I hate painting - Part One

I really do hate it. The problem is, that I do love to see painted armies on the table top during a wargame of any size (preferably painted by someone else to be fair!), so there's really no choice but to 'man up' and put paint to metal (or plastic, of course) and just get on with it.

But, there has to be a method to this madness, because I lose focus very, very easily, which I'm told is a common trait amongst wargamers. So, here is an account both of how I paint my armies, including some blow by blow pictures as I paint the figures, but also, and what I consider to be of more importance, the method I use to keep myself focused on getting a project (also known as a new army) finished and on the table.

Now, I'm a bit late in writing this article, because I have already started to paint the army, but luckily I did take some pictures of the figures before I started... 

Once primed, and with skin painted and bases dry brushed...

With all the base coats finished...

And washes added, highlights applied and bases completed with some tufts.

There are lots of articles floating around about painting minis, and with far better end results than mine too. So, what these articles are really about is finding a way to break that barrier to achieving a fully painted and based army in a sensible amount of time.

So, let's get to it!

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

The Goal: 

To complete a fully painted, 2000 point army for use with 'On Bloody Ground' (Of course!), in a sensible amount of time. That time being dependant on the type of army being painted, but I'd say no more than 3 months, from start to finish.

The Planning: 

First, I make the army list that I want to use in my initial games. I say initial games, because there's no single army that can fight all opponents and so I fully expect to both adjust the sizes of the units in my army, as well as adding in new units. Commanders are much easier to cover fully in the initial army because of the list restrictions, although even these will vary from game to game, but we can at least get the most important commanders painted.

So, here is my Scots Army List.

Macbeth - 125pts

2 Chieftains, each with 2CP's and 4+ Superior Armour - 170pts

1 Nobleman with 1CP - 50pts

1 Sagart - 50pts

2 units of 20 Warriors, with long thrusting spears and shields - 360pts

2 units of 28 Warriors, with thrusting spears and shields - 448pts

1 unit of 12 Mounted Thanes, with throwing weapons, light armour and shields - 252pts

1 unit of 12 Mounted Skirmishing Warriors, with javelins and shields - 168pts

2 units of 10 Levy Bowmen - 120pts

1 unit of 11 Levy Crossbowmen - 55pts

1 unit of 18 Scots-Irish Exiles, with hand weapons, light armour and bucklers - 198

TOTAL POINTS - 1996

Once the army list is built, I choose around 500 points of both units and/or commanders from it, and only consider those miniatures as 'The Project'. I don't think about the rest of the army at all, until the first 'contingent' is completed.

With that in mind, I chose the 2 units of 20 Warriors with long thrusting spears (these have been painted - see above!), one unit of 10 Skirmishing Bowmen and 1 unit of 11 Skirmishing Crossbowmen, with a total of 475pts, so slightly under the 500pts I like to break it down to, but I'll make those points up with the next contingent!

The two units of spearmen, already completed.

The Skirmishing unit of Bowmen and Crossbowmen, ready for spraying. Once painted, these will complete my first contingent of the army.

The Miniatures:

This part can be the make or break of a project. The question is, do you buy the figures in manageable amounts so as not to create a lead pile that will play on your mind, whispering to you in the wee small hours, saying things like, 'you'll never paint me', 'Why did you buy me?', 'We both know you're not going to finish, so why don't you just admit it!', or do you jump in feet first and buy the whole lot and be damned?! Well, years ago, when I was really struggling to paint my first army, I would have said that the only way to do it would be to buy one unit at a time, get it painted, then reward yourself with more toys! But, these days, the miniatures don't whisper unsettling things to me in the night. This is either because I have no trouble painting armies now that I follow this system (I still despise painting, but I do get it done), or the tablets are working...

For this army I'll be using mainly Picts, with some Hibernians (Irish) from the lovely 1st Corps. I've long admired these figures and am really chuffed to have finally started building an army with them.

The Paints:

Yep, you'll definitely need some of these!

I use Foundry Paints, simply because I find that most colours give a good coverage and their triad system takes all the work out of trying to find the best colours for highlights etc. I do not want to spend my time thinking about such things, and why should I when someone who clearly knows what they are doing has done all the work for me!

The Brushes:

I know that there are a ton of brushes on the market and that the real dedicated miniature painters out there will have lots of suggestions and reasons why insanely expensive brushes are the best thing since sliced bread, but for the kind of results that I want to achieve, I use ABC Brushes. I came across these guys a few years ago, and honestly, I'm still using the same brushes today, although some have fallen foul of my shocking treatment of them, others are still going strong. Try them - they're well worth what little they charge for them.

The Grass and Tufts:

There are literally dozens of companies that produce static grass and tufts for wargamers these days, but at WiP Headquarters, we've pretty much exclusively used Tajima1 Miniatures for the past five or six years. They have a great variety of quality tufts and provide an excellent service, so we're very pleased to recommend them. 

COMING SOON - PART 2 - Painting the next two units using as painless a method as I can!