As we prepare to say goodbye to June there is just time to sneak in one more post making this a hugely successful month with regards to offsetting the negative terms of miniatures bought to miniatures painted. So then, the next requirement for my first scenario of 'Witchfinder' is the angry mob or more accurately the Clubmen. I have to confess that is a term that I had not heard of before flirting on the periphery of the English Civil War, but I understand that Clubman would band together to protect common interests in time of war, utilising their peace time skills to good effect. To quote from the rules:
A good poacher can shoot a rabbit with ease and a man, after all, is a much bigger and slower target. a butcher keeps a razor sharp blade and knows how to quickly dispatch any creature with blood in its veins.
Now I was going to have a bit of a rant about 'Warlord Games', perhaps mentioning that this particularly batch of miniatures took an age to arrive or that they were badly cast resulting in me having to add green stuff to repair them. Possibly I would bemoan the amount of cast lines and flash that needed to be removed resulting in enough scrap metal to cast an additional miniature or I might even mention the diminutive stature of some of the miniatures that do not compare favourable with the 'giants' from 'Redoubt Enterprises'.
All of this, of course, is true, but the reality is that I rather like their product, the sculpts are interesting and characterful, the details crisp and plentiful, in fact once I finally stated painting them, I couldn't have wished for better.
This then the first four of an eight pack blister and perhaps my favourite miniatures of the group with a great mixture characters from the Mayoral candidate to the torch wielding matriarch clutching a ferocious looking cleaver. I did have a go at some Object Source Lighting on the old crone's bonnet, but rather bottled it for fear of over doing it, maybe next time, but for now it's on with the other half!
They do look like clubbable chaps!
ReplyDeleteThank you Sir.
DeleteWell, these ones don't seem to appreciate 'pea soup', but I really like the woman and the angry man with his raised fist...may be because the quality of the painting is 'supernatural'...top notch Michael!
ReplyDeleteThank you Phil, I think these will be first in line to complain about the Witches' brew.
DeleteYou've done rather well with these Mr Awdry - iffy casts or no!
ReplyDeleteThank you kind Sir, they were a bit of a battle though.
DeleteThe old hag's an excellent figure!
ReplyDeleteThank you Ray, certainly one of my favourites too.
DeleteAs with all you work these have come out very nicely indeed.
ReplyDeleteThank you Clint.
DeleteThey do look somewhat angry! Masterful brushwork Michael! The basing is rather superb too!
ReplyDeleteThat is really kind of you Rodger, thank you.
Deletereally nice figures and good job!
ReplyDeleteyou gave them life.
well done.
bye
Thank you Luca.
DeleteThey look great and in a bad temper!
ReplyDeleteChristopher
Certainly not to be crossed.
Deletehola
ReplyDeleteque minis mas buenas+
y con mucho juego
un saludo
Thank you J.D.
DeleteVery very nice. Glad you didn't chuck the bunch into the lead heap after all the prep work.
ReplyDeleteIt was a close run thing Jay, I can tell you.
DeleteVery cool group of minis. The stout gent with the bill-hook and ill-fitting trousers is my favorite. It seems that "plumber's butt" isn't just a modern phenomenon.
ReplyDeleteIt would appear that the "plumber's butt" is passed down father to son by way of an archaic right of passage - no pun intended! ;)
DeleteReally nice work!
ReplyDeleteDarrell.
Thank you so much Darrell.
DeleteIt just gets better and better! There is much to love in this set of townsfolk. They look fit enough to chase off witches or another Don Juan.
ReplyDeleteOr perhaps even Pirates later this year!
Delete"Burn the witch!"
ReplyDelete"She's not a witch, she's a werewolf"
"Burn the werewolf!"
These are rather characterful figures Michael and you've certainly brought them to life.
Thank you Tamsin.
DeleteThese are fantastic Michael, very nice indeed
ReplyDeleteThat is incredibly kind of you, thank you.
DeleteSo this is what happens when the grocer runs out of tea... These are fantastic figures full of rage & anger considering your (non) rant you have done a truly magnificent job on them. Hats off to you Sir!
ReplyDeleteThank you Robert, although there are elements of the Warlord Games marketing strategy I find distasteful they do produce some lovely things and so ultimately I was glad I stuck with them.
DeleteThis look great Michael.
ReplyDeleteThank you Stuart.
Delete"How do you know she is a witch?"
ReplyDeleteWonderful paintwork on these figs, Michael; whatever the imperfections, you seem to have concealed them completely. Excellent work Sir!
Thank you Ev, really pleased with how they turned out in the end.
DeleteWonderful work as always, Michael. Your efforts at cleaning and repairing the casts were well worth it. Best, Dean
ReplyDeleteThank you Dean.
DeleteBeautifully done Michael! Love the guy with the raised fist. Hmm an 8 figure blister of Clubmen, wonder if I stashed that away in my flurry of ECW purchases.
ReplyDeleteThank you Terry, it must be there somewhere!
DeleteWonderful job on these great figs!
ReplyDeleteThank you Jason.
Deletethese are brilliant all round!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Monty.
DeleteBringsa whole new meaning to "going out clubbing", great paint-job as always
ReplyDeleteThank you, it would be a riotous night with these chaps, I'm sure.
DeleteThese look great Michael, really love the figures and your paint jobs are tip top.
ReplyDeleteThat is very kind of you Mr. Smillie, thank you.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLovely work. And they are full of character.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mark.
DeleteWonderful brushwork Michael. I feel your pain regards clean up and work required to get figures up to the necessary standard for painting.
ReplyDeleteYou've gone the better route with these I have to say, despite the disparity in size. I have the Redoubt clubmen and they are some of the oddest and most disproportionate miniatures going for the period. A couple of them a bordering on mutant. Perhaps you could buy them for use as zombie clubmen? :-)
Thank you Millsy, I actually just finished some Redoubt Clubmen and whilst I loved working on them they do rather dwarf these; I'll try and post a comparison picture and some point in the near future.
DeleteWow great work mate
ReplyDeleteThank you so much.
DeleteWonderful paintwork again Michael and you are making this Witchfinder General very interesting and you have started me on my slow road to Donnybrook ECW, lol
ReplyDeleteThank you Pete, I do like the variety of models Witchfinder is allowing me to paint at the omen - great fun.
DeleteI know I have said this many times before of your painting but I will say it again. The combination of colors is simply superb. It gives the whole group of miniatures a real 'pop'. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, more often than not the starting point for the colour palette will be the same model seen on the internet, so it is very much a collaborative effort.
DeleteWonderful paintjob, Sir!
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to reading the first Witchfinder AAR then. ;-)
Cheers
Stefan
You and me both Stefan, it can't be far away now!
DeleteLooking splendid, Michael. To be honest, even in the photos, although I can see the disparity in size and heft, I'd not be overly troubled by it. Slightly odd sculpting, maybe, but I think within tolerable limits. And there's come justification - the clubmen might clearly be said to some from different sides of the farm tracks. And on a tabletop, from 3 to 5 feet away, those differences should be less noticeable. So I think they're great and should give you many happy hours of pillaging....
ReplyDeleteThank you my good man, I was hoping that would be the case, especially as they will be based on the same sized washers. I think I see the disparity of scale more acutely at the moment due to the small numbers that I'm working with, at least I hope that's the case!
DeleteSuperb work and especially on the OSL. I think you hit the nail on the head.
ReplyDeleteThank you, I think in retrospect I could have pushed it a bit more though.
DeleteTop work on the Clubmen Michael.
ReplyDeleteLovely expression that, "Clubmen" brings to mind cigars and brandy balloons.
Thank you Bob, now you see I was struggling to shake of an image of baby seals - not sure what that says about the pair of us? ;)
DeleteSuper job Michael, very characterful indeed. Sorry to hear of the trials and tribulations getting the prep'ed but the effort was clearly worthwhile.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Scott, they really were a pig, but once I was painting them it all seemed worth it.
DeleteSuper work Michael...1st class
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Captain.
DeleteLovely as always!
ReplyDeleteNever could get my mind to grasp the term Clubmen in this context... they never look too much like a real club and they sure do not all carry clubs... quite irritating!
It was certainly a new term for me too, but thank you nonetheless.
DeleteYour efforts with the castings certainly paid big dividends as they all look fabulous. The fellow shaking his fist is brilliant.
ReplyDeleteThank you Curt, he is certainly one of my favourites - a wonderful piece of sculpting.
DeleteReally beautiful work, the bases are stunning.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, I do enjoying basing the miniatures, it's like a full stop at the end of a sentence.
DeleteHi,
ReplyDeletei like your Blog!
I follow you. If you like to follow me too, i’ll be happy!
The Board Game Theory
Violet Studio Paint
Hi Christina, I like your blog too, but sadly you obviously hadn't noticed that I'm already following. ;)
DeleteStunning paint work, very inspirational
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Michael, greatly appreciated.
Delete