Tuesday, March 26, 2013

The Start of Something Small

As avid followers of this humble blog may recall, Phil Broeders was the (perhaps) lucky winner of some painted figures of his choice from my 250,000 hits giveaway. Phil went and chose 6mm Republican Romans, so after a deep breath I girded my loins and ordered some figures from Baccus. This is my first time painting 6mm, and I think the experience will either send me insane or make me hooked onto a new scale. Let's find out which.

So, step one. In my giveaway I offered to paint around 10 figures. The equivalent cost buys quite a few little Baccus figures. Phil will be getting several units of hastati/principes, some triarii, velites and even some generals, one of which will of course represent me on the tables of Phil's future battles. Here they all are, undercoated in white.



First impressions are that these figures are really quite small. This may be a redundant observation, but by god they are small. However, the detail is really quite impressive, and I particularly like the way these figures are quite anatomically correct, and not inflicted with 'big head syndrome'.

I decided to undercoat in white because I wanted to try out washing them with a coat of diluted raw umber. The plan is that this will define the detail for painting, but also essentially shade the tunics for those I intend to leave white. The other alternative is of course a black undercoat, but to my mind this usually leaves the figures looking a bit too cartoony.

Here's how they look after a wash of diluted Windsor & Newton raw umber. New small paint brushes are purchased, so let's get underway...

12 comments:

  1. Wow, that's a lot of small soldiers!

    Looking forward to your "painting report" as I've never ever paintes such small models.

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  2. Have fun painting them! just remember that you are painting for unit rather than individual effect. Another thought - when picking colours to use, think what colour you'd use at 28mm then go 2 shades brighter.

    The Baccus figures are incredibly detailed, curse that Pete Berry!! ;)

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  3. I have painted a few 6mm figures and have to agree with Tamsin- bright is best!
    I think undercoating in white was a wise choice too.
    I'm sure you'll do a fine job.

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  4. Best of luck old chap - at the risk of causing an echo, bright is best. Also don't sweat the little mistakes.

    Think Monet not Durer.

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  5. Phil's a lucky boy, I'm sure he;'s gonna love what you do with them. Have fun painting the 6mm figures....you better make the appointment with the opticians now, you'll need glasses by the end of the painting!

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  6. I'm loving this! You'll enjoy it Dux - especially when they're all lined up.

    Phil

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  7. Also adding advice as I go, I find a wash of Windsor & Newton nut brown ink afterwards gives a nice effect but don't do it on white as it turns that a redish colour.

    Enjoy the experience and use plenty of light as that saves you from the opticians, well for a while

    Ian

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  8. A great looking start. I'm considering the white and Burnt Umber wash for my next batch of 1/72 figures.

    I'm getting more and more tempted by 6mm, but I'm still trying to stay strong.

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  9. Good luck! Those are pretty small, but not as small as Heroics and Ros. Undercoat and then flesh/weapons/helmet is all I'd want to do in 6mm. You're a braver fellow than I am!

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  10. Enjoy Sir - luckily, less is more in this scale!

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