Perry Miniatures Afghan Tribesmen Test Mini's Second Anglo Afghan War

I've been working on a couple of projects this weekend. I tried to replicate the same results I managed to get when I 'speed painting' the Perry 28mm Beja for the Sudan in 15 mil on some Blue Moon 15mm Sudan 'Dervish' models I have have owned for a good while now, more out of curiosity then a serious attempt at a project and the results were not good! The Blue moon miniatures are fine and it and the bad results were very much down to method rather then the quality of the miniatures. After a bit of thought t was obvious as to why the mini's had turned out to appear so 'smudged' when finished; I had not allowed for a greater variation in tone on the layers which is essential when painting 15mm miniatures. Though, to not be too hard on myself, I haven't painted anything smaller then 28mm for well over five years so kind of forgot one of my own golden rules!

I did manage to finish off the gloss and matt varnishing on some Perry Miniatures Afghan Tribesmen from their Victoria's Little Wars range which had been sitting on the shelf for a few days as well as get in another session of another batch of 12 'speed painted' Beja (which I'll post up as soon as they have had a lick of varnish). 

The Second Anglo Afghan Wars Tribesmen below are what I can only really describe as painted at 'medium pace' (for those not familiar with cricketing terminology please refer to the Quora article HERE) . I had initially wanted to 'speed paint' them in the same manner as I had done with the Beja but after a couple of test pieces I it was soon obvious that taking into account that these miniatures are marked for a 'special project' (I will divulge more when the time comes) they just weren't going to be up to the mark. So, instead of the one to two sessions they took about three, possibly four to complete. They are by far nowhere near the highest standard manageable by your truly but they are of a good enough quality to grace the wargames table which is what I was looking for (albeit a bit quicker!)

More or less life size:

Chieftain and Standard Bearer:

(Standard to be added later when the Perry Plastics arrive!)

Dangerous Looking Tribesmen:

Aventine Byzantine Torsion Field Engine

Finally, after a solid week of waiting for the gloss varnish to go completely off I was able to matt these down and base them! I find it quite frustrating waiting a week prior to matting down but the end results are certainly worth it and I would heartily recommend it to everyone else.

The Aventine Miniatures Early Byzantine miniatures are simply beautiful in my humble opinion. They are brilliantly crisply cast and are packed with detail. I just love them!

For those interested in the painting process.....

A quick word on the tunics. The 'whites' have a base coat of VMC Medium Grey and is gradually mixed with VMC Pale Sand then when the time comes VMC Matt White. At no point do I let the highlights reach pure Matt White as I am a strong believer that this is too stark a colour to use on miniatures. It looks unnatural to me. (Yes, the irony of making a statement such as that whilst referring to what are essentially toy soldiers is not lost on me LOL).

The 'Red' is the Second Darkest colour from the Andrea Red set then a small amount of the the Andrea Red mixed with VMC Carmine Red and a final highlight of VMC Amarantha Red. 

The boots are VMC German Cammo Black Brown mixed VMC Pale Sand then more Pale Sand. These are then given a (watered down!) glaze of Citadel Agrax Earthshade.

Straps etc are VMC German Cammo Black Brown, then VGC Charred Brown followed by a mix of VGC Charred Brown and VGC Dark Fleshtone and a final highlight with the Dark Fleshtone mixed with VMC Parasite Brown.

I'm going to have to find a corresponding colour for the Second Darkest Red from the Andrea set so if anyone has any colours that are of the same hue and tonality please let me know.

Up the Nile! First Beja Unit Complete

I got a chance to take some quick snaps of the first complete Beja unit earlier and here are the results. I've got to add a shield and a spear to one base with a casualty to finish off then it's onto the next unit, twelve of which are already finished. 

36 Beja to have a go at my Brits who thus far amount to one unit of converted Mounted Rifles! LOL

They are based for the Up the Nile rules by Kevin Calder, which i kind of fell in love with after reading through just once. After a few readings I have made the concrete decision to stick with Up the Nile. It just seems that have that Boys Own X-factor that is missing in quite a few rule sets for the Sudan. I'm probably going to adapt Up the Nile for the Second Anglo Afghan War too.

36 Very Cross Beja:

Up the Nile! Beja Lot Five

I have just put the finished basing the next lot of Beja. Although there are a couple of details I need add, like a dropped spear and shield on the casualty in this group I'm happy enough to post them as I have the time to take both the photo's and do dome quick editing.

This is one of my favourite bases as it shows off one of the kit bashed mini's (on the left). I am very pleased with the way in which he has  come out. Indeed all of the Beja I have painted over the past few weeks, as being 'speed painted' they have all been painted in one or two sittings. something I would not have been able to imagine myself doing five or so years ago! I am very happy that I decided to put caution to the wind and just go for it. That said, there are still well over 200 more to paint LOL.

I'll be adding the spear and shield to this base as the casualty mini (left) just does not make sense without any loss of kit.

 This is the one I am most pleased with in reference to all the kit bashes/converted mini's (front). I really think I have actually managed to pull off the feeling of the chap drawing his sword from the scabbard as he charges on ahead.