Something rather fun this time. I have been busy painting up the characters from the 1992 movie - Last of the Mohicans.
Nathaniel 'Hawkeye' Poe
Just like command figures, character figures need a lot of care and attention as these are the figures that get the most scrutiny. Unlike most of the figures I paint, I couldn't really use Osprey books for these. I had to make do with freezing images of the movie on the DVD and trying to find images online!
Hawkeye was a particularly nice figure to paint. I thought the sculptor had done a really good job of getting Daniel Day-Lewis's features on 28mm figure. The various buff shades were fun to do and it was interesting to get the lighter tone of Hawkeye's rifle wood compared with the usual dark musket wood tones.
The set is from Warlord Games and it is a great little set that I did enjoy painting.
Chingachgook
Chingachgook has his gunstock war club on his back. On screen it does appear to be exactly the same shade of blue as his shirt, which from the figure painting standpoint was a little unfortunate as it doesn't stand out, and it is the weapon which makes one of the greatest impressions in the movie (it makes a great impression on Magua at any rate!).
Uncas
Alice Munro
Colonel Munro's daughters presented an interesting challenge. I was somewhat daunted at painting dresses. If it is not uniform- like then I am way out of my comfort zone! The dresses needed some colour research and it was only near the beginning of the film when these particular dresses appear to be worn. Getting the colour of Alice's dress right took some experimenting and mixing and involved orange and pink in varying proportions.
Cora Munro
The dresses did prove interesting to paint with their many folds and allowed me to play with shading techniques. Wargamers...paint more dresses! They can be fun! 😀
Magua
Magua wore this particular outfit when he was pretending to be a Mohican Scout. The blanket proved challenging but I think I got there in the end.
Huron - War Party Leader
This figure is sold separately as 'Magua- Huron Chief'. However, having got Magua in the main set, I decided to make this figure into another Huron commander.
These figures should fit in well with my expanding French and Indian Wars collection. I do have Colonel Munro and General Montcalm still to paint (and I think Duncan is with the Munro set). I plan to use these figure in scenarios in games such as 'Sharp Practice' and 'Muskets and Tomahawks'. They should be good fun and add lots of colour to an already very colourful period of history.
