An Update

Well, it had to happen eventually. My heady student days are over! Time to grow up and get a job... apparently.

Unfortunately, I haven't kept to any of the resolutions I made in my post 'A Plan!'. I did start re-reading Campaigns of Napoleon again, but I got less of a way through it than I did the first time around. I think my painting speed is closer to 2 figs/week, and I haven't bought the foot artillery yet.

However, that aside, my new situation is going well, for painting at least. I'm managing to do a little each day, even if it's just blacking-in some boots or a shako. My current Napoleonic total stands at about 15 painted, 4 part-painted and 8 undercoated in readiness. All done, that'll be enough for their first outing.

Now for something a little bit different. Before I'd been muttering about 6mm miniatures, and their siren-call. Well, I've finally gotten around to painting some of the strips in the Baccus 18th Century sample pack that I bought, and I've taken some photos of the best for your review.



This strip of grenadiers is the best of the three infantry strips I've painted. I started from a white undercoat, mostly because that is the only spray I have but also because brightness of colour is very important on small figures. On the others I tried using thinned black washes to shade but at this detail depth the result is poor, the paint actually settling away from the recesses. This strip had no shading, just block painting over a white undercoat, making sure to 'fill in' properly, as you can't leave the white in the recesses as you could if you were using a black undercoat.





Here's a front and back view of three cavalry models mounted on a slottabase. These were painted much the same way as the grenadiers. The basing was an impromptu whim, making it look more 'playing piece' and less 'simulation'. I'd probably go with a lower base if I were to get more, although there would be the temptation if I were to use the higher bases to paint the lip in a different colour or add the regiment name to easily differentiate units on the tabletop, again making them more tokenesque.

So, my verdict? Not too difficult to paint, with the right size of brush, and my efforts look okay under the camera and at eye distance. I didn't time myself, but I think I probably made fairly good time for my first few attempts, so speed of painting is definitely borne out. At the very least, they're not taking longer to paint than an equivalent base-size of 28mms.