West Wind Miniatures 28mm Arthurian Characters

[Mitch K]

In a change to my normal output here, in case anyone's interested I thought I'd post my current figure work.

West Wind make lovely 28mm minis, from "Weird WW2" and Steampunk to true historical like "proper" WW2 and Arthurians. This falls into "proper" historical because despite the name and the use of other Arthurian names for some of the figures, they're firmly grounded as post-Romans, with Sub-Roman (not sure I like that term...) Britons, plus early Saxons, Picts, Irish and Welsh. West Wind minis generally come with separate heads, and packs of heads are available, which are great for mixing and matching, and providing useful variety in armies (warbands, really) which should be any thing but uniform. I've found the heads will work with other manufacturer's minis, such as Gripping Beast, Newline and Black Tree (among others).

 

This pack contains four different "character" figures: a monk, a pagan priest, a "druid" and a bard/minstrel. The latter, although very nice, has issues with the harp/lyre which are going to need a bit of sorting out, so he's sitting this one out.

 

One I cleaned the seams and assembled the minis, they got a coat of white primer. These figures aren't usually part of a main army/warband. They serve to add colour/interest to the table, to act as context for objectives or sometimes to act as ancilliary supporting characters.

 

My technique (such as it is) is to block-coat the main clothing colours, shade/highlight these, then move onto skin and hair before checking the final details and basing. The base colours are all Vallejo acrylics.

 

On the left, we have the "druid". Since the Romans claimed to have wiped out the Druids early on in their conquest, he's anachronistic in this role. Therefore, this figure is painted as an Irish clan lord/chieftain or his representative. He might have troops to spare for an ally if rescued, or a ransom to pay otherwise. The pagan priest, perhaps a Saxon Galdr-singer, might be a objective to capture or defend. His proximity to a friendly force might drive them into a frenzy, making their attacks more savage, or in a more fantasy-leaning game, the Galdr chants themselves might have some sinister power... The monk reflects the fact that at this time, there were still some military obligations on the clergy, and the fact that if you wanted anything written down, you needed a monk as they were the only literate people. A monk transporting an abbey's treasure or some holy relics might need protecting/rescuing from marauding pagans. His presence might stabilise a shaky shieldwall or his prayers might call down lightning bolts, who can say?

 

[Mitch K]

The next stage for me is to shade and highlight the clothing. The monk and the noble were shaded using darker paint layered into creases, folds and dips whereas the Galdr-singer was shaded using ink washes. the highlighting is lightened shades of the base colour, applied one over the other. Thinks like the Galdr-singer's under-vest, plus belts, shoes, pouches and the like were done at the same time.

 

 

Rear view:

 

[Mitch K]

After getting an even base coat of the skin tones, the hair is my usual next step: a base coat of acrylic, ink wash to shade then several different lighter colours drybrushed on to give a highlight.

 

The sclera (white) of the eye goes next - this isn't "true" white, but rather Vallejo Pale Sand: I've found that white is too stark on figures this size.

 

A broad-ish vertical line of nondescript grey-blue (Vallejo Field Blue) gives an iris.

 

Finally, "trim" the eye to size with the base flesh colour. 

 

Shading the flesh tones is ink wash, Winsor and Newton Nut Brown and Plum, in varying proportions with water and Klear. This gets slathered on and will then be trimmed, adjusted and topped with highlighting in the next stage.

 

 

[Mitch K]

With highlights on the flesh, this is what I have:

 

My next step will be a couple of coats of extra-strength automotive grade gloss (to protect the paintwork), then base them. Final matting down can wait until the bases are completed.

[Ratch]

Nice

Are they metal?

[Mitch K]

On 2/9/2018 at 6:00 PM, Ratch said:

Nice

Are they metal?

Yes, 28mm metal. It's a nice range. I've used the West Wind separate heads on things like Gripping Beast plastics, to provide variety etc.

[Mitch K]

Finished!

 

I've based these on 2p coins with some two-pack filler for the terrain. Flock, ink wash, drybrush and static grass for the bases, and a couple of coats of Winsor and Newton Mattcote on the figures (to cover the automotive gloss that protects the paint).

[clive_t]

Looks good, thanks for explaining your technique