Trireme IX ... WIP ... Sea and Wavetops

The sea base has already been primed in "shade" of Vallejo Game Colour Imperial Blue (72020). To this a wet-brushed "base" of Vallejo Game Colour Magic Blue (72021) for a bit of variation. However the blue colour though nice is IMHO coming through a tad (Yorkshire for a little) too strong (see below):

Next step .. dull down those waves with a Vallejo Green Wash and help retire the "blue" to teh background (see below):

Next step take two .. add a partial (as in I do not have to cover every mm of the base) Vallejo Blue Wash over the sea areas (see below):

The "final" sea touch is to add back the wave tops with a delicate barely wet-brush highlight of Vallejo Game Colour Electric Blue (72023) which serves to suggest something 'wavy' going on (see below):

Next: Add some white-water oar and bow splashes.

Trireme VIII ... WIP ... The "Blue" Fleet of Athens

To combat Sparta's "Red" Fleet the Athenian naval prowess is shown in the "Blue" Fleet of Imperial Athens (see below):

Twenty triremes to do battle with.This should allow the small scale wargaming to start as soon as I "paint the sea bases",

Next: All at sea painting it many shades of blue and gren

Triremes VII ... WIP ... The "Red" Fleet of Sparta

The plan is to initially compose two fleets of ten triremes apiece to test out the various rule systems I have accumulated, starting out with simple scenarios and building up to small fleet actions. As per the tradition of wargaming I shall nominate them the "blue" and the "red" teams. It also seems natural to just forwards to the Peloponnesian War and nominate these test fleets as Sparta (Red) and Athens (Blue). To assist the tabletop gaming each of my squadrons will get a "colour" decoration (see below, the Spartan "Red" fleet/squadron):

Note: I have two types of Navwar trireme shown in the above photograph, the six to the top left of the photograph have no distinction "bow" and "stern" sections and have a continuous wall along the length, the remaining four are the more traditional trireme. The only difference appears to me being the opportunity to get more "red paint" (Vallejo Game Colour Scarlet Red, highlighted with Vallejo Game Colour Bloody Red) onto the models. To cover up any sloppiness I added a Vallejo Flesh Wash to the sides of the trireme.  

Next: The "Blue" Fleet of Athens

Triremes VI ... WIP ... "The Eyes Have It"

Am I crazy, paint "eyes" on a 1/1200 scale trireme, well they are distinctive but "blow me" they are small ... from six foot away (wargaming distance) would you even notice? The more I looked at pictures of old triremes the more I knew I had to do it (see below):

A close-up (see below, a white dab either side of the bow [trying to keep them level] the black dot the middle and underline top and bottom with a black line):

Sigh of relief, thirty six small eyes dotted .. job done. If I was trying to be fancy I could have given them different coloured pupils, but I am not that insane (for this batch at least).

Next: Fleet Colours

Triremes V ... WIP ... Last Wood Highlight

Last Highlights: Vallejo Game Colour Plague Brown mixed with Vallejo Game Colour Off-White, then with a final sparing touch of Off-White (see below):

Close-up detail of an individual ship (see below):

There is an old saying that "less is more" and that seems to run true for highlighting ;)

Next: Ship markings .. the "eyes" have it!

Trireme's IV ... WIP ... "Brown Washed"

The Vallejo Game Colour Plague Brown paint was barely dry before the Vallejo Burnt Umber Wash hit these Greek wooden walls. It may seem a perverse "dampening down" step but the Brown Wash calms down the base brown for a sensible highlight stage (see below):

Next Stage: Final Wood Highlight

Trireme III ... WIP ... Base "Highlighting" (Plague Brown) Complete

Now the fleet is looking a little bit more uniform (see below):

Next Step: Needs a "brown wash" to calm things (aka the wood) down.