More pictures!

Got a new phone, so this means better pictures! What better way to show off my horse artillery... than showing them with their brigade together?

In the cooker:

I've also just about finished my 1st Scout Lancers, or rather, their correct title: 1er Regiment d'Eclaireurs de la Garde from Magister Militum. I had bought these models a while ago. I think they turned out okay, even if I dont like the sculpts - I think a little flock and proper base will make a difference too.

And then next to finish (with the basing) is my first battalion for the Elite Line Infantry unit. These are coming around quite nicely, also have some skirmishing stands for them not in the photo. They appear a little clean at the moment, but I'll be adding some grime to them when I do the basing, it should make them more "campaigned".

And that's it for now - started work on the Austrians again to switch it up a little to make sure I'm not bored by repetition!

An update! And about damn time too.

So, an update!

I've been away on business trips, and then a 4-week holiday, and then back, but lacked motivation to much of anything. Now that's all done, here's a little update...

But first of all, some better pictures of my horse artillery!

I think these pictures do the painting more justice, as opposed to the previous shots.

So at the moment, I'm currently working on two projects:

1. Finalization of my French army for Napoleonics - notably the Elite Infantry Brigade (Lasalle Rules). I finished my elite light infantry earlier, so now I'm in the process of doing the Elite Line infantry, specifically the 57e Regiment d'Infanterie de Ligne. One battalion finished, one more to go.

And then maybe an optional Young Guard cavalry regiment (Eclaireurs) just for shits and giggles.

And then finish off my Austrian army. Nnnnnngh so much to do.



Also painting up some Gemans for a Nachtjager list. These guys are awesome! As you can (maybe) notice, I'm trying to get the two types of splinter camo all painted. I love how these guys are turning out so far, and once I add them to the ruined urban bases, they'll be fantastic!

I think they came out a little blurry :(

New photo set up

I've been struggling ever since starting this blog to take decent photos of my miniatures. This is in part due to using my i-phone and in part due to not knowing the first thing about photography! Last week I read an article that explained how to get the best out of taking photos with your i-phone. The article is by Garfly on Tale of Painters and is well worth a read as I am not going to even attempt to explain how he does what he does. If you wish to have a read follow the link below...

http://taleofpainters.blogspot.de/2015/02/tutorial-how-to-photograph-miniatures.html

Instead I am going to show you the results I got with my first effort at following his advice. Below are a couple of shots of my (quick and easy) set up.

The big difference is the use of a tripod (cost me £2) and the use of the camera+ app (cost £2.99).  The results are below.

With these first two shots of my British Colonel the model appears much darker than it is in real life. Notice the colour of the background, far from white and more of an off grey.

The same shots taken using Camera+ and following Garfly's advice. The background is still not white but far lighter than the first two. More importantly the colours of the actual model are a much closer match to those in real life. Unfortunately the image is slightly out of focus and this is something that I will have to work on. By letting more light into the camera the image loses some of its sharpness but a little more practise and I should be able to get the best of both worlds.

Here are two shots of my French Foot Artillery. I found these very difficult to photograph as each team comprises of five models and getting them all in the right light was very difficult. In the end I had to settle for some very odd angled shots.

With my new set up the models themselves are far more accurate in terms of their colours. You will notice that in the second shot the background has not really been overexposed but importantly the figures themselves appear brighter.

Overall there is a lot more work to be done if I want the photos to represent what I see when I pick one of my models up but this is a good start. It is a shame that people put so much effort into painting their models and yet the internet is full of photos that make that paint job look second rate. While my first attempts above may not be there yet, Garfly's post will show you just what is possible using an i-phone and a cheap app.

Finally I'll leave you with a work in progress shot of the 1/45th Foot. This is the first half of the battalion. They may well take a little while to finish but I think the results will be worth it in the end.

Introducing Major-General Henry MacKinnon

Major-General Henry MacKinnon commanded the 1st Brigade of the 3rd Division of the British army in the Peninsular. Under his command were the 45th (Nottinghamshire), the 88th (Connaught Rangers), the 74th (Highland) regiments of foot and three companies of the 5/60th Royal American Rifles.

I am basing my army on Picton's 3rd Division at the battle of Fuentes de Onoro in 1811. At the time Colonel Henry MacKinnon, of the Coldstream Guards, was in command of the 1st Brigade so I have painted him up as a Colonel. I am aware that there are some issues with his uniform (the shako in particular) but I am limited to metal models as these are for my old man and he hates plastic! 

MacKinnon gained a promotion to Major-General soon afterwards but was killed leading the 3rd Division during the attack on The Great Breach at Cuidad Rodrigo on the 19th January 1812. His body was recovered by members of his old regiment the Coldstream Guards and buried at the village of Espeja nearby. 

Overall I am happy with the result and he looks great alongside my redcoats. This was my first time painting a 28mm horse (hard to imagine since I have been painting for years)! I used my airbrush to get the main coat on and then blended in a darker tone for the horse's legs. It is hard to see this effect in the photos but they came out really well.

Interestingly before the Napoleonic Wars MacKinnon's father resided in Dauphiny where a young Napoleon was a frequent visitor. Apparently MacKinnon had a cordial acquaintance with his future enemy!