Posts Tagged ‘Redoubt’

h1

Hunting pirates #6 – All done!

July 8, 2021

It’s summer holiday time, and that means I finally have the time and energy to get to blogging, a little bit at least! This post is a special one though, as I rarely get to make one – it actually marks the end of a project, and this is because of actual completion, not dried-up interest.

With most of my projects usually being very much open-ended, it was a delight to actually take one to a clear, pre-defined finish. So here they are, my pirate hunters! A group of tropey types defined in my initial post, the bit of extra character made all the difference when painting them. For me, a little fantasy – thinking about the characters and their back stories – is a really good motivator, so I’ll have to do even more of that in the future.

In the end, I made one change in the cast, as I wasn’t completely happy with the Hero Forge duelist I’d made. However, as I drew inspiration for him from The Three Musketeers’ Comte de Rochefort, I realised that I actually had the good count as a miniature already. The model I have is by Redoubt Enterprises, and is actually a really nice piece. I think I originally skipped him as there was a fair bit of flash on the model and the sword was a little bent – the kind of things you “can’t be bothered with right now”. The model is very tall especially compared to my Foundry pirates, which also left him sitting in a box for years. Once cleaned up, painted, and based, he fit the crew just fine!

Group shot of pirate hunter miniatures

Click for a larger version

So, from left to right, front row:  the second-in-command, one of the twins, the leader, the other twin, the sniper. Back row: the beastmaster and his dogs, the scholar, the veteran, the unhinged, and the heavy.

They’ve been based in a way that combines elements from my pirates and my civilians, so they can easily serve as either, should I ever actually play a game. At the same time it makes them a faction of their own. They may get a small ship of their own some day in the future, but for now I’m happy just to have the crew. While they’re pirate hunters, they would actually make for a super cool 18th century vampire/monster hunter team as well, à la John Carpenter’s (or rather, John Steakley’s) Vampires. New sub-subproject, maybe?

For the previous posts in this project featuring many of the individual characters, check out the Pirate hunters tag.

Posted in 18th century, Miniatures, Pirates | Tagged , , , , , | 17 Comments »

h1

Piratical 2017 recap

January 6, 2018

This year has been a weird one hobby-wise. On one hand, I must have painted less than 20 miniatures all year, which is very few even by my modest output standards. On the other hand, I’ve been fairly prolific with terrain – building a whole new pirate board for example. To showcase what I’ve done this year, I set up most of my pirate stuff on my new board for a major photo shoot. To be honest, this is what I’m mostly in the hobby for: I game very little, so the pirate project is more of a dollhouse thing than something for frequent gaming use. I think this goes back to old Citadel Journals, where dioramas with tens of minis were used to display the variety of miniatures available. Another, more recent example and a great inspiration has been the pirate gallery on War in 15mm.

The table has many items that I haven’t featured in dedicated posts. If there’s something that catches your eye, just let me know in the comments and I’ll do a separate post. There will be one on the table itself, too!

My pirates have become by far my most enduring and consistent project of the past years. I’ve stuck almost exclusively to them since 2015, and there’s been no drop in enthusiasm. On the contrary, I’m more and more interested in the 18th century (and there has been a bit of an overspill into 17th and 19th century too) and I’ve for example amassed quite the collection of books on the subject. Might be a post or two in those, too.

You can click on any photo for a larger version, opening in a new tab.

The governor and his family survey the town

A wealthy merchant with his bodyguard in tow – a highwayman lurks behind the turn

One of the governor’s footmen keeps an eye on the pirates making landfall

A scoundrel with a heart or an assassin?

A boatload of pirates lands on the jetty

Trouble might be brewing

It’s Jean Blanc – the Unkillable Frenchman!

The obeah woman and her maroons keep watch

A pirate is about to get hanged – is this what drew the Frenchman?

“Nasty business, hanging.”

The captain makes sure the king’s law is carried out

A few pirates got off with an easier sentence

On Tyburn Island, trade carries on

…even in the shadow of the gallows

Speaking of trade, the governor’s men have discovered a stash in a beach cave

A footman keeps watch as the cave is investigated

At least the weather’s nice

…unless you’re working

…let alone using the outhouse

Barrett’s dead drunk in the pigsty again

“Need a hand wi’ ‘im Peg?”

Old Rogers’ cart is a landmark by now

Whatever happens on the island, the Queen knows about it

So, that’s where I’m at now! Feedback is most welcome. To all new readers and regulars, happy 2018 and thanks for stopping by!

 

 

 

Posted in 18th century, Miniatures, Pirates | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 35 Comments »

h1

From the painting desk #43 – Gentry

October 6, 2016

I’ve been painting a lot in recent weeks! We’ve managed to set up a semi-regular thing with my friend Joonas and his wife Mia, where they pop in for an evening or two per week to paint, build models, write and whatever we have at hand. This has been a huge production boost – setting aside 5-12 hours more time for painting than usual obviously pays off.

Some of the produce of these painting evenings are the couple shown below. The woman is from Front Rank’s line of 18th century civilians and the man is part of Redoubt’s excellent French and Indian War range.

Click for a larger version

Yellow is a colour I’ve always disliked painting, so I made the conscious choice to try doing it properly for once. The lady’s dress seemed like the perfect chance, so I tried to create something eye-catching and bright. I’m fairly happy with how the dress turned out, although some of the blending could be a lot smoother and the undercoat should be a lot more even. It was an important step in reducing my dislike for yellow, though! I think I’ll paint some more in the future. I also dabbed some rouge on the lady’s cheeks, as that was in fashion back then.

With these, and a few other quick paintjobs that probably won’t find their way to the blog, my year’s painting total is up to a grand total of ten miniatures. I’m aiming for thirty by the end of the year, and it seems realistic at the moment.

I’m really happy that I’ve managed to attract a crowd of regular commenters. Your input makes blogging even more fun and worthwhile, so thanks everyone!

Posted in 18th century, Miniatures, Pirates | Tagged , , | 8 Comments »

h1

From the painting desk #37 – 18th century townsfolk

November 13, 2015

With the Halloween game behind me, I figured I’d show off some of the miniatures used in more detail. An excellent thing about the whole Halloween game with a set deadline is that it really made me paint more than in a good long while, and now I have a solid group of townsfolk to fight off not only rampaging monsters, but pirates as well. I showed off the willage workers in an earlier post, here are some of the more well-off individuals. They were all quick paintjobs, but I’m reasonably happy with each and every one!

The Priest

Click for a larger version

Click for a larger version

I love this model from Front Rank Figurines. He looks really stern, and is more priestly than the average Rick. He was very easy to paint, too! I’m not too fond of painting black, so pretty happy with how his clothes turned out.

The Young Man

Click for a larger version

Click for a larger version

A Redoubt FIW miniature. Very, very simple paintjob with grey pants and a white shirt. I like the pose and the lack of vest, as he looks like he’s been forced to pick up the musket at a moment’s notice.

The Old Man

Click for a larger version

Click for a larger version

Another Redoubt mini, I love this one’s face. He has an impressive nose, and overall looks almost like a Native American. I like the pose, he looks very alert and ready for action.

The Black Lady

Click for a larger version

Click for a larger version

This is one of my favourites of the lot and another one by Redoubt. In my opinion the model’s face didn’t look Caucasian, so I decided to try something different. I’m really pleased with the end result, as both the skintone and the overall paint scheme turned out well. It also gave me a good chance to look into the history of black people.

The Redcoat

Click for a larger version

Click for a larger version

I love painting red, and this mini was no exception. I think the red coat turned out fine and all in all I like the combination of colours. Can’t go wrong with a combination of bone white, muted red and khaki.

These minis as well as another villager bring my painting tally up to 31 for this year.  Comments welcome! As I’ve recently been fiddling with the photo setup, I was wondering whether I should keep the pure white background or go back to a coloured one. Opinions?

 

Posted in 18th century, Miniatures, Pirates | Tagged , , | 13 Comments »

h1

From the painting desk #36 – Gentleman

October 29, 2015

The Halloween game draws closer, and I’m frantically painting stuff for it. My latest effort is this 18th century gentleman firing his pistol and carrying a musket. The model is from Redoubt’s French and Indian War range, which by the way is excellent!

Click for a larger version

Click for a larger version

I gave the paintjob more attention than on the villagers of the previous post, but tried to keep it simple and quick. Quite happy with how he turned out! I wish him a happy life before a monster tears him to pieces. This is another model that will be used in pirate games as well, and he is this year’s 25th model.

 

Posted in 18th century, Miniatures, Pirates | Tagged , | Leave a Comment »

h1

Innocent bystanders

October 27, 2015

A few weeks back I had a great idea: I want to run a themed game for Halloween! Thus began a small project I’ve dubbed “Bump in the Night”. It’s a quick participation game I’m running for friends next Saturday. As a few of them have no experience with miniature gaming, I’m doing the game using the SoBH engine and its Fear and Faith mod. I haven’t abandoned my pirate project, as the Halloween game uses 18th century minis as well, so its two birds with one stone. The scenario is a tongue in cheek competition with monsters (a vampire, a werewolf, a zombie mob, a hellhound and the headless horseman) trying to cut down as many civilians as they can while the civilians try to make their way to the village church. It all takes place somewhere in New England, possibly.

I have most of the minis I need for the scenario, but they need painting. First up are these innocent villagers. They’re actually English Civil War civilians by Redoubt Enterprises, so historically they’re off by a century or so. However…I don’t really care. I’ll just say it’s a really rural colony, and some of its people are very traditional. I originally bought the miniatures to add to my Warhammer Fantasy Empire army, and they’ve been sitting in the cupboard for ten years or so, I think. I was really happy to give them an airing and finally slap some paint on.

Click for a larger version

Click for a larger version

They were pretty quick paintjobs, hence the groupshot that handily hides some mould lines and rough painting. I especially need to single out two minis, however, and they’re the disheveled lady in the back row and the red coated gentleman in the middle. Both were painted by my girlfriend, and they’re her first and third mini, respectively, with the first one painted a long while back. I based the minis with a mixture of green and brown flock, with assorted pizza herbs thrown in. I think they make for a nice autumn look, and are generic enough to be used in different settings. The minis themselves are actually quite nice, with separate weapons and heads on some. They’ll work nicely as village farmers and woodcutters not only in the Halloween game, but in fantasy and pirate games as well.

I still have a bunch of 18th century miniatures to do, so better get to it. I’ll hopefully post new pics later in the week! Comments welcome, as always.

The ones painted by me bring my painting count up to 24.

Posted in 18th century, Game reports, Miniatures, Pirates | Tagged | 9 Comments »

h1

18th century comparison

July 17, 2015

I love miniature size comparisons. With plenty of manufacturers out there, it’s useful to know which manufacturers fit together size and style wise. I’m not too fussy with what lines I use together (as you can see from my Colonial Marines), but I know a lot of people are very particular about it. As I’ve amassed a lot of pirate/18th century miniatures in 28-ish mm recently for my small project, I figured I’d do a quick comparison for the benefit of everyone out there. Posts like this are something I tend to google a lot, so this is just paying it forward. This isn’t a review as such, more a quick comparison.

The ranges compared are 18th century sailors by Galloping Major, pirates by Black Scorpion and Foundry and FIW civilians by Redoubt. Here they are side to side:

Click for a larger version

L to R: Black Scorpion, Galloping Major, Foundry, Redoubt

In my opinion all these can be used together, but as said above, I’m not fussy. If you want matches, here are my suggestions:

Black Scorpion has a different style from the others. They also have a fairly large range, so you could just use them exclusively. If the height difference is the thing bothering you, Galloping Major matches up nicely. Style wise Redoubt’s weapons are thinner than Foundry’s or Galloping Major’s and match up quite well with Black Scorpion.

Redoubt can easily be mixed with both Galloping Major and Foundry.

Galloping Major matches Black Scorpion in height but not style. They’re a good match with Redoubt and Foundry style wise, but in general chunkier and taller. However, you could circumvent the height difference by removing the integral base from the Galloping Major minis.

Foundry are short, but style wise match Redoubt and Galloping Major. You could remedy this by giving them a boost under their integral base using putty or a washer.

So that’s my take! As a disclaimer, note that these are single samples from larger ranges which in themselves have internal variation and and..oh heck, I’ll just leave it to Captain Barbossa:

As I like all of these minis and don’t want to unnecessarily put you off from buying them, shown below is a picture of two Foundry pirates and a Black Scorpion one. As you can see, you can do wonders with matching basing and I think they go together just great, even with the height difference.

Click for a larger version

Click for a larger version

Hope this post proves useful! If it does, I’d love to hear about it.

Posted in 18th century, Miniature reviews, Miniatures, Pirates | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments »