The second miniature in my archer levy line up is more successful, feeling more coherent in terms of colour scheme, technique and finish. The basing feels more satisfying, too, although I can see easy gains around the corner.
I’m still finding that flesh, in particular the face, is challenging but I’ll hopefully overcome this within these first six miniatures.
Viking Archer (Foundry)
Two years after purchasing the first batch of Foundry Vikings for my long planned Saga warband the first miniature is painted and based! This is also the only miniature completed since the Chaos Thug back in the spring of 2018.
A confluence of external factors pushed me over the top at last; the coming together of a handful of friends and colleagues interested in playing Saga 2 Age of Vikings and Age of Magic (already purchased and planning an undead faction using the splendid GW Night Gaunt miniatures…) and finally having purchased a more robust painting and modeling kit than the svelte Army Painter set I had previously wet my erstwhile painter’s toes with.
The core of my set up is now Foundry’s Original and Expansion paint sets, supplemented by a few GW paints, specialist inks and some decent Winsor & Netwon Series 7 brushes, as well a wider range of basing materials.
Although still a little rough for my liking the difference that access to a full range of paints has made to my rediscovery of miniature painting is, I hope, visible. Certainly I feel happier about placing this miniature on a tabletop than I did the Thug or Amazon. Hopefully the next few Vikings will see further gains as I get used to the Foundry paints and necessity of holding miniatures at arms length to see them clearly rather than at the the end of my nose.
Viking Archer (Foundry)
A little over a year later, and the next miniature is finished -- a mid-80s Citadel chaos thug.
Not the best sculpt, but redolent of the era. Not sure who to attribute it to; possibly Bob Naismith.
My painting is still very rough, but slowly getting used to the Army Painter range of paints, so at least this piece feels a little more coherent than did the Amazon.
Chaos Thug (Citadel Miniatures)
Returning to figure painting after a hiatus of some eight years, I tried my hand at an old (c. 1986) Citadel Talisman miniature by Ali Morrison, as it happened to be the only bare lead to hand.
Although not one of the best examples from the Talisman range, it nevertheless has some of the distinctive style and character that defined Ali's work in the 1980s.
Working with a limited supply of aging, half-dry paints and the smaller Golden Age scale of the miniature didn't help but, excuses aside, it turns out I'm rustier than expected -- will just keep telling myself the rough paint job lends the piece a certain Oldhammer charm.
Talisman Amazon (Citadel Miniatures)