In a fit of unparalleled determination I decided I wanted to paint something last night - and finish it the same night! Having recently rediscovered the box of 6mm WWI which I bought for the Elán PDF Wessex Games are supposed to be releasing (and would have if I hadn't mislaid the figures and the MicroMark army lists), I decided to paint up a battalion of the Corpo Expedicionário Português (if only because an entire Brigade of British khaki figures on mud bases is going to be somewhat boring!).
Elán, in case you don't know, was written by Matthew Hartley and issued many moons ago by Gauntlet Publications. Long out of print I've always wanted to get it back in publication as it's a damn fine set of rules and fun to play. Being a divisional level set, each base represents a platoon. I wasn't sure of how the Portuguese organised themselves on the Western Front but as they were on the British sector I went with 1917-18 four platoons a company, four companies a battalion.
The models are Irregular and in their unpainted state do look quite awful, but as always seem to paint up reasonably well (I shouldn't really blow the photos up as they are 6mm and designed to be seen two or three foot down on the tabletop but hey...). As this was a deliberate rush job I decided work up from a black undercoat, drybrushing colours on to bring the detail out and then pick out off bits like rifles and faces/hands at the end.
I didn't time myself but excluding the drying time for the undercoat and brown on the mud base I would say these were done well within sixty minutes, now I just need to dig out the other three battalions to finish the brigade and the HMG support etc.
I must say this experiment in speed painting has re-ignited a level of enthusiasm to get back painting and I might devote some time to getting some more 6mm done (now where did I put that C18th Indian army I bought twenty odd years ago?)
I like the Irregular WW1 ranges. I don't think they look awful in the metal at all, but they do paint up well. I should dig my armies out of the attic and use them again. Given that they are one of the few projects I ever completed, that might not be a bad idea!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, your Belgians look good and I am now tempted to invest in a Belgian army to go with all the others.
And where can I buy the ruleset?
ReplyDeleteI like Irregular 6mm WW1 range :)
ReplyDeleteThey have great planes in there. You can find my photo of Fokker EIII wich is my favourite WW1 plane (Heh. Its also first real fighterplane)
Storm, the PDF will hopefully be out later this year. Just undercoated a Brigade of Germans...
ReplyDeleteRuarigh, awful may be too strong a word but they do come alive in an unexpected way between bare metal and finished painting, even just a dark undercoat and dry brush. Ian's now put the photo on Irregular's webiste which is cool...