Blog discription

What will you find here? Ramblings from an aging gamer-miniature painter. When I first started out in this hobby computers were in their infancy and finding other gamers could only be done by going to conventions or as in my case bumping into somebody who happened to see me reading "Panzer Leader" on the school bus. Look how far we have come! The internet has allowed our small community to be able to connect on a level I never dreamed of when I was but a small lad. What I do hope you will find here is something interesting from one wargamer/miniature painter to another. I paint miniatures somewhat decently, so I will be posting some pictures of my work, and perhaps a review or two of games and/or miniatures. Most of all this is just about having fun and anything I post here is meant to be for that reason.

Saturday, September 10, 2016

The Jacobite '45

It's amazing what can inspire one to take up that paint brush and begin a new journey down a road you never thought you would.

It began a few months ago. My family and I are of Scottish decent, 5th generation as a matter of fact, and anything to do with the Scottish culture is always of great interest to us. My Sister discovered the book series of "Outlander", and when it became a TV series she was all over it. She had an advantage in that she knew what it was about already and tried to convince me to watch it, which I didn't until just a few months ago. I thought it was one of those romance, bla, bla, bla series and wasn't overly excited but she couldn't really tell me about it without spoiling it. So I ignored her sage advice and did nothing about it thinking she was crackers. A few months ago Itunes had the 1st season on sale and with Game of Thrones over and a few other series I like to watch done, I had nothing to lose so I downloaded it.

Man was I a turd for not listening to her. I was blown away. Mind you I almost turned off the very first episode after it was about half over with all the mushy stuff going on, and then it happened. The Heroine finally touched the bloody stone..... okay I won't spoil it for you either, but I have to tell you that they nailed it when it came to customs, costumes, and script (other than the mushy stuff;))!!! When the redcoats where chasing Highlanders through the woods I was suddenly sitting upright on the edge of my seat.

Okay it was all I needed to dive back into the world of the Jacobite '45. Suddenly I had ordered a few history books, scoured the internet for 28mm Jacobite figures, found color plates for reference etc. I was hooked!

The Jacobite '45 has through the centuries held a romantic feel to it and it has not changed to this day. New information has been coming forward from archaeology digs and this has pushed several authors to reconsider the period in question. An exciting time to learn for the first time or re discover new facts about an interesting time in history.

Some how I was able to talk a very good friend into joining me in this project and he has agreed to paint the English. We discussed a bit about what each company that makes 28mm for the period and what they brought to the table. My friend agreed to follow me in selecting a company called "Crann Tara" because I like the more anatomically correct looking features.

I received my first order a few day ago and have already mounted, primed, and put the beginning basic coats on. So far I am pleased with the fact that they aren't to busy which will be a relief as I figure out how to paint what will feel like a ba-zillon tartans.

My approach to painting all these tartans will be to give an artistic impression that you are looking at tartans, meaning I am not going to try and paint all those bloody lines, which will also have the added benefit of speeding up painting. Hopefully my approach will work. I have also discovered that during this period there was not a family/Clan tartan, that the tartans where regionally made and it didn't really indicate a clan as much as the region they came from. Also looking at paintings of battles and other references I see I am going to have to mix them up a bit. I've decided to mix the units by picking three basic colors and paint a third of each unit so.

Well that's enough talk for now and I'll leave you with a few pictures of the project start.



Cheers
Kevin

9 comments:

  1. Fine figures of men already, Kevin!

    Cheers,
    Aaron

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    1. Thanks Aaron, it's their diet of haggis that makes them so fit.... oh you mean they look cool:)

      Cheers
      Kevin

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  2. Ummm...I don't see James Fraser . You know the other hero. The super sexy one. Lol. Awesome dude! A must share on my Facebook. Great work Kevin. When you're done I must come over and touch one. 😂

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    Replies
    1. James Fraser, I wouldn't know about that super sexy stuff, but yes I'll let you actually get close to my finished figures and look at them, but no you may not touch them;)

      Cheers
      Kevin

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  3. I vaguely remember "Saga" starting out like this, and now I have 8 factions. Let the show begin!!!!!

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    1. Oh and, don't paint them too nice. I'm spray painting the government troops orange and calling them GOOD! Hehe!

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    2. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I hear you. But at least I have three Saga armies>:<

      You better well not dare! Spray them Orange indeed!

      Cheers
      Kevin

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  4. Skip, I think the proper term for the hue your looking for is tangerine. Trust me on this.

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    Replies

    1. Oh I do! Tangerine it shall be!! Thanks Dave.

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