About a year ago, I purchased a couple of boxes of Dark Alliance Half-Orc Pikemen. I figured I could use them as Hobgoblin Pikemen. I figure the Hobgoblins are the only race of humanoids with enough discipline to form Pike Units. I also purchased some sets of "Orc Ballista and Crew", which I also decided to paint up as Hobgoblins.
Well, I primed the Pikemen figures three weeks ago, and I just finished painting them to my usual GEtGW standard. I also experimented using Acrylic Paint Pens, on the Ballista sets. The final word is in, for me, on Paint Pens…
They are useful, but getting into tight spots with them, is challenging. I found that if I pumped the tip, several times, it would accumulate enough paint to be drawn into the recesses, by capillary action. I don't care for that. I've decided that using the Paint Pens is great for flat, open surfaces which need paint; it goes on very quickly, and very easily. For recesses, the brush is king -- especially fine tipped brushes.
Anyway, here is a link to a photo of my finished figures: 34 Pikemen, and six Ballistas with Crews. This will round out my Hobgoblin Army to around 80-100 figures, with six Ballistas and Crews; there are Spearmen, Longbowmen, and Heavy Cavalry units, as well. They were just Dip'ed an hour ago, so they are quite fresh, and quite fragrant -- I need to pull out my figures-dedicated Slow Cooker so I can speed up the curing process to one-half hour!
I used the Acrylic Paint Pens on the Ballistas and Crews, and I employed only a narrow tipped brush in painting the Pikemen. I hoped that brushing on The Dip would darken all the recesses where I did not push paint, with the pens. It worked well enough, at arm's length, but a brush is considerably more effective, and controlled. Cheers!
