More Camp Followers Near Completion. . .

An unretouched image of the next three batches of eventual camp followers as they near completion.

Spent a lovely three hours or so painting this Easter Weekend Saturday afternoon, tinkering with shades of paint and washes in the eternal attempt to get things just right.  Not sure that I ever will of course, but these aren't half bad.  Just a few more small things to attend to tomorrow afternoon, and then it will be time to return to that large vignette of working girls, attended to by the rather pious-looking Black Hussar Lutheran pastor who attempts to save their souls.

So far, the most time consuming part of all this has had to do with the white aprons and blouses, and shirts.  It's an inexact science, but I have been starting with a gray undercoat lately and then  follow with several washes of white, taking care to let the gray show in the deepest folds.  After several washes (three, our, or five), I finish by applying pure pigment to the highest areas.  Beyond that, it is really trial and error and simply playing around until everything "looks" right.  Come to think of it, whites must surely be to most time consuming and difficult color to paint in anything approaching a convincing manner.

The figures shown include a couple from Minden/Fife & Drum, four from Black Hussar, and four by Suren/Wille (the two laundresses and the two scavenging soldiers' wives).  the latter are interesting figures from an artistic perspective and a surprising challenge to paint given all of the deep folds and so on.  And then there are the physical dimensions. I seem to recall mentioning a couple of years ago, when last I painted a some 30mm Willie female peasant figures for a sutleress vignette, that very clearly, the late Ted Suren must have had a thing for bosoms given the healthy nature of his female sculpts.  There is not really much more one might say about that, is there?  

However, the various Willie lines contain many female figures that might serve well for virtually any sort of 17th century-Napoleonic vivandieres or similar female camp followers.  Wargamers who wish to add a few such figures to their 28-30mm armies would do well to examine closely the entire Suren catalog since there are quite  a few women that can be used for more than one period/conflict.  And where their costumes are rather more theatrical and/or period specific?  Well, who is to say that these "ladies" might not have collected a few fancy items of attire during their quasi-military adventures, which they incorporated into their daily dress?  I am certain it must have happened.

-- Stokes