Step by step: Basing a giant scorpion

 Hi everyone!

Today, I'd like to share a new step in the building of my 1/72 Mythological Egyptian army - the previous episode is here.

You certainly know that 1/72nd scale is much less used by wargamers and role players than 28mm or even 15mm. Aside from the fact that you can't find a player for miles, one of the consequences is that the number of manufacturers is rather small, particularly regarding Fantasy. And so, it is difficult to find mythological creatures for your 1/72 army.

Is it ? If I have a figure of creature in 28mm, it can be considered as a giant creature in 1/72. And if it is a giant creature in 28mm, it becomes an extra-giant creature in 1/72. Ok, that's easy, and I've soon discovered that many gamers have had this idea already. But what if you want to be able to use your creature in 28mm AND in 1/72 ? You will probably need different bases (unless your system is very open regarding bases, or you don't care). And even more if you have figures on round bases that you want to use with wargame rules that work better with square bases.

So you have to adapt and create a new base in which you can insert the original mini. That's what I've done to get a giant scorpion in my 1/72 Mythological Egyptian army. Let's have  look:

 This scorpion comes from the 28mm Conan range by Monolith. All the figures in this game are sold on round bases (35mm in diameter here), and I since I'm playing that game, I don't want to remove that base. And the other hand, I need to put it on a 60mmx60mm base for a Fantasy variant of l'Art de la Guerre. So I've cut a round 35+mm hole in some balsa wood (very easy, even with an ordinary cutter), and I've stuck the outer part with wood glue on my MDF square base.

No no, Mxxxxrix isn't my sponsor :D

 

The hole in the balsa wood is a bit larger than just needed, inserting the figure will be easier

Then I've stuck a few stones (gravel) with wood glue on the balsa, and now we wait until it's dry.

When dry, I cover the base (except for the hole) with some desert sand by AK. It gives the base a nice sand texture, but I don't like its color. No major problem of course.

 

When the result is dry (yes, you spend more time waiting than anything else, so it's better to do several things in parallel), I cover with a better sand color in my taste, GW's Zandri Dust.

And I add some dry grass - my desert must not be completely sterile!

 

Last step: I need to dry brush the sand with a mix of Zandri Dust and White Scar.

 I'm happy with the result, and I have at last a good method to base my whole Egyptian army. Last picture, some 20mm Romans in front of the scorpion for the scale: it is a giant scorpion, indeed :)

 

 

Here you are. I hope you will find this modest tutorial useful, and that you like this cute scorpion - by the way, he resembles those that live at my mother-in-law's house in South France, same color and size. The real ones are completely harmless :)

See you soon! 

 

First try with artificial water

 Hi everyone, let's go for something completely different, something I've never used before: artificial water.

First time here? If you have a look at the rest of the blog, you will soon realize that I don't base my figures very often. The reasons why were already explained in several posts in the past, you can read some here. But I must admit that a well based figure is much more interesting to watch, so I wanted to improve my rustic technique. I've been watching several tutorials on the subject these past days, and my eye was caught by the representation of swamps, particularly putrid swamps... a good place for zombies :)

So I bought a bottle of still water, mixed some with black and green washes, and poured the result on a painted base: grey rocks, dark brown sand, some dark green grass and a light green area for the water itself. The result is this (28mm Mantic figure):

 

Since it is a first try, I'm rather pleased with the result, but it's far from perfect. Several problems:

 - I didn't fill the gap between the figure's round small base and the square base itself, so it is still visible under the layer of artificial water

- I stuck some adhesive paper on the edge of the base to prevent the artificial water from running off, but the surface of the water twisted along the edges - I had to cut the excess when dry to have a flat result

- I didn't think of simulating the mud created by the zombie advancing in the water

I'm not sure to know how to remedy these problems, and even less sure if it is reasonable to base complete regiments this way... but it was real fun to do :D

Hope you like this small experiment, any advice is welcome :) 

Egyptian Mythology: of Gods and Beetles

 Hi everybody!

Sorry for the lack of update on this blog. Not a lack of mojo this time, it's just that sometimes, real life's stronger than hobby. I didn't paint a lot since last winter, though I have a few figures to show. After Nordic then Greek mythology, I wanted to extend my Ancient Egyptian army into a fantastic version. It's far from complete but I have enough figures for a decent post.

First, the family picture:

 If you've read this blog in the past, you might identify some mummies on the left of the picture. Let's have a closer look:

These figures come from a Dark Alliance set, ALL72045. The same manufacturer also produced some Anubites (named after god Anubis, a reference to the Mummy movie series, set ALL72053), and you can see them here:

I also wanted to represent some Egyptian Gods. Fortunately, Reaper Minis produced some in their plastic 28mm range, and I chose to paint Thoth, god of the Moon, wisdom, knowledge, writing, hieroglyphs, science, magic, art and judgment. He is often depicted with an ibis head an a human body.

A could also find a swarm of scarabs in the Reaper range - though big for 1/72, they do the job.

Of course you also need some human troops. Here they are so far, some archers:

Some heavy warriors, including a few Sherden elite.

And the usual light infantry. Nubian archers:

And Libyan warriors:

Still a lot of work to complete this army. I need:

- a second scarab swarm figure

- more heavy warriors

- more Anubites (my favorite figures in this army)

- some giant scorpions (I found some in the Conan range by Monolith)

- a sphinx (Reaper)

- some Chariots (some are on my workbench for aeons...)

- and some generals, foot and chariot

Hope they are worth the wait :) 

EDIT: I also wanted to apologize for the lack of answer to your nice comments lately, but there's a security issue between Firefox and my Google account, so that I am now unable to write a comment on my own blog!!! Very sorry. I'm considering leaving Blogger if I don't find an answer to that problem.

EDIT #2: I've found a way to solve my problem, at last! If I use Firefox private navigation, I can write comments on my own blog, and also on the others. If this info is of help...
 

The Green Horde: Skullz standard bearer, and other reinforcements

Some news, at last! Not that I stopped painting, but it has become increasingly difficult to take decent pictures: no time, no place, no good light...

I take benefit of a few days off to show you some new figures for the Green Horde. First, some Orc warriors from the 80s:

 

Among them, the standard bearer has its own story. This figure is the standard bearer of a famous Regiment of Renown, Harboth and the Black Mountains Boys. 

 

I've just recently discovered its existence, after some comments here and on the LAF forum. I had painted a Citadel preslotta Orc, and I was told that it was very similar to a standard bearer by the same manufacturer. Indeed ? Never saw this fig before, but I began to search for it, and with luck, found it on a second hand website, sold by a guy named Nico,  living in Lyon like me! So Nico, if you read this post, you know that I have painted this very nice Orc, at last, and I hope you find it not too badly painted.

Here you are both figures side by side:

Next figure is Maniac, a C15 Orc, a range sculpted by Alan and Michael Perry and released in 1985.

Though rather old, these Citadel figures are really nice, and I wish to find (and paint) more of them.

 

During last summer, I've also painted some more archers from various manufacturers. From left to right: Citadel, Citadel (an Orc of the White Hand, from 1980's Lord of the Rings range - he changed side for the Red Eye apparently), Grenadier, Old Glory and Reaper Bones.

Last but not least, I added 5 more Wolf Riders to my heavy cav unit, including a standard bearer and a drummer. All figures by Grenadier, except for the second one from the left who is a RAFM rider on a Grenadier horse.

They will certainly be impressive on the battlefield.

A few close-ups:

I hope we will find time to play at least a game during Christmas :)

Mythologic Greek army complete

 Hi everyone! It's high time to write a new post in this blog. In the end of June, I showed you the creatures painted for a Mythological Greek army. Since that post, I've been painting some Greek hoplites, and I have now enough of them to consider my modest army complete. Modest meaning that this is a 123 pts army for l'Art de la Guerre v4 - with house rules for the Fantasy elements.

Here you are the result (before basing):

The army list is as follows:

General in chief, brilliant: 4 pts

Subgeneral, competent: 2 pts

1 element of Heavy Centaurs: 10 pts

1 element of Light Centaurs: 7 pts

3 elements of Hoplites: 24 pts

1 element of Amazons: 10 pts

3 elements of Psiloi: 12 pts

1 element of Minotaurs: 36 pts

1 Cyclops: 18 pts

 

 Let's have a closer look at the hoplites:

At ADLG, you need 8 figures for a Heavy Infantry element. The first figures on the left are Theban hoplites, with a general element behind. The next are a mix of Athenian and Spartan hoplites, with a Spartan general in the background.

I've also painted 4 more Amazons to complete the Amazon hoplites element.

For hoplites, it's always good to have a screen of Psiloi, here are these young and agile warriors.

Let's have a closer look at the hoplites. I like painting these guys because of their shields, or aspis. Some figures have engraved patterns on their shields (some of the Hät Thebans and Zvezda hoplites), but I must say that I prefer plain shields to paint whatever design I wish, as you can see on the Caesar, Linear and the venerable Atlantic figures.

The last close-ups focus on the command elements - first the Theban subgeneral:

And the Spartan commander.

So what's next ? Still some work. I need to base all these figures, and paint some new ones to have a 250 pts army, which means:

- more hoplites

- more Amazons, hoplites, Psiloi and command

- some more Centaurs, or maybe Minotaurs

They also need some opponents, the Mythological Egyptians! That's another story, but let me tell you that the paintjob is well under way :)

See you!

The Green Horde: a Wizard on Wolf

The Green Horde is not a sleeping project, but as the stats of this blog show, the summer period and the painting don't seem very compatible, with various reasons depending on the year: the heat, the summer break or the excess of work...

Anyway, I'm still painting, and I'm focused on the Orcs on wolves. Several are painted but only one is completely based so far. Since he is an important character, I thought that he deserved a post just for him.So here you are, the Orc wizard on wolf:

As some of you already know, this character is an old Grenadier figure by Nick Lund. I chose to paint his wolf white, and his cloak black for contrast, and also to stick the the army's color scheme.

The same wizard, surrounded by his troops.

And a few more pictures from different angles.

See you for the next chapter!