I was thinking that I hadn’t got a lot done lately, but when I took the photos for this post I realised I actually have, just not a lot on any individual projects. This was partly by design, because I’ve been wanting to finish a few things that I’ve started, rather than my usual trick of nearly finishing one project when I start another!
The Terrain Project I started ages agois now complete (for DBA at least). I made some rivers earlier this year with a hardboard backing, but that was too thick for my liking, so I finally made use of some Heki water effect sheeting I bought in 2002. The sheeting is just clear plastic with a lumpy ‘water’ effect. It doesn’t seem to be in production now but there are similar ones out there. I cut the sheeting into wavy strips and glued it onto plastic card that I had painted with green near the banks merging to blue in the centre. A bit of my base mix along the banks and a bit of flock and that was that! The waterway is the same stuff. The marsh is vinyl flooring with flock and static grass.
New river, waterway, hills, and marsh
For desert terrain I made an oasis by cutting a hole in a bit of vinyl flooring with sand glued on, and gluing on a piece of acetate that I had painted in sand, merging to light blue. The palm trees are cake decorations. The rough terrain is Army Painter cork rocks glued onto plastic card, and the dunes are polyfilla on a commercial MDF base, which is way too thick!
New dunes, rough, and oasis
My Frog/Novo Fairey Firefly has also had a bit of attention lately. I rescribed all the raised panel lines, and cut out the observers’ cockpit ready for a new Falcon Clear-Vax one (the kit cockpit glazing is irredeemable). I’ve also begun making new interiors for the cockpits as they will be more visible now. This is especially true of the pilot’s cockpit, as the Falcon one will only fit if it is posed open!
Progress on the Firefly
For Dux Bellorum I’ve painted a couple of elements of Magister Militum Goths as Mounted Skirmishers. These are the only 15mm javelin-armed dark ages cavalry I’ve seen.
Magister Militum Goths - used as Dark Ages mounted skirmishers
For DBA I’ve painted a few elements in order to morph my list I/6c Bedouins into their forefathers in I/6b. They will be enemies for my Early Hebrews, but when version 3.0 comes along they may have to undergo some changes.
A few more Desert Wastrels
But what’s taking most of my time lately is my first (perhaps my only) commission – painting a DBA Achaian army (I/26a), for which I hope to be paid in Napoleonic ships! So far I’ve painted 32 heroically naked spearmen and pikemen. One of the spearmen’s shields is missing (perhaps I never had it in the first place) so I’ve made a replacement out of ‘Green Stuff’
Progress on the Achaeans
The terrain looks great. It’s a project I should get onto some time! The Achaeans are looking exciting too.
So it is Achaeans. I thought it was, but the list said Achaians. They are nice though, Magister Militum figures again. 32 naked spear and pikemen though, with overscale bits.
Both are possible; the ‘ae’ was the standard Latinization of the Greek; in the 20th century a sick trend to spell things without Latinzing took hold; now we have ‘Akhilleus’ and other silliness!
No fig leaves I hope !!!!
Nope, full birthday suit but helmets on their heads… funny sense of priorities!
Is the pike a seperate weapon? It looks like it from the picture. To be fair, I prefer it that way. There’s nothing worse than figures with “bent” cast on weapons.
Keep up the good work.
The spears are all separate. The only issue I has was that some of the figures’ arms would have suited a bent spear better but that was soon fixed.
15mm javelin armed cavalry suitable for the Dark Ages?
Have you checked out Black Hat Miniatures? They have the old “Gladiator Games” ranges. The Goth in medium cavalry in particular would be suitable.
http://www.blackhat.co.uk/online_shop/product_info.php?cPath=22_58&products_id=581&osCsid=7361a74f708505f079c41e73a0464f37
Cheers,
Geoff.
Goths again. I wonder how they compare to Magister Militum in size. MM are small 15mm but the Black Hat ones are more average.