On the painting block - 1

Plains Wars - US cavalry. Painting under way

A view of my painting block

Almost finished
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Here's my current project, a batch of 25mm dismounted US cavalry of the Plains Wars era, which I'm painting up for a fellow gamer. The sharp-eyed among you may spot two versions of General George A. Custer lurking somewhere in the middle!

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The figures are on my painting block, an idea adapted from the test tube racks found in laboratories. Each figurine is glued to a dowel rod using Aileen's Tacky Glue or similar. This allows me a firm grip, prevents paint dribbling onto my fingers, gives me the ability to reach any part of the figure at any angle, and I can also dip the figure into Pledge/Future & ink mixture for shading without mess. Once the figure is complete, I simply cut it free of the rod using a box cutter knife. I chose a sixteen rod configuration simply because this is a number I can paint in one go without growing tired of the process!

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Next up will be a batch of US riders and horses. Painting horses is something of a chore for me, but since only a dozen are required it shouldn't be too difficult this go around.

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Since I have a number of figures in this period, I'm going to use some of them for GASLIGHT games set in the Old West. The rest are up for sale, so anyone interested - contact me for a list!

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Amongst the figures I have is a wagon train camp set depicting a rather nice "cookie," complete with coffee pot and ankle length apron, and a man holding out his mug for a refill! These are just begging to be used in a game. I aim to build a steampunked Connestoga wagon and chow wagon, along with another Explorer vehicle to tow them. As for the natives, I have something in mind for a "force equalizer/multiplier" to take on the US cavalry. Watch this space...