"25mm Gnome Spearmen" Topic

I ordered these Essex Gnomes from the UK (I live in the USA), and they arrived around three weeks ago. I finished them in three weeks -- that is the fastest completion I think I have ever had, in 30 years of painting mini's!

I do simple block painting. After that, I brush on Minwax Polyshades Urethane Stain, aka, The Dip Technique, followed by a clear matte coat, to dull the shine of the satin finish urethane stain. Once the oil-based urethane fully dries, I brush on PVA Glue to the base, and then I swirl the base in a green sand mixture, to texture the bases. Once that dries (overnight is best), I apply a clear matte coat to dull the shine of the urethane stain (satin finish, but still quite shiny). Then the mini's are ready for the table!

I bought, and painted, 50+ Essex Gnomes, around 20 years ago. I realized that their army needed some additional recruits, so the 15 spearmen were enlisted. Now I need to finish my Kobold army, and start playing battles of the Wee Folk: Goblin, Kobolds, Gnomes, and Dwarves.

The fun thing about these Gnome figures, is that they are close enough to Dwarves that they can be used as stand-in's, if needed. Likewise, my Dwarves can be used as stand-in's for the Gnomes! This means that I can field around 150 figures for each race, as long as I do not need to field both races in the same battle!

The bases are 20mm squares of MDF. The metal figures are attached to the bases using E6000 Glue, which works superbly. They were then primed using gray spray primer. The colored paint was all inexpensive craft paints. The sand glued to the bases, textures them, as well as blending the molded bases into the MDF bases.

There are three different poses for these Spearmen. They appear to be sculpted by the same person -- style and size are very good; they appear to be sculpted by the same person as the figures I purchased 20 years ago.

The Essex Gnomes are good, old-school Gnomes, with large noses. Painted properly, they make superb Gnomes: Phonto2, Photo3. The Gnome with the orange marker is one of the 50+ figures I purchased 20 years ago. As you can see, he fits in beautifully with the 15 Spearmen I recently acquired. If you have an interest in building a Gnome army, the Essex Gnomes are fantastic. Cheers!

I like them. Nicely done!

I've always really like a Tudor looks on armor.

I had trouble finding cans of Tudor stain, so I tried Royal Walnut, and I had been using that for 20 years. Recently, I ran out of Royal Walnut, and I could not find it. For that reason, I tried Antique Walnut. Royal Walnut is my favorite of the three: dark, muddy brown, not as dark as Tudor, but darker than Antique Walnut.

I buy the smallest can I can find, 1/2 pint. The 1/2 pint can will last me for several years, so either I use the Antique Walnut, or I pitch it for a new can of _____. At $12 USD per 1/2 pint can, I think I will use it up before I buy more. Cheers!

Ace hardware seems to be the only place I have found Tudor stain.

Do you prefer gloss or satin?

I have always used the satin finish. Either satin or gloss will work. A clear matte coat will render both the same in the end. Cheers!

I would just pretend they are short Dwarfs. I never really got into the Gnome thing, but I am still looking for one for my yard. Looks great. Sometimes things sit for a long time, and sometimes they get done fast, I paint in front of my computer and I have about 50 miniatures that have been sitting in various states of paint, from primed to partially painted for about 3 to 4 months for the current batch, most 3d printed 15mm for wargaming, and 28mm for dnd. My desk need to be cleaned of miniatures. every now and then I get a whole lot of mini's painted and then I start a new batch that just sits for months again in the same place as the ones I just cleared out.

Keep Painting