Feeling bookish?

Sneak peek at the cover of Javi Gomez’s forthcoming painting book.

I’d like to draw to your attention to a forthcoming volume from Pen and Sword Books. Javi Gomez, occasionally of this parish, has written a wargames figure painting book which is due for publication (as far as I can tell) in the third quarter of this year. The imaginatively titled Painting Wargaming Figures doesn’t yet show in the publisher’s Coming Soon page but other sources already have cover images and some blurb…

“Javier Gomez, a highly talented figure painter of long experience and excellent reputation, shares the secrets of his success in this accessible ‘how-to’ guide to painting miniatures. He takes the reader step-by-step through the whole process, from choice of materials (unlike other available guides it is not linked to any specific figure manufacturer) and preparation of the miniatures to basing and even advice on photographing the finished item. Techniques such as dry-brushing, ink-washing, shading and highlighting are all explained clearly with the help of step-by-step photographs and colour charts. Specific case studies tackle a variety of useful subjects across all periods, such as mixing realistic flesh tones for different races; painting horses; guns and limbers; Medieval heraldry; Napoleonic uniforms; WW2 and modern camouflage patterns. Javier also clearly explains how these techniques and processes can be applied to all the major wargaming scales, from 40mm down to 6mm. Whatever historical period (or Sci-fi/Fantasy) and whatever scale the reader is interested in, this book is an invaluable source of practical advice and inspiration.”

I’m a big fan of Javi’s painting style and I’m almost certain that this is £16.99 that I’ll be investing wisely. So, Javi, if you happen to read this, can you give us any inside information about the book?

Meanwhile, over at the Osprey Publishing blog, there’s an interesting piece entitled “What subjects should we revisit? We want to hear what you think!” Well, I could hardly resist an invitation like that, could I? It would almost be rude not to add my comments to the 20+ already there. Before you go there or read on here, take a moment to make your guesses about what suggestions I made.

Done? OK…

Award yourself zero points, if you guessed that I made Napoleonic suggestions – come on, even my wife and daughters would have got that much right 🙂 Ditto if you went for Prussians – I happen to think the Ospreys in this area don’t need much updating.

Award yourself one point if you guessed that I went for some Confederation of the Rhine stuff and give yourself a bonus of two more points if you correctly thought of Saxony.

Finally, for the big five point bonus, you will need to have come up with the slightly left-field answer of Italy. I’ve got an old second hand copy of the MAA on Napoleon’s Italian troops first published in the 1970s. While it’s been reprinted in a new livery since then, it’s fundamentally the same book inside the covers as that first edition.

How did you do? What suggestions would you make?

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