Thursday 15 January 2015

Technicolour Paint monkey

I was going to do an AAR for the club game on Sunday but here instead are 2 Sudan Cavalry circa 1882-89. These two figures were painted for my friend Matt, who was both pleased and delighted with them. He was not expecting me to go to so much effort in painting them. They are both Perry miniatures in 28mm. Both standard bearer and tribal leader were fairly straight forward to paint and being sculpted by the Perry brothers were a joy.

These are now in Matts collection and I hope they do make the table top sometime soon as it would be a joy to see them take the field. (Even if they are bullet magnets). The horses were also a pleasure to paint. the comparison horse armour was not! But now they are done I know the process so any in the future would and could be done much faster. Each individual triangle has to be painted by eye and I would have liked to have gotten them a little more even. Not that I am going to worry about it too much but I do know I can do better next time.

As you can see from the picture on the right while I may not have gotten the armour exactly right it is by no means totally wrong either. I did not look at this picture whist painting or I would have done far more Red as opposed to cream. But as this is just one historical example I am sure colour variations would have existed so it is not a huge issue for me. This armour for the horse would be good at slowing sword slashes, less good against lance/spear thrusts and virtually worthless to defend against a rifled bullet from that time. But in the desert wearing heavy enough metal armour to stop bullets would be highly impractical. So This was a good compromise for protecting the horse in a battle.

It is best not to try to work out how long it took to paint them both lest us just say longer than I first thought. But as mentioned above I think I could do them faster and better now.

These two figures earned me 24 points in the painting challenge. 10 points for each horse and rider and an extra couple for the flag and because Curt was feeling generous. (For which I am thankful).

Both are mounted on 25x50mm cavalry slotta bases with the holes filled in and plaster added to get rid of the base lips. I hate seeing the metal base edges on figures.

The Flag was commercially bought and supplied by Matt, all I deeded to do was attach it and crinkle it so appear blowing in the wind. Not part of the exercise I really enjoy but the result is worth it.


 That will do for today I will post the American Civil War AAR on Saturday as I am already missing posting the weekly game.

Talking of which I think I have sorted out the details of the next one but will say no more for now as I think it deserves a post of it's own. And at this stage loads of work to do.

Thanks for looking today. All the best Clint

31 comments:

  1. Very nice indeed Clint dude! Good to see the monkey's earning his nuts.

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    1. I think the monkey deserves all types of fruit for doing these.
      Thanks Bob.

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  2. Very colourful. They look great.

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    1. Thanks Bryan. They should look colourful on the battle field.

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    1. Thanks Dave. For Light relief I shall paint hexes in WW1 aircraft.

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  4. Great post and beautiful minis!

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    1. Thanks Phil they took a while but the effect was worth it. Despite me having kittens at the beginning!

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  5. Very characterful and well worth the extra effort, Clint.
    I was quite surprised to see the armour, they both look very medieval. Not that historical example is much better, but it doesn't seem to include any metal parts. Are the miniatures sold as late 19th century?

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    1. Thanks Mathyoo. wearing metal in the hot desert sun is not that much fun! And yes they are late 19th Century models but I suspect the armour had not changed for centuries!

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  6. Truly gorgeous work Clint :)

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    1. Thanks Tamsin. I don't intend to do too many of them.

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  7. What a pair! I thought this was a staggering effort Clint, the detail and colour where just wonderful. Bravo Sir.

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    1. Thanks Michael. I feel I may need to paint a couple more just to get the colours right though.

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  8. Possibly some of Paint Monkey's very best - which I've seen at least - and I'm delighted to have something to enjoy with my Saturday morning cuppa now your excellent sea battle is over... a nice AAR instead. Splendid stuff Clint - as always :-)

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    1. Thanks Simon. I had time to paint these two over the Christmas break and I think it was the extra time that made the difference. I know I can do better though.

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  9. Clint
    Great stuff! I love the fabric armour and you've done it very proud.
    Get yourself an ale and get the monkey a banana daiquiri.
    Cheers
    PD

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  10. Thanks Peter. Monkey is rather partial to strawberry daiquiris but has not had a good one in 20 years or more. Me though a decent shandy (Larger or bitter) would suit me well. Yes I am a lightweight!

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  11. Very pretty indeed. And as you have remarked, quite impractical for 1882...

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    1. Thanks C6. Not that impractical for tribe vs tribe, but against colonial era weapons it's a different story.

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  12. That's very impressive brushwork Clint!

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    1. Thanks Ray. I bet Postie has several hundred of these tucked away in a draw somewhere.

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  13. Some of my favourite stuff from the period and you've done a bang up job with them.

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    1. Thanks Millsy. It is all good practice for when I do some more!

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  14. Great brushwork on the horse blanket patterns, Clint. The colors are perfect.

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    1. Thanks Dean. I think a bit more red might have helped the colours but I can't go back and change them.

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    1. Thank you Simon. I can see a Harlequin gang in across the dead earth in your future! (Mystic Clint predicts!)

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  16. I think you've excelled yourself on these Clint, they are indeed a ownder to behold. I did know of the use of these antiquated armour but I've never seen the pic of the real thing.

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    1. Thanks Joe. If you want to see the real armour in the flesh may I suggest Leeds armoury. Check in advance to make sure it's on display.

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