Our group has decided to work on some 28mm ECW troops. I decided to paint up a unit for the group as well. The figures are Pike & Shotte Parliament Infantry.
First I will tell you that I haven't had much experience with the plastic figures and I found them to be a pain to put together. My biggest issue was trying to match up arms to hold the various weapons. Apparently I messed up somewhere along the line as I ended with one guy with one arm that didn't quite match up to his body the gun he was supposed to be holding. I also ended up with two figures who didn't have any arms at all. So I used them as my test pieces.
The other thing I decided to do was to try Army Painters painting method. I've used the Army Quick Shade product for a long time and I generally like it but I've never done the full method.
So this time I went with the Crystal Blue Primer and sprayed the figures. I really started to have my doubts once I saw how "Blue" it really was but I pushed on and starting painting the figures with just basic colors.
I've gotten so use to painting smaller figures (10mm), I forgot how much more stuff had to be painted. :-)
Once the figures were painted I decided to use the Quick Shade Soft Tone. I've used it before on smaller figures and it doesn't obscure the painting detail, so I went with it. Usually I brush the stuff on with the smaller figures. It's just easier, I feel. This time I tried the dip method on the figures. I ended up having to use a brush on the pikemen as the pikes were too large to dip the figure. I have to say that once the figures had been shaken after being dipped I was very worried. The stuff was just globbed all over the figures, except for the brushed ones.
I let the figures sit and dry for 24 hours. After drying I was even more worried about the process. The figures looked like shit and my doubts had really risen. I grabbed my spray can of Krylon Matt Spray and hit the figures up with a light coat. I let them sit over night.
When I got home from work tonight I brought the figures in and I have to say that they looked much better. I'm still a little disappointed with the dipped figures because some of the details and the colors I chose became obscured a little too much for my taste. The brushed on figures retained their colors better and the details weren't as obscured.
If I decide to use this method again I will go with the brush method instead of dipping.
So see below for the figures. Also the flag is a hand drawn flag by me using the method I had done a month or so ago.
Primed Blue. It looked really strange.
The figures are done. They were dipped/brushed with the Quick Shade and then given a matt spray.
A little close up view. I do like how the shade filled in the feathers.
The drum's colors ended up too muted for my taste.
The pikemen were all brushed with the Quick Shade. I think it worked a lot better.
My hand made flag. The 25mm flag was so much easier to make than the 10mm ones. :-)
More Pikemen. Again all brushed.
The Quick Shade did give a nice effect to the armor
Now these two figures I painted along with the other troops but these two I decided to dip and then instead of the matt spray, I bushed on Army Painters Ink Strong Tone. The ink took away the sheen of the Quick Shade and gave it a very different look that I like. I think the Ink made the details pop a little bit more. What do you think?
