Miniart 1/72 'Germanic Warriors'. Infantry Complete!

So I've completed these twenty 1/72 'Germanic Warriors' by MINIART over the past fortnight. Cool poses, very aggressive stances & great for the table top. 

I bought these guys a few months ago at book fair for $4! You just can't beat that.

It is slightly telling however, that I'm always pleasantly surprised at how well MINIART figures 'liven up' once painted. 

Even with my slap 'em down style, I find that all of the figures from that company have a wonderful charm about them. I do just love 'em.

I still have 16 cavalry figures waiting for assembly, and after the last batch of Italeri cavalry figures - of which there were only nine - I've got 'cavalry painting fatigue'. I may have to have a little break from painting in the next week before I muster up the fortitude to take those cavalry figures on.

As usual, I went for my patented 'button bases' with this set. Love it or hate it, it works for me and suits my painting groove. The button convention I have adopted means I have to maintain the use of my makeshift magnetic movement trays for bigger games - which isn't ideal, I know - but I do love the flexibility that individual basing provides.

Perhaps in the coming year I will investigate proper MDF movement trays. For various reasons, I'm not 100% sold on the idea, truth be told. 

One thing I did try this time was giving the figures a wash with some 'GAME WASH' brand 'Lavado Negro Black Wash' instead of my go-to Agrax Earthshade. 

I picked a bottle of this up recently, and was feeling a little more adventurous and ready to try something a little different with my painting. I've seen references to washing figures with ink on a few forums, but was a little apprehensive as I'm a fairly unschooled painter, rather than an old hand at it. for some reason, the urge to give it a go just took over.

Although it gives the figures a kind of grimy look up front (and let's face it, my painting style never really lends itself well to up-close digital photography), the black ink settles into the recesses of the model without diminishing the colours on garments. 

The cloaks, for example, have a lot more contrast. 

This is something that I've kind of traded off when I've washed everything with the Earthshade in the past. The Earthshade works well but tends to dampen the colours slightly and give a kind of sepia filter to the figures. It's something that has been bugging me slightly, especially as I'm so fond of painting up the more colourful medieval figures.

With this new approach the figures have a little more colour & 'pop' from the 'three foot' view.

I'll be using these figures for Lion & Dragon Rampant...and as I'm on a massive Lord of the Rings kick at the moment. We've been watching 'Rings of Power' and I've been reading the Hobbit with my son. 

Mate, what cracker of a book!

I am very tempted to go down the 1/72 Fantasy rabbit-hole with the Dark Alliance sets that are out there, but until then, there is my current pile of plastic to whittle down. We do have a bunch of old D&D figures in our collection that I have used for Dragon Rampant, but after watching the movies, I would just love to see some larger battles with dozens of Orcs & Goblins. 

The urge to spend more money & collect more is gripping me...

Here they are all together...waiting for the cavalry to show up...

Keep painting, keep smiling, stay gold.