Send in the Firepower!

So I've been quite busy over the last week or so and finally pulled my finger out and got this handgunner unit finished at long last!

Quite happy with the results and my Gewalthut finally has some much needed supporting fire. I've got a nine man crossbow unit as well, which is waiting for a lick of paint - however these will have to wait for a while as it was my birthday yesterday and I have something new to paint....

These guys will form the centre of my Vorhut (Vanguard) I want them to look more dynamic than my Gewalthut (as they'll be first to reach the enemy) I'll be beheading just under half of them and giving them the metal Swiss heads - to get the right 'flavour' for the unit. More updates soon!

The Painting Machine Rumbles Back Into Life!

Well, it's been a very long time since I've posted anything on here. I'd like to say it's because I've been ridiculously busy but that'd be a bit of a lie.. To be honest I seem to have just fallen off the painting wagon for a while but I feel it's about time to pick up a brush and continue with my Swiss.

Before the new stuff however I have actually done a few vaguely interesting things over the last few months. Me and my Girlfriend went up to Leeds for the weekend and I managed to drag her over to Towton for a brief look at the battlefield.

I didn't have the heart to force her around the battlefield trail (which has only been in place a few months I believe) but I'd definitely recommend having a look if anyone's ever around there. It looks like quite a picturesque area, hard to believe the bloodiest battle on English soil was fought there half a century ago!

I've also been over to Rhodes for a week, which has a massively impressive old town - built by the Knights of St. John and besieged by the Turks in the fifteenth and sixteenth century.

As you can see it's pretty substantial! All I can say is I definitely wouldn't want to be besieging this place - hardly surprising the Turks gave up and went home in 1480. There are quite a few well preserved castles dotted around the coast which are very well preserved as well.

Well, onto the painting then. Nothing too impressive just a couple of the handgunners I said I'd paint all those months ago.

So, just three more hangunners to finish the unit. My birthday's also coming up so I've ordered some of the metal Perry pikemen to kick off my Vorhut. I'm thinking these will have a more dynamic feeling than my Gewalthut, as they'll be the first to get to the enemy - so lots of levelled pikes etc!

On a final note I also ended up painting (well repainting..) something completely random - A Waffen SS grenadier in camo smock, but I'm fairly happy with the results.

Well, as I seem to say everytime - Watch this space...

Gewalthut triumphant!

So, after a little hiatus I've finally done something worthwhile and completed my Gewalthut! It's only taken nigh on six months but I'm pretty pleased with the finished product!

I think it makes a pretty impressive unit on the battlefield and should be a nice centrepiece to the army (Could be a while before that's finished....) The bases were done with a few tester pots of emulsion I picked up from Focus (Seems a waste not to take advantage of their misfortune and make a few savings really!). The grass tufts are from the army painter range and I'm really impressed with how they work, they're ridiculously easy to put in place- basically idiot-proof, which is lucky when I'm using it. Now just two more smaller pike blocks to do - the Vorhut and Nachut - and I've got a few ideas on them already.

Here's a taste of what's next:

Yep, skirmishers - I think these should be a nice change of pace from pike blocks. Admittedly I've cheated with these as I did them round Christmas time... But you get the idea. I glued together the rest of the handgunners and crossbowmen this morning so hopefully they'll be making an appearance here soon! Watch this space!

Finally!

Well it seems ages since I last updated here. Probably because it has been ages! Mainly because very little has happened on my painting desk over the last few weeks. However, with it being the bank holiday and all that, I decided it was time to pull my finger out and finally get round to finishing the last five Swiss pikemen who have been so forlornly waiting to be painted. I'm glad they're finally done as it means I can get all 35 based up and get on with something else (which admittedly will probably be fairly similar....) Anyway, here they are:

They're nothing too special - but it feels like quite an achievement as I've been painting this unit for what seems like forever. Kind of makes me wonder why exactly I want to do another two pike blocks... Think I might move onto skirmishers next.

Painting metal studs is incredibly dull...

As I mentioned in the last post my next batch of models are wearing brigandines, and I set about painting them with about the same amount of enthusiasm as I would have had for watching paint dry... And dull they were too. The rest of the models were finished in about two days but when it came down to the brigandines I suddenly discovered many more interesting things to do than paint, not helped by the arrival of this..

.. This is the new Warbow I've been waiting on for a few weeks to be made, and as a result the prospect of pretending to be Robin Hood outside in the sun certainly appealed a lot more than painting hundreds of tiny rivets. However I eventually managed to get back to the painting table (because my arms were too sore) and finish the models and I'm quite pleased with the results:

I'm pretty pleased with the two guys to the right in cantonal colours, as I managed to get the rusted/dirty effect I was aiming for on their brigandines. The one on the right is wearing black as I basically couldn't be bothered to do much shading/highlighting. One more batch awaits and then it'll be basing time! And after that I might try and put together some skirmishers for a little 'variety'..

If There's One Thing I Really Hate Painting...

...It's got to be Arming Jacks, Aketons or any other form of padded armour. It seems to take forever and half the time ends up looking rubbish anyway. This is partly my excuse for the recent lack of updates, the pictured figures have been lurking on my painting table for quite some time - waiting for me to summon up the requisite enthusiasm to finish them off. I also started a new job last week so with one thing and another I haven't had much in the way of painting time.. However, from my current estimates, there are about seven figures waiting to be painted before the Gewalthut is ready to be based. Anyway, enough waffle.. here's the next batch of three pikemen:

The guy on the left is painted in Uri's canton colours while the others are fairly generic really. The one on the right looks like he has no eyes in this picture, I can vouch that he has though. Overall the jacks could have come out worse really - I'm just glad I don't have to paint many more in this unit. Sadly the next batch are wearing brigandines, which I also hate painting massively so don't hold your breath for the next update!

Standards and Pikes

Hey guys, another small update for your delectation. I've painted up the final cantonal standard bearer, this one from Basel, and also another pikeman - so nothing too exciting.

For the model on the left I used the body from the command sprue, but I wanted to make sure it looked suitably different from the leader I've made, so I painted him up in fairly dark browns. I also thought I'd throw in some variety and try a blue turban - I'm pretty pleased with the results. The guy on the right uses a standard body and the command arms in the more gothic style armour. When I first did the armour I wasn't particularly happy with it but it all seems to have come together nicely in the end. He carries the banner of Basel taken from the Perry's flag sheet.

A better view of the standard - I probably took the photo a little too soon after painting it with matt varnish, which is why it looks a little shiny..