Big Guns Never Tire - Empire Edition (Part 2)

 I finished the crew in Part 1,  now for the actual big guns.

These things are fairly basic so I didn't bother with taling any WIP shots  Tbe first cannon I acquired about 20 years ago from Warfrog. He had made it in such a way so that the great cannon and mortar could switched out. I was able to scrounge the other bits needed to turn the leftover bits into a second carriage so that I could use both the cannon and the mortar. I had also found another mortar in my bitz box which gives me the option to field two mortars if I chose too. 

I took the basic idea for the color scheme from the WHFB 6th edition Empire Armies book. The weapons were painted using Leadbelcher topped with Nuln Oil Gloss. I used Leadbelcher to edge highlight the guns and used Stormhost Silver for a few final highlights. 

You might have noticed that one of the mortars has a cannonball in it. This was made by rolling up some greenstuff. I glued it in after I painted the inside of the barrel black just in case there was any gaps. 

Wyldwood Contrast Paint with a layer of old Bestial Brown was the basis for the gun carriages. I finished that off with a few Washes of Agrax Earthshade and some Nuln Oil.

Aftter some grass tufts and a few leaves were added, this project was done.  I hope to get these guys in action soon, but the specific armistice I am building these guys for have a few more units that I still need to add, so, stay tuned! 

Big Guns Never Tire -Empire edition (Part 1)

 Q: What is an Empire army without artillery? 

You likely already know that answer but even more pertinent is, what's artillery without crew? Lawn art! Usually in a town square or in front of a VFW facility. 

Fleshwash coat from 2007.

Starting off with these three guys who came with the Warhammer Fantasy Battle 6th edition starter,  and  in my opinion, these are amongst the best Empire miniatures produced in plastic and they still hold  up well 25 years later. These guys were gifted to me by Warfrog who had primed them all in a bright white primer. I had figured out a paint scheme using Citadel Colour Flesh Wash in a similar manner to how I use Contrast Paints now. The only problem with that is the amount of Flesh Wash I had to use to get the coverage that I desired. 

Contrast coats.

After I extended their bases out to 25mm, I decided to continue where I left off almost two decades ago. Using Contrast Paints I painted Guilliman Fleshwash on their skin, and Rattling Grime on their caps and vests. I these used Snakebite Leather Contrast Paint on their boots...and discovered that it was an absolute match for the old Fleshwash! This is great, as that color is now very much available where my Fleshwash is definitely running low. 

Linen layer.

My old paint recipe for Reiklander uniforms started with a Flesh Wash basecoat, then I used a craft paint by Folkart called Linen. I then went over that with another craft paint by Delta Ceramcoat called Raw Linen. I finalized the scheme with a highlight of Skull White. 

The wooden pole was painted using Wyldewood. 

For the modern update to this I am now using Snakebite Leather Contrast Paint for the basecoats and White Scar for the highlight. 

Baal Red was used on the kerchiefs. 

The brown hats and vests was done using Rattling Grime Contrast Paint. I usually had to apply this in a few coats  before I was satisfied with it. 

He seems like a bossy one, huh?

I did the flesh using Guilliman Fleshwash. And that was it. Any additional highlights or layers I thought might give these guys a 'cleaner look and I wanted these guys to give off the impression that they are hard working and a bit dirty. 

"Light 'em up!"

I decided to have a go at their eyes. Lately I have  been ignoring them, but some of these guys had well defined eyes so I decided to risk it. I think they turned out OK. 

Cannon ball painted in Leadbelcher and washed with Nuln Oil Gloss. 

After a few touch-ups and the addition of some grass tufts, these chaps were now finished and ready to kill (hopefully) and die (likely) in service to the Empire. 

Ok, so that's the crew essentially done. Let's get to the artillery pieces themselves. In Part 2. See you there! 

A:  Mass fodder!