy, John

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    1. John, to be honest, its a bit of a mystery. About 10 years ago I bought a spin caster and vulcanizer which I'm embarrassed to say that I've never managed to used as I've never managed to build the shop area I intended, - plans change. I bought a sizeable quantity of ingot of 3 different types, a hard pewter, a softer white metal and a soft lead allow. Each box had a post-it with the chemical abbreviations. After several years in the celler, the post it notes fluttered away and I don't know which ingot is which. But I suspect these were done with the intermediate alloy. Not as good as PA special blend but 1/2 the price and I have enough left for a decade or two yet. Might even get the spin caster set up one day...

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  5. Thanks Ross. Embarrassingly, I must admit to having a Tiranti spin caster that I have never used. Smaller in scale and for RTV, I guess. I'm buying bar solder that is 50-50 tin, lead. Would like to use something safer. Just curious. Really like your Irish in French service and enjoy all your 40mm stuff. Need any men in picklhaubes?... John

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    1. Maybe next year if the offer is still open, I'm trying to avoid distractions from this 18thC stuff!

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  6. Desperately trying to convince myself I don't need any of these new moulds,very nice figures

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    1. Don't bother, resistance is useless, just order. I think the French in full coats would make a nice addition.

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  7. Lovely figures Ross. I look forward to seeing the map too.

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    1. Thanks, may be a while, I need to replace various drawing supplies.

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  8. Lovely figures, elegant poses and uniforms...

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  9. Ross,
    Certainly a superb job of painting there Ross- splendid results! Cheers. KEV.

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  10. Ross

    Yes they are nice figures and paint up well.

    I think we have pretty much arrived at the same painting style for these, that I do is:
    Spray undercoat
    Paint block colours
    Spray varnish (this ensures inking does not 'stain'
    Ink, but only the face, hair, hands a metalwork such as mitre caps
    Brush gloss varnish

    Steve

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    1. Ross

      I would also like to point out that the design of these figures is influenced by input by Ross and others who comment on the 'Lace Wars in Tin' blog - PA are trying to produce the figures we want for wargaming - they do not always get it right but are trying.

      Steve

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    2. Thanks Steve. Yes similar. I brush on an undercoat of white acrylic craft paint, block paint with craft paints, a bit of select shading with well thinned base colour mixed with a bit of either burnt umber/burnt sienna/black depending on what colour I'm shading, then brush on gloss varnish.

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    3. Yes, I'd still rather have had figures at the shoulder rather than support but they look good so all is forgiven!

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  11. Very nice figures Ross, you are an excellent painter. Congratulations! Greetings from the far south, Carlos

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    1. Thank you Carlos, you are very kind. Greeting from 1/2 way to the North Pole!

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  12. Lovely castings Ross, they have very expressive faces. Great job on the painting too.

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  13. I must confess that I really like the crisp, "Toy Soldier" look of these castings, and your painting has done them proud!

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