Challenge Entry #2 - US 16th Infantry 1813

Eight of this 24 man unit make up my second submission.  These are the US 16th Infantry Regiment from the War of 1812 in 28mm.  The original 16 men I painted much earlier this year are Perry plastics and the 8 men I painted this week are Victrix plastics.  

These figures are based on a plate in the Osprey on the American War,  The US Army had difficulty obtaining blue cloth for its units, due in part to the trade embargoes that led to the war in the first place.  Many units made due with other colours, including the 16th who had black tunics with red facings and white lace.  Since officers bought their own uniforms they typically had the regulation blue faced red (although one expects as a premium price).  

My original plan was to put the Victrix figures on two separate bases and leave the 16 Perry-men as they were.  However, the two figure manufacturers have very different interpretations of the packs issued to British infantry.  The Perry figures have a shorter squatter pack while the Victrix packs are tall and skinnier.  Worse still, I took the blanket rolls off of my Perry figures (since the US didn't typically store their blankets on top) but left them on the Victrix figures.  I course noticed this right after I finished painting them in black tunics ….

I  decided that a miss-match of equipment was likely in 1813 and that using captured Brit kit to supplement was done as required.  But it looked better to blend the Victrix into the Perry masse rather than have them stand out on their own.  The two makes fit together well.  Once they were based I was telling them apart by their base shapes (Victrix's are square and Perry's round) or their packs.  

Given equipment and uniform issues, I gave the lot of them different coloured trousers.  My Trojan Green's faces didn't show the level of detail that I like so I gave these guys an extra wash of Raw Umber to bring the details out more (I hope).

Anyway the 16th fought in many of the key actions in the Niagara, Lake Ontario and Montreal campaigns.  Elements who present at York, Stoney Creek, Crysler's farm and Cook's Mills.