Saturday 28 June 2014

Clubmen!


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!

81 comments:

  1. Well, 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!

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    1. Thank you Phil, I think these will be first in line to complain about the Witches' brew.

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  2. You've done rather well with these Mr Awdry - iffy casts or no!

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    1. Thank you kind Sir, they were a bit of a battle though.

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  3. The old hag's an excellent figure!

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    1. Thank you Ray, certainly one of my favourites too.

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  4. As with all you work these have come out very nicely indeed.

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  5. They do look somewhat angry! Masterful brushwork Michael! The basing is rather superb too!

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    1. That is really kind of you Rodger, thank you.

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  6. really nice figures and good job!
    you gave them life.
    well done.
    bye

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  7. They look great and in a bad temper!

    Christopher

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  8. hola
    que minis mas buenas+
    y con mucho juego
    un saludo

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  9. Very very nice. Glad you didn't chuck the bunch into the lead heap after all the prep work.

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    1. It was a close run thing Jay, I can tell you.

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  10. Very 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.

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    1. It would appear that the "plumber's butt" is passed down father to son by way of an archaic right of passage - no pun intended! ;)

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  11. It 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.

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  12. "Burn the witch!"
    "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.

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  13. These are fantastic Michael, very nice indeed

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    1. That is incredibly kind of you, thank you.

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  14. So 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!

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    1. Thank 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.

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  15. "How do you know she is a witch?"

    Wonderful paintwork on these figs, Michael; whatever the imperfections, you seem to have concealed them completely. Excellent work Sir!

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    1. Thank you Ev, really pleased with how they turned out in the end.

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  16. Wonderful work as always, Michael. Your efforts at cleaning and repairing the casts were well worth it. Best, Dean

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  17. Beautifully 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.

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    1. Thank you Terry, it must be there somewhere!

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  18. Wonderful job on these great figs!

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  19. these are brilliant all round!

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  20. Bringsa whole new meaning to "going out clubbing", great paint-job as always

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    1. Thank you, it would be a riotous night with these chaps, I'm sure.

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  21. These look great Michael, really love the figures and your paint jobs are tip top.

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    1. That is very kind of you Mr. Smillie, thank you.

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  23. Lovely work. And they are full of character.

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  24. Wonderful brushwork Michael. I feel your pain regards clean up and work required to get figures up to the necessary standard for painting.

    You'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? :-)

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    1. 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.

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  25. Wonderful 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

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    1. Thank you Pete, I do like the variety of models Witchfinder is allowing me to paint at the omen - great fun.

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  26. I 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.

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    1. Thank 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.

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  27. Wonderful paintjob, Sir!
    I'm looking forward to reading the first Witchfinder AAR then. ;-)

    Cheers
    Stefan

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    1. You and me both Stefan, it can't be far away now!

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  28. Looking 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....

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    1. Thank 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!

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  29. Superb work and especially on the OSL. I think you hit the nail on the head.

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    1. Thank you, I think in retrospect I could have pushed it a bit more though.

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  30. Top work on the Clubmen Michael.
    Lovely expression that, "Clubmen" brings to mind cigars and brandy balloons.

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    1. 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? ;)

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  31. Super job Michael, very characterful indeed. Sorry to hear of the trials and tribulations getting the prep'ed but the effort was clearly worthwhile.

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    1. Thank you so much Scott, they really were a pig, but once I was painting them it all seemed worth it.

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  32. Lovely as always!

    Never 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!

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    1. It was certainly a new term for me too, but thank you nonetheless.

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  33. Your efforts with the castings certainly paid big dividends as they all look fabulous. The fellow shaking his fist is brilliant.

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    1. Thank you Curt, he is certainly one of my favourites - a wonderful piece of sculpting.

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  34. Really beautiful work, the bases are stunning.

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    1. Thank you so much, I do enjoying basing the miniatures, it's like a full stop at the end of a sentence.

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  35. Hi,
    i like your Blog!
    I follow you. If you like to follow me too, i’ll be happy!
    The Board Game Theory
    Violet Studio Paint

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    1. Hi Christina, I like your blog too, but sadly you obviously hadn't noticed that I'm already following. ;)

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  36. Stunning paint work, very inspirational

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    1. Thank you so much Michael, greatly appreciated.

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