Snow Day(s) extravaganza!! Russian officers and some terrain

Had some snow days culminating in a 4 day weekend. So, had some time to mess around with painting stuff! I worked on my Russians some more, just getting some more layers of paint on them. They'll be done soon.

In these pics I wanted to show the difference between shaded and not shaded with walnut Minwax Polyshade.

As you can guess, on the left is the one I (literally) dipped and on the right is one just painted. There is very little difference in paint job.

I mounted the mini on a cork with some poster tack stuff. I then dipped the mini, upside down, in the can of Minwax. I brushed the excess off and let it dry for 48 hours. Why 48 hours? That seems to be the amount of time it takes the Minwax to dry and cure 100%. The layer is very protective of the paint job. It also adds a feel of durability and even some weight. Good for a soft plastic BMC brand figure.
 

 

 

The white you see in the left eye of the left fig is glare. Other than that see how the shading makes it "pop"? The gloss, in general, will be kept as it lends to the image of "toy soldier" which is the effect I want. If I did not want that gloss I'd add a layer of brush on or even some spray matte dull finish.

 

I'm no pro painter, I think of myself mediocre at best. Also, these are BMC figures, $9 a bag of 34 on Amazon. I do believe a quick paint job and a dip in some Minwax Polyshade can make a huge difference though.

 

And some of my terrain mounted on 8" MDF bases.

 

54mm barbarian fig I used as a test piece and practice piece to work on some inking techniques.

 Forest and the a-frame thatched house.

My Gripping Beast Ragnar Lothbrok fig (almost done) striking a pose in the midst of the evergreen copse.