On the Workbench: New figures, paint brushes and scenery items

With Oporto underway I looked ahead at future battles to be fought. AWI 'White Plains' looked inviting in 10mm. So out came the unpainted figures and an order went in to Pendraken to ensure I had enough to cover the battle.

Delaware Continental Regt along with skirmish militia and Pennsylvania Rifles are prepared for priming.

And the Pendraken order arrived in double quick time! Mostly German infantry with some artillery and British light dragoons. These really are superb figures and could easily be mistaken for 28mm when viewed close up. The downside is that there is no question of a quick paint job which would do them a disservice. 

Continued -

My trusty old Winsor & Newton '00' brush finally gave up the ghost after 7+ years of sterling service. It proved to be an excellent, although expensive, brush but that fine point that I had come to rely on just would not reform, even after a heavy session in the brush soap. 

A few months ago, a professional figure painter, Mark Hides, recommended various paint brushes, paints, varnish etc on facebook. These arrived a couple of days ago -

They are 'Rosemary & Co' series 92 micro red sable sizes 4/0, 7/0 and 10/0, series 401 pointed sable mixture sizes 0, 1 and 2, and a flat sable mixture size 4. I have only just started using them but so far impressed. The series 401 brushes are a little long for my liking but nevertheless good quality and will certainly be put to good use. I would never have thought of using such small brushes as the series 92 but they are quickly becoming my new favourites! And they are considerably cheaper than the W&N costing between £2.25 to £2.90 each. I bought them direct from the manufacturer -

https://www.rosemaryandco.com/index.php?route=common/home

Another recommendation from Mark was the W&N Professional Matt spray varnish. For a number of years now I have used the Army Painter matt varnish with variable results. I managed to avoid any misting but struggled at times to get a good matt finish. Quite often they would dry with a slight satin sheen, which is no problem for the bright colours of the Napoleonics etc., but a little frustrating for WW2. The problem lay with spraying in the right conditions. All my spraying is conducted in my garage, which in the summer is no problem. During the winter months I transfer the sprayed figures into the house quickly. 

So far I have tried the W&N on a few WW2 figures and they dried perfectly flat with just one quick coat. So far I am sold! It is more expensive than Army Painter but in my opinion, worth every penny. I will see how it performs over the rest of winter but confident that it will be ok.

Another recent find on facebook were Plush Foam Sheets from Hobbycraft. They are a new product and make potentially excellent fields. I picked up these from my local Hobbycraft store. At the bottom left are corrugated versions, useful for ploughed fields. Very flexible and easy to cut. Should be ok for a little paint and drybrush although some of them should be ok as is.