My Painting Room


I thought it was about time to show where some of this stuff happens.  Let's start with a closeup of the painting desk (click on the image to enlarge):

This is an old computer desk; I think I got it when I got my Tandy TRS-80!  Note the Paintier 80 carousel, full of Vallejo Game Colors that I rarely use: smart, huh?  On the painting area are a wet palette made from Tupperware and a sponge (and proper Winsor & Newton wet palette paper) , a lighted magnifier lamp, two lamps with daylight bulbs, and an Ott lamp.  You can also see my now-favorite primers: Liquitex black and gray gesso.  The desk is up against a window which lets in good light in the afternoon.

Over to the left are two bookcases full of rules and references:

You can see two more Paintier 80s, with a variety of paint brands.  What you can't see are the tops of the bookcases, loaded with display cabinets full of small terrain items--and lots more paint and terrain products (you can spot some boxes of Silflor tufts).

Over to the right are a couple of what were originally printer stands:

Here's another Paintier 80, almost all Vallejo Military Colors.  On top of a plank, on top of two file cabinets full of old miniature catalogs, there's a small bookcase full of rules, and a stack of boxes full of bases, transfers, spear-making materials, and such.  To the far right, there's one of the two full-length bookcases full of cookbooks.

Behind this array is my improvised photo booth:

That's another one-time bit of computer furniture, with a photo booth made from sheeting and PVC pipe, ilminated by two high-intensity lamps overhead.  Just then, it was set up to snap a Newline Carthaginian chariot, painted by Dave Woodward of Ever Victorious Miniatures, years ago, to go in my article on Carthage and Syracuse in the current issue of "Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy".  Note the bookcase full of wacky holistic health books and magazines.  Up to the right is a favorite print of my favorite Victorian hero, Fred Burnaby.

Finally, here's a broader view of the painting desk, which really only shows that when just one of the daylight lamps and the Ott light are on, it throws off the camera!

Oh, yes: that big jug on the floor is methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), for assembling knobrot plastic figures!

Allen

Identifying Battle Honours Napoleonic British

I was rummaging through the Spare Oom and the Mojave Lead-Lined Bomb Shelter (otherwise known as the garage) the other day.  I unearthed a stash of unpainted 15mm British Napoleonics for the Peninsula: both "small" figures (Naismith, Battle Honours) and "large" figures (Old Glory, and again Battle Honours).   I tried to place the larger Battle Honours figures.  They clearly were not sculpted by Anthony Barton, and I remember picking them up at a Napoleonic Show in London, not long after Battle Honours had been sold and relocated to the London area.

I asked on The Miniatures Page:

http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=193989

...and received some helpful information.  For the TMPers, here are samples of what I have (click on the image to expand it):

From left to right, the figures are: two variants of flank company men; two variants of center company men; two variants of ensigns; a drummer, and an officer.

Now I'm not absolutely sure about the officer; he's the only officer I got in this batch of about 120 figures.  I bought these in eight-figure packs, and oddly, he was the sole officer figure that came in the command packs. 

On TMP, Mark and Jay and Nigel helped nail these down.  Nigel pointed out that a figure like these is illustrated in Extra Crispy's review of the Battle Honours range:

http://www.deepfriedhappymice.com/html/nap_15_brit_sbs_bh.html

As Jay says--and he would know!--they are still available from Old Glory 15s (Battle Honors USA), which is good, as I have extra command figures, and so can build more units!

Here's a comparison with similar figures:

On the left is an original Battle Honours flank company man; these should also be available from Battle Honors USA.  I use these as light infantry alongside Naismith Designs British.  I suspect this is the style that Mark ("Extra Crispy") Severin discusses when he lists the pack contents having one infatry pose and officers with cast flags (I have those, too).

The next two are the center company men in question.  Notice how much larger they are!  Finally, on the right is an Old Glory flank company man; I bought a passel of these to use as light infantry and skirmishing light companies, along with the larger Battle Honours figures.

So it seems that the puzzle is solved.  But I thought it might be helpful to display these, in case anyone has questions about the size variation in the (now) Battle Honors Peninsular British.  As Jay says, if you want these guys, they're in pack BBR05, Line Infantry, Stovepipe, Campaign Dress, Assaulting.

Allen

Ptolemaic Phalangites Phinally Phinished!

My friend Jeff has finished the unit of Ptolemaic phalangites I painted for him.  They are shown based in all their splendor in Part Five of the article I did for Jeff's Web site, Ancient Battles .

Here are some samples of Jeff's photos of the completed unit (click on them to expand them):

Jeff designed the shield transfers, and I think they look great.  I very much appreciated the opportunity to paint these fellas for him.

Allen