USUTHU! - Unmarried Zulu Riflemen, Bases and Powder Horns, WIP

I only added some filler to the bases, and glued another Powder Horn in place. IN this photo, you can see the WIP crossbelt that I am still leaving to harden, before I start modifying it.

USUTHU! - Unmarried Zulu Riflemen WIP

My Zulu project has been dormant for quite a while, but as part of Operation Cleansweep, I am now finally getting these finished.

I added the powder horn to the front left one, statred sculpting a 'crossbelt' on the front right one (for adding a powder horn), and put some filler on all the bases.

I shall have to let the greenstuff harden for a couple of days, before I continue work on the crossbelt; in the meantime I shall see if I can find some sprues and add powder horns to the other two Zulus, and finish work on the bases, so they will all be ready for primer when I have finished sculpting, and then added a powder horn hanging from the crossbelt.

USUTHU! - The Mandatory Group Shot

Lots of down-time today, as I actually have not felt all that well (my mood is low, and it influences my level of energy, and my interaction with my family).

I have started re-basing a couple of minis which I expect to be able to show one of the next days, and I am collecting ideas, digging out minis, and finding sources for additional minis for a new long-term project - but more about that in a later post!

I hope to finish painting my Copplestone Santa tomorrow or Tuesday, and I shall continue re-basing models for a fresh look along the way, too.

USUTHU! - Bhekizizwe Joins the Ranks!

As promised yesterday, another married Zulu Veteran can now be shown in all its painted glory 😆

The frontal view is a bit blurred - my camera must have focused on the shield or the iklwa.

I had almost decided to disregard the Foundry Dusky Flesh palette for painting sub-saharan indigenous people, but as I already had given this one a base coat of Citadel Scorched Brown, and a second layer of Foundry Dusky Flesh Shade, I thought I should give it a go.

I mixed some Dusky Flesh Shade with equal parts Dusky Flesh - and struck gold!

Rarely have I expected less, and gotten more! The resulting mix makes the transision between the two paints almost seamless, and I could paint on the third layer with the new mix, and finish of with final hightlights of Dusky Flesh.

I think Bhekizizwe here maybe is the one with the skin colour closest to the one seen on many of the photos of Zulus I have been able to find on the web. That being said, I have seen quite a few different shades of skin (and lots of it), when googling for reference material, so I am under no circumstances going to settle for just one palette when painting future Zulus, and my experiments with Dusky Flesh will not end here, either! I have already planned to mix Coat d'Arms Negro with Dusky Flesh to be able to use Negro as the base colour and skip the slightly reddish Dusky Flesh Shade and obtain a more 'milk chocolate' like effect, and I shall probably also try another go at using Dusky Flesh Shade as base coat, this time with the new mix as second layer.

All these experiments with dark African flesh tones will aso come in handy when I return to painting Uruk-Hai, somewhen, as I want an Isengard God of Battles army based on the Orc Warlords list.

USUTHU! - An Impi is Slowly Growing

I only almost have one more to show, so instead of a newly painted mini, you will have to settle for a line-up of previously finished Zulus. All members of the uThulwana Imbutho, they all sport a white shield. When I add more Veterans to the Impi, I shall use some of the other recorded variants, but for now, I go for uniform white.

Today's experiment with the Foundry Dusky Flesh palette was very successful, and I look forward to show the fourth of my married warriors (I just glued sand to his base earlier today, and expect to finish the base before noon tomorrow).

USUTHU! Anele is Finished - Sort of...

By far not my best work ever, but I rushed to get him done, as he had been sitting half-painted on my cork-holder for several months, because of me getting first my God of Battles Skeleton Warrior unit ready for the table, then painting Dark Ages civilians like a madman for a while.

The colours used for his skin are

1. F Dusky Flesh Shade
2. F Dusky Flesh
3. F Dusky Flesh + F Dusky Flesh Light

I think I may need to mix Dusky Flesh Shade and Dusky Flesh to get a smoother transition, as I am not happy with the harsh contrast between the darkest and the mid layers.

I also consider dropping Dusky Flesh Shade as part of this colour series, and instead use a dark 'chocolate' colour like C Scorched Brown or Coat d'Arms Negro as base colour, and mix an intermediate shade of that and Dusky Flesh.

I may do both - I am experimenting a bit on the last of the initial four married Zulu warriors, and the result I get from this is likely to have a lot of influence on my final decision on this.

The rest of the colours are pretty much the same as the other two Zulus I painted.

USUTHU! Four Builds Completed

Despite spending most of the day wheelbarrowing firewood into the shed, I manage dto squeeze a tiny bit of hobby time in.

I got the heads of my four unblooded warriors cleaned up and attached to the bodies - not a lot of progress, but better than nothing.

I do not have much more firewood left to move, but as I am going to work tonight, I am going to sleep most of the day tomorrow, and I really want to get the last pile of wood into safety from the autumn rain, which inevitably will return sooner or later, I sincerely doubt that I shall be able to spare any time for hobby stuff. Then again, I did not expect to get anything done today...

USUTHU! Unblooded Marksmen Coming Along

Just as I thought yesterday, I did not have much hobby time today. I spent all morning with my household accounts, and then I had to bottle a batch of mead.

Around five o'clock I got 6 cubic metres of firewood delivered, and Anna and I went about getting some of it piled up in the shed (I know exactly what I shall have to use tomorrow for...).

I did, however manage to clean up the last body (of four) unblooded warriors, and get the arms cleaned up and attached to all of them. I shall try to get the heads done tomorrow, but, as mentioned, I have a lot of firewood to attend to...

USUTHU! More Warriors in the Pipeline

I have been cleaning up the first three (of four) bodies for the next batch of Zulus. This time I am going to model four unblooded/unmarried warriors with firearms to add some ranged support for the Impi.

I hope to have time for at least getting the arms attached to all four models, but I have a lot of other stuff to attend to tomorrow, so maybe that is a tad too optimistic. Luckily, I still have two married/veteran warriors to work on, and I also primed some other models today, so I shall not run out of stuff to do, even if modelling time must be scrapped tomorrow.

USUTHU! The Beginning of an Impi.

Painting progress for my In Her majesty's Name Zulu Impi so far:

Siyanda and Bheka ready to wash their Assegai in the blood of their enemies!

USUTHU! Meet Siyanda!

Finished the second Zulu warrior today, and here he is.

He was painted muich in the same way as the first one, with only a few exceptions:

Primer: Black

Shield Face:

1. Medium Grey
2. White drybrush

Shield Straps:

1. Black

Shield Top:

1. Light Grey
2. Very light White drybrush
3. Black stripes

Shield Back, and Loincloth:

1. F Rawhide Shade
2. F Rawhide 
3. F Rawhide + F Rawhide Light
4. F Rawhide Light

Shield Spine, Knobkerrie, and Spear Shafts:

1. C Scorched Brown

Skirt:

1. White
2. GW Afrax Earthshade wash
3. Black stripes

Leg and Arm'Pelts':

1. Light Bone (needs a deeper tone for more contrast)
2. Thinned White

Spear Tip:

1. C Boltgun Metal + Black
2. C Boltgun Metal
3. C Chainmail

Spear Bindings:

1. F Rawhide Light
2. C Agrax Nightshade wash

Hair:

1. Black
2. Very dark Grey stipples

Skin:

1. F African Flesh Shade
2. F African Flesh
3. F African Flesh + F African Flesh Light
4. F African Flesh Light

 Pouch:

1. C Scorched Brown
2. C Scorched Brown + C Bestial Brown
3. C Bestial Brown

USUTHU! First Finished Zulu Warrior

I opted for the uThulwana plain white shield of my first batch of married Zulus (I may mix in a few shields with a single 'red' spot along the way as well), just to KISS.

Primer: Black

Shield Face:

1. Medium Grey
2. White drybrush

Shield Straps:

1. Black

Shield Top:

1. Light Grey
2. Very light White drybrush
3. Black stripes

Shield Back, Arm 'Rings', and Skirt 'String':

1. F Rawhide Shade
2. F Rawhide 
3. F Rawhide + F Rawhide Light
4. F Rawhide Light

Shield Spine and Spear Shafts:

1. C Scorched Brown

Skirts:

1. Medium Grey
2. White drybrush
3. Black stripes

Leg 'Pelts':

1. Light Bone (needs a deeper tone for more contrast)
2. Thinned White

Spear Tips:

1. C Boltgun Metal + Black
2. C Boltgun Metal
3. C Chainmail

Spear Bindings:

1. F Rawhide Light
2. C Agrax Nightshade wash

Hair:

1. Black
2. Very dark Grey stipples

Skin:

1. Foundry African Flesh triad

I think I shall have the second one finished tomorrow, and then I shall probably have to wait for a Miniaturicum order to arrive to finish the last two of this batch (I need some more Foundry Dusky Flesh Light to finish a mix, as I use Dusky Flesh on both of those) - and in the meantime, I shall paint another mini for the BoB Painting Club at the LAF, probably finish a half-painted Viking and start prepping four unblooded/unmarried warriors with rifles.

I also hope to get a game or two arranged for next weekend, as gardening is now kept to a minimum, and I should be able to reserve a few hours for socializing at the gaming table.

USUTHU! Painting Zulus

It is moving forward, but not at a very fast pace. The garden still takes up most of my time, but as it rained this morning (for the second time during the last couple of months), I seized the opportunity for slabbing some more paint on my first four Zulu warriors. I try to vary the skin tones a bit, but I am still learning to paint African skin, and I think I shall have to get a few more dark brown Foundry paint triads for more variation.

USUTHU! Slow but Steady Progress.

As stated yesterday, I have slapped some filler on the Zulu warriors' bases, and they now only need a final touch, before I can prime them. I also put filler on the bases of a couple of LotR minis, but they will be shown elsewhere at another time.

I think I forgot some mold lines on the rightmost mini's shield extensions (spear and shield top) - I need to remind myself to get those removed before I spray them with primer...

USUTHU! First Sprue Completed

VERY hot today, and I spent some hours inside, away from the sun, working on several hobby projects.

First, I completed building the second pair of unmarried Zulus, and I shall put filler on the bases first thing tomorrow (I have not gotten my act together and made some gloop for basing, yet).

I had to use a shield from an unmarried sprue, as the married sprue contains only three arms with the large isihlangu shields (there is an extra one on the sprue, but no left arm to  hold it, go figure!).

Building Zulus

It is too hot, today, and I opted to stay inside the house and do a little hobby-work, instead of knocking cobblestones into the ground outside.

Apart from doing some repairs, I continued work on the first Married Zulu sprue:

And when the post(wo)man arrived, I got my first box of Unmarried Zulus with my Wayland order:

As the box contains a metal Induna (although a bit diminutive), I can now make a full Impi for In Her Majesty's Name without making further purchases (although I would prefer having an Inyanga right away, but he can be added later).

I think I am going to mix and match parts from married and Unmarried sprues to have a wider range of variation (and to heck with historical accuracy - some of my Unmarried Zulus will be in full regalia, anyway, so...).

Now, I have to get outside and continue working on my cobblestone lawn edges. I expect to finish building the last two Married Zulus from the first sprue tomorrow, and then get some filler on the bases, so they are ready for spray primer.

USUTHU! And So It Begins...

Not that I have that much to show, but in between some miniatures repairs, I managed to start prepping a couple of married Zulus. As already stated, I want to first make an Impi for In Her Majesty's Name, and then I shall take it from there.

I really wish, Warlord would stop making their integrated bases so large (and make bases more like for instance, Mantic), as I have to cut  a lot away to fit the minis on 20 mm washers - and I really do not think that 'horde' minis like Zulus should have larger bases than that, as they need to be placed in close order to create that 'mob' look that is so fitting for tribal warriors (and zombies).

Tomorrow, I hope to find the time to do two more bodies, and start attaching arms and heads to the first two, but as I also have some more work to do on the garden project, we shall have to see about that...

USUTHU!: Rorke's Drift and British Starter Army

As hinted elsewhere, I had found a really sweet second hand deal for my long overdue Zulu War project, and I picked up the stuff today!

First, the buildings form the Rorke's Drift set:

Then the walls and barricades, plus some mounted police and carabiniers:

Already assembled British plastic, and some Gatling Gun thingy - and perhaps a set of metal infantry...

British infantry removed from sprues, and some natal Native Contingent sprues (four, I think):

And, finally, 10 sprues of Married Zulu warriors - I can now start making an Impi for In Her Majesty's Name, although I shall need a command group set with Induna and Inyanga - but at least I can get some grunts ready for the tabletop!

Usuthu! Zulu War (1879) British WIP

Well, time seems to fly away on the wings of ornithopters these days.

I have been busy getting the last potatoes out of the soil, as winter has finally arrived with forecasts of -10 C this night, so I thought I had better.

I have not been completely idle on the hobby front, though, and I have assembled my first five British infantrymen for my Africa/Zulu War project.

As you can see, some of the ready/advancing stances are almost passable, but the shooting stances are really horrible.

Unfortunately, each sprue comes with only three sets of arms for each stance, so I have to use two sets of shooting stance arms out of every five models (with twenty in the set).

There is a right arm with an empty hand that may be usable with the extra Martini-Henry provided, so I think I shall try out that option from the next sprue.

I still think these will be OK as assegai-fodder at an arms length when I have given them a table-top quality paintjob, but I certainly shall not be adding more of them to my collection (unless someone actually throws them at me just for taking them).

I shall add some 'rough' to the bases with some filler, and then they are ready for priming!

USUTHU! - Another Project Born...

'Zulu!' and 'Zulu Dawn' have long been my favourite films depicting redcoat action in the Age of Imperialism, and I have felt the itch to get some action going on the South African plains (and as any native Africans can easily be pressed into service for Pulp games, this is actually a no-brainer).

I have now set out to scratch that itch, first getting these books from Osprey:

(In Her Majesty's Name rulebook should be in the mail any day soon)

Heroes, Villains and Fiends contain rules for using Zulu in IHMN, so I expect to start making a Company or two of Zulus (unmarried and married springs to mind), and one of Brits, then perhaps expand by making Pulp Alley leagues of some of the other native peoples available (like Ngoni, Matabele, Pygmies, Azande, and perhaps some 'fantasy' cannibals and other imaginative Africans).

At first, I thought about doing Colonials in 1/72 plastics as I already have some Esci Zulus and British infantry for the Zulu War (1879), but there seems to be a limited supply of figures for this period; although a lot of sets have been made over time (notably from HaT), only a few seem available at the present.

So, I end up - as usual - collecting and painting 28 mm sized stuff, and as I remembered to have a box of these, I dug it out and have begun prepping a few redcoats.:

The models are not great, but I got the box as a freebie when ordering WGF's Republican (Caesarian) Romans, so no harm done in getting them a lick of paint so they can be brutally slaughtered by the natives of many a distant corner of the Empire.

I shall be basing them on 20mm washers, and go for a 'ready' or 'avancing' pose for as many as possible, as I really do not  like the sculpt of the firing right arm/hand - and I am primarily going to use these for skirmishing, so it only seems right to use poses better suited for open formations.

For the Zulus, I am almost set on getting the Empress/Warlord Zulu Starter Army, which should keep me occupied for several gaming seasons.

Just need to get that November paycheck...