Parliamentarian Cavalry

 Well I sprayed the new cavalry with Testors dull coat and they fit in nicely with the previous regiment. Even the dark steel helmets look the same which was nice. I found the spray varnish a bit tricky tonight so I might switch to Vallejo brush on matte varnish instead. A little bit more controllable.

 Also tonight I got around to basing up the rest of Sir Herbert Jackson’s shotte. Just the pike and the command to base now, they are all painted apart from the four ensigns. I won’t Dip those, just to speed things up. After that the regiment should be done.

Dip Results in ECW

 Finally dry enough to spray with a layer of Testors dull coat, the results were good. I gave each figure two layers with the dull coat, leaving enough time for the first to dry. I also sprayed into the heated air of a hair dryer I had hung on the wall, this is just to guard against frosting. It has been raining here. I have tried this method before and I think the results are better for it.

Gurney's Horse are almost ready to take the field.
 The Testors dull-coat does tend to be very matte though, I will give the armour a coat of brush on matte varnish, this has a slightly satin look and should look good on the metal.

Pick a horse...any horse.

 Now that the troopers are locked away for 24hrs drying, I thought it was time to nip to the stable and pick some mounts. I painted these horses a year or two ago using enamel and oil paints. Like the Dip the oil paint took around 24hrs to dry. It was fun to do but you have to paint in bulk to make it worth the mess. Once done though you have horse flesh for days.

 Most of these horses are from Essex miniatures, weirdly though, some of them don’t fit the Roundhead troopers so well. Using some unpainted troopers I dry fitted them and now hopefully when my troopers dry, they should have mounts that fit their saddles.

Thinking about it, next time I might paint the troopers on pencils then stick them to the preprinted horses. Then finally Paint on the Dip. This would mean the figure is completed at the same time. I could even give the horse a lick of Dip to protect it better.

Ironsides go for a Dip

 Before and after shot. The Dip seems to have been made for buff leather.

 I painted some eyes on Old Olly to see if the Dip would hide them, they seem to be okay. It was only a test and I won’t be making a habit of it.

Matte varnished Dip

 Finally this guy is dry enough to brush on some matte varnish. I think he looks good and marks the start of the ECW armies getting dipped.

 I did highlight his red coat by using the same colour as I blocked it in with. Not really needed but I thought I would try it.

Blocked in and ready for the Dip

Essex Miniatures ECW Cavalry

 A few years ago I moaned at how poor the Essex Parliamentarian Cavalry were compared to the Royalist ones. Well it turns out the riddle has been solved, they used to have the same head as the Royalists. The old figure comes with its head separate and joined to its gun arm. This must of caused issues somewhere along the line because the separate head and arm were dropped in favour of a new sculpt. However, I think you will agree the new sculpt on the left isn’t a patch on the old one. Love that lobster!

 The buff covered troopers are stuck on pencils and sprayed black. I’m going to keep this armour very  dark and try aging it with the side of a lead pencil. This unit should be nice and quick to do as they are in buff leather from head to toe, plus I’m going to use the Dip to shade them.

 No troopers were hurt in the making of this Blog post.

Essex Miniatures ECW Cavalry

 The addition of five more figures from EBay prompted me to start another squadron. This is going to be a large one of eight rather than six models, should look nice crammed together, knee to knee. I have increased the size of my Foote regiments by ten figures or so, which in turn means everything else must nudge up too including the horse.

 This is a figure of Olly Cromwell from Essex miniatures, in my games this nice characterful chap will be based on my friend, one Mr Gurney.
Gurney’s Horse will be a large Iron side unit. Most of my regiments will be based on my friends and family, makes the units more personal and interesting. My wife’s maiden name will go towards my new blew coated regiment... Sir Herbert Jackson’s Régiment of Foote and will take to the field to fight for Parliament.

 I’m very pleased with these new figures, they have been resculpted since but the newer versions are not as good, more on this in a moment.

A new regiment of horse is laid out and sorted. I painted a lot of horses using the oil wash technique a year or two ago so that should really speed things up. This oil technique is quite smelly and messy so if you’re going to do it, make sure you do loads at a time. I think I have around fifty shaded horses ready to go, chomping at the bit.

More Civil War Dipping

 The latest batch of glossy, sticky iced buns get laid out to dry. It’s still quite early to say but I think they look okay.
 Interestingly, the first batch I did on Sunday night at 10.30 still aren’t 100% dry. There’s no rush however, I have plenty more to block out in the meantime. I did put a few fine scratches on the armour with a lead pencil, a bit like weathering a tank, it’ll be interesting to see if they are still visible once the Dip is dry. Not many left to do now, just the command with their standards.

Using Dip in ECW

 I have to say that I am addicted to painting Buff leather, I can’t just leave it alone. I find the little highlights and scuff marks impossible to leave off, even when speed painting. Love it!

 This drummer was an interesting one because without really realising it, he came out in very Confederate colours. So it will be nice to see how he turns out when finished.

The ACW is another project that simmers away on the back rings on this blog. If the Dip works out on this chap it could be the way to go on all those Rebel regiments waiting in bags, in draws, in cupboards, in locked rooms.

 The buff leather seems to come out well under the Dip.

The Night of the Dip

 More pictures of tonight’s forays into dipping the English Civil War. I thought the pike colours really came to life with the added Dip.

 I did think ahead and try to add a little brown into most colours so the dark brown stain would hopefully shade them better. Also I was pleased with the shading on the tawny orange sashes.

 The process isn’t over yet of course as you can still use the original colours to touch up and highlight the figures. I always feel the faces are bit that lets down the Dip but once highlighted the figure looks great. A bit of time spent on the flesh colours either before or after the Dip should pay off. I even remember painting stubble on my French which looked good. The face is the focal point of the figure, once that looks good you don’t have to worry about the trousers, legging and shoes etc.