Mark Clarke’s Hawaiians!

First off the starting blocks in 2026 is brush-master Mark Clarke. For years now, the Brummie paint genius has been winning L’art de la Guerre competitions around the country and astounding by- standers with his command of his miniature armies painted to the very highest standard but Hawaii, surely not a competition winner?

It was the Polynesians who first occupied the islands of Hawaii. They used clubs reinforced with stone chips or even shark teeth! Did Mark have his eye on the 20 foot spears that they wielded????

And finally what Hawaiian army would be complete without a very dramatic but very dangerous base camp!

Mark describes the process, “Inspiration was Hawaii 5-0. I used the army builder ink washes on a base coat of highlighted flesh which was then highlighted again after the wash. It was an experiment to see if I could get it to work to my liking and figures have come out ok. Colourful dress and capes were fun to research on the internet and the commanders wear tasteful coconut shell helmets! EBay was the source of palm trees and plants and the oval mdf bases for the terrain. Holes drilled through the mdf before fixing items in place then adding scenics. Waterfall feature for the baggage. Most indigenous animals are birds, reptiles and fish. Hence the giant tortoises / turtles. I was originally going to model Tracey island / Thunderbirds as the baggage, but research indicated this was / is (after all it is real) in the southern pacific and Hawaii is mid pacific! I have modelled a (an inverted) V shaped Saxon house as a village hut for extra terrain and to represent a built up area. Surfers and Hawaiian shirt wearing folks to follow. I have an emerging idea to build a cheesy ‘Fat Willy’s’ surf shack with logos as a terrain model! 🙂”

The army will be put to good use in the Thornbury 100 point ADLG tourney in early August this year. The “ organiser” Mr Keith McGlynn has been known to add a few extra army points to armies from the Americas and Pacific so who knows, Mark may have a winning combination of javelins and pikes!

If you have a wargames army nearing completion please send us the details. We love seeing your armies and they do provide inspiration to our readership.

Until next time! Our thanks to Mark for sharing and good luck in August! He has threatened to source an Hawaii 5-0 car with Steve McGarrett! Hula dancers etc. Endless possibilities… 😄