The weather has not been great for painters...it seems that the paint is drying from the moment that you open it but I have manfully soldiered on and I have painted a battalion of WW1 Germans from Hat.
I have to admit to being seduced by the 28mm ads for figures in the past and like a huge proportion of other gamers I have attempted to amass armies in 28mm. Now I see the error of my ways. Having collected the humble 1/72 miniature from a very early age I think that I got all blase' (did I spell that right or do I sound like Del boy?) about their quality and potential...familiarity breeds contempt and all that. After several attempts I think I may have found a way of releasing that 20mm potential-for me anyway.
Recently I purchased "Contemptible little armies" from Brookhurst in the USA (not arrived yet) and the army lists off of Ebay and I was wondering how the hell I was going to collect (let alone pay for) two 1000 point armies when I visited "Plastic Soldier Review". It was all there, all the infantry, cavalry and guns that a war gamer could want....well almost I could really use high command figures if anyone at Hat are reading.
This is a work in progress but progress has been good. Simple painting techniques have allowed me to almost complete a 500 point army of early war Germans. At this rate (and I am getting faster) I should have enough figures for a meeting engagement in a week or so. Compared to 28mm this is light speed and in fact the drop in quality is not as bad as I had feared.
When the weather picks up (stops raining) I will post some pictures of the completed models and I may have enough photos to produce a "how to" regarding the Germans...I tried the really weird tip of coating your figure in PVA after you had painted him...and it works! My only problem is now trying to stop buying more of the Hat figures...£4.25 for 48 infantry!
Thanks for reading guys. Keep gaming.
As an afterthought the photo is way out of date to the tune of four more boxes of various WW1 figures and equipment....
All the best with this project. Your comment re collecting 1/72nd figures from an early age really resonated with me. While 15mm is my preferred scale, I am currently enjoying painting some HAT Napoleonics.
ReplyDeleteThe challenge is what to do about the units/figures that you can get in 1/72nd... I am psyching myself up for some conversion work as I am concerned if I invest in say Perry figures to fill the gap, the 28mm figures will stand out like the proverbial.
Plastic is your friend ! Its cheaper, readily produced and a lot lighter than 28mm pewter (How heavy would that 500 point army be !) . When I need figures that aren't in the plastic sets I usually bump up numbers by using 20mm pewter for the speciality figures.
ReplyDeletePlastic can be a bad friend too - As you go to the model shop and find boxes from other time periods that look very appealing and of course cheap !. Cheers
This sounds great don't forget the other companies that do 1/72 wwI Germans Streelets do early war cavalry.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the replies Chaps, it is good to know that others are using plastic 20mm. Given that it is so popular its a shame that the magazines don't use it that often in their games as I am sure this would broaden its appeal even more.
ReplyDeleteAs for the model shop visits it is hard to stay focused....single pose boxes would tempt me into the Horse and Musket period for sure.....as for the Strelets cavalry they are on my hit list!
So you haven't noticed that Hat (yes, them again) have started doing that? Now they commonly release three sets, one marching, one action poses (skirmishing) and one command...
DeleteThere goes the focus :-)
Looking forward to see the fruits of your labours.
ReplyDeleteI to have recently returned to 20mm (though in metal), the scale I started in a long, long time ago. I like 28mm but the time to paint units is off putting. I'm really enjoying the downsizing. Look forward to seeing what these WW1 figures look like finished.
ReplyDelete20mm are much quicker to paint, cheaper and easier to store but I it is confirmed to me that I now need glasses!
ReplyDeleteΙ simply love plastics - so budget friendly, and they give you so many options. You don't have to be an alchemist to achieve your goal.
ReplyDeleteWill be waiting for you pics (and the how to, plssss). I am thinking of painting some ww1 Germans too. :)