Readers will notice from past Issues that a disproportionate number of "flats", engraved 2 dimensional military miniatures have appeared in the "Armchair General", disproportionate at least, for an American publication. As might be expected, it has to do with the acting editor's eccentricity in this direction, and since flats are by definition a less accurate representation of 3D people than rounds, some sort of apology in the classic if not contemporary usage, may be in order. Why flats?

Well, for myself the reason was fairly simple. Having weakened in my determination to hold out for 54mm diceless games, and acquired Joe Moreschauser's "Wargames in Miniature", I found that Ernie Coleman (even then a pillar of the NCMC owned some flat 30mm figures. Up to that time I could remember having spoken to Pete Kramer (now a respected designer of original figures, then a part time wargamer emerging as a prodigy) at his college dorm and saying that I couldn't understand why anyone would bother with a tin version of a paper cut out, to which he agreed.

But they came painted, so I bought an assorted group from Leon Chodniki of Baltimore, ordered from Moreschauser's list from Odrel of Kiel, and embarked on a series of 30mm musket period games with Ernie and whoever else I could get under my guns.

Somewhere along the line, at an NCMC club meeting, I saw a couple of French chausseurs a cheval painted by S.J.W. Pale, an English collector and wargamer where shading really made the engraving stand out. I began to see the flat not as an inferior toy soldier, but as a different and fascinating art form.

I was led to seek out other manufacturers in France and Germany, and undertook to paint in return for unpainted sets a proposition which pays less than .25 an hour to increase my collection at low cost.

At the time of writing, while threatened with decline by the advent of Airfix Napoleonics, flats offer the following advantages:

a. Ochel still markets painted figures at prices competitive with unpainted rounds. This offers the chance to get into action now instead of five months hence.

b. Unpainted flats are available from a number of dealers at home and a greater number of "editors" abroad for every conceivable period and place, chiefly in 3rmn, but also in 20mm and 45-55mm scales.

c. While of variable quality, the range of design work tends to be very Rood. The engraving of 2D figures offers more flexibility, and once you get the hang of it, somewhat easier painting.

The disadvantage, of course, is that they are flat, and, on a side view figure there is a yone of about 30 degrees fore and 30 degrees aft at which no flat can compare with rounds. This is a fact, inescapable, though some flat partisans try to avoid it. A dioramist, of course, can get around it, and as a wargamer I've learned to view my more exciting actions in oblique. I've repeatedly tried to get Bob Black and S.J.P. Hale, who paint better than I, to cover the subject of painting flats, but Bob tells me he doesn't know quite how he does it, and S.J.P. Hale, at last report, was somewhat restricted by other problems. That would leave Michael Hitrovo, who also paints better than I and at least as well as the others, but he has explained how so often in the Guidon (MFCA) and other club publications that he is probably tired of repeating for slow learners, so I'll have a go at it myself.

All the usual steps apply in preparing the figure. Soak to remove mold graphite (or whatever), dry, and prime. I usually glue several figures on a strip of shirt cardboard and spray first one side and then the other with Pactra or other flat white dope. Be careful not to blot it on too heavy.

Once dry, study the figure. Flats call for shading shading on rounds is nice if you're so inclined, but it makes an immense difference on flats. Bob once said to hold the figure pointed at a light and study the shadows, which you can do. I take it as a rule of thumb that all edges of the curting(along the center line) ire places at which the figure slopes more or less away,, from you, is are all rounded parts represented by an engraved line, etc. This gives you a point of departure based upon a light source coming directly from the side of the figure. You can never guarantee the position of your light source, but you may be reasonably sure that the light reaching the sidelong observer will be in that general line.

One method of shading sometimes cited by European sources is to paint the figure with a black wash (heavily diluted) then wiping it off with a rag or tissue leaving the dark color deposited in the crevices of the engraving. That sounds diabolically ingenious, but I don't really trust it for myself. If any of You take a crack at it, let me know how it turns out I would recommend using a water base paint over the dope primer so that the base of the wash (fairly dark for a wash) won't remove the primer.

I use oils, and, working with a fine brush (00 or smaller) put in the facial and flesh shadows in venetian red, heavily diluting that shade with white for the rest of the face. After that, with the same size brush, perhaps a size larger for the major shadows, darken the major shadow edges the more shadow depending on the darkness of the shade to be used. Follow this step for R11 the figures you're painting saves a lot of brush cleaning and paint mixing.

Major color areas come next. Coat colors, saddlecloths, etc. Blend the color with black along the shadows, or use other shading mixes (brown with red for intermediate shadow on a red coat or cloak for example) if you want to get fancy.

When it comes to highlights be daring, I learned this the hard way. The first few hundred flats I shaded were just too bloody dark! High point of the educational process came when Michael Pitrovo, without a hint of devious cunning, complimented me on a beautifully painted black horse. The horse, alas, was supposed to he a gray, belonging, as he did, to a cavalry musician of Napoleon's army. (it was black)

Use a shade lighter (medium green for dark, light for medium, etc.) for the intermediate shade of a 30mm figure than that worn by the individual represented. Get near white (glossy white for polished highlights) on highlights. Cording, braid, trim, and lace, as well as facing colors if you're in a hurrv, may be better handled by a quick drying opaque a shade lighter than required. The "brighter", of course, is hard to apply to white, yellow or metal colors. You will sometimes find it easier to make the white braid on some hussars stand out by baking, your Oils then finishing by painting in the trim with a quick drying opaque. Some painters prefer a gloss here, but I use matt. it is more important, except for the most expert, to make the trim stand out than to shade it.

Chain mail is a delight if properlv engraved. Mix a black wash with a hint of silver (or slightly darken the IR Gun metall) and wash over the mail surfaces (paint in plate crevices) and then alter the proportions to range from dark silver to bright silver on the scales. A word on horses except amoung the Russian Cuirassers, French Guard Grenadiers a Cheval (black) and Scots Gravs a variation in color is important. Unless I know for sure that the unit I'm representing had horses of the same general color in the ranks, I try to use about 6 brown to 2 black using mixtures of Venetian red, burnt umber, light and dark earth tones sometimes mixtures of crimson and dark blue is basic colors shading, of course. Where two positions are available in the unit, greatest color changes are on the horses of the same position, black and light redbrown on another. The manes, where different from basic color, and blazes, white fetlocks, etc. also arranged for greatest variety in position. Once painted, the horses are mounted in alternated positions.

This scheme may not appeal to all, but I apply it to flats as well as rounds. Horses, after all, do not march, much less charge, in step. Glance down the ranks of one of my regiments and, wherever possible hooves are flying out of line with those of the neighboring steed.