Thursday 28 May 2020

ACW Bits and Bobs

This week has seen yet another ACW Union regiment step off the painting table...this time a converted fair haired Union colonel leads the regiment forward with his kepi impaled on his sword.


No sooner than it had marched off, fresh Confederate recruits have marched on to make an appearance sometime next week.

Also completed this week is this very nice Perry Miniatures plastic farm house kit. This has been sitting in an unfinished state on the painting table for a couple of months...pre-COVID19 in fact. It came with the Battle in a Box set that I bought ages ago and was assembled in late February. But when I sprayed it black I screwed up the spraying and over sprayed it so that some of the detail became obscured. I was so disappointed that I just left it. When I finally did get around to painting the weatherboards white it didn’t look right and even the application of that secret potion “Aly’s Brown Liquid” couldn’t fix it. So it continued to sit on the painting table, unfinished.


Then just this week, when I was becoming a little bored with painting ACW troops, I had another go. First I painted the roof, starting with a dark grey which was then highlighted with a lighter grey. Normally I would apply some GW Nuln Oil over this, but I was running really low on this tone and no local retailer seemed to have any stock. Instead I created a wash that was a 50:50 blend of GW Seraphim Sepia and GW Darkenhof Nightshade which gave quite an interesting dark brownish green that brought out the edges of the slate really well.


I then decided to try this new blend on the weatherboards of the house and repainted one section in pure white and then applied the wash. I liked the result and went back and repainted all the white area then washed it. I could then go back with the same wash and pick out the edges of the weatherboards and window frames where I had over sprayed. A quick touch up to the porch and the brick chimney and it as done.


To add a little character I placed two chairs either side of a small barrel (I was tempted to stand a bottle on the barrel, but had nothing to hand) and added a larger barrel to the wall at the end of the porch. I am quite pleased with the way I as able to recover what I had written off as a disaster into what is now a very functional structure. I haven’t quite decided if I am going to base this at all yet, but having been looking through photographs on the web of various Civil War buildings, I quite like the idea of making up a base of a farmstead like some of these Gettysburg houses


The Lester House (Meade’s HQ)



Trostle’s house and barn


The Bryan house

The idea of creating a special piece is quite appealing.


13 comments:

  1. Good looking Union unit. The lesson fo the terrain piece is to be creative, one supposes, came out very well and you have a nice alternative to a second wash.

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    1. I think that persistence paid off in the end.

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  2. This building looks really nice Mark and of course will work equally well in Maori Wars scenarios in Aotearoa!

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  3. Good looking Union regiment and a really excellent looking building, that's a great recovery!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks Iain. i think when I do get around to basing this up it will cover the last of the imperfections.

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  4. Mark, you have a never ending stream of ACW troops marching out! That Perry farmhouse is superb and greatly enhanced by your painting. Nice work!

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    1. The never ending stream is drying up, with only five ir six units left be done now.

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  5. Nice work, and there is no hint that you have oversprayed the primer on the farmhouse. The weathering looks very natural.

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    1. Thanks mate. Just goes to proves how a good coat of paint can disguise a multitude of sins!

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  6. More lovely toys indeed...

    The building has come out really well... and you have invented Marks Brown Liquid...

    All the best. Aly

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    1. I think it will look even better when based up. And yes you are right...I will have to experiment more with my special potion.

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