Early French Batch 1 from HaT

 

I received the Speedpaints and started on the figures. I used Highlord Blue which works great with a white undercoat. 

The White Speedpaint isn't necessary with the gray primer and white dry brush. I am using white primer on the next batch to see which method is better. 

From my count I completed:

28 Marching 

9 Command figures (Standard bearer, drummer, officers, Sapper)

14 Advancing pose figures

3 Firing figures

8 Loading Figures

The Plastic Weld does work for assembly, but takes 30 minutes to cure. The figures will come apart if moved so using PVA to hold pieces together is still required but it is less messy than Super glue which dries in a hard brittle crust. 

HaT French Infantry update

 As I watch my 401K fall into oblivion, I am glad I went with the cheaper plastic kits. They are really looking good, but the assembly is driving me toward a therapy session. HaT did great with the kits as the quality is really improved. The rifles are painted for the test unit. I used Citadel Morningfang Brown, who the hell names these paints. The paint covered well. 

The hair was then done with Gorther Brown. I plan to wash later to darken it all in. I did add a flesh wash and will wait to see the results when it dries. 

I then painted the plumes on the Grenadiers. I am staying with red as Voltiguers were not available this early in the period. I used Citadel Flesh Tearer red contrast paint. The red is a bit darker than I like so I need to hi-light which I wanted to avoid. I hope the red can also be used for the piping and cuffs but I don't know if the paint can do it without bleeding into other parts of the figure. The Contrast paint may be too thin for trim work, 

I did use Citadel steel paint for the barrels and will use Nuln oil to give depth. If it seems like I have a lot of Citadel I do, as my son used to play 40K.  Since my order form Miniature Market did not arrive I am now working on assembling the command figures, then dry brush after a gray primer coat. It took way too long to assemble. The soft plastic was difficult to assemble and some of the pegs on the figures were a bit too long for them arm to fit, especially on the standard bearer. I have never hated a figure as much as I hate this one. 

I took off the peg on the body and glued the arm with flagpole direct on. It was so difficult I was thinking of buying on in metal. The heads also had problems staying on the body. It was an enormous pain in the ass. I have 3 more to do so maybe it will work out. 

The detail on the command kit is really good for the money. The downside is the assembly as the plastic doesn't want to hold. Superglue alone is nor sufficient. I am looking to get glue specifically made for plastics from Loctite on my next trip to Lowes. 

HaT French Infantry painting

 HaT 1/72 Early French Infantry

Now that the AWI project is finishing, I decided to start the French infantry. The gray undercoat worked well, and the dry brush really picked up the detail better than expected. Actually, I didn't expect the HaT figures to have that much detail. The belts turn backs and other details really come through but, removing flash on these figures is much more difficult than metal. The soft plastic cuts very easily and filing down parts doesn't work. It is VERY easy to remove parts of the figure with the flash. I did what I could, and I did miss some flashing which was not seen until I dry brushed. 

I did go back and trim the more obvious pieces but decided to move on. I think I can paint over some of the mold lines which were very difficult to remove. Another issue to consider is that super glue to attach the back packs and arms was extremely difficult to use for this soft material. I had to use PVA and Super glue. The PVA helps keep the item you need to attach in place.  A dab of each helped keep everything together. Superglue alone did not last as some packs I glued the day before falling off during paint. 

I used black contrast paint (Citadel Templar Black) and Citadel Cadian Flesh tone for the base flesh which will get a wash later. The dry brushing helped in the contrast effect. The contrast paint did cover well but there is no doubt the paint will rub off if the figures do not get a coat of varnish. I will use a dull coat. 

For the pack I used Snake bite leather. The paint really looks good on the figures. I did order Speed paints (Highlord Blue especially)from Miniature Market which have yet to arrive. When they do I will be able to continue. I will say that Contrast paints make painting enjoyable. I feel like I am coloring and not painting. I am moving through the figures quickly. 

Spray Primer and Dry Brush

 Rather than spend $16 for Citadel gray primer I went to Lowes (big box hardware) and spent $4 on Krylon Color max which is also safe for some plastics. I was pleasantly surprised at the excellent coverage on the Blue Moon miniatures. There was no clogging and the figures kept all their detail. 

All of the figures dried quickly and within an hour were ready to be dry brushed. No blobs of paint wrecked any detail. I will be using this primer from now on. 

I then tested the primer on plastic miniatures. I have a left over horse figure that would be sacrificed in case there was some negative side effect but there was none. The primer is safe to be used for the HaT figures I plan to paint. 

The figure took paint easily. The Krylon primer is a money saver for sure. 

Battle of Cooch's Bridge update

 The Blue Moon 18mm American Militia and Prussian Dragoons arrived. I am basing all infantry figures on 3/4 inch fender washers.  I had a lot of them and since these are skirmish rules the basing doesn't matter as long as they are based individually. The Dragoons and mounted officers are getting square basing left over from previous projects. 

The militia are in firing and loading poses. There was very little flash on the figures. The order from Old Glory arrived quickly, they remain a top notch company regarding service.

The Prussian Dragoons are also easy to clean up. 

These Hessian troopers will be reporting to Captain Johann Ewald to scout for the column. 

For painting I want to try something different. A gray prime coating followed by a dry brushing of white to help bring detail for the Citadel contrast paints. I noticed dark blue has trouble showing detail at this scale and I want to avoid hi-lighting if possible. 

I have finished painting the British and Hessian infantry so this will be the last batch to paint for a test run of the rules. I am contemplating the purchase of American Dragoons. They did not fight in the battle but were present in the area to reconnoiter British movement before the battle. Some of the American troopers were captured before the battle and I would like to have them as an optional force. 

Forces should be :

British

3x 10 man units of Light infantry

2x10 man units of Jaegers

2x Hessian 3lb cannon and crew

1 x 10 man dragoon unit

American:

3 x 10 man Continentals

2x 10 man Militia

Army Shade Dark Tone Results

I rarely use dip when painting figures. I did buy some dark tone at the last convention I attended. I was not sure if I should have bought the medium tone or the dark tone. I did get the dark for reasons unknown. My son took advantage of the Rebel Minis sale (20% off) and bought the Kurgan and Earth Force Marines. He wants to use the dip method to speed up the painting process. Before we dip new figures I thought a test on some extra figures should be done. (Actually he just walked through the door from work with the box of figures he ordered, accompanied by a big grin). Thanks for great service Rebel minis!





The figures had the dip applied with a Q-tip with the excess removed to avoid the figure becoming too dark. I then applied dull coat from a spray can to knock the shine down. I was afraid the dark tone would be too dark but I like the result.




I was sure I would need to go over the figure again. I did not need to as long as I removed some of the excess dip. I also avoioded using darker colors. The blue on the figure on the left is a very light blue that was darkened by the dip. I painted one of the cuffs a medium blue and the result was a darker blue.




The photo of the Russian grenadier is hard to see. The medium green came out very dark and I should have removed more dip. I purposely left the excess on the figure to see what would happen. Well that's the story on dark tone. Apply with a brush or Q-tip and remove some of the excess; then hit the figure with dull coat. I am thinking of getting some Minwax Polyshade Tudor Black. I think there is a lighter shading effect.