Work In Progress Summer '25

It's been just over a month since I posted anything. I try to post at least once a month, however this last month has been difficult. Partly because things in the real world haven't gone well, and partly because it's been so blinking hot. These things have combined to sap my enthusiasm. Even so, I've not been completely idle.

Donnington 15 mm Hellenistic cavalry

When I started my Hellenistic project I bought samples from Donnington / Ancient & Modern. I fancied painting some old school figures to stress test my painting technique(s).

After I while I bought more cavalry in a series of small orders, but I didn't plan my orders very well. I ended up one heavy cavalry short with one medium cavalry too many. By scrounging a shield I "upgraded" the latter and enabled him to join the former. Apparently, Xyston hoplite shields are ideal for this purpose.

It's fair to say that working with these older figures is a challenge. In particular some of the riders required a fair amount of work just to fit on the horses. Having said that the horses are very well cast and a joy to paint.

My biggest discovery was that I can use Vallejo Plastic Putty to smooth out the frankly quite awful riders' cloaks. It's far quicker to use than greenstuff, and more economical to boot. It's water based, so it's easier to apply and can be smoothed with a damp brush.

As the project progressed I learnt more about the cavalry of the period and realised that half of the cavalry I'd bought were far too late in appearance for the armies I had planned. Naturally, the ones I finished first were the later types.

Nonetheless I persevered. I now have four bases (ADLG units) for my Phyrric and Late Macedonian armies (two medium & two heavy cavalry). Plus, if I ever decide to field a late Seleucid army I've made a start on the medium and cataphract cavalry!

All told, I'm rather proud that I painted everything I ordered and none of the sample figures were wasted.

Red Copper 15 mm camel riders

I've been rescuing some broken 3D printed Arab camel riders from Red Copper. I had them printed in late 2023, but a lot of the first batch didn't survive being sent via the Royal Mail leaving me with nine or ten slightly damaged figures (mostly broken lances).

I've spent the last month repairing some of these by affixing new metal lances and sculpting new hands with greenstuff. I'm pleased to report that removing hands, and the remnants of broken lances, is quite easy with a sharp blade; the various parts of the sculpts split quite readily.

Plus, I recently realised that all the 3D printed camels I have are slightly wonky. Based as printed they lean slightly to their left. I first noticed it when I painted and based two test figures. With time, the lean on the test figures became more and more annoying so I risked re-basing them. It worked really well; no broken legs!

To straighten the 3D prints I used 1 mm thick stainless steel discs and thin card wedges to create new bases under the camel's hind legs (and fore legs if necessary). I filled any gaps with greenstuff.

In addition to straightening the figures, the discs make it much easier to hot glue the figures on my painting stands plus they add weight to the figures.

I've now started to paint these figures and should have them done within the next month.

Closing remarks

As the above illustrates the last few weeks have involved various micro-projects and some fiddly, time consuming, modelling & repair work. I didn't feel I’d made great progress but writing this has made me see just how much I've actually achieved. That's a bonus. Back to the brushes tomorrow.