Hittite Spearman (standing), Wargames Foundry

This particular set from Wargames Foundry were labelled as 'Hittite Spearman (standing)' so I based my painting scheme on an illustration from an appropriate Osprey book.  

This was the final batch of painting for Wargames Foundry. I did actually complete a command group of figures for the same range but in the rush to finish and post them I failed to take any photographs. 

Hittite Spearmen (advancing), Wargames Foundry

Keeping on the theme of Wargames Foundry here are another set of figures that I don't believe were ever released by the company. They don't feature on their current webpage as far as I can tell. They may have appeared in the past but as Biblical gaming is not an interest I haven't regularly checked (Using the Art of The Covenant must be the Top Trump in any game).

These were nicely sculptured and balanced figures but I quickly realised that I hadn’t a clue how to paint them. As usual Google Images came to the rescue, hurrah! A quick search revealed that Osprey had produced a book ‘Hittite Warrior’ with their usual high quality illustrations, in this case supplied by Adam Hook, which gave me all the information I needed. A common feature with the illustrations appeared to be the detail colours so to maintain a ‘uniform’ look I painted all the figures with a blue trim and an inner parallel red stripe.

Foundry actual supplied all the required spears, round bases plus the paint to finish the base. All I had to do was paint, assemble and base them.

The figures themselves are painted with Citadel paints as I don't have the necessary Foundry triad paints. Citadel's (Dwarf) Bronze is too dark for my liking to represent realistic bronze (which when highly polished looks like gold). As I never seem to be able to get a decent gold finish I now paint the base coat of silver and build up the watered down Citadel's 'Burnished Gold' and 'Shining Gold'. Flesh wash is used to create a feeling of depth and warm that bronze seems to have.

I’ve since noticed how often people seem to paint Bronze Age figures with iron/steel coloured weaponry.

Bronze Age Chariot, Wargames Foundry - Part 2 of 2

This is the second set of (lost?) models painted for Wargames Foundry painted around four years ago. Another example can be found [here]. As mentioned previously I don't believe these chariot models were ever released commercially by Wargames Foundry but if any readers have a set please let me know.

Bronze Age Chariot, Wargames Foundry - Part 1 of 2

The miniatures featured in the following posts are quite unusual for this blog for a couple of reasons. One is that although I'm interested in ancient history (on my travels I've visited places such as Mycenae and Troy, locations associated with these figures) I'm not that interested in playing games set in the period. Another reason is that because, as far as I can tell, these figures have never actually been available to buy from the manufacturer, Wargames Foundry. These figures were painted around four years ago.

It was only after my brother reminded me about them that I had a rummage for the photographs. Eventually after a long search I found them. The models depict Mycenaean Bronze Age chariots. I say this because the models weren't labelled but appear to be based on an illustration by Angus McBride from an Osprey book 'The Mycenaeans c.1650–1100 BC (ELITE 130) an image from which can be seen [here].

In the famous siege of Troy the armour worn by the warriors would have been very similar to an example discovered at Dendra.  It's interesting to note that when the warrior was carrying a shield the only part of the body left exposed would have been the back of the leg i.e. the Achilles heel region.

Note the boar tusk decoration on the helmet.

Wargames Foundry have a massive range of figures and they were pioneers of the wargaming miniature market, being an early employer of the Perry brothers for example. I think these particular models got misplaced (literally by the looks of it) during the management changes that took place over the last few years when the son of the owner, Bryan Ansell, eventually took charge. 

As seems to be a regular pattern within the wargaming world that for a period companies become almost social pariahs for some reason or the other. A few years ago Wargames Foundry received an awful lot of negative comments on certain sites whenever they were mentioned, mainly it seems for their price/packaging structure and shipping costs. With the change of management it seems they have restored their image/reputation and now can be seen regularly at wargame shows.

Despite this golden age of affordable plastic miniatures Foundry still produce some very attractive and sometimes obscure metal figures. I recently purchased from them some very nice 17th century civilians to decorate my tabletop for ECW games.