Weekly WIP: Saga Finally!
When I received word Tuesday that my Saga order had arrived I was frantic to go to the hobby store to pick it up. Although I could have ordered online and conceivably saved money (although I think that you usually end up paying more for shipping unless you really buy in bulk) I will always order in store when I can. Fortunately Boutique FDB lets me email them my orders and haven’t yet complained about my near-daily update requests.
Gripping Beast Plastic Dark Age Warriors. Painted by Tyler Provick.
That night I had assembled 10 Warriors and by the time I put down my brush on Wednesday I have painted the skin and half the clothing of the batch. These miniatures are high quality with well-sculpted faces full of character that took my simple highlighting well.
Compared to my Guild Ball Project I used a very simple three step painting process. From black I applied the darkest shade of the colour I was painting. Unless the coverage was particularly poor I didn’t worry about achieving an even coat.
Then I applied the midtone, leaving the shade in the recesses and following the Zenithal Lighting approach. Again I only worried about a second coat if I felt it was really required.
Next I applied my highlight, worrying only about the tops of surfaces. This was normally my last step but if I felt that the jump from midtone to highlight was too stark I quickly mixed the two tones together and painted a layer at the boarder between the two.
Gripping Beast Plastic Dark Age Warriors. Painted by Tyler Provick.
Thursday night was more painting cloth followed by painting all the wood. In Saga Anglo-Dane Warriors are not a professional fighting force and I wanted them to look suitably motley. I spent some time researching what types of clothes they would have based on the available dies. I focused on the clothing instead of the details to make them look ragged. The wood and leather on all the miniatures can be painted the same and they will still look different.
By the end of Thursday night I was thinking that I’d made such good progress I may be able to paint two batches of 10 a week, for a staggering, compared to my Batman Miniature Game average of 1 figure a month, total of 20 miniatures a week. It is theoretically possible; if I had the fore-sight to order some shield transfers and the desire to use them. Instead I will be painting freehand all 10 shields, a feat that alternatively fills me with apprehension and excitement. Fortunately for me I want my Warriors to have much simpler designs than my Hearthguard. Which will make things easier, until it’s time to paint my Hearthguard.
Gluing magnets in Renedra bases for Saga.
It has been a while since I’ve painted 10 figures in a week and this speed is making me look forward to other projects involving large forces. The group I’ll be playing Saga with also plays Napoleonics so we may see a renewal of that project.
How do you paint large batches of miniatures? Leave your tips in the comments and tell me how much you’re able to paint in a go and how.
