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Paint

As I sit at my desk I gaze across roughly 125 pots of various paints. The vast majority are Vallejo with an honourable second for Games Workshop. 3 lonely bottles of Foundry Spearshaft triad sit quietly at the back somehow outshone by the vibrant purple of the single candidate from Cotes d'Arms. The industrial presence of Humbrol varnish and black undercoat complete the set. It's an impressive array but I found myself wondering how many I actually use?


I found myself base layering some ECW trousers with VMC brown violet yesterday.It's not what the name implies and has a sort dirty green finish to it. I looked around for a main colour and picked up the Panzer Aces dark mud which looked like it too had a dirty green finish to it.Now, it wasn't an exact match but close enough to make no difference. I guess that a purist would have seen the variation but I couldn't. I then looked across the 10 or so variations of yellow ochre that I have of which I only really use yellow ochre. I don't have a bottle of Deck Tan which seems to be the latest ochre of choice but if I get it I'm willing to bet its not a million miles away from something in the first 10.


Take a look at chocolate brown, burnt ochre and leather brown. All suspiciously similar. Yet I can remember working myself into a frenzy when I didn't have a bottle of off white because white apparently wsn't quite right. Black red. That's burnt cadmium red isn't it? Or shadow flesh. The only truly independent colour I could find was gunmetal blue which is unusable for anything in this universe anyway.


So how many colours do you actually need? Presumably black, white, red, yellow, blue and silver would be sufficient for the true minimalist but the mixing would be a pain, wouldn't it? But 125? I think not.


Flames of War have just brought out their new range of colours and have helpfully prduced a chart which tells what old colours they are equivalent to. It seems strange - is my old pot of german cam orange ochre so wrong that I should buy some Panzer yellow or whatever they are calling it? Especially when it comes in a bottle that looks, well, unusual...


Am I being marketed to here?

Clan

Finally finished the first Clan for Culloden. The Atholl Brigade who took very heavy casualties in their attack on the Government left flank. Fantastic figures from Crann Tara. Lochiel's Cameron's next.

Lidl

I saw this advertised on TMP. Lidl are selling golf mats at 1m x 2m for only £5 so Mrs Foresightpaint was tasked to get one. Its more of a thick felt with rubber studs across the back but it is an excellent base. The green may be a bit deep for some but at that price you can't be too fussy. You can even practice your putting on it.

Niche

I've noticed recently an increasing number of niche figure suppliers. I mean that in a positive way as I wish each and everyone of them luck and hope that all go on to build Perry-esque empires as we gadfly painters and gamers skip eras on a whim.


Each week something new appears - Crann Tara and their Jacobites, Red Star and their French Indo-China, Iron Duke and their Indian Mutiny, Mutton Chop and their first world war. Not to mention the kickstarter for the First Sikh War. The roll call seems never ending with an array of figures which seem to keep Paul Hicks in a constant state of non-zero hours contracting. The standard is so high that I saw a range of Franco-Prussian troops criticised for having rifle butts that were too short. When you are afforded this level of detail then perhaps you need to give your head a wobble before getting too picky.


What prompted me to write was the recent range from Iron Duke. Check out their website. I guarantee you will want their figures.But get this, they are differentiating their figures according to which model of rifle their real life forebears carried. When we have reached this point where on earth is there to go? Personally I dont mind if some generic 18/19th century musket is used but I know there are those who do. The detail is reflected in the price but frankly the £1.75 you will pay for each figure is piffling when it comes to quality.


I've nailed my colours to the Crann Tara mast - their clansmen are perfect but progress is slow. I've vowed not to buy any more until I've finsihsed what I have got. In the meantime another niche makes things hard to keep on track

Flak

Finally finished the Flak piece

Jacobites 2

The second stand of Crann Tara highlanders. Carrying the colours of the Atholl Brigade on their way to meet up with Barrell's and Munro's where they don't come off too well.