Workbench update 23-11-2016

Well just to show I have been busy beavering away on a project here it is at the Halfway point.



I have posted some normal photographs to the Brigantes Studio blog and you can see them by clicking the link in the sidebar.

Regards
Loki

Organising my Vallejo Paints

I had a rather good question raised by a fellow blogger John de Terra Neuve regarding how I organise my paints. So without further ado I shall explain and show how my Vallejo paints are organised.

Firstly I have some very nice Paint racks that I designed and got Martin at Warbases to produce for me. Now just a word about these racks they are larger than those you can PURCHASE HERE.
Simply because my racks hold 90 bottles and are a very awkward fit for posting. So I allowed him to alter my design a little to make posting easier and thus retailing them.The smaller version holds 45 bottles but is very reasonably priced at £7.00 a rack. When I designed these racks I ensured that they not only are stable fully loaded they are also stack able as well as being very easy to construct.

Now organising them was made easier by my realisation that Vallejo has another code on each bottle that is different to the paint Identifier (VAL XXX).

I will explain in the following picture.

Above is a snippet of the Vallejo colour chart and what I noticed was that it is laid out in a sequence that groups similar types of colours together with the odd exception. If you notice just below each colour there is a number within an Oval this denotes its position within the paint rack for a supplier thus making it easier to stock the right paint into the gap on the commercial rack.So lets take the VAL958 Rosa /Pink as an example.

The bottle above shows all the same information and to the side of the Vallejo logo is the number that is ovalled on the chart, which denotes its rack position.

I decided this would also benefit me greatly as I could order my racks as per the colour chart and if I run out of a colour instead of trying to remember the VAL number and name I only need to know the rack position. 

As you can see from the image below I have my paints sorted in that exact method.

You will notice that I have also got my racks labelled and a little bit of a painted square of colour which aids me in both selecting colours and replacing them back after use, I often have 30 or so paints out at anyone time so every little thing helps to control the chaos at times.That's my excuse anyway although the reality is I'm more than a little OCD 😦

If you want to label your own racks then I have created a shareable spreadsheet that has the same information contained on the Vallejo paint chart with a blank section to paint your own test patch feel free to DOWNLOAD A COPY HERE.

This has also had a benefit in creating triads, and now I simply jot down rack positions for any set I find particulary useful or as is more common of late for coming back to a half started project as I record the colours I use or intend to as can be seen in the example below.

Now having said all this it is probably a good time to remind everyone that I have a lot of triads available to freely download just visit the tabs at the top of this page and help yourself.

I hope this has at least helped in someway to explain both how I organise my paints and some of the methodology on how I work.

Until next time

Regards
Loki

Painting Spanish Napoleonic Line Infantry in White uniform (Part 1)

I have been working away on a large commission of Spanish Napoleonic figures of late and thought it may be a good idea to share with you the colours used to achieve the final result.

First up a picture of a finished Infantry figure:

 

Next is a video showing how I go about painting a figure and all the colours used to achieve the final result.



Finally here is a full list of the colours used and the relevant parts of the uniform they are applied to they are listed from base tone first to highlight last, all colours are Vallejo Model color unless stated otherwise :

Flesh: VAL860 Medium Flesh Tone , VAL845 Sunny Skin Tone, VAL815 Basic Skin Tone.

Jacket and Breeches: VAL847 Dark Sand, VAL837 Pale Sand, VAL820 Off White.

Bicorne, Gaiters,bayonet scabbard and cartridge box: VAL950 Black, VAL862 Black Grey, VAL994 Black Grey.

Musket stock: VAL984 Flat Brown, Panzer Aces311 New Wood.
Musket Barrel: 75% VAL863 Gunmetal 25% VAL950 Black, VAL864 Natural Steel.
Barrel Rings: VAL801 Brass.

Plume and Cockade: VAL926 Red, VAL909 Vermillion.

Hair. VAL984 Flat Brown, VAL874 Tan Earth

Crossbelts: VAL883 Silver Grey, VAL951 White.

Facings: VAL950 Purple, VAL811 Blue Violet. It goes without saying you will need to use colours suited to the regiment you are painting

Piping: VAL951 White

Buttons, Scabbard tip and cockade strap: VAL801 Brass.

I will finish this post here, but will be back soon with part 2 covering the drummers who wear a completely different coloured uniform and the finer details on the Ensigns and Officers.

Holy Moly !!! I actually painted something from my own lead pile

I needed a bit of a diversion, I have been working a very large ongoing Napoleonic commission for months, and really needed to take a chill pill for the sake of my own sanity. I have many months ahead of the same, so staring at me across the room I have a rather large pile of plastic Dark age figures. Some kindly donated, others I have bought I had great plans for these but now I am unsure of the destination.

Anyway I decided to build a small 4 point Viking Warband as a start point, using only 25 figures it wont make a huge dent in the pile but it's a reduction at the very least. So out came cutters, files, glue and bits n' bobs from my spares boxes and I set too.

Now as I have done of late I videoed the initial build. shown below.


There are another two videos of the work in progress but you can find these if you visit my You tube page.

This is the finished result though. I have to admit they look fine to me for a wargames standard paint job.

For those who would like a better look them I have made a very short video of the them in a little more detail.



So thats me done for now until next time thanks for stopping by

Regards
Loki

3rd Game of To the Strongest - Greece vs Persia

Last week saw myself and Kevin again on childcare duty and we organised another game of to the strongest, bouncing theater and period we went with a classic. Macedonia against Persia. I took a standard force as the Macedonians, just a normal commander against Kev with the hordes of Darius.

 

 The Persians on the left and the Greek force on the Right as we commence Battle.

Both commanders take the fight to the enemy, and soon things are getting a little disordered.

However Darius is not fairing too well and the Macedonians are pushing him back, having lost almost all his cavalry on the flank at this stage.

Things get desperate for both commanders as Darius tries hard to rally his forces, while I try hard to kill them off, both of us don't seem to be able to break the stalemate at this stage.

Finally with his Infantry hit from both flanks and from the front the strain is too much for Darius to withstand and Victory comes to the Macedonians.

Once again the rules gave a great game and the card system is a total success in bringing balance to the game. All three games have been a lot of fun and have made for some great games. It has me enthusiastic that we may have just found a great rule set that gives the right flavour and feel for our needs. Dare I say it may even coax me into some purchases.....

Well folks that is all for this brief post until next time.

Regards
Loki