<<I am looking for a beginner set. What would you recommend?>>
Kevin has given a very full reply and I thought it worth giving it a wider airing by a dedicated blog posting.
So here is what he said and below it a few photos as a reminder of Kevin's skill and artistic flair.
Are you looking for a starter set of figures or paints?
If its paints I would recommend the foundry paint system (which is what I mostly use) They are useful as each colour comes with three shades for the dark, mid and light tones of any particular colour you want. The Napoleonic paint starter set is ideal for British and French units. It is what I started on. Please see the link: http://www.wargamesfoundry.
Paint brushes are always the bone of contention as getting good ones at reasonable prices are difficult. Foundry do some good ones but are not the best. They are good to start with though:http://www.wargamesfoundry.
I have found Rosemary and Co - Kolinsky sable Series 22 - just the best! Perhaps for future projects though? Please see here:
http://www.rosemaryandco.com/
For figures, I prefer, Perry Miniatures metal although I do and have painted some of their plastic ranges as they are cheaper especially when you require a lot of figures. Beware as they are fiddly to construct as they are like putting together an Airfix kit for some of the figures. They do French, British, Prussian and Austrian plastic brigade deals. The cheapest being £78. Please see :
https://www.perry-miniatures.
Also Warlord games do a nice if not better starter combination set where you get Allied/British and French protagonists. Some plastic, some metal in the pack as well as the bonus of some cavalry to paint. Please see: https://store.warlordgames.
Oh and just for good measure if you want to see the uniform colours of units at Waterloo I suggest this as your first stop: http://centjours.mont-saint-
Good luck with that long list. If you need any further info please leave another message.
Happy painting and I hope you get to into the hobby as it does become very engrossing! ENJOY!
All the best and kind regards.
Kevin
And here is a link to just one of the many of my blog postings featuring Kevin's figures
Interesting thoughts. As with so many aspects of the hobby there are a multitude of answers to any question. interesting to read the thoughts of someone with clearly a lot of talent.
ReplyDeleteThanks Paul for your end complement.
ReplyDeleteNaturally the intention is to express how I started off (I've had two starts!)There's plenty of other stuff to start off with nowadays but this explains the restart of my model figure painting in the noughties after many years out in the world of hard work and graft as a live event producer. There certainly was no time to paint models then! My first start was in the 70's so I cannot forget the Humbrol/Revel enamel paints of the 70's & 80's that I used to use - thank goodness things have moved on........but naturally those paints ( which keep going strong) still have their place in my military modelling! - particularly for my model building collections that I paint!
I still use oils for horses which is a thoroughly enjoyable and cathartic experience which takes me back to my oil painting canvas days of my teenage years, perhaps I ought to give it a go again!? Yes there are much quicker and more convenient methods to achieve the same effect but I just love using oils. Cavalry are my biggest joy to paint as there appears more animation possibilities where the sculptor provides.
I paint to create large armies in as quick a time as possible whilst keeping the quality to the same level. There's a knack there that Kevin Dallimore achieves wonderfully. I have never tried a painting competition nor never would as mine are for the wargames table to be beaten and bashed around and not intended for a fancy concours life. Big thanks must go to Chris Gregg (it's his blog!) for reigniting my wargaming dreams and bringing my wargames figures to life on the table of many a battle. It certainly is proving an enjoyable experience.
Cheers to that!
Kevin
Kevin,
ReplyDeleteYou should be very proud of your painting abilities. Its interesting you use the Rosemary and Co for brushes, I also use the company but opted for the series 401 as they are cheaper. I am a bit rough with my brushes.They are still very good value though. I must admit that I stopped using oils for my horses and went over totally to acrylics. I do miss the smell of the turps sometimes. The wipe off effect takes some beating even now. At one stage I was undercoating my horses in some very bright colours to add a new look to them when I wiped the oils off, I did find that deep yellow or deep orange gave the casting a great look.
Having sat down with the great Tony Runkee, [he painted a lot for Peter Gilder ] I have adopted some of his tips regarding faces and skin tones. I also have adopted paynes grey from him as a shade for white, which has always been a hard colour for me to get right.
Anyway keep up the good work.
Great post Chris and Kevin and cannot argue with any of your choices as your collections are sensational. Would love yo see a step by step demonstration illustrated with photographs of the horse oil painting technique with wiping etc. That would be snsational.
ReplyDeleteHi Carlo, Your request for a post on oil painting of horses is duly noted and will in the future be acted upon! It's strange you should mention it as I am showing a colleague 'how to' in a couple of weekends time. I will endeavour to get some photos done and itemised description to accompany. Let's see if it gathers any interest out there as it is a technique that must surely be disappearing with the use of acrylics now. All the best to you Carlo. Kevin
ReplyDelete