Painting Border Reivers…and their Wee Toun

Finished off painting some more Reivers (who are up to no good), some rather angry villagers and Presbyterian Gandalf (our cranky preacher who will make sure the Reivers shall not pass). I also painted up a small well which I’m not entirely happy with, especially its scale, but hey ho was still fun putting it together. Any archaeologist out there might be mildly impressed by my attempt at painting the boozing Reivers beer jug as late medieval (Elizabethan) to post-medieval green glaze ware.

As this is the last day of the challenge I’ll stick in a photo showing all the miniatures I painted up for the challenge plus my wee well and muddy field. Painted more on this thing than I thought I’d get done so I will treat myself to a cup of tea and Tunnock’s Teacake. Also, chucked in a few photos of a rammy kicking off in the ferm toun just because it’s fun.

Managed to get my muddy field finished off. Used some mud texture paint but to get that real farm manure entranceway that I know so well from working in way to many farmers’ fields I used a bit of matt/gloss varnish followed by a bit of water effect resin. Hoof marks courtesy of the end of my Brush.

The lovely sheep and cattle are the last bits I got painted from that first Flags of War Kickstarter. I just went for the standard colouring for Borders breeds which was just lots of easy greys and off-whites.

Managed a bit more painting over the weekend. Got my muddy animal enclosure almost down. Built and primed a well & got a chunk of painting down on some of the miniatures from Flags of War’s last Kickstarter. God love speed paints, they’re grand for folks with very little spare time.

Wee Castle at the Big Castle – A Breath of Fresh Air

With the help of my friend Claire, I managed to take my wrecked knees (don’t take up commercial archaeology as a job) and the Peel Tower model I built for last year’s TerrainFest as well as a selection of my painted Reivers, Gallowglass and Blackadder and friends out to the Peel Tower at Castle Semple Loch near Lochwinnoch for a wee photo shoot.

My Peel Tower model is an attempt to reconstruct the ruins of the Castle Semple Loch Tower and it’s definitely worth a visit if you’re in that part of Scotland. You get to it from a nature trail at the RSPB Centre at Lochwinnoch (where there’s parking) and then over a newly constructed wooden boardwalk which takes you over part of the loch.

The Gallowglass and kerns from Flags of War are also painted up with Jon Hodgson’s awesome backdrops in use again. The wee bits of terrain are a mix of homemade, Vae Victus 3D prints and a 3D-printed high cross from Govan Parish Church in Glasgow I captured using photogrammetry.

Unfortunately, I don’t think any of my ancestors were Gallowglass so went for the Green colouring with yellow/white accents on them which would be good for either MacSweeneys or McCabes. My lot, the McKinstrys, is a bit of an Irish name now but originally was from Galloway, Scotland. So I reckon we were probably the Broken Men, dodgy clanless outlaws, who got rounded up and kicked out of Scotland by James the VI and I. I got those miniatures from Flags of War’s last Kickstarter. They’re made up and primed though not sure if I’ll get them done by the end of June.

Finally got my Flags of War Border Reivers miniatures finished (also including the Wargames Illustrated Flash and Hoka Hey Miniatures for the Bishop and Bath & Wells). Tried to do some nice photos using my ferm toun buildings and terrain as well as the awesome Jon Hodgson Fantasy Backdrops.

Managed to get a bunch of tasks done this Sunday. Started to build a Sarissa Bastle House which I’m going to heavily customize, lots of extra bits and air-drying clay will be in the mix. Also made a start on a small cattle enclosure. Base built with foam core, gate and water trough built with Costa coffee stirrers and air drying clay with texture roller. Also trying to make my own custom texture roller which I saw done on Real Terrain Hobbies Channel.

Done earlier in the week I continued painting my Gallowglass and cattle and sheep. Also basing started on some 3d prints from the Printing Goes Ever On, which look like a good fit for expanding my ferm toun villages population.

Built and base coated some of the last Flags of War Kickstarter miniatures though not sure if all of these will get fully painted by the 2oth June but I’ll give it a bash, maybes I’ll get a few of them done. I also primed my Borders cows and sheep coz those Reivers will need something to reive.

I also got the first base coats down on the Gallowglass & Kerns, I was going for a green and white colour scheme anyway so no fears of being cut any time soon. The rest of the Reivers are nearly done just a bit of highlighting possibly and some nice basing and they’ll be finito. Lastly, I’ve some basing to do for my painted Hoka Hey miniatures which will hopefully tie them in a bit with the Flags of War lads.

Base coats are done on the Reivers plus a little bit of speed paint on them as well. Also, Old Blackadder and his chums are nearly there.

Here are a few photos showing how the buildings for my Borders Ferm Town stand at the moment and also my Border Reivers miniatures which have a long way to go.

Hopefully, have more progress photos up soon.