Arizona Rock for Western Gaming

When I first began basing my figures, I was using plain sand and painting it to look like dirt. This really went against my model railroading senses. Then I switched to Woodland Scenic ballast and talus for my bases, applying the ballast to the base without any painting. The process was faster than painting sand, and I like the results! WS's shades of browns look good for games set in the Eastern US or Europe. Unfortunately, they don't look so good for games set out West. Knowing this, I dragged my feet all summer when it came to basing my finished 25mm Western figures.

A few weeks ago, I picked up a couple bags of ground rocks from Arizona Rock & Mineral Company. After comparing many different colors in person at the local hobby shop, I settled for their Cajon bags in the picture. The color is meant to match the ground color of Santa Fe's Cajon Pass east of LA. Having visited the area years ago to photograph trains, I felt this looked suitable for a generic Western game. The Sand & Gravel bag has textures ranging from fine powder to larger bits. The Rip Rap will be for those occasional large stones.

Check their website. They have some great products, especially if you want to do adobe houses in a deep brownish red color. Good stuff!

Western Fence: Part 2

Last month in Part 1 of this article, I explained how I began assembling a 28mm fence for my Western games. This installment features a photo showing how I stabilized the fences so they glued straight onto the popsicle stick bases. Believe it or not, I bought the two Xacto clamps way back in the late 1970's! The technique worked without a hitch.


The painted product. I used the following paints in the following order, using heavy drybrushing up to lighter drybrushing. I wanted that grey/brown look of bleached wood, using actual photos as my guide.
1. Black gesso primer
2. Americana Neutral Grey
3. Ceramcoat Mudstone
4. Americana Slate Grey
5. Americana Gray Sky
6. Polyscale RLM 63 Light Grey (for very light extreme highlight. Hey, I had it handy on my desk, so why not?)





All I have to do is finish the bases and varnish. With the weather looking like it will be breaking here in FL, hopefully I'll be able to spray some Dulcote on this very soon and use it!

Splintered Light 15mm vs Caesar 1/72 Fantasy

Once again, I'm dabbling with my boxes of 1/72 Caesar's figures. We own a box of Elves, Undead, and Ch'in Chinese. A few months ago, the kind folks at Splintered Light sent me a sample pack of their 15mm figures from their Splintered Light range, which mostly are sculpted by Bob Olley.

Tonight, I snapped a couple quick comparison photos of the two ranges side-by-side. Wanting to show off the great detail on these figures, I kept the full-size photos at their 500k size. To me, the figures work great together. In the photos are some dwarves, a kobold, bugbear, goblins, Druid's children, saytr, and animals.

Dwarves Will Be Dwarves
The SL dwarves are about the right size, though a tad taller would have been nice. Yes, Caesar makes a box of dwarves, but they make only one box. Splintered Light's Bob Olley dwarves gives a gamer much more variety. Still, having taller cousins (or shorter cousins depending on one's point of view) might not be that bad after all. The choice is yours.

Mixing & Matching Other SL Figures
I would not mix 1/72 figures with some of the other SL figures in their older ranges, though I am curious how their orcs would compare with 1/72 figures. Yes, Caesar makes a box of orcs and a box of goblins, but once again that is the extent of their range.

So there you have it. I don't want to jaw on. Check the photos and decide for yourself.

For more photos and info on Caesar's several fantasy sets, see Plastic Soldier Review.

15mm Battle Honors & Old Glory ACW Union

With the low humidity and cool temps that suddenly hit Florida today, I finally finished varnishing several sticks of Battle Honors 15mm ACW Union firing line figures. Wanting to get some photos online quickly and being too tired to set up the photo booth, I shot the figs in the evening sun, which picks out every last detail--not what I had intended! The figs look much "smoother" under normal viewing, if that makes sense.

This Is The Blue For You
The trousers are Pollyscale's military colors and found British P.R.U. Blue, which turned out just right. The coats are Ceramcoat Navy Blue. I used back magic wash on the figs. I highlighted the trousers using Ceramcoat Winter Blue and the coats using Americana Wedgewood Blue. I highlighted the black leather using P3's Coal Black, which I also used on the rifle barrels. Coal Black has a blue tinge to it. Wanting a worn look, I dirtied the uniforms using Ceramcoat Trail Tan. The Winter Blue also makes the trousers look worn, as if the soldiers had been wearing their digs for some time on campaign.

Old Glory Bonus Figs?
I got a couple Old Glory figs stuck in my Battle Honors bag and painted them as well. You can see a comparison photo below. For the same price as the OG figures, I prefer the BH figures--better sculpting and detail. The OG rifles are extremely thin and bend with the slightest touch, which constantly drove me crazy. Still, Peter Pig are my all-time favorite 15mm figures but cost about 2.5 times as much per figure.

D-Day 65th Anniversary Display

A few weeks ago in honor of the 65th Anniversary of the D-Day landings, one of the librarians at Seminole Community College (near Orlando, FL), where I teach, asked if I would like to do a display case commemorating the event using my 15mm figures. Sure, I said. Then it hit me. I had all of one evening to prepare!

The display kind of came together on the spot in about an hour. I brought my Landmark buildings, homemade scenery, and 15mm Peter Pig German and US infantry figures. I forgot a grass cloth for the bottom of the case, but the fake wood seems to work just fine. I found some reproduction items in a D-Day book and placed them around an article from Armchair General, plus some photos the librarian printed out. He also did a brief write-up about the scene I was representing.

The combat scene in the corner is meant to evoke the US paratroopers attacking Carentan. Of course, the figures are infantry and not all the buildings are from Carentan, but who would know that other than a hardcore gamer? Artistic license, right?

The response to the display has been great. I designed it to catch people's eyes as they enter the library. They then start looking about the scene to find all the infantry assaulting the church. People have borrowed some books and have been impressed that we gamers actually paint the figures ourselves to use in games recreating such battles. Leads to some nice questions for the onlookers, such as "So, who would you rather be in this position? The defending Germans or the attacking Americans?"

I've never done a display case before. If you get the chance at your local school or library, you should try it. If I had time, I would have made some one-sheets about the miniatures and our hobby.

British PRU Blue for ACW Union Trousers

Finding a good blue for Union trousers has been challenging. In the past I have tried using Reaper's True Blue as seen in my Iron Brigade photos. I also tried using Vallejo's Sky Blue, probably the most commonly used color for painting Union trousers. I painted a couple packs of 10mm and a dozen 15mm figures this way. I was not satisfied. The color is too light and bright. I was getting depressed.

Some fellows on TMP suggested using Howard Hues, which has a blue designed specifically for Union trousers. I have never used HH paints before. After researching HH, I heard mixed reviews about their paint. Since no one in metro-Orlando carries Howard Hues nor will special order paints, I would have to use mail order. Not really worth it because the stores selling Howard Hues really don't sell anything else I need at their prices. So my search for the ultimate Union blue went on.

A couple weeks ago I stopped by the local general hobby shop looking for some Pollyscale paints. Yes, I use more than craft paints! Being a model railroader since childhood, I remembered Pollyscale's Great Northern Big Sky Blue. Would it work for Union trousers? Nope. Didn't look right, even if less intense than Vallejo's sky blue.

Then I looked through Pollyscale's military colors and found British P.R.U. Blue, which if I recall is an airforce color. Looked good. Last week I bought a bottle and tried it out. Below is the result. I really like it. It looks like as close to Union trousers as I'll probably find. In room lighting, it looks a bit duller than in the photo, taken in direct Florida morning sunlight. The color comes closer to the jpg in the upper left. Also, I should have left a figure painted with Vallejo Sky Blue for comparison but forgot--the difference is dramatic. (Note: The Battle Honors figure below is not finished, which is why it looks so sloppy!)

Now that I finally have found a Union trouser blue I like, I can get cracking on my ACW projects again, but I'm thinking that I might need a darker Navy blue than Ceramcoat's Navy blue. Nah, I'll probably let that go. True Indigo would look too dark on a 15mm game table.

Give Pollyscale's British P.R.U. Blue a try. Let me know what you think.