From PeterD: 28mm War of 1812 Native Warriors from Grand River Six Nations (60 points)

From Peter:

Next up for the painting challenge is another War of 1812 unit - as Anne O'Leary says I've got around to the good guys. This is a unit of 12 native warriors from the Grand River Six Nations, who featured in many War of 1812 actions especially along the Niagara.

The figures are 28mm from Crusader's FIW range. I did some poking about of Webstores before settling on the Crusader figures. I was looking for figures which had a mix of European and native clothing and equipment, and these guys did the trick. I have some Crusader figs in my El Cid armies so I knew the company. Plus Caliver Books in the UK had them in stock and they ship world wide post free if you order £15 of figures. At some point it would be great if North American hobby suppliers could be even in the same ball park as the UK firms in terms of shipping costs and timeliness of delivery. OK, I'll get off the soap box now…..

For painting these figures, for me the big challenge was skin tones. I live in a city with a fair Native population so have the ability to do some people watching among fellow bus riders, shoppers and people wandering the halls of academentia. I hope I didn't come off as too creepy!

I settled on Liquidtex "Dark Portrait Pink" with a heavy wash of "Raw Umber" - being a Artist's Acrylics man at heart. This contrasts with my European figures which use "Flesh" topped with washes of "Terracotta" to give a tanned look and Raw Umber to get the crevices. This Bloom County gem from the 80s sums up the process nicely I think.

I never paint eyes on 28mm figures, or at least I haven't in 20 years or so. I subscribe to the theory that eyes are only discernible at much closer range than that implied by a 28mm fig. That and the fact that most figures I see with eyes remind me of pandas and raccoons.

I wanted to base these figs to give the impression of native warriors operating in a loose order and taking advantage of cover. Therefore I used double sized bases with 2 figs per 40mm square base instead of 2 per 40mm*20mm. The fuzzy caterpillar grass is an Evil Empire product while the other scenic items were produced by mother nature. Incidentally SWMBO had me roast the sticks at 400 degrees to make sure that no new friends were introduced to our indoor environment.

Lemme get this straight: You cooked your sticks so they would get past house-safety quarantine? You need to tell your lovely wife that it's not the outdoor critters that are the danger to your household, rather it's you being around any sharp tool or piece of cutlery. Last I heard you barely escaped cutting cabbage without losing a digit!  :)

Great work Peter! Your recipe for Native American skin tones looks very convincing and I see you have been converted to the 'Cult of the Tuft'. Good man. I look forward to seeing these fellows in a game soon.

These Native Americans will give Peter 60 points.