... that I actually painted a figure from scratch ... but I currently have sixteen 20mm-scale Russian gunners on my table in the process of being painted!
During the ongoing renovation of my 20mm-scale World War Two figure and vehicle collection for my Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War project, I realised that I was short of gunners for my Russian artillery. As I had to buy a couple of artillery pieces for my Hungarian troops, I decided to buy some of Irregular Miniatures Really Useful Guns, and topped up my order with four Russian guns crews.
Please note that the photograph featured above is © Irregular Miniatures.
During the ongoing renovation of my 20mm-scale World War Two figure and vehicle collection for my Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War project, I realised that I was short of gunners for my Russian artillery. As I had to buy a couple of artillery pieces for my Hungarian troops, I decided to buy some of Irregular Miniatures Really Useful Guns, and topped up my order with four Russian guns crews.
The gunners are quite nice castings, and do not take a lot of painting. (Other painters might turn their figures into little masterpieces, but mine look quite good with just a basic paint job ... which is what they are getting!) They should be finished by the weekend, and then they will be used to form the artillery units of a couple more of my 'formation in a box' Russian Rifle Divisions.Some 20mm-scale Irregular Miniatures World War Two Russian gunners and one of the Russian field guns from their Really Useful Guns range.
Please note that the photograph featured above is © Irregular Miniatures.
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteGood work there on the Russian Gunners. Yes, it is good to get in some figures finished for and up and coming Battle. Nice close up photo- the Irregular figures are nice too. Best Wishes. KEV.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteI regret to say that the figures in the photo were painted by someone else for Irregular Miniatures. I’m hoping that mine will look as good.
All the best,
Bob
The Irregular RUG are a great idea; with a bit of work you can combine bits from the range to make other guns not listed. They are supposedly 1/87 and were designed by Mal Wright in Australia (every time I've bought some face to face, Ian Kay has pointedly said "I didn't design them" - I can only assume he has got some grief!). In practice, I think they vary a bit as some seem to work better with 15mm and some with 20mm. Of course, Irregular's 15mm are on the bigger or chunkier side of 15mm and their 20mm on the smaller side!
ReplyDeleteFor me, these guns with the post-1945 20mm represent one of the few truly multi purpose ranges around.
I've often thought a C20th multi-purpose range of bodies and heads is missing; I'm aware of Raventhorpe but style wise they are not to everyone's taste and they are difficult to get hold of.
Neil Patterson,
DeleteI was ‘converted’ into a RUG enthusiast when I bought some of their field guns a few years back, and the fact that you can ‘mix and match’ the parts makes them even more useful.
The size of the guns does fits in with my ROCO vehicles rather well, and it does not surprise me that they were designed to be 1:87th-scale.
All the best,
Bob
I bought a couple of Irregulars 20/25mm guns recently to go with my Pound Store plastic figures - they're quite nice and the gunners are ok too. I'm not a big fan of painting figures as I'm not too good with the hand to eye coordination! I think people who are good at painting can bash out figures much faster, whereas I am horribly slow. Such is life.
ReplyDeleteMaudlin Jack Tar,
DeleteIrregular and Warrior Miniatures are my two ‘go to’ figures suppliers. Their ranges are nice and easy to paint, and are reasonably priced.
My painting skill is fairly basic, and has not improved as I’ve got older. I must admit a degree of envy when I see the output of some wargamers ... but I wonder how much more enjoyment they get from using them.
All the best,
Bob
Hairy end of the brush first, and don’t dunk it in your tea. It will all come back.
ReplyDeleteSteve8,
DeleteAh! That’s where I’m going wrong! You have to use the hairy end of the brush? Thanks for the tip; I’ve been using the other end! ;^)
All the best,
Bob
Oh what a nana you are. That’s OK I forget too, it’s so long between painting sessions. I have some new 54mm Germans and I even got the priming wrong. I used something called ModgePodge and shook it beforehand causing bubbles on the finished items. It looked like they had boils or something else unnatural. At least stripping them was easy - rubbing alcohol.
DeleteSteve8,
DeleteI’ve heard of Modge Podge, but I’ve never used it. I take it that shaking it before appplying it is not a good idea. If so, what do they suggest you do to make sure that it is properly mixed before you use it?
All the best,
Bob
PS. What is rubbing alcohol? I’ve read about it online, but I’ve never seen it on sale in the UK.
I understand that stirring it is a better. I have yet to try this. As for the alcohol, I am talking about the isopropyl stuff you can find in chemists. I assumed that the UK hasn’t banned this but apparently you might know it as surgical spirits. I have also tried gesso with mixed results.
DeleteSteve8,
DeleteI think that I’ll be giving Modge Podge a miss!
I assume that one can still buy surgical spirits from a proper chemist shop ... but not from many of the so-called High Street ‘chemists’ that seem to be geared up more for cosmetics and care products.
I’ve heard good things about gesso, but I have yet to give it a try. I’d be interested to hear your more about your experience using it.
All the best,
Bob
Its a good time to spend a little time painting AND to support a small business.
ReplyDeleteRoss Mac,
DeleteYou are so right on both counts!
All the best,
Bob