Best I’ve tried!!!

I saw this being talked about on line and so ordered some on eBay. Well I was shocked how good it actually is. My usual Vallejo matt varnish does dry with a slight sheen, which has a charm of its own. However, covering the very glossy Army dip probably doesn’t help.

 Anyway, I put a few drops of this new Ultra matt varnish into a dish and it was really watery. I read on the bottle it is designed for an airbrush. I used my nice soft brush to soak some up and apply to the minis being careful not to swamp them. Any pooling was soaked back up and brushed away.

The results are amazing and lead to me going over my entire Lake town army. They have always had a good sheen to them that was just on the annoying side of okay. Anyway, this new stuff just took it all away. Next up my Wolf riders got a lick and came off looking much better. I didn’t put any on the metal work or weapons which leaves that looking slightly different. A sheen on metal work always looks good in my eyes.

It really improved the look of big flat areas like cloaks and made them look a lot more soft and material like.

The new and the old, the Vallejo stuff is a lot thicker but does leave a slight satin finish. Be warned, the Ammo stuff is very watery even after a good shake but still can be brushed on.

The army of Lake town is now much more matt than before, this is important because most of them are in soft clothes not armour. It’s a real game changer now I’m using Army Painter dip more and more.

 The wooden shields also look better being more drab.

I guess the word ‘Ultra’ in the title should of been a give away.

Wolf Rider unit finished.

These are the last two Wolf riders in the Oathmark box, this makes 15 in all. I enjoyed these so much I bought another box, although I think I’m going to wait until the Wargames Atlantic plastic goblins come out to model the next batch. Just so I can get more variety in the heads etc. 

These have their base coats done, next step is to paint on Army painter Dark tone to shade them.

 This guys head is made from an Frost grave Demon with the horns cut off. Another piece of neck armour was used to create the visor. The cut off horns were stuck on his back to create a more interesting silhouette and to make him look more nasty of course.

Custer converted

I managed to get some paint on these two today. Working with green stuff on 20mm figures was a little fiddly and took a bit longer than usual but the results were rewarding. The main stroke of luck was finding that 20mm gun fighter with the perfect head for Custer.

I found the gloves to be tricky so I built them up using Gel superglue, a trick I had learnt from making arrows for my Middle Earth armies.

Lieutenant Cooke’s pistol made from brush bristle and super glue looked great when painted up. This guy originally had an open hand for the standard go into.

I had originally painted the red neckerchief as going all the way around his head and hanging down the back of his buckskin jacket, but on further research, painted it so it was just coming out the front. It looks a lot better for it too.

 

Creating Custer and Cooke in 20mm

A Crow scout, a quick head swop and a bit of green stuff.

A dismounted Lieutenant Cooke. Off his horse but still fighting.

Another Crow scout, this guy will get a cardboard feather in his hat when dry to finish off his look.

Newline Design don’t do a mounted version of Custer funny enough, so I took a officer and swooped his head with a gun fighter. The head was a good match for Custer and a bit of green stuff helped with the buck skin jacket. I made his red scarf blow in the wind, should look dynamic when painted.

 Lieutenant Cooke mounted, this time I used the standard bearer in his buck skin and added Cooke’s big sideburns.

Here we see the figure from the gun fighter set that makes for a good Custer. I carefully removed his head with a hobby saw and gel superglue did the rest.

A good nights work.

The big man himself with his personal guidon. I’m happy with him as I think it looks like Custer. The gun fighters hat was nice and big a perfect size for Custer’s.

Above, Crow scout

As the Newline Design range is rather limited I bought some of their 20mm ACW confederate cavalry to bolster the poses. They mix is really well with their slouch hats. They have sabres which is a problem but I found that even the figures from the Little Bighorn range have sabres too, so I’m not that bothered. The main thing is all the new poses attained by including the new sculpts.

I’ve added a few neckerchiefs to tie them in to the Newline Design Little Big Horn range. 

Not so keen on the sabre but he will do for a command base. Custer’s regiment handed in their sabres before the campaign started, just another detail that the guys at Newline Design over looked. Not a real problem, only for those nerds out there like me who like to research stuff.

A pistol was added to this guy to make him look a bit more ‘7th’.

The Crow scouts complete with hat feather. Thinking about it I will probably put these two on the same base.

As well as ACW figures, I also bought the pack of gun fighters and some of these made for good cavalrymen. Neckerchiefs helped with the look again. A lot of the cavalrymen were dressed in various clothes for the campaign,  troopers in shirts will add to the ad hoc look of the regiment.

A hardened gunfighter with a Henry rifle and two ACW troopers join the 7th cavalry at Fort Lincoln. 

.A Confederate cavalryman becomes an officer in the 7th with a snazzy new fashion accessory.