ALY MORRISON'S "BUTTERFLY" ADVENTURES IN THE WORLD OF WARGAMES AND TOY SOLDIERS

Saturday 26 September 2020

A Song of Drums and Shakos... Men in Black

 Greetings...

Of course by Men in Black... I mean Brunswickers... though I suspect you already guessed that.

These guys have been edging their way up the painting queue for a while...

I have been very keen to paint them and as Mharaid and I are planning a game soon I thought I would get them done.

They are the Leib Battalion figures from Front Rank Miniatures...








Painting Black on Black is an interesting problem and something I have wanted to try out for a while.

I have used Contrast Black Templar over a Mid Grey undercoat... Two slightly diluted coats.
I have found that using two thinned coats gives more even finish...

The leather gear and buttons were painted with flat black and gloss varnished to give a textural contrast.

In a moment of madness I decided to paint the White Horses on the backpacks... about half way through I was starting to wish I hadn’t... but now that they are done I am very pleased...

They have turned out well and are anything but dull...

Mharaid (Aka Von Rust ) is looking forward to using these troops... The uniforms match her/his cold black heart...

The Uniforms are... Citadel Contrast... Black Templar... Two diluted coats.
The Muskets are... Citadel... Mournfang Brown.
The Knapsacks are... Wargames Foundry...  Charcoal Black Light 34C.
The Canteens are... Citadel... Thunderhawk Blue.
The Valises are... Citadel... Administratum Grey.
The Facings are... Wargames Foundry... Sky Blue 21B.
Aly’s Brown Liquid was washed over the flesh, metals, canteens  and muskets.

The miniatures are Front Rank Miniatures...



All the best.   Aly

36 comments:

  1. A lovely looking unit and great paint work for sure. Well worth the effort on all the details.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Steve...

      I am glad I ‘kept calm and carried on’ 😁

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  2. Those are just splendid and the white horses are really excellent.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beautiful work and nicely done I like the gloss no gloss effect really works 👍

    ReplyDelete
  4. Looks to me like a 'must-have' unit. Beautiful results and those details you went to effort for are well worth it even if they did drive you to distraction.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Greg...
      I’m glad I managed to get through the half way wall of despair 😂
      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  5. Very nicely done, I have made notes. My favourite contingent from the Napoleonic wars

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Graham...
      They are quite colourful...in their own way.

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  6. Looking good! Two of my favorite looking armies of the Napoleonic wars are the Brunswickers and the Austrians, and the two most painful colours to paint - black and white :-) I have to finally try the contrast paints!

    Best wishes,
    Jan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Jan...
      I quite enjoy painting white and using contrast paints on the black was quite painless... I may even do more 😁

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  7. Those really are nicely done Aly, the horse on the packs well worth the effort

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Kerry...
      It would probably have irritated me it I had left them plain...

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  8. You have done a lovely job on these Aly and I am sure Mharaid will enjoy using them to inflict pain and suffering on you in due course!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Keith...
      She is already rubbing her hands with glee....

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  9. They are superb Aly...I have been looking at these for a while...temptation may well overcome.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Mark...
      Go on... you know you want to... at your speed you would have the whole corps done in the time it took me to do these...😁

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  10. Very nicely done, Aly. It seems rare to find people using both glosses and mattes these days, but you've carried it off beautifully.
    Best regards
    WM

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Matthew...
      I’ve been glossing leather and metal for a while... I like the fact that the contrast in texture does all the hard work ... I’ve also never liked highlighting black much... you often end up with grey.

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  11. Your Brunswickers look terrific, Aly. Men in a black, indeed!

    ReplyDelete
  12. A nicely executed example of my worst nightmare - black on black. Like the horses as well.Brilliant.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Rob...
      It was certainly an interesting experience...

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  13. Replies
    1. Thank you Phil ... you are a gentleman.

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  14. Smart work on these fellows Aly. Are you joining the #brunswickers on Twitter?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Paul...
      I was rather surprised to find out that that is a real thing 😁

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  15. Fantastic looking Brunswickers! Lovely finish!
    Best Iain

    ReplyDelete
  16. Brilliant as always Aly. I do love the Brunswickers!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Love the Brunswickers! Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Black on black is tricky, but you have, naturally, done them beautifully. It can be fun to do though, can't it mixing a slight-grey and/or using a more gloss black for the belts?
    Regards, James

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you James...
      I really enjoy painting these...
      So much so that I have just started some ‘shiny’ Minifigs versions...

      All the best. Aly

      Delete