What can you learn from 1994 Knowledge? (4) Painting End Point

The "painting" end point (see below, quite pleased with it if I do say so myself, basing and varnishing still yet to be done):

The retro-painting experiment concluded. This time I cheated and jumped forward in time for advanced "decal technology" whereas in 1994 my counterparts (as per the 'Eavy Metal painting guide) it hard; it  was a case of "hand painting" tactical signs onto (multiple) shoulder pads (now that would have simply have broken me into pieces on the floor!). The glorious Humbrol Decalfix appeared alsi to prep the area, soften the decal and seal it to the plastic afterwards. So it was a case of snipping the relevant pieces from multiple GW Decals sheets and the results are shown (see below, front facing Devastator Squad): 

The paint tray to the rear shows the Warhammer 40K "Army Sign" affixed on the right rear lower leg of Space Marine armour (again in 1994 it was hand painted; hysterical laughter in the background). Now, for better or worse I have my first Space Marine tactical unit, a Devastator Squad (see below, pity I really should have started with a basic Tactical Squad as this is deemed an asset to the Order of Battle - but I didn't have those figures and they ain't cheap, cheap):

From a distance you cannot see the detail so here are a few close-ups (see below, hear after taking the guys photo I noticed a paint smear/dot [yellow] on the red casing - opps - I cleared it up afterwards - but just goes to show you the camera never lies):

Space Marine "look mean" (see below, note the inverted Omega decal on the left shoulder pad. What I like here is that there is no black lining but shades of darker blue and blue ink - really effective):

The close ups nicely show up the "extra detail on the eyes" that the 'Eavy Metal guide recommended. Also note the right shoulder pad armour has inverted V (lambda?) of the Devastator Squads tactical sign and the roman numeral ten (even in 40K?), denoting the "Tenth Squad" of the "Second Company" (Yellow shoulder pads, I am getting the complete nerd now)! Ready to drop into battle, sir! (see below): 

OK that was a good painting journey. I found out that figures could look much better paradoxically with less paint, also always water paint down (it flows much better) and do not repaint over areas for the sake of painting because you think you have to. I also need to take a course in "sensitive brush care" (a really bad old habit) as I load the brush with way too much paint - even though I thought I wasn't! Yep, I feel good for the experience - I thank you GW your painting guide of 1994 actually works and stands the test of time!

PS: It seems a pity not to varnish and base them, so there may be a follow up post. I am also intrigued to go along and get "taught to play" on an "adult beginners evening session". I may get the kids interested in wargaming this way - the model Spitfire didn't seem to work!

PPS: The main thing is getting some advantage from these techniques across over to my historical ranges. I am thinking British Infantry in 28mm Napoleonic or Colonial!

Fw 190A-8 Gets its Decals

Following on from the practice on the Space Marines the DecalFix comes out for the Fw190's decals. The practise has helped, topside first (see below):

Next the "belly" (see below, note I have not gone for the 'drop tank variant but the smooth underside instead);

Finally the daunting "nose cone spiral"! Boy was I glad of the Space Marine practice with the fiddly bits and curved surfaces):

I was happy with the end result but dis have to extend the white line with a bit of paint at the base of the nose cone. I was relieved to finish the whole process and put a Matt Varnish over it as soon as possible.

I need now to do a small repair job to the silly bit of plastic that "fell off" the wing (not a 20mm cannon but on the extreme wing tip [radio?]) when my youngest son was inspecting it!

Even more Sci-Fi Experimenting with Decals: Ultra Marines

Two Ultra Marines (Heavy Weapons) Troopers get some fancy decals (see below, on the right shoulder pad they get a big white "Up Arrow" which apparently means they are a "Tactical Squad" and the Roman Numeral "I" that implies they are proud members of "First Squad"):

On the right shoulder pad the ubiquitous "Ultra Marines" sign, which I must confess I originally put on upside down because I thought it should have been an "Ohm" sign from my teenage Phyics "o Level" days. I also played about and gav ethem a "lightning strike" sign on their legs as I "liked the look of it" (see below):

Next: Time to put this upgraded Sci-Fi kit into some use against the unremitting Hoards of Chaos monstrosities ;)

More Sci-Fi Decal Experimentation: Blood Angels

The Blood Angels got the same decal treatment as their Imperial Fist cousins (see below, right shoulder badge gets the "yellow" blood droplet):

Again the first "wetting" of the decal helped in application of the decal to the figure, it dried (staying glossy), but required another later or two before the decal became compliant enough to be pressed into the figure "seemlessly", particularly over a curved surface like a Space Marine shoulder pad. In summary a bit of patience is required otherwise you "may have a "tear" followed by a "teardrop".

 :(

This is all in preparation (learning curve) for a move on the Fw190-A8 decals ;)

Confession: When in need for "Light Relief" and "Inspiration" .. I to turn to Science Fiction!

Why?

Because I view it as throwaway "fun" but intelligent "fun" and model-craft "fun". It is just "fun". In short it breaks the "Am I really doing this right?" painting block that can descend on me from time to time. Is that the right shade of WW2 French 1940 camouflage? Blah, for things that don't yet exist .. how can anything be wrong". The upshot is that I just 'bundle' into stuff and 'progress' is made on a great heap of otherwise dorment plastics. In this case it was preparation for my next "beer and pretzel" venerable GW Space Crusade game. It was also a great excuse to test out the Humbrol DecalFix, my least liked part of modelling, fixing "decals". So the Imperial Fists got some cute Space Marine decals (see below, left shoulder pad and very nice those 'fists' look too!):

Application of the magic DecalFix was to the "target" area on the model (in this case the Space Marine's shoulder pad) and the actual decal itself instead of water. This had the effect of creating a friendly landing spot and making the decal much more flexible and bendy to conform to the curved surfaces (see below, right shoulder pad: decal on decal, white arrow followed by a tactical Roman Numeral "I"):

One wash of the magical potion was not enough. The DecalFix dries shiny and the first application left bumps and ridges because the shoulder pads are in fact quite curvy. Another wash made the decal more pliable still (Note: Tip, watch you do not tear it) and the decal was simply pressed onto itself with good effect (see below, an ID mark placed on the Space Marine's boot, "skull" meaning "grunt" in my Science Fiction world, heavy weapon dudes got a "lightning strike" .. not as GW have it in but so what, please refer to the reason why I am doing this in the first place ):

I left them overnight to dry and then used Humbrol Matte Varnish to dull down the glossy shine and give a protective coating (see below, a half squad of Imperial Fists that simply cannot wait for their next Space Crusade mission):

A close-up shot for the Space Marines version of Signal (see below):

All-in-all a nice next step up from the basic paint job I had without decals. I may revisit these chaps at a later date with a view to doing something with those heavy weapons, a colour scheme revamp and perhaps drilling out the barrels of the guns. Pipe dreams at the moment.

They are certainly "combat ready" for the "beer and pretzels" outing number four in the Space Crusade campaign series! Watch this space for the AAR.

The Spartan Phalanx (Lambdas added)

Again after the Basic Impetus battle I figured the 15mm Spartans had also earned their spurs and they too "should have their decals". Thankfully this was a much simpler affair as I used some Veni Vidi Vici for the simple Spartan Lambdas. Just as well as the Spartans are from Chariot Miniatures and have a more rounded shield so the LittleBigMan decals may have been a challenge. The full phalanx is shown below:      

I also decided to be more individualistic with the Spartan helmet horse hairs on the front rank. For several years now I have had a 'mute' dilemma as the first rank as shown below are technically all Spartan 'officers' with a 'traverse crest' (aka the Chariot Miniatures Spartan hoplite front rank pack). I had the historical urge to have one officer a base and paint up a load of other normal Greek hoplites for the rank and file on the base. However I have no urge to make my Spartan army that big (cf, I am a DBA rather than DBM man) or have a lot of painted Spartan officers with nothing to do so I have finally "let it be". I think they look the part with the Lambdas now on (see below):

A longitudinal shot of the Spartan "wall of killing spear" (see below):

A close up of the "yellow/gold" Lambdas (see below). Note: The second rank Spartans are much easier to group together (with their spears pointed up) than the first/second rank combination. On refection or rather hindsight I would have ignored the front rankers entirely and just based up twelve stands of second rankers for the Spartan DBA Army OoB. . 

The six stands that make up the rear/second rank of the DBA Spartan Phalanx, as in half their army (see below):

Again it deemed appropriate for post 480 (Thermopylae) to be Spartan hoplites, though not 300, and yes I do have a stand of helots ;)

Athenian Hoplites (WIP)

As befits "post 479" (cf Platea) I present my Greek Athenian hoplites from Xyston. Now I consider Xyston to be the Ferrari of 15mm miniatures. Though it is a blessing and a curse at the same time, because of my love of their detail I cannot rush them and always want to them "justice", hence progress can be somewhat slow. After my last Basic Impetus battle I decided it is time to reward my Athenian and Spartan hoplites and they had earned their shield decals. Those who know me or have read some of my blog posting will know I don't really like doing decals, it's that final fiddly bit I find really annoying (but strangely satisfying when done). However as a treat to my Xyston Athenians I cracked open the LittleBigMan hoplite decals I had been saving for a rainy day (see below):

Now these shield transfers are an art form in themselves. They are truly beautiful, but their application had been scaring me for the best part of six years and I was hoping they had not "gone off" as per Airfix decals of old! They are not the normal water soluble kind but are an adhesive stick on 'wonder product'. They have three layers: a protective outer covering once removed revealing a sticky inner you slap on the shield, reversing onto the model. Then there is a protective layer of paper stuck onto the transfer by water soluble glue which when wet slides off the decal revealing a mini Greek master piece (see below - and Iapologize as my BB camera does not do them justice):    

A word of advice, follow the instructions. My first transfer was wasted and I nearly cried my eyes out, as stated clearly in the instructions, paint your shield white for best effect. Once on you cannot move it around and pulling it off destroys it. Getting the shield in the middle is an art that comes with practice, however touching up the transfer around the shield with paint is nearly always necessary (to merge the shield with the figure seamlessly) and allows you the opportunity to shadow in and highlight to cove up slight imperfections. The flatter the shield also the better! I would practice first on the not so symmetrical transfers first (see below - the first three shields on the right hand stand are good examples of this): 

The biggest pain was snipping around the shield decal as the closer the cut to the circle of the decal the better, otherwise you could get an annoying 'see though' overlay spoiling the figure. That aside, it is worth it! I also have some Veni Vedi Vici shield transfers which are thoroughly passable (see below) but suffice it to say I was so awe struck I 'upgraded' enough of my hoplites required to field a full DBA Early/Late Athenian army.    

All in all a satisfying follow on to the (albeit Basic) Impetus outing :)