Macedonian leaders

   These figures are mostly Aventine with a couple Foundry Macedonian leader type figures. Being painted up for another individual who will provide the basing I have little to offer as for comment as I presume this time frame is well understood.

Sassanian Persians

    Often I get odd and bits to be painted up and these represent one such example. They are Sassanian Cavalry that an individual ask me to do. I find Sassanians probably the most painstaking figures to do all the ornament decorations that exist. Be that as it may here they are

 

Mounted Varangians Medbury Miniatures

      Technically, Varangians fought dismounted but someone asked me to paint up these miniatures as an offshoot of Varangians. I opted for a reddish brown cloak to unite these figures together unlike their dismounted cousins I painted with a scarlet cloak. I chose to do so to give them the look of any dark age mounted arm if needed. The majority of horses I painted with TT combat paints and cloaks were painted with the combat paints likewise. TT combat paint has some nice colors with built in gradient colors with subtle transitions which I really like. The following colors were used for the cloaks with resistance rust as the base followed by rich brown then honey comb brown and adding a small amount of mild curry to the comb brown for a final highlight. TT combat paints are very nice and the price is inexpensive. As for the Medbury miniatures they are spendid and I would love to see Medbury expand significantly in the dark ages range. As these are for another individual they are unbased. 

Byzantine Officers

   A small batch of Byzantine leaders with a mix of Aventine and Gripping beast miniatures painted on behalf of another of individual. I settled for an  uniform appearance for these figures with a lighter red tunic and brownish ochre cloak. 

English archers in Burgundian service

    These figures have been painted for another who provide his own basing. 24 of them total of which I selected a few to post. They are English archers serving with the Burgundian army and hence they have the red ST. Andrews cross on them. I chose to give them an uniform look with green tunics (a noted color of that time) along with blue pants. For the padded type armor they wore I utilized some colors from Vallejo game color range centered on the color bone white. I used 72.061 khaki for the base and opted for the 72.098 elfic flesh to highlight the bone white. I was pleased on how it turned out with its contrast in regards to the green and blue colors to complete the unit.

Footsore Vikings

    These figures are all the newer release of their Viking range. These are just some individual shots for anyone interested. I have probably 80 of these miniatures and posted a small sampling. The dynamics of these figures are no two figures are the same nor a slight variation of each other but rather literally each figure is unique. Second is the detail. There is a lot of detail which is both a positive and a negative. If one prefers a smaller force and enjoys painting lots of details for individual mounted figures these are fantastic for that purpose. There is one downside....painting time increased to complete these figures. I collect armies and my own collection of Vikings is quite dynamic as it comprises nearly 350 miniatures so when seen in mass a lot of details will get loss and the extra paint time perhaps is not worth it. With that said they are great figures (I will let the viewer decide from pics) and adding these to my older footsore, crusader and foundry figures (size wise they all fit fine) I probably have at least 150 variant castings which  is a fine fit for Vikings. My plan is to post all of them some time this summer with some painting recipes of colors etc....so that will be forthcoming.

Burgundian mounted archers

     These figures will be based by the owner as they have been painted on his behalf. As they comprise 12 figures and I painted each horse in its own horse color recipe I decided I would share some of horse color variations I chose.

1) Vallejo London grey (836) or TT combat paint admiralty grey. I used the TT admiralty grey but it’s essentially the same color as the London grey. 100 percent base coat of the grey then add pure white to lighten to for the second layer and so forth adding more white for additional layers until satisfied.

2) black. I used pro acrylic black as the base coat then lighten it with Vallejo medium flesh (860) for the second layer and again lighten further for the third (and a 4th if you wish) layer by adding additional medium flesh. 

3) I used TT combat paint damp sand though Vallejo German beige (821) is a close equivalent. 100 percent damp sand then added ivory to lighten for the second layer  and then additional ivory for the third and 4th highlight. For contrast use a dark brown for the mane, tail, and leg markings below the knees.

4) Vallejo chocolate brown (872) for the base coat. For the second layer add in about a 50/50 mix of vallejo beige brown (875) for the second layer. The third layer I lighten it up with Vallejo desert yellow (977) by adding in roughly 25 percent of it to the mix for final highlights.

5)Vallejo dark rust (771) mixed equally with black for base layer. Second layer 100 percent dark rust. Then add in roughly 50 percent of Vallejo flat brown (994) to the dark rust. For a final highlight I chose to lighten it further with a small amount of Vallejo orange brown (981)

6) Vallejo chocolate brown (872) mixed equally with black. Second layer 100 percent chocolate brown then to lighten for further layers used Vallejo beige brown (875). TT combat paints one can use trench brown in place of chocolate brown and driftwood brown in place of beige brown which I actually did. 

7) beige brown (875) mixed equally with Vallejo cavalry brown (982) for base layer. The second layer I used Vallejo flat flesh (975) by adding it to the original mix and continue to lighten for the third layer by adding more flat flesh to the mix to the final highlights. If one prefers a paler horse without the reddish color start 100 percent with the beige brown then add in additional amounts of flat flesh. For a final highlight a small amount of white added in to the mix will work. 

8) Equal mix of Vallejo hull red (985) and black for the base layer. Second layer add 50 percent more hull red. For third layer add Vallejo cavalry brown (982). I used roughly 25 percent cavalry brown to the original mix. Again tailor it to your desired contrast….if you wish for a lighter coat start the original mix with less black and final highlights with more Vallejo cavalry brown. 

9) Vallejo mahogany brown (876) with equal amount of black for base coat. For second coat add more mahogany brown to the mix for as many layers you choose. A variation is to use only 10-20 percent black or even a very dark brown color to mahogany brown for the base coat with only mahogany brown for the second layer. Then add some Vallejo desert yellow (977) to lighten for final highlights. 

For socks/markings for darker horse shades I use sky grey for the base color then add white to lighten for successful layers. Lighter horses I prefer desert yellow for the base coat then lighten by adding successful amounts of white. For black tails, manes and black leggings pro acryl dark neutral grey, Vallejo black grey (862) or TT combat paints dark slate grey all will work as an acceptable highlight. Couple final notes….AK 3rd generation paints have many near equivalents to Vallejo that can easily be swapped in place. I do realize TT combat paints probably most readers do not have…but they are fine paints that allow for plenty of thinning which works well when applying several layers for horses why I added those color options. Generally, for larger surfaces I prefer more gradual transition in colors often going for a fourth highlight being applied in paint being well thinned. Smaller surface areas I intentionally make for more stark transitions…one will notice from the pics for example the faces and boots are more stark in contrast than the horses. Reason being…on the table top when the figures are not blown up on one’s computer screen from the pics…smaller surfaces require that stronger transition to stand out and they do not appear as stark from a distance viewing. I do hope to supply more color recipes going forward…I will be posting a bunch of single Viking figures from Footsore latest release and some particular color choices that are applicable for Vikings soon. Hoping this will be of some value to readers.