Viking/Saxon Shield Wall

Finally, after a long period of inactivity, something to post.

33 Bods of different makes, Emhar, Strelets, Airfix, Tumbling Dice

Wounded or dead bod from the Airfix WWI British Infantry set. 

Archers and javelins at the rear

Interestingly, whilst basing,  the line, due to overlapping the shields,  backed up to the right. Maybe due to the thickness of the bods shields or did it happen in real life? Or did they compensate by slightly tipping their shields inwards at the left to form a straight line? 

Flag from Ray over at Don´t Throw a One Blog.

 It will all be alright in the end. If it´s not alright now, then it´s not the end :-) 

My 1/72nd collection.

How many have I? * Good question. Audit time!

First medievals in thier boxes

From top left;
Normans. 139 foot, 51 mounted
Vikings 118 foot, 14 mounted and also in the box, 21 turcopoles
Seige/artillery. 113 foot, 1 mounted, 21 guns, 2 rams, 5 seige mantlets, 2 catapults
Transport. 40 foot. 12 wagons, 15 packmules and 3 limbers
100 yrs War French. 75 foot, 46 mounted
100 yrs war english. 108 foot, 25 mounted
Hussites/Clubmen/Revolting peasants. 170 foot, 8 mounted, 5 wagons and 2 guns
Civilians. 142 foot, 4 mounted. Another 130 foot are unbased in the boxes. 7 market stands
Crusaders. 51 foot, 43 mounted plus general medieval soldiery, 53 foot and 2 mounted.
Saxons. 94 foot and 11 mounted.
Total so far.
1233 foot, 236 mounted, 23 guns,  17 wagons.
Display cases

Total in both.
Medievals. 113 mounted and 322 foot, 4 guns and 2 carts
Ancients. Romans - 16 mounted and 19 foot. 2 carpentum and a onager. Greeks 149 foot and 1 ballista. 5 mitanians and chariot. Britons - 2 chariots
Napoleonic. 79 foot, 3 guns and 2 limbers
Modern. 16 foot and 2 APU´s.
Bodstonia - 3 foot, 1 mounted, 1 gun with limber and ammo cart.
Fantasy. A dragon, a troll,
Odds and ends . 16 renaissance peasants, 13 guards band, 12 daleks,
Oh..and 5 ships on top

Second display case

Medievals 67 foot, 2 guns, 12 catapults, 1 seige tower,
Modern . 15 foot. WWI Planes 16, 4 Tanks
Bodstonia. 15 pirates and 11 Bodstonians, 5 boats
ACW. 1 Observation balloon
Khandibar - 1 boat
Fantasy - 4 Balrogs

Next lot, ACW and a box of odds and ends

ACW - 376 foot, 66 mounted, 8 guns, 6 limbers and 2 wagons
Odd Bods - 161 foot, 6 mounted and 2 chariots

Also, I knew I had to have more medievals somewhere and I´d totally forgotton this lot!!
The Bannockburn bods and WotR´s cavalry.(Box top left)

Another 307 foot and 129 mounted
Imagi-Nations
Bodstonians and Khandibah

Bodstonians - 23 mounted, 269 foot, 11 wagons and 6 guns
Khandibah -   46 mounted, 147 foot, 4 guns and 1 wagon
69 mounted, 416 foot, 10 guns and 12 wagons

Fantasy

78 mounted, 452 foot, 11 Trolls, 2 catapults and one cannon
Ancients
Romans, Gauls, Celts, Egyptians, Greeks, Carthaginians etc.

99 mounted, 1712 foot, 10 elephants, 11 Chariots, 4 scorpians


Total
Medievals/Dark Ages - 478 mounted, 1829 foot, 27 guns, 14 wagons. 14 catapults, 3 limbers, 1 seige tower, 4 ships
Ancients - 115 mounted, 1901 foot, 15 chariots, 10 elephants, 4 scorpians, 1 catapult
Napoleonic - 79 foot, 3 guns and 2 limbers
ACW. - 376 foot, 66 mounted, 8 guns, 6 limbers, 2 wagons and 2 balloons plus ground crew
Fantasy - 78 mounted, 452 foot, 4 balrogs, 1 dragon, 12 trolls, 3 catapults and 1 cannon
Bodstonia. - 24 mounted, 310 foot, 7 guns and 1 limber
Khandibar - 46 mounted, 147 foot, 4 guns, 1 wagon and 1 boat
Odd Bods - 173 foot, 6 mounted and 1 ship


Absolute total---if my summing up is any good..😋
4991 foot, 882 mounted, 50 guns, 12 limbers,  17 catapults, 28 wagons/Carts, 15 chariots,10 elephants

Making this post took a while with all the counting so more have been added since. ...and I´m missing some, Celtic cavalry for instance.

Airfix 1/76 WWI MKI Male Tank -Take 2

A break from D.A.B´s*...Another go at an Airfix WWI tank.
I´ve built the Male version (Here) and the Female version (Here) before, but this time it´s in honour of a prolific Model builder and long time member of the Airfix Tribute Forum, who sadly left us this year after a long fight with cancer.
I used the colour scheme on the back of the box. I stuck to the pattern as much as I could.

A bit of the build. I didn´t take pics of all stages as, after the base coat had dried,  I got carried away and got the thing finished in two two hour sittings.

Fitting the parts together

Base coat, a mix of ocre, white and a slight drop of mid green.

The brown was plain chocolate brown, the green - mid green with brown added, the black - well, Black 

Tracks painted with a mix of Anthracite/Black and brown. Highlight with a mix of Anthracite and black. 

I glued the tracks straight onto the body using second glue. 

*D.A.B´s = Dark Age Bods

Bod Painting (My Way)

As with all things there´s more than one way to peel an orange and that´s goes for adding colours to Bods.

Over the years I´ve been asked "what paints, what brushes?" do I use,  or seeing Questions like "how does one stop the paint flaking?" so an attempt at answers below.

The painting method Shown below is a fast (ish) one to create numbers of finished bods to fill up a wargames base and stand the "it looks ok from three feet away" test.

Make of Colours used.
I don´t go for having loads of different shades in expensive Little 12ml pots that are specifically marketed at the Hobby.
First time I Held one in my Hand and smelt the Contents ..I said to myself.."aha!, Floor cleaner". I can´t remember the Name but it´s The type that gives the dry Floor a matt Shine.
I Did a test with the paints named below. Added a drop of Floor cleaner into the mix and guess what? The paint seemed to flow a wee bit better but the end result had a matt Shine. Also..the paint could, by Scratching with a finger nail, be peeled off. 

Acrylics naturally but the stuff from Hobby / Craft Shops, in my case Marabu, Kreul or Hobbyline. All give a matt finish unlike some paints I could Name which end up a bit shiny,  which, if a matt finish is wanted,  means paying out for overpriced, in some cases, Health and enviroment damaging, matting agents. IMHO, a waste of time and Money.
Big 50ml pots of the stuff for a couple of euros each. Black, White, Brown, Red, Yellow and Blue. 20ml pots of Gold and  Silver from Plaka or Rico..two more Hobby/Craft shop paint lines. They do have a wide range of Colours so an advantage  for those not familiar with a Colour Wheel or like having the Colour quick to Hand with no mixing. 

Also, ever considered who actually makes the tinsy winsy overpriced pots of paints? Does anyone really imagine they actually have a factory producing paints just for them?  Do some Research, you might be suprised. 

Ah, mixing. I use a pallette..an old CD or the like. Using the tip of the handle of the Paintbrush, I get a bit of paint out of the pot, wipe it on the CD, clean the handle and repeat the process with the next Colour. 

The mixing water..tap water with a drop of washing up liquid added. 

Brushes
Cheap n´cheerfull from Rico. None of this "ooh, I´ve got a Special non slip Turbo brush with LED´s,  some twonk firm Name on the side and instruction manuel in 16 languages" 
None of that helps if you´ve got no idea how to paint. Tinsy winsy brushes that are only visible with a Elektron micropscope   don´t help in getting a fine line. If the tips sharp and loaded with a decent measured amount of paint,  then, as the old saying goes, in this case, slightly turned on it´s head,   "size  doesn´t Count" .

Obviously, the same result won´t be achievable with a 3" wall paint brush but trying to reduce the size of the brush tip to microscopic Levels won´t make the tip any sharper. 

If one thinks it helps to have overpiced Colours and brushes, then fine but I don´t like the idea of feeding an Industry which, IMHO, by adding a brand Name to anything,  rips us off. The bods and vehicles cost enough as it is without chucking away more cash.

Do I wash the bods first? No. The base paint gets added and finish. Never had a Problem with flaking..and I´ve dropped enough to test wether the paint holds. Maybe there´s some sort of plastifier in the Hobby paints or "scrubbing" the paint on has some adhesive effect..TBH, I don´t know. 

OK...Paints and brushes covered. What Comes next is a Basic "how to" on painting. My technique is similar or the same as a lot of painters so basically, if you like the way you paint and the results, stop reading now. 

The Bod used is a Standard pose from the Airfix Waterloo British Infantry set. Cream softish plastic, bought ca. 1975. The head has been Twisted to the left to give a front facing "Ready" pose. 

First base paint. Black, Marabu/Kruel acrylic "scrubbed" on with an brush that was originally for fine painting, then lost it´s fine Point after being abused for dry brushing and ended up Looking a bit like a chimney sweeps brush.

Skin*
First I paint (using marbu acrylic Midbrown) the face and Hands. Arms and legs don´t really Need this stage but Hands and faces do. The midbrwon Acts as a Bridge between the black base and the final Colour.

Now I paint the Areas using a 50/50 mix of the mid Brown and Game colour Pale flesh (yes, I do have one or two "specialist Hobby paints" * :) )

I try to not paint the Areas between the fingers..not always with success.

Now I dry brush the same mix as stage two but with a tiny bit more pale flesh added. The drybrush goes only onto the raised Areas, nose,  ears, chin, cheeks, backs of Hands, etc

How much more pale flesh is added  depends largely on how well the percentages of the  stage two 50/50 mix worked. 

The Bod has now had his sideburns replaced (painted back)and the Wood parts of the musket painted with a midbrown/mid red** and a tiny bit of black mix (all Marabu or hobbyline acrylics)

Next..Clothes etc.

I like to and try to paint from the "inside out", to dress the Bods as it were, so the jacket is next.

A mid red with a touch of mid Brown (a mix of roughly 80-20% )

I try as far as possible to stay inside the lines, ie; paint ony what will eventually stay red but as will be seen, it isn´t necessary and trying (particually at this scale) is a pain.

Next, just the mid red as a drybrush. This may look a bit dark in the pics as there´s no contrast of the White belts yet, but when they are added it can be better judged as to wether the red is "scarlet" enough or another lighter drybrush Highlight is needed

Adding the "White bits"

Bit more difficult, especially the very thin lines like the ones around the cuffs, collar,  waistband and the hat.

TBH, you don´t Need a tiny brush to paint things like straps etc..a smallish one will do as it´s the tip of the brush that adds the paint, a sharp Point Counts, not the total size of the brush added to which a trick can be used to thin down the lines.

In the top pic the lines around the cuff, waistband, collar and hat are bigger than wanted so:

..in the bottom pic they have been "backpainted" with black as it´s easier to paint up to a line than paint the line.

Also, the Addition of the White has made the red visually brighter so it was, in this case, worth waiting to see if another Highlight was necessary.

I still might still add a Highlight but I´ll wait until I´ve added more Detail and painted a couple more (I usually paint 4 or 5 at a time) so I can see what a group  looks like. 

Cuffs etc added and Barrel/bayonet painted (silver with a bit of black added)

Now the trousers. (Note, Barrel and bayonet got a metal highlight) 
First a mid Grey  over the black base..then..

...a drybrush Highlight with  light Grey.

More or less finished. Buckle and Badge added

I mix all my own colour shades..basically all I Need is the Primary Colours added to  black and White and silver and Gold..although in reality I have a few more colours than that, one being a "european flesh" colour.

All that´s needed, a pallette ( I use old icecream or margarine tub lids - waste not, want not) and a cup of  mixing water with added flow enhancer (a drop or two of Window or floorcleaner)

The black/White mix is an example of how I mixed for the trousers,  the Brown/"flesh" mix for the faces..1 being (roughly) the shade of the second coat over the black base  and 2 the final (roughly) covering by drybrush.
**At this stage I usually "cheat" and add a bit of black to the Brown and paint Things like rifle stocks, spears, shoes and the like. Then add a bit of White and dry brush. Saves time and paint. 

Yellow..The Hobby shop yellows tend to be a bit..?.Meh! So a trick. I start with a mix of 50% mid Brown to 50% yellow and then highlight with 70% yellow to 30% Mid brown, final drybrush with yellow.....or add a bit of white to the last 70/30% mix.
Cold White, start with light Grey and highlight with White.
Warm White, White with a bit of mid Brown added, then a highlight with a lot less Brown and drybrush with White.
Blue? Depends on end effect wanted. Either start with a bit of black added to the blue or a bit of Brown. Either add White to the first mix to highlight, or more blue to the second mix.

Ok, the above aint going to win any prizes and I don´t always follow the above Methods depending on wether I´m painting an individual or the usual Batch of 4-5 at one sitting but it´s quick and for me, with practice, easy and, En masse, they look. IMHO,  ok

* Since creating this post I´ve started experimenting with using a mix of Brown/Yellow/White to create european Skin. Works fine and once you´ve got the hang of it, as quick as using and save having to buy an extra, a pot of "skin colour".

Castle Seige

My contribution to the Airfix Civil War Group Build over at the  Airfix Tribute Forum.
Rules are that at least 51% of the build, in this case the bods, should be Airfix and as i Chose a medieval theme the Airfix Robin Hood and Sherrif of Nottingham sets were front and centre.
I decided that all Bod related stuff, Shields, weapons, headswops etc should either be Scratch made or come from withing the Airfix range of bods.

I went for the The Anarchy, 1135-1153. This limited the use of the Sherrif of Nottingham set as the arms and armour are more representative of later medieval period troops but that´s part of the fun, make do or re-do. Also, I can use Maid Marion as Empress Matilda and the Sherrif as king Stephen.

The Castle under seige? After a bit of Research I found one that not much is known about, Bampton Castle. There´s not a lot of info About it during the period of the Anarchy but it´s mentioned as being built by Matilda´s Forces in 1142 and being beseiged by Stephen´s Forces at the end of the same year.
It´s described as being a motte Castle which, seeing as there´s no info on the actual construction it gives me a bit of room as to it´s size. If it was built early in 1142 and besieged a couple of months later it would have to be a wooden construction rather than Stone...unless they were very busy Little bees back then.
Aerial view

The attackers in the Colours of Henry of Blois

The Defenders in the Colours of Geoffrey de Mandeville II

 Reception comittee.

 Egbert running to put out the fire.

Bit on the Wall etc

Made from coffee stirrers. I know, as far as any historical stuff tells, it ain´t historically accurate but it was quick, cheap and serves the Purpose. 

Seige mantlets

Easy. Coffee stirrers, bit of PVA and some paint. Arrows made as described in the Bod Conversions Post.

Battering Ram and Catapult.
Both scratchbuilt. 
Build for the Catapult HERE and for the Battering Ram HERE .
The Ground work is potting compost….easy and can be recycled :-)