First figures painted in five years

There is a minor celebration underway at house Prufrock - we have painted out first figures for, as the title suggests, five years. It doesn't seem that long, but it is. 

Anyway, the figures are from the Fighting 15s (old Black Hat) Punic Wars range: their Carthaginian elephants and crew. 

The painting is a bit rough, and although I have glasses now, four years working with computers eight hours a day has taken its toll, and I just don't see the detail as well as I used to. These photos do show me that washes are going to have to be even more of a friend than they have been previously! I might also have to look at contrast paints. I can still 'paint between the lines' but I don't see well enough to highlight in a way that is not blobby. That may improve with practice, but definitely some technical adjustments are in order. 

Anyway, I'm glad to say the duck has been broken, and I will now have enough Carthaginian elephants to be able to stage Bagradas in Lost Battles. 

The next picture really shows the 'blobbiness' of the face highlight I did post-magic wash. I will be able to improve this by adding another wash to bring out the detail. Possibly more damning, it also shows my failure to properly file off the seams in the models, which I will have to watch out for in future.

And a comparison to a Chariot 15 Hellenistic jumbo painted some years ago. Size works well, but you can see the difference in the painting. The old painting was not especially good, but the more recent ones are clearly less carefully done.

But, to be honest, I don't really mind. Given that my painting output has been zero for as long as it has (and for a while I wondered if I would actually paint anything again at all), I'm just pleased to be back on the horse - or elephant, if you prefer.

While I was rummaging around I also tidied up a few other figures that had lost shields or spears in the move over to New Zealand. My next plan is to look at the Numidian horse and bring those bases up to standard. I painted them a very long time ago and they never got a coat of varnish. Some paint has flaked off, and the mixture of matt, satin and gloss finishes from the various paints used is not very pleasing. The idea is to patch them up a bit, give them a bit of the magic wash, and then hit them with a matt spray. 

As for what's after that, we'll see what happens.