Thursday 16 August 2018

More thoughts about the size of it....


Panthers on the prowl - PicoArmour 3 mm models painted by Scott MacPhee


A very impressive 3 mm Napoleonic French battalion - again from the brush of Scott MacPhee

Another 3 mm French Napoleonic infantry battalion (based with a 60 mm frontage) and some rather dashing Hussars. Scott MacPhee once again!

As part of my 1/600th project I reasoned it would be a good idea to have a look around at basing and painting techniques for these diminutive figures and so a trawl of the internet was instigated. I came across the above on the blog of Scott MacPhee and was frankly gobsmacked! The Napoleonics are exquisite and with the number of figures he uses for his units one really gets the impression of a 'proper' looking formation on the tabletop.

It also reminded me of the old chestnut about using more smaller figures for a unit to give a better visual impression offset by the need to paint more of them!  

One of the key things I have learned about painting such small figures is that the aim is to give a good impression of the formation you are representing. this means that much in the way of detail can be safely ignored as it is the 'en masse' look one is trying to achieve. So picking out key colours is important for the overall look. For 20th century troops this is probably less important given the duller palette required.

Seeing the above has given me plenty of inspiration and much to consider. I think the main point I have stumbled across is the realisation that in this scale one can field units on the tabletop that look like units on a battlefield.

That is an exciting prospect for sure!





7 comments:

David Crook said...

Hi StuRat,

Point taken about Scott's skill with a brush. I have painted some samples up although it was a while ago and was also 2mm rather than 3. If I am honest they did not come out particularly well but the key thing was even though they did not look great I could see the potential of what a few minor changes in my technique could achieve. The biggest hurdle is painting only that which is relevant rather than what can be seen as these little fellas are best viewed en masse.

I dare say some frustration will creep in at some point but the pros far outweigh the cons.

I hear you about Infinity figures and similar and of being a meat and potatoes painter!

I have all that I need at present in terms of material and the expenditure has been very modest overall.

All the best,

DC

 Ashley said...

Gives me thought.

Mongol horde.
Greek Phalanxes.

Both would look great done on mass.

David Crook said...

Hi Ashley,

Oddly enough I was thinking about the Colonial period - not to mention the 18th century...

All the best,

DC

Phil said...

Most impressive and beautiful units, mass effect is just perfect!

David Crook said...

Hi Phil,

They certainly look very impressive and the technique Scott uses is one that I will experiment with. It also given me pause for thought as for horse and musket armies I had not really thought about whole units on bases - rather a unit being made up of a number of bases.

If my efforts at painting get halfway to those of Scott I will be a happy chap indeed!

All the best,

DC

Jonathan Freitag said...

Scott is a master with a brush. I scrutinized his stands of 3mm troops last week in person and really don’t see (literally!) how he did it.

David Crook said...

Hi Jonathan,

They are really special and when I get to mine for the non 20th century I shall use his models for inspiration when my enthusiasm is flagging!

All the best,

DC