Warlord Epic ACW for Black Powder

 Since I received my free sprues with Wargames Illustrated I’ve been intrigued by the new ACW Epic figures by Warlord.

Over the years I’ve started a few ACW projects, 1^st in 15mm, then in 10mm and recently 28mm, none of which has ever been finished! Sounds familiar?

Well, I thought I’d give these freebees a go, and get them painted up.

To start with a coat of white spray primer was in order.

Then I thought Id try and come up with a scheme that would be quick to apply, forgiving when viewed from afar but adequate to do them justice as they really are rather good little figures.

The speed part of the formula came from using Citadel Contrast paints. These really ideal for this project.

Colours used were;-

• Dark Oath Flesh – Skin & hair
• Talassar Blue – trousers
• Leviadon Blue – Tunics & Kepis
• Gore-Grunta Fur – Rifle stocks
• Cygor Brown – straps & harnesses
• Black Templar – Boots & Slouch hats
• Vallejo Light Grey for canteens
• Vallejo Gun Metal for rifle barrels
• Army Painter Monster Brown for bases

 

I made a pact with myself that each paint application would be a one single pass – no touching up allowed! If I was faced with the actual boxed set from Warlord, there would be 2400 infantry to paint! You couldn’t afford to mess about if you were ever to have a chance of finishing them.

This worked pretty well (I think!) and got me thinking about my much under-used airbrush. What could this do to speed things up?

I haven’t used my airbrush for some time as the needle and nozzle were damaged through my inept attempts at cleaning it. Replacement parts were prohibitively expensive (almost as much as a new airbrush in my case) so it had been left languishing on the shelf.

Enter eBay. Chinese replacements could be sourced for as little as £4 delivered? Surely they will be rubbish? Well I thought I’d take a chance and three days after ordering I’m the proud owner of a new 0.3mm needle and nozzle allegedly made from stainless steel with an ‘o’ ring already fitted.

Fitting them was a doddle and I now know to be a bit gentler to avoid damaging the nozzle and I was ready to go. 

Citadel Contrast paints (contrary to somethings I’ve read on the interweb) spray perfectly without any dilution. I painted the remaining figure strips trousers in seconds, quickly followed by the top half of each figure in dark blue. Now the rest of the painting will now have to be using acrylics as the contrast colours (less Cygor Brown) will not cover the dark blue. However I think I have a method that will enable these figures to be turned out a rapidly as possible. 

I'm extremely pleased with my Chinese needle & Nozzle - so much so that I'm going to buy a selection of sizes as spares and to give me more variation (fine lines and thicker liquids like matt varnish).

So, as a result of this success story I weakened and bought the full boxed set from eBay for a bargain £60. It would have been rude not to ……