Sunday 8 December 2013

Practice Camel Painting!

Today I woke up (always a good start I find) with more energy and enthusiasm than I have for about 6 weeks. I even managed to do some DIY. Yes I know a shocker! Anyway I was experimenting on painting some 20mm WW1 Arabs! It has been an open secret that I plan a WW1 game based around the 1916-18 Arab revolt for the BROADSIDE show next year using IT MINIATURES (click name to link) > I will be using IT miniatures because Tim at the club owns the company and this should let a few more people who attend the show or casually look at this blog that his range is quite extensive. Additionally I have never personally seen a WW1 Arab revolt game at any show. That is not you cue to bombard me with links of a plethora of Arab revolt games. Ok you can if you want. I will not talk today about how I plan to implement this game, or the terrain or rules or any details at all about the interesting history and background.
Instead I will talk about how this will fit into Curts painting challenge. At this stage I am thinking about 36 or 48 (they come in packs of 12) Camels with Riders and 24 Turkish foot (Yes you guessed it hey come in packs of 24) with maybe 24 Arabs on foot as well. (the Arabs did fight on both sides after all, but when fighting for the Turks did tend to adopt Turkish Army uniforms) but I might allow myself some poetic licence. Anyway and coming to the point I desperately needed to learn how to paint camels quickly. These have come out a little dark, not too dark to be unusable as Nature does do a variety of Camel tones. Generally they do tend to be lighter though. So I took two from a pack, at random in order to get a little practice done before the Painting challenge starts. being 20mm mounted troops I expect to earn 8 points each from the camels and riders (Not including these two of course). So just painting this force I hope to get 1/2 my points for the whole entire challenge. These two were quick to paint to a reasonable wargames standard and while not happy with the results I do find them acceptable for a wargames table so I think this is the style and level of detail I will go for.

In later posts I will go over the terrain and the rules and some background and history, but that's it for today. Thanks for reading I hope you like the idea of the game and don't find these figures too hideously painted! When sat with 30+ others I am sure they will look the business. (Fingers Crossed).

Best wishes Clint.


28 comments:

  1. Your camels look great and the beasts come in just about every shade of sandy colours imaginable.
    When I looked at camels for a Sudan game I found that the variety of both camels and riders just wasn't there for a large group, but the larger the group the more they look like a proper force !
    Roll on the rest (just think of the points) !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wanted them a little lighter, but as you say camels can be of every shade. Yes I am thinking of the points and I think I can get 10+ done in a day so I will literally be churning them out. Thank you Jo.

      Delete
  2. Hi Clint,

    As a long time fan of anything Arab Revolt related I will be really looking forward to seeing the set up at Broadside next year. I have seen the IT range and have been very tempted by the whole idea but given my pathological aversion to painting anything 'organic' (especially camels!) it will probably stay as a block based project!

    I will be following your progress with interest.

    All the best,

    DC

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope to run the game as a participation game, so You'll be welcome to sit in and have a play. I like painting "organics" as it happens so a force of 30+ Camels does not put me off.

      Thank you David.

      Delete
  3. From memory, camels come in all shades of brown from off-white to nearly black. Yours look just fine as they are, though if it were me I think I'd make the patch around the eyes a touch darker than the rest of the skin.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good tip about the skin around the eyes. Consider it done on future camels. As mentioned above I would have liked them a little lighter but several dark ones will not look out of place. Thank you C6

      Delete
  4. Practice Camel Racing! Now that's something to bring to the table!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes and Keep it festive by having the three kings racing to bring gifts for the baby in a manger! Maybe not! Well not this year at least. Thank you Irqan

      Delete
  5. Why do you have the hump with them? They look good to mate and the colour looks fine.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You know what it's like sometimes you just know you could have done so much better. But as I said they will pass at a distance and when in a mass of others.

      Thanks Simon

      Delete
  6. They look good. Somethign appealing about camels, not sure what it is, but they're fun

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes they are a little quirky. Which should I hope make the game a little more interesting. Thank you Ferret.

      Delete
  7. That's a lot of camels Clint! But it does look like they store point in their humps :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope they do store points in there humps. Yes it is quite a few, but for a show game you do need more than 1 or 2. Thank you Anne.

      Delete
    2. I meant to tell you how happy I am to hear you say that you are feeling better. Perhaps both of us can find a way to end this year on a happy note.

      Delete
    3. Now that I have removed myself from the bully things will of course slowly get better. I too hope we can end this year on a positive note.

      Delete
  8. They are excellent Clint. Two look great, so 36 to 48 are going to be just fabulous!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is the hope, that a mass of them will look worthwhile. As it turns out Tim at Frontline is also looking at doing some French Foreign Legion in 20 mm. So that may give them an extra use as well.

      Thank you James.

      Delete
  9. Ah the camels! They certainly beat the bicycle guy you've shown months ago (that was also great to see)! Heck, I think you should paint some elephants now, just to best your self!
    As my parents are a bit of arabian junkies, and I was indoctrinated into admiring Lawrence of Arabia, I can only compliment your choice! It's amazing, splendid, even!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Mathyoo. No elephants are planned at this stage. But as mentioned above I cannot think of ever seeing a game about the Arab revolt at a show so with luck it should be something a little different.

      Delete
  10. Beautiful work Clint. If you don't mind me asking, what was the paint mix that you used? I need some tips/inspiration for an upcoming mini-project...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Having seen your work you really don't need any painting tips from me. But to answer your question, The Camels were Valajo Model colour and about 1/3 water. The riders were mostly Games Workshop paint applied in thick washes. I was looking for a quick easy way to get a load done fast and easy with minimum effort yet to yield an OK result.

      Thank you Curt.

      Delete
  11. Nice work there Clint and I am looking forward to seeing this develop. Its nice to see the Arab army being done and I hope you have a Rolls Royce too for them

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Rolls Royce is easier to source than the Talbot Armoured Car. I will get a Rolls, but I do not see it featuring in this game as I can see little the Turks will have to counter one. Although I might get an aircraft for the Arabs!

      Thank you Pete.

      Delete
  12. Don't think I've ever seen an Arab Revolt game in a mag either??? Great looking troops Clint!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Ray. I can't think that I have seen it in a magazine either.

      Delete

Please feel free to leave a comment.