painting AIRFIX archers

[Beano Boy]

A few days ago I strung an archers bow up with wire,so I thought for a first attempt it looked a lot better than those without wire. The arrow being on the wrong side the bow is a concern ,but one I must accept on this vintage toy figure.

A conversion is possible,but I have 45 of these and cutting arrows away to make the point of the point being on the right side which is in this case the left side, would involve far to much time. Stringing the bows is however a worthwhile thing to do.



The pins will stay in as you see them until it is time to string the bow.
I`m only going to paint two this time.

Next step painting



Black mixed with silver for the darker looking chain mail. Then more silver added to this mix to get another lighter blend for the helmet`s, which will have touches of full silver added slightly for high lights.



Next a wash,and varnish! BB

[Kekso]

Cool job Paul...

[MABO]

When they are all painted, then they are a massive force!

[Beano Boy]

OK,the varnish and shade has gone onto the figures and I am pleased in the way they look. Next step is to remove the pins and get to work both stringing the bow`s and putting some detail onto the base,and then lastly to dull down the shine. I have a few ideas on how to do these bases,so hope to show you in a few days time the outcome of these the first medieval archers that I have ever painted.
Also over the next few days work is being carried out in the HoneyWell room where my HO OO Model Railway is housed,and lots of stuff has to be moved out because of that work,so I will take this opportunity to search out and show you other medieval stuff that I have that has been stored up under this 14 X 10 foot layout. Things are going to get ___Megger!___ busy around here,but perhaps I can finish a few pieces of modelling painting stuff that I started a couple of days ago while others do the donkey work. ( It Means Hard Work! )
As always it is a real pleasure to post on this Forum and share the outcome of my projects.
Thanks for taking time out to look. BB

[Beano Boy]

Thanks guys for the likes and comments too they are very much appreciated indeed. These figures are some of the hundreds that I choose to collect all bought on E Bay over the years. As I mentioned before I am finding lots of stuff that I`d forgotten I`d bought.

Sorting things out,Mrs B said,"Paul you are never going to be able to paint all these." Of course my Better Half was referring to hundreds of medieval sprues I bought ages ago in 1/32, 1/35.1/72 scale. "I smiled and pointed to these you see here in this topic,and replied ",Well I`ve made a start dear,I`ve almost finished two." Life is great when you can laugh. BB

[Peter]

They look great so far Paul!

I hope Airfix or another company will bring this set back on the market. Like their WW2 sets.

[Beano Boy]

You can still buy them.

Bidding on one box on E Bay at this present time has started. 1978 Mint in Box. However I used my picture of the Box Art above ,because the picture on E Bay is Foggy Looking!

Within the world of Emotive Language of advertising ,vision is important and this lack of a good picture placed on E Bay could effect the bidding price on this listing.

All the archers have a raised plastic 6 on the back of their left leg, and because I collect them as toys ,I left the 6 on,as proof of AIRFIX! Likewise numbers are on all the figures. Why? Well, that is how many there is in the box set. I stopped buying boxed sets long ago, but bought job lots of archers to build up an army. They were all in used ,but good condition, and some had paint on them which I stripped off by placing them in neat thick bleach for two or three weeks in a plastic container.
The stuff usually falls off leaving a fresh looking factory fresh figure. The two I used in this painting topic were completely caked in paint when I bought them.So my point in buying second hand figures is proved to be a sound one,and I feel it to be a Good Tip to pass on. BB

[Beano Boy]

I am thinking,yes I do ponder a lot in this hobby. Concerning the base of these figures in this topic,if I do the bases with ground work and grass,the figures would look daft say on a castles battlements. So there in lays the question on what to do? Should I just paint the bases a light grey so they would not look out of place on any battlement within a castle? Or perhapes landscape the bases so they look fine and dandy for an outside Bish! Bash! Cut and Slash! Type Medieval Rumble? MMMMMMMM! What if I could do both to these figures and at the same time. Yes all painted grey,and all short of landscaped as if standing on the ground, but How?The answer to that question is below in the pictures.




The first one seems to make little sense.



I have several plastic boxes now laying empty since I finished making my Paint Organizer. So I thought to use some of it on this topic.



Perhapes this cut out shape makes much more sense now?



Yes the cut out is shaped so it just slides into place on the base. Squint your eyes and you`ll see it.



I added P V A glue and a few tiny stones,and then globed it all over with my mixed up version of Quick Shade! I`ll leave it overnight ,and hopefully they will each slide into place on each base. Will this work? Well we shall see.

THE NEXT DAY






Well it sort of worked! BB

[Peter]

Unusual but effective way to make a base!

[Beano Boy]

Yip! As easy and effective as placing tiny stones in glue,and it can give two uses for one figure. One inside in the dry the other one outside in the Mud!
In contrast to something often over complicated by shape and design, Simplicity is often the key to solving any problem,except those of the heart. BB

[Beano Boy]

Having spare paint already mixed on my pellet rather than waste it I painted up another AIRFIX Archer and made another removable base which was well worthwhile spending the minute doing it.



Meantime I`m stringing the bows on the first too painted. BB

[Cameronian]

Very enterprising, well done.

You could of course have replaced the entire base with a clear one
http://www.litko.net/categories/Miniatu ... lic-Bases/

In my young days, bases were plain and painted green, much simpler.

[Ochoin]

You could of course have replaced the entire base with a clear one
http://www.litko.net/categories/Miniatu ... lic-Bases/

In my young days, bases were plain and painted green, much simpler.

Not that many wargames want individually based figures. I actually enjoy "terraining" multiple figure bases as I see them as mini-dioramas. A 60mm X 40mm base (as for FoG Punics, with 4 figures on it) allows for space to be creative.

donald