writes:
I just started into Historical Miniatures. I chose my favorite time period (Colonial British, Victorian Empire, Northwest Frontier, 1871-188) and rushed out to buy some lead.
I chose Old Glory British, with kit/advancing as my start.
Being the Internet age, I figured a picture is worth a thousand words, so I borrowed a digital camera and snapped these shots:
This is just to show you my level of skill. These are Reaper Dwarves on a GW background. As you can see, I'm kinda amateurish.
Here is the whole force - all 30, at attention. I started by undercoating with Krylon's Ultra Flat Khaki Primer. I think it turned at well.
Here is the primer I told you about above, as well as my paints. A selection of GW, Ral Partha, Testors and Apple Barrel.
After I primered with the Krylon, I thought the khaki was a little too dark, especially compared to the British in the Osprey books. (The books seemed to depict them wearing a lighter khaki.)
I was given advice (from readers of TMP!) to try drybrushing some lighter tan over the khaki, and that I would like the results. That's what I did. I couldn't find the exact shade of tan I liked, so I mixed some Apple Barrel Toffee and Apple Barrel White to get what I wanted. I then dry-brushed over the primer. It made a really neat result. They looked more...dusty, I would say, as if they had just gone through combat. While it didn't lighten completely, it did make them more hardened, I think.
Here is a close-up. I started painting the flesh and rifle. I used Ral Partha's Red Brown for the Martini-Henry stock. I use black for the barrel and lock, and gunmetal for the bayonet.
I've chosen various colors for the hair (brown, blonde, black and red).
Am I on the right track? How do they look compared to other historical miniatures? Any advice how to continue?
This is my first foray and I'm not sure if these will look proud on the tabletop.