Something I enjoyed painting from way back in 2016. The model is from Panzerschiffe - 1:2400th scale cast in resin - and the splash markers are from Litko. The ‘sea’ is of course Hexon. I have a soft spot for S.M.S. Seydlitz and the paint technique employed was ahem, borrowed from Tim Gow. Basically a black undercoat with the grey dry brushed on and highlighted. The decks and ship’s boats were then blocked in. The base is card with the name label prepared in Word and the ensign courtesy of Brigade Models.
Recently I have been thinking long and hard about painting and of figures in general. I doubt very much if I shall ever paint armies again, at least in the traditional ‘24 figure infantry units, 12 figure cavalry and guns with 4 crew’ sense, mainly because I would definitely lack the staying power to see it through. I am at a loss to explain why this is and the only thing I can think of is the idea of painting umpteen similarly posed and uniformed figures requires a level of discipline and commitment that frankly, I am not sure if I could be bothered with. DBA/HOTT or the various Portable Wargame versions would probably be about my limit. Having said that, I rather like the idea of skirmish level set ups because the variety would be there and the numbers involved would be modest.
My figure painting technique has not evolved greatly since the 1970s - white undercoat, enamel topcoat and a varnish with a small drop of black in it is about as artistically sophisticated as I can get. I have used acrylics but never speed or contrast paints. Shading and highlighting I have never really bothered with overmuch - the black in the varnish helps with that although care should be taken as to the amount of black involved. Whilst thinking about this post I tried to recall the last figures I painted and it actually was the 15mm DBA Numidians and near as I can recall that would have been at least twenty years ago! The funny thing is it has not stopped me from buying figures with the best of intentions about painting them - except I never seem to do so. I could not bring myself to use unpainted figures though - Memoir ‘44 and Battle Cry excepted but even then I have occasional bouts of wanting to paint them!
One of the best things I ever achieved in my wargaming journey was producing the copious amount of block armies from the ‘not Jenga, Jenga blocks’. Using these gave me the opportunity to fight battles from many periods without the need to paint umpteen figure based armies. They are an excellent substitute and as I have shown time and time again, work very nicely with 3D terrain for a real Kriegspiel type feel. The block armies themselves could use a modest revamp - I was never completely satisfied with the mechanised version - and I also have in mind a naval version, prompted in part, by the recent flirtation with the Jutland blocks.
Whilst my planned figure painting is currently limited to the 15mm Mike’s Models Colonial collection I would not be averse to tackling something in a larger scale and skirmish based but as yet I have nothing definite in mind. That is David Crook speak for ‘that is a rabbit hole I am trying desperately to avoid as I have far more pressing things to tackle!’
To those that collect armies of figures and enjoy the artistic aspect of producing wonderfully painted forces from whatever period of history takes their fancy I have every admiration for. It is just not for me though but having said that, it does not make me any less of a wargamer!
20 comments:
Some people like painting, some don't. if everyone painted their own figures there wouldn't be painting services or a 2nd hand market for painted figures.
My regular opponent Anthony hasn't painted a figure since he got his first pay check on leaving university and he has owned many collections over the years. In fact, I do wonder if the reason he so readily chops and changes collections is BECAUSE he hasn't invested all that time and energy in painting them?
I have always enjoyed painting figures as a way of relaxing and am happy for it to take a while before a project hits the table. I have, in the past, had a few units painted up by a figure painter to get me going and get some units on the table but mostly I have painted my own figures.
I do find though that I don't seem to have as much time to paint - even though I'm now retired, so if I want to start something completely new I will tend to buy painted figures (like the 1914 ww1 10mm figures I picked up recently) as I have enough stuff for existing projects to paint myself and probably enough stuff to paint for the next 10 years or so...
i hear you David - patience & painting I lack - thankfully I read your blogs on block armies (I'm a carpenter & can cut wood) - along with yourself & other gamer's who model ships it allowed me to return to the world of gaming with a measure of satisfaction.
In the past my wargaming mate would paint on behalf but when he relocated I felt obliged to gift him his hard work - I once had a massive CSA army
I can relate! I detest painting figures, but, as I do like the results, carry out the chore. I don't worry overmuch about winning prizes, almost never varnish my figures, and vary my style and methods according to mood, or maybe the project. By 'sticking to it', I've managed almost to eliminate my mountain of plastic figures.
I find I have yet to paint up my 'Gen's d'Armes' in the service of Altmark-Uberheim (sitting there in my white undercoat), but I've recently (a week or so ago) knocked together several field command groups (general plus one or two aides) for my 'War of the Imperial Succession' armies. So now not only have Archduke Piccolo and King Draco their field HQ staffs, but so have Baron Glockenspiel, Graf von Tympani, Prinz Rupprecht zu Spitzensparken, Marshal-General Count von Schwerin und Cussin, and several others.
One technique I discovered to encourage painting, was a white undercoat, then outline the details in black with a fine brush. The effect was to make the troops look like something already, and the actual 'colouring in' less of a chore. With block painting, I found one would be about 5 or 6 colours along before troops looked started to look 'comme il faut' - rather discouraging, I
found.
Cheers,
Ion
Hi David. Your Seydlitz looks fine, it's nicely done and well based. I suspect you and I are about the same age. I also think you're a wargamer who doesn't paint much, and I'm a painter who doesn't wargame as much as I would like to. As long as we enjoy the hobby, all's well.
I was at the local hobby store recently and was bewildered by the variety of paints that have come out of late - speed paints, paint pens, etc. I felt like asking the kid at the counter, "where are the pots of Humbrol?" Cheers, Michael
I'm with you to a certain extent. I enjoy painting, but not huge numbers of figures per army. Having a short attention span, I like to be able to finish a project in a week or so and over time I have developed my mini armies of around 30 to maybe 50 or so figures for smaller scales. The Portable Wargame and Dominion rules along with One Hour Wargames have been great for this as they allow for fast, fun games and you can use one stand units.
As for my technique, I'm something of A speed painter, I like a cream colored undercoat, I use cheap2oz bottles of acrylic paint and a light grey wash. I don't bother with highlights, I use a semi gloss spray varnish. I'm pleased with the way they come out, and they don't take that long. For example my current 1/72 ancient armies project works out to maybe 8 hours work total for an army. Something I can do for an hour or two each day and finish in a reasonable amount of time. I also like to have a sense of accomplishment, so getting an army done is fun, not a grind.
That said skirmish gaming is something I've thought about, again, one can have an "army' of 10-20 figures and have lots of options to play with. You do such a fine job with your ships, I'd like to see you paint a few troops. Hopefully my above ramblings will inspire you to give it a go. 😁
Hi Mike,
That is an interesting point about chopping and changing collections and I can say with confidence that is exactly what I have done over the years and, if I am honest, for probably the reason you mentioned!
Although I am unofficially retired I seem to have less time from painting and modelling than previously and so that is probably another factor in my reluctance to paint armies of figures. A batch of warships takes far less time to paint which fits in better with the domestic round so to speak.
As I enjoy scratchbuilding ships I see the painting as part of the overall construction process and so it feels, psychologically, a lot less onerous!
Having some prepainted models as a starter for a project is a sound idea and indeed, the 15mm Mike’s Models Colinial collection I acquired falls very much into that category. Also, the painting style use would be very easy for me to replicate so the collection will look like a coherent whole (hopefully, when I can get to it!).
I have every admiration for those that enjoy figure painting to whatever level they get to - it just is not ‘my thing’ but as a wise man once said “horses for courses” and all that.
All the best,
DC
Hi Andrew,
I am delighted you are ‘back in the groove’ so to speak! The block armies were huge fun to make and I have certainly had my monies worth out of them. The ships are enormous fun to build and paint and as I have mentioned previously, they may not be of museum standard but they fight just as well!
Enjoy your DIY wargaming adventures - I most certainly do!
All the best,
DC
Hi there Ion,
Funnily enough a long time gaming friend of mine (and a prolific painter of high quality figures) uses the white undercoat and black outline type technique. Actually he uses a thin black wash over white and then blocks in the colours and highlights where needed. It looks really good and he has assured me it is an easy technique to use.
Marshal-General Count Von Schwerin und Cussin? That is a name to conjure with!
All the best,
DC
Hi there Michael,
Thank you re the Seydlitz! I prefer flat rather than textured bases for my warships - mainly because I like to have the label and ensign showing. Your observation about age is probably close to the truth (I am 65) as is the painting/gaming, gaming/painting analogy. I also know what you mean about pots of Humbrol! Luckily for me there is a DIY ship about a five minute walk from where I live that stocks a selection - these look decades old and so are ‘proper’ Humbrols- which I raid occasionally. You are right about the bewildering variety available - progress eh?
All the best,
DC
Hello there Mark,
I have been in awe of the prodigious output of the armies you have raised and the reasons for doing so have struck many chords with me. Thank you re the ships - they are very much something I enjoy doing (I currently have another 30 scratch builds underway) but you are absolutely right about inspiring me to tackle some figures. The 15mm Colonial collection may well be first - probably some Zulus to get my eye in.
We shall see.
All the best,
DC
David,
Ultimately it comes down to whether you want painted figures or not and what standard you are prepared to accept.
Assuming you want figures, there are several things to consider.
Firstly why fall into the "24 figure" trap? The important thing is the footprint occupied by the base size. I have moved to rules where the base size = the unit and how many figures on that base is up to you.
Hence all my VnB Imagi-Nations are 8 line inf, 4 cav, 2 LI / LC and gun with 3 crew on 80 x 40 or 80 x80 bases.
Painting. I am a slow painter and always used black undercoat with various numbers of layers. Even one layer is slow.
However, I have recently experimented with Contrast Paint and Army Painter ink washes, followed by acrylic colour highlights as I need to paint faster (not getting any younger). It's easier to show than explain:
https://aufklarungsabteilung.blogspot.com/search/label/painting
Neil
I'm exactly the same David..happy to paint shops, aircraft, tanks or terrain but get stuck as soon as I look at a figure that's been based and undercoated. The only way round it I've found is to paint figures with very little kit or clothing, such as Zulus or the like, or to paint in very small scales like 2mm, where the figures aren't actually figures at!
Hi Jim,
That is probably why I enjoyed the Numidians so much! I have dabbed with 2/3mm but when you see some of the fantastic jobs that enthusiastic painters manage to achieve it makes you wonder why bother? Joking aside, I am thinking about a 2/3mm WW1/2 set up - mainly for use with either the Portable Wargame or Memoir ‘44 but have nothing concrete in mind just yet.
All the best,
DC
[Part 2] Following Jutland, a test was performed with three ships of the Kaiser class to see if, instead of the thin-skinned and vulnerable funnels, another part of the ship should be painted for identification purposes. The turrets were chosen because they were expected to survive more battle damage... SMS König Albert, whose forward (ANTON) turret was painted black on all sides and front glacis while the superimposed aft turret (CAESAR) was painted white in the same areas. The same regions of SMS Kaiserin were painted in red on ANTON and in yellow on CAESAR, while SMS Prinzregent Luitpold’s turrets were ‘squirrel grey’ with black crosses painted on the front, sides and back of ANTON, red crosses on CAESAR. While these tests confirmed that yellow and red were the best choices for identification purposes, it was decided to continue painting the funnels instead of the turrets" (https://sms-navy.com/paint/sms_paint-overview.htm)
There is collateral for this in accounts by German deserters, interviewed by British Naval Intelligence. Seaman Louis Jütte, who had served on the dreadnought SMS König, said: "Whenever the fleet proceeds to sea, the funnels of all [large] ships and their attendant destroyers are repainted a fresh colour. This is usually done the first evening at sea. The colours appear to vary considerably; yellow, brown and blue were mentioned as being the most usual colours. The colour is as ordered by the Commander-in-Chief, so that all ships have their funnels the same colour. The funnels are never painted with rings as in peace time." While Able Seaman Karl Trommer, who had served on the fleet flagship, SMS Friedrich der Grosse, said in 1917: "Ships sometimes used to have their funnels or turrets (A, B or C) painted either red or yellow for purposes of recognition; but this is no longer done" (National Archives, file ADM 137/3060, folders A8 (report CB 01298, “German battleship König, February 1917: report of examination of Louis Jütte, Ordinary Seaman, deserter”), p.15; and A61 (report CB 01316, “German battleship Friedrich der Grosse, May 1917”—a debrief of German Navy deserters Able Seamen Karl Trommer and Walter Schaefer), p.16).
Colourful funnels were not a requirement in the Black Sea war, where there were only two German-manned ships and a handful of Ottoman ones; any warships they encountered would be Russian. But by early 1916 the light cruiser SMS "Breslau" had the foremost of her 4 funnels painted white (Hermann Lorey, "The war in Turkish waters" [German official history], 286); presumably to make her less obviously distinguishable from the other Black Sea cruisers, the more powerful Russian "Pamiat Merkuria" and "Kagul", and the much weaker Ottoman "Hamidiye" and "Mecidiye", all of which had just 3 funnels. When Breslau was first so ‘disguised’ is not clear, but US diplomat Lewis Einstein, then posted to the Ottoman Empire, recorded that Breslau left Constantinople early on 10 May 1915 with her funnels [sic] painted white (Lewis Einstein, "Inside Constantinople: a diplomatist’s diary during the Dardanelles expedition, April–September 1915" [1918], entry for 10 May 1915).
I included some more comments (as "Part 1"), about the German WW1 practice of painting ONE funnel a distinctive colour, but only AFTER ships had left port on a sortie expected to encounter the enemy. If Part 1 didn't get through, I can re-send it.
An example of a (modern) painting showing the German aft funnels in red during the sortie to Jutland, is at https://www.marineartists.co.uk/IAN_LOWE_(British,_Contemporary)_/990281/default.aspx?artist=IAN_LOWE_(British%2c_Contemporary)_&artist=IAN_LOWE_(British%2c_Contemporary)_&artist=IAN_LOWE_(British%2c_Contemporary)_&artist=IAN_LOWE_(British%2c_Contemporary)_&shopsection=990281&shopsection=990281&shopsection=990281&shopsection=990281
[Part 1, second attempt] Some navies used various forms of camouflage of their ships, before and during the Great War, but the WW1 German Navy had a distinctive means of identification on combat sorties: one funnel would be painted a distinctive colour. Tom Tanner summarised the practice:
"… to make life difficult for any Allied spies that may have worked out of the German fleet bases, the Germans forbade the use of identifying mark while within sight of land—these marks were only applied after sailing and repainted in grey before returning to port, and they were used only during major operations that may have resulted in engagements with the enemy, about 13 instances in all according to an essay by Dr Rudolf Nagel in "Schiff und Zeit" #39 (“Gefechtskennungen auf deutschen Kriegsschiffen im Ersten Weltkrieg”—Combat engagement identifiers on German warships in the First World War). The most common identifier used was to paint the aftermost funnel either an almost-pastel red or yellow-ochre, depending on the operation. For example, at Dogger Bank the battlecruisers kept their funnels grey while the escorting torpedo boats and cruisers painted their aft funnels red, while at Jutland all participating ships sported red on their aft funnels…" [continued in Part 2 above]
Hello there Toby E,
Apologies for the delay in responding to your excellent series of comments - they are, as ever, really useful! I painted my planned Jutland German capital ships overall grey with black turret tops but not the white circle used for aerial identification I believe. Without checking I seem to recall reading that the Germans used a similar practice during WW2 although not all the time.
All the best,
DC
I'm still working on a book, to be published by the History of Wargaming Project, on the earliest wargames designed and played by navies -- i.e. 'official' rather than hobby games (though it will note the connections between the designers of both game types). This will include four surviving sets of RN rules (dating from 1905 to 1913), an incomplete earlier set, and US and Italian rules (the latter from 1911). There will also be contemporary write-ups of actual RN games (from c1902 to 1915), plus accounts from recent Russian archival research of tactical and strategic games designed and played by the Imperial Russian Navy, and a summary from printed sources of the various games the German Navy played. If you'd like to see the RN rules, for the purposes of your own forthcoming book, do let me know (on stce12@blueyonder.co.uk).
Hi Toby E,
Sorry for the delayed response as I am still in Spain until late tomorrow. Your book sounds really interesting and I will gladly take you up on your offer so look to see an email in a couple of days - once I have unpacked!
All the best and many thanks once again!
DC
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