Guild o' Brushmen

Maori warriors, New Zealand Wars Empress Miniatures April 2026

Eldar Harlequins, Warhammer 40k Citadel Miniatures March 2026

British command group, 1st World War Northstar Military Figures March 2026

Here we have a First World War British Lewis gunner, in 1/10 scale, originally designed by the lovely folks at Young Miniatures in Korea. It's taken me substantially longer than it usually would to get this chap painted up, given his size and the sheer amount of detail on him, and I'm incredibly chuffed with the result. Do you ever paint something, step back, and think "I can't quite believe I did that?"

It should be no surprise to anyone by this point that I, like many of my ilk in the miniature painting subculture, struggle to stick to any one period at a time, instead flitting back and forth like a moth to an ever-moving, time-travelling flame. In that spirit, here we have four West German Bundeswehr infantrymen from the early- to mid-1980s. My fascination with Germany in this period - and its role as something of a buffer state between East and West - is still going strong, and painting figures like these make me think I really should book another trip over there soon. Sadly, Cold War-era miniatures in 28mm seem to be in rather short supply (I suppose it’s probably less popular as a gaming period than, say, Napoleonics or WW2), but Under Fire Miniatures never ceases to disappoint.

It’s always nice to return to the medieval and renaissance periods for a bit of a palette cleanser; I painted up a Landsknecht vignette a while ago, and found that painting a number of similar miniatures in an absolute riot of colour was a really nice break from the usual uniformity I go for (if a little more time-consuming than that typically is). In that same spirit, here are a couple of European renaissance mercenaries, ready to stand in defence of the highest bidder. I painted these with the Italian states in mind, but they could just as easily be from essentially anywhere else in Europe. These are from Wargames Atlantic's 'Conquistadors' box, with equipment and headwear to allow them that little bit more pan-European versatility.

Here we have one base of three Compagnies Franches de la Marine, flanked by three Coureurs de Bois, ready to take the fight to the British across the dense forests and vast mountains of New France. Miniatures are from the wonderful Crann Tara - a manufacturer who absolutely deserves more coverage, as their 18th century figures are beautiful, and incredibly good-quality for their reasonable price.

1940, somewhere in France, the battle against Germany's Blitzkrieg rages - as does my endless plight to mop up all the miscellaneous sprues I have lying around! Here we have three British Expeditionary Force soldiers (including their officer replete with spiffing moustache) and one French NCO, all from Wargames Atlantic. I like to imagine these chaps stumbled upon one another in a bombed-out church somewhere in Normandy, and decided to join forces to reach the coast.

Every so often I get the urge to really lean into the whole ‘glutton for punishment’ thing I’ve got going on and paint up some Napoleonics. All that piping, lace and finery can be a bit of a test of one’s patience, but I think the results often speak for themselves. If I ever need a reminder of why painting miniatures for this period can be so rewarding, I turn to Perry Miniatures, and their 40mm range in this case. Here we have two elite infantrymen - a French trooper of the 2nd Hussars, and a British Rifleman of an undisclosed regiment - ready to march (or skirmish?) into battle. I’m not entirely sure how two men from opposing nations would feel about being photographed together, but it’s 2026 and we’re all friends now.

Here we have four riflemen (with NCO) and a three-man forward observation team for the early war period, sculpted and sold by the nice folks at Great Escape Games. As I understand it, fielding Norway on the tabletop is like playing in hard mode, given their lack of heavy armour and minimal anti-tank capabilities, but I don't really care - look at those gorgeous mountain green uniforms!

I suppose, realistically, it was only a matter of time before I began my exploration into yet another scale. Here we have some Prussian jagers, grenadiers, and mounted officer in 18mm, from the lovely folks at Eureka Miniatures. These were a joy to paint, and have some lovely little details on them, despite their diminutive size. They're pretty easy on the wallet too, at just pennies per figure. I also have a handful of other minis from this range, including some French, more Prussians (naturally), and a couple of bases worth of Russians for a fun 'what-if' project I've been pondering on.

Wherever I end up on my miniature painting journey, the Second World War is never too far away. I've been especially interested in Poland's role in the conflict, from its valiant stand against Blitzkrieg in the early years, to its occupation and subjugation from two sides by the Germans and Soviets, to the efforts of its brave and stalwart resistance fighters, right up to its 'liberation' at the end of the war. To that end, here we have a number of Polish People's Army soldiers, who were equipped by the Soviets (with some equipment from other Western allies smuggled in) to resist the German occupation. These figures are sculpted by the masterful Propylene Foliescu for his brand Just Some Miniatures, and printed for me by an Etsy seller. I doubt they'll see use in any games (that's not what I paint for, after all), but these were absolutely worth it for the painting alone, and I'm looking forward to working on the handful more that I have in my queue.

I was feeling like I was in a bit of a funk with my painting for a while, and so I thought what better way to break the cycle of endless brown-and-green uniforms than by breaking out the broader colour palette and slapping a bit of motley on some renaissance mercenaries! Here we have a trio of cheeky Landsknechts, playing a game of dice while their mounted commander looks on (perhaps he's ready to give them a good telling-off for shirking their responsibilities). I particularly love the expression on the chap who's clearly just lost a packet on the game. Being able to paint up some minis in an absolute riot of colour (I'm getting alcopop-vomit vibes from these) has really helped to remind me why I love this hobby so much, and I'm so chuffed with the finished product. Now I just have to fight the urge to start a whole army of these eccentric chaps.

I don't tend to post things that are especially personal here, instead reserving it for hobby-related hijinx only, but recent events call for me to break that rule. I sadly lost my father earlier this year and, given that he was a keen longbow archer, I felt it necessary to break out a couple of these metal longbowmen from Claymore Castings that I've had in my backlog for a while. My first thought after finishing them and basing them up was "I bet Dad would've loved to see these."

Two recent events set me on the path towards my next choice of miniatures to paint. One of these was my finally finding a high-quality copy of 'April 9' online to watch, and the other was ending up sat next to (and chatting in Danish with) an old Danish fellow while out clothes shopping a couple of weekends ago. Needless to say, Danes seemed like the natural choice for my next Second World War Project. This plucky nation (who, it must be said, managed to behave themselves quite well throughout the period, despite spending almost the whole war under German occupation), fought back admirably during the invasion in April 1940, but were sadly taken off-guard, and the country capitulated within a matter of hours. From what I understand, the Danish defenders from this period are actually quite competitive on the tabletop, with ambush options and plenty of anti-tank machinery to keep any would-be invader on the ropes. I imagine any keen followers of my content will know by now I have a bit of an affinity for odd uniform choices, and the unique helmets adopted by the Danish army in the 1930s (and worn here by my first four infantrymen from the wonderful Great Escape Games) are right up my alley. These were really enjoyable to paint, with a very simple khaki and green scheme, and some unique details thrown in along the way.

A recent trip to my hometown of Nottingham had the liquor of nostalgia pumping through my veins, and so I couldn't resist picking up a couple of bits for my ongoing (and much-beloved) Hochland project for Warhammer Fantasy. These handgunners aren't from that particular shopping spree, instead serving as a small test batch for my colour scheme.

Here we flit back to the early 18th century and the War of Spanish Succession, with these Huguenot infantry from that period. I realise I've had to take quite a bit of creative license with these uniforms, as historical sources for them are rather few and far between, given that the Huguenots would often be incorporated into - and therefore wear the same uniforms as - their Protestant allies. I must admit I'm rather pleased with the way they've turned out; I have a tendency, when working on made-up colour schemes, to make them too colourful and therefore anachronistic for their chosen time period, but I think I'm getting there with these. Figures are once again from the masters at Ebor Miniatures in York (who else?).