Canaanite spearmen II

Another post on my biblical project, quite appropriate on Easter Sunday!

My second unit of Canaanite Militia spearmen. As I mentioned in an earlier post, this unit missed the deadline by a day, as I couldn't finish the basing in time. Nonetheless, I broke my personnal record by a mile on these; 24 figures painted and based in 8 days is something of a miracle in my case. I usually take 3 or 4 weeks to do a complete unit, and my previous record for 24 figures was a little over 2 weeks. I'm quite happy also as they don't look rushed to me at all; one of the thing which limits my productivity is that I'm very perfectionnist and I cannot find the will to cut corners in order to save time. So while I did rush these a little, very little cutting corners was done!

So this is my second unit of Spearmen (first one here). The first unit was made-up of marching soldiers while this one is much more animated and in attack pose.

The figures are Foundry, and the casualties are actually Foundry Egyptians casualties (as far as I know nobody makes Canaanite casualties); some of the figures in the pack (like the Egyptian casualty in my Vulture vignette) are unusable as Canaanites but some are dressed close enough to pass as. I'm a sucker for putting casualties in units, especially on units in attacking poses. 

Some close-ups...

I must say I am having a lot of fun putting this force together, more so than I first anticipated. I was afraid all that flesh would get to me, but not at all to this point.

 It's time for a progress report :

If we look back at my original plan:
2x6 chariots

2x24 spearmen (close order)

1x20 archers (open order)

3x12 skirmishers (slingers or javelinmen)

1x Canaanite prince on chariot

I've now finished the following :  

3 Chariots

2x 24 Spearmen

2x 12 skirmishers

(plus a small vignette)

Considering the project was started just before Christmas I'm quite pleased with my progress so far. Obviously next up I will have to work on more chariots. Which brings me to a small change I've made in my army organization; my first idea was to create two units of 6 chariots but now I'm aiming at 3 units of 4 chariots, with the possibility of beefing them up to 6 later on. Most rules I intend to try are flexible on chariot unit size with 4 being the minimum size, so that's not a problem. 

So yeah, next up in this project will be 3 more chariots, I started the cleaning yesterday. Although  I also have some Napoleonics on my painting table. Recently I started doing something I never did before; paint two units/group of figures "simultaneously". I find it really helps my productivity, and when I'm tired with a unit I go with the other one. I however never paint more than two at the same time; more than that and I'm going to end up with a collection of half-painted stuff! And of course as per my usual habit I finish, base, etc. those two units before moving on to something else.

Feast of vultures (Analogue contest last submission)

My last submission to the contest was a small diorama I call 'Feast of vultures', with dead Canaanite and Egyptian soldiers surrounded by vultures. 

The vultures are from Foundry and were sent as freebies with my Shasu Bedouins. Not wanting free stuff to go to waste I figured I had to find a way to include these animals in my biblical project. Mostly it's for the looks but maybe I could use them as a marker of some kind.

The casualty figures are also Foundry. I find the addition of a couple vignettes really helps gives personality to an army, as well as making nice tabletop decorations. They are also a nice distraction in between painting units.

3rd Annual Analogue Painting Challenge wrap up

A few days ago ended the 3 month long Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. I finished 27th out of 48 participants with 405 pts, far from my target of 710 pt. Oh the shame...

 

If we look back at my original plan :

• 1x unit of 24 Canaan spearmen (48x5) : 120pts

• 1x unit of 24 Canaan spearmen (48x5) : 120pts

• 1x unit of 20 Canaan archers (20x5) : 100pts

• 6 Maryannu (Canaan) chariots (35x6) : 210 pts  (well 3 out of 6)

• 12 Bedouins skirmishers (12x5) : 60 pts

• 16 FIW Indians (16x5) : 80 pts

• and of course the entry fee, a samurai figure. I will use an old but great Clan War figure (1x20) : 20 pts 

 So I couldn't finish one unit of spearmen, one unit of archers and 3 chariots. Although I was quite disappointed I missed the deadline for my last unit (spearmen) by a day! Still, I was hoping to do  better. Work, 2 colds and a busy schedule did not help, and I definitely started too slow; I did most of my work actually in the last month and a half. Next year I intend to be more ready, organize a better schedule and have all my figures cleaned and ready. Still, it was a fun experience, the goal to paint figures was achieved and I had no realistic shot at winning this thing! Plus I got to see lots of pretty painting. So while immense, the shame will not bring me to do seppukku ;-)

Anyways, this whole thing did come with prizes and stuff. Obviously I did not win any of the first three prizes but there were a few more prize for entries :

Challengers' Choice: This award will be determined by those who took part in The Challenge.

Judge's Choice: This will be Curt's favorite submission of all entries submitted during the Challenge .

People's Choice: This is for the blog's visitor/commentors to vote for their favorite Challenge submission.

Sarah's Choice: This award is sponsored by Sarah who will award a prize for her favorite non-military figure or vignette.

I still have a shot at some prizes! Well, probably not because they were some amazing entries, but hope springs eternal!

So if you feel so inclined you can go to Curt's blog and vote for your favourite (pick me, oh pick me ;-) ). I must admit I still haven't made mine, so many great entries! 

I'll post pics of my last submission tomorrow, and I should be able to take pics of my latest Canaanite unit in a couple of days.

Basing tutorial; basing my Canaanites

My Biblical project came with a new challenge; desert terrain. As such, I had to base my army accordingly. Now my regular basing technique  involves using Wood putty to texture the base, sand as grass and adding the occasional rocks and bushes. Usually I go with a brownish autumn as my main base colour. I really like the looks of putty for basing purpose a lot and as such the flock/sand method is dead to me!

I spent some time looking at pictures of terrain of the Levant (Israel, Liban) to figure that I was aiming at more of a "rocky desert" type of terrain than a "sandy desert".

Once I had an idea of what I wanted to achieve, I went to my local artstore and bought a bunch of colours, and made some tests. For basing, I use cheap Acrylic paint tubes, in my case Amsterdam All Acrylics. I'm quite loyal to a brand once I find something I like, and I've been using these for years. I'll spare you the details but after a couple of tests I found what I was looking for. 

I've had a few inquiries on my method in recent weeks, so here is how I do it. Pretty simple, really.

You will need :

• Cheap acrylic paints
• Wood putty
• A couple of small differently sized artist spatulas
• Some medium artist brushes
• A large drybrush
• Tufts of different seasons, I get the Stilflor ones from Scenic Express
• Fish tank aggregates

 

First step is to cover the bases with wood putty. If the putty is a little dry, moisten with water and it should make it more malleable; the stuff dries fast though so once you start a base don't waste time and don't take a tea break! Cover the figure's base as much as possible. You don't want a smooth surface here, so don't hesitate to create cracks and such on the base. Leave it to dry for at least a couple of hours until it's rock solid. Then you can put a few rocks (fish tank aggregates) here and there; I use superglue but white glue will work just fine.

It's now time to start the painting. Paint the bases Burnt Sienna. A good first coat is important to avoid chipping in the future so I usually use two coats just to be sure.

Then apply a wet coat of Raw Sienna. If you still see faint traces of the base coat it's ok, it will look more natural that way.

 

























Drybrush the whole base with Naples Yellow Deep. You want a much lighter colour to really bring out the details. For a better finish you can use successful highlights of lighter colour but I only do this on individual pieces as it really is more time consuming.

The magic of drybrushing!

Now just add a couple of tufts here and there et voilà! The job is finished. Give the base a good coat of matt varnish for extra protection and pour yourself a congratulatory drink; one more unit finished!