Federal Zouaves - The 74th!

Today I started painting Robs Zouaves. I wanted to get these done asap as i knew that a lot of work would need to go into them (since i haven't got too far with the Wheat's Tigers (More on them soon).

I possibly made the task a little harder for myself by choosing to paint up the 74th (probably one of, if not the most colorful of the federal Zouave regiments (or company in the case of the 74th which never got past a single company in size). As Rob is a good mate and knowing his army isn't going to have a lot of colour i wanted to do something special for him.

I've only managed to get all the base colours on and apply and ink but by the end of tomorrow i should have all the highlights on.

Here's a couple of pictures. They look pretty messy at this point and when i look at them i always doubt that they will look good finished but i know they will.

Half the base colours applied.

The blue applied along with the bags and canteens.

The ink applied - super shiny!!

Federal troops finished

Today i finished up Robs first Union regiment.

Hopefully rob will let me take pictures of them once he has based them all up.

They are a little shiny as they haven't had any varnish yet as Rob likes to use a different varnish than i do.

Pretty happy with how they have turned out and so was Rob so that's the most important thing.

Now back to painting some of my confederates before i start on more of Robs Union regiments.

Why the confederate lost the war...

Hi Guys

Just came across this very interesting university lecture.  Far from being a dry retelling of what ive heard or read before its actually a very interesting look at the confederacy and the southern soldier.

Worth a look.

Ps: I should have some pictures of some based Confederate troops with flags in the next couple of days.  Been doing a lot of work on my Painting Service Blog and its slowed down work on everything else.

Mark
:)

Welcome new followers and its competition time!

Hi Guys

Just wanted to say a quick welcome to the new people who have joined this blog. Great to have you here.

Now i know ive been a little quiet on this blog but that's because ive been working on a lot of stuff on my main blog as i am getting ready to start contract painting again. I'm learning how to do youtube videos and ive been revamping the blog with pricing structures (all of which should go live within the next day or so.

Anyways on to the competition!

I want to get more people looking at my content so i figured a small competition might be a nice way to attract some more followers.

So onto the details: what im going to do to coincide with the relaunch of my miniature painting service is paint up a single figure on a small diorama like base to the very best standard i can. The level i would do if entering a Golden Daemon or other well known painting comp. The miniature may have upwards of 20 hours spent on it (if not more!!). Once done it will be nicely packaged in a box for safety.  I'm going to give it to one of my blog followers including shipping it to them track and trace anywhere in the world at my own expense as a thank you for watching my blog and also as a way to show what im capable of producing.

Whats the catch - there isn't one! (well there sort of is).  There wont be a winner announced until this blog gets to at least 50 followers (After all its the point of the competition right. :).

Now im going to run a similar competition on my other blog as well so if you signed up on both you have a chance to win two miniatures (and they will be totally different subjects). For this blog i think its fitting that i do up a metal confederate soldier by Perry miniatures. I'm thinking of having him walking along a path following a fence line - or something along those lines.

Now what do you need to do - not much, just help spread the word about the competition, my blog and painting business. Once that Blogger followers counter hits 50, i'll randomly generate a number for each follower and get the computer to pick who is going to win the model. Simple right.

Now it might happen quickly, it might take a while - or it might never happen. no matter what the case is im still going to paint the model and will blog about it and possibly use it as a subject matter for youtube videos.

Anyways welcome once again to my new followers and id love to hear what you guys think about the competition.

Till next time, hope you all have a great week.

Mark
:)

Painting table progress

Hi guys,

Here's a few quick progress shots of Robs Union troops. This unit should have been all finished for tomorrow but ive had a few health issues this week that have slowed me down. Only about 2 hours of painting left to do on them so ill probably do that whilst the guys are gaming tomorrow so that rob can take them home to base them.

A group of 8 that are finished.

Also last week i forgot to post up this shot of my next confederate unit. You will see they are being painted on the sprue! More about this craziness soon.  

Hope everyone is having a great week, catch you next time.

New weeks painting table

Lots of things up on the painting table this week.

First up Robs first Union regiment (Well Regiment and a half as there are 36 figs here)

Work also very slowly continues on the Wheat's Tigers Rifles. (At the rate im going i'll finish they around Christmas)

Other things on the painting table are English civil war related and the reason for so few updates over the last couple of weeks on this blog as my ECW force nears completion in time for our big multiplayer game next month at the South Auckland Wargames Club. If you want to see what ive been up too there check out : http://kiwi-colour-studio.blogspot.co.nz/.

Painting desk update

Been a slow week for painting but ive finally finished Rob's unit Cavalry.  I think they have turned out great and like the way they look compared to the confederate ones i finished last week.  The two armies are going to look great on the table facing each other.

 They Just need a coat of varnish and bases and they will be done.

Rob hope you like em :)

Civil War Weapons Documentary

I found another good Documentary on You Tube, this time in regards to different weapons of the civil war. Very interesting some of the weapons that were being used and even more interestingly weapons (like the Gatling gun) that were designed and could have been used to change the outcome of the war but due to shortsightedness or bureaucratic reasons weren't deployed.

If you haven't seen this one before i think you will find it interesting.

New Week, New Models on the painting table

So Straight after finishing up my Confederate Cavalry Rob dropped off his first couple of union units for me to paint up. I decided since i was having fun with horses id start on his cavalry unit.
This would be fun as Rob had assembled them all with hats rather than caps like i had and with a different uniform colour it would be interesting to see how the same box can cover both sides of the conflict.

As the union had a lot more resources and tended to be more uniformed than the confederates i decided to do all the horses in the same base colour. I will have verity in the unit by doing different placings for the horse markings etc.

Along with the cavalry the second unit of Rob's is a infantry unit.  I've noticed the the Perry's first plastic box has slightly shorter troops than the newer confederates. This isn't a big issue as they will be on the opposite side of the table as my troops but i can see why people on various sites and forums are asking for a new union specific set to be done by the Perry's. (it would be great to see a set in full coats).

I'm hoping to have both units done by the end of the week.

Painting Table update - unit finished!

That's right i finished a unit. My first confederate cavalry unit is finally finished.  What i thought would be a nice quick unit to paint turned out to be a lot of work. (Mainly because i changed my mind on how to paint them three times!!)

When i first saw the Cavalry box set from Perry Miniatures i thought it looked nice - the horses were fantastic and i thought the riders were just ok.  Once i cleaned them up and sprayed them black i begun to see all the little details on them like the small buckles and clasps etc..  Truly a nice set of miniatures to paint.

Ok enough talk - onto the pictures :)

The colours aren't really popping in these photos but im sure you will get the idea and once i get them based and a flag on them and take some shots in my light box setup im hoping they will look really good.

Let me know what you think guys.

Now on to the Zoauve unit.

Quick painting update

A quick painting update on the Confederate Cavalry.  Some tidy up work to do as well as the hats and the carbines. But overall they are looking alright.

New Photography set up

I just did a quick post on my new Light box setup over on my other blog. Feel free to check it out at http://kiwi-colour-studio.blogspot.co.nz/2015/11/new-light-box-setup.html

Another quick painting update

The horses for my first confederate cavalry unit are all but done. I'm quite happy with the result. The colours seem to pop well and still stand out across the table.

Today i hope to finish the crew and then it will be back to infantry for a while.

Painting Table update.

Today was a good day for painting.

At the rate im going im hoping to have this Confederate Cavalry unit finished by the end of Wednesday.

On the painting Table

So not a huge amount of progress last week. I spent a bit of time on my back last week so i didn't end up where i wanted to be, none the less some progress was achieved so that's better than none.

The confederate cavalry got built. (minus the hats)

I also nearly finished another Confederate unit of infantry and made a solid start on another unit.

I'm hoping this week to build my Zouave unit The Tiger rifles.



I've been looking forward to doing this unit as it will be a nice change from the basic confederate troops.

I also spent a bit of time researching light box table setups as im really wanting to improve the photos on my Blog (Especially once things get fully finished). Id do a separate Blog post listing what ive purchased and once it all arrives in the post my thoughts on it and value for money.