David Bickley's Wargames Blog

The occasional ramblings of an average gamer, journeyman painter, indifferent modeller, games designer, sometime writer for Wargames Illustrated and host of games in GHQ.



Sunday 3 March 2019

Casting Room Miniatures

Well the midst of all the SYW additions I've been working on for what seems like an eternity on  occasions, I've been painting up a few figures for our Italian Wars project. The reasons for this diversion will become apparent later in the week, so I'll ask you to bear with me for now.
The very first figures I painted for the Italian Wars project were a Command set of a mounted figure and two retainers on foot by Casting Room Miniatures, the seemingly poor relation of Wargames Foundry. They had been a gift from Phil, along with one mounted figure he had kindly painted for me. Like the figures from TAG, they are very paint friendly I found, though perhaps the sculpting and pose of the figures is of a different style. Despite this, they have a certain charm, paint up really well, and the range is quite extensive with many character and special packs lacking in other ranges. They are an underrated gem in my opinion and deserve a wider audience, but that is just an opinion of course .
The set I've been working on represent a group storming a defence and comprises two figures rushing forward with a ladder; one figure climbing a second ladder, with two supporting infantry waiting their turn to climb, all armed with swords and carrying round shields; and lastly, a lone crossbowman posed firing up at the defenders. I've added a Wargames Foundry medieval mantlet to his base as the pose just fits him firing over the top.  As you can see from the photos, I painted the face of the mantlet in alternate red and yellow ochre sections, to match the one on the light gun already in the collection. The figures are posed on three 40 X 50mm MDF bases, from Warbases as usual. I find painting difficult sometimes now as you know and the thought of struggling with designs on the shields was daunting. Luckily I had an old sheet of Skytrex WWII British Divisional signs in stock and amongst them were several designs I felt I could use with a clear conscience. I opted to paint the shields in yellow and white quarters, using the black bull design on the yellow quarters. I'm chuffed with how they turned out, even though I know the bull would be better off red than black! 

As a side activity while paint drys and hardens I've also been painting up the scenic bits and bobs I bought from Irongate Scenics at R.O.B.I.N. last month. They will make nice additions to the buildings I've made, giving a more lived in look. They are a bread oven, a small flour mill, and the bakery ephemera. I've also finished the last of the tents I scored at the Penkridge TT sale back in January ~


Now though it's back to the SYW and the 2nd Horse for my British army. 

20 comments:

  1. Top stuff Mr. B, though the font size is not eyesight friendly, Blogger have not miniaturized the pics thank goodness :~)

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    1. Thanks Phil! All set for tomorrow now.

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  2. Great work by the point size is rather difficult to read:(

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    1. Thanks Steve! See below re point size though.

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  3. Looks just great David and really like the oven in particular however like others have said you may want to increase the font size.

    Christopher

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    1. Not me, I set it at Normal, but Blogger keeps defaulting to Small. Have tried on phone, laptop & iPad!

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  4. All very nice, interested to see what the chap is climbing ?

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    1. Thanks Matt! He is climbing a ladder I think you'll find...😉

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  5. Lovely looking storming party and the transfers work really well! I only read posts on my phone,all good for me!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks Iain! Blogger refuses to allow me to change the font size!

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  6. Those look very cool! Love the poses and use of the ladder.

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    1. It's a really nice set of figures from CRMs in my opinion.

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  7. These are lovely pieces David, and of course I will now have to source something similar.Well done.

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    1. Thanks Robbie! I look forward to seeing your offering on this theme.

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  8. Very nice David...
    At first I thought that you had created some fantastical device for attacking tall people...
    In true Italian style... If Phil makes a similar model will it be just a little bit taller?

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Phil had already improved on my efforts by adding some details to two of the bases.

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  9. Nice work Mr.B. Although I have a headache and my eyes hurt from peering at the new tiny text.

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    1. Thanks Jon. You will see it in the round tomorrow evening. See my numerous comments above re font size.

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  10. Great painting!
    Will be great on table!
    :-)

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