Black Tree Designs Celt Slingers

I've decided to impose a moratorium on figure painting in October for myself in order to make progress on a  number of other projects that have been on the back burner.  Racing to hit my deadline, I managed to get some Black Tree Designs "Celt Slingers" painted up before the end of the month though.

Black Tree Designs "Celt Slingers". I've removed their shield studs and shields for the most part.

I didn't think it was possible to wield a shield while using a sling, but a little research on TMP changed my mind. The large oval scutums were probably too unwieldy for skirmishers to carry, and my packs of slingers only came with two small round buckler shields. I shaved off the mounting knobs from most of the slingers, saving the bucklers for the two poses who I thought would look too odd without a shield in their off hand.

Five coats of generic craft flat spray weren't enough to knock off the Army Painter shine

I also gave my Army Painter dip another try, thinning it with mineral spirits and using the very thinnest of coatings to accent the shading I had done and give a final protective coat (since these figures will likely be picked up by the figure rather than the base). The dip still came out thicker than I had hoped, though it wasn't quite the disaster that befell my Cretans. I think I may have just received a bad batch of dip if such a thing is possible, since it isn't behaving the way my previous tin did.

The slingers are decent sculpts, not quite as nice as the BTD Ancient Germans, but serviceable.