Painting Challenge - Royal Marines

At the end of the Challenge I was  at the point where I was struggling to get a couple of problem children ready for the big night.  First up, the set of 6 Royal Marines for my War of 1812 project.  These guys took me on quite a ride.

I missed two theme rounds with Epic Failures.  My 1:2400 scale Rock of Gibraltar eroded away and my Mousling Lovers had a primer failure.  Going into the Nautical Round (3 weeks back) I decided that I needed a back up plan to the Sternwheeler.  So I started a unit of 12 (yes 12) Royal Marines.  The figures are mostly Perrys with Brigade (ex-Victrix) metal additions, in the form of a drummer, sergeant and a bunch of heads with round hats.  They first gave me headaches as the heads kept falling off.  After much reglueing I had one stick of them (I mount figs on sticks and had 2 sticks of 6 figures each) were good to go and I had them painted by last weekend.  The second set were being problematic, but I got them in order this week and sat down to finish them this morning.  That's when I realized that I had miss glue the backside of the Perry officer - yes you need to glue on the officer's coat tails in the appropriate length for the era you want.  Hence the half-assedness of the unit.  I was in the process of removing said backside and applying a quick Facto fix when I dropped the stick of 6 figures, so the set of 6 is back to the workbench.

So anyway I based the 6 finished figures and left space for their AWOL brothers in arms.  I will give them proper basing when all are mounted, but have gone with a minimal base brown  for today.

I really like the Sergeant, there's some real swagger to his pose.

The Brigade (ex-Victrix) head are nice, but suffer from the c1969 fu manchu sideburns of all Victrix Nappys.  The drummer and NCO are really nice.  I think that there was an officer, but he got repurposed into another unit or command stand.  The round hats are meant for the Marines but do equally well for British expeditions to Egypt, South Africa, Argentina or the Caribbean.  Or for an army of leprechauns for that matter.  Things might have gone better if I had used Victrix bodies, but I like the Perry's better.

I took the canteens and cartridge boxes off of Perry backpacks (since Marines went without packs) but should have also done a better job trimming off the straps.  Of course had I used Victrix figs, the bodies have the canteens and cartridge boxes and only the packs are separate, sigh....And the officer has his backside attached already!  FYI, the truncated packs gave me tarps and a piece of luggage for the Jock Campbell figure.

War of 1812 Generals

Brits left and centre, Yank to the right.

Last post this week is another lot of leftovers from AHPCV, in the form of three generals for my War of 1812 project.  There are two British (the good guys) and one American (boo, hiss, Yankee go home).  All are Perry's, from the British Napoleonic range.

I really like these three figs, good poses on the riders and fine looking horse flesh underneath.  The one officer in the navy coat has been initially allocated to the staunch defenders of Upper Canada.  However, uniform similarities and the top coat mean that he could end up leading our brutish southern neighbours bent on  conquest rape and pillage.

Once again I used slightly different basing techniques.  To suite the rough Canadian Shield I made the ground quite rocky, using a mix of ballast and Kitty litter.  I then added tufts for weeds to suit my mood at the time.

Challenge Entry - Fred and Ginger plus 2 Bangers

I had a busy December so this is my first non-bonus round submission, and it’s figures that I actually had primed for last year’s challenge but didn’t proceed with any further.   

We have two Napoleonic 28mm siege cannon, a 12 pdr and an 18-24 pdr, both on fortress cannons.  They are made by Brigade models and match the similar pair that I did submit to last year’s challenge.  But honest they are different models (check the much chunkier rocks on the bases on tis year’s models).  They are very nice pieces; I will use them for War of 1812, FIW and SYW projects.  And yes the rocks are definitely over scale, and will be replaced with proper gravel in the form of model railway ballast when I get a pack.

Also we have two 28mm civilians from Reaper, a barman a working girl.  They cam in a multi-pack with figures that I used last year in the Challenge.  I’ve christened the barman Fred as he looks like a Fred, plus I remember an odious barman named Fred from Coronation Street in the 80s.  So Fred needs a Ginger, which fits for obvious reasons.  Michael A did a much better job on this particular figure for a bonus round last year, so hopefully everyone else forgot about that by now.

I think that these add up to 30 points (10 each for the weapons and 5 each for the foot figures).

War of 1812 US 13th Infantry

So I got these guys finished just in time for the final deadline for the 4th Analogue Painting Challenge.  These are 16 members of the US 13th Infantry from the War of 1812.  The are Victrix figures from the British Peninsula infantry boxes, with heads from the Victrix artillery box wearing the Belgic Shako.  Let's just say that the honeymoon is over with Victrix and I have deliberately not given any closeups of this unit.  I think that I've got bits from 3 different Victrix sets with torsos from the flank company box with left over arms from the centre company box.

For the 13th I gave them the regulation blue coat - the coats are blue but my lighting and camera skills give them a purples hue.  I have used the Belgic shako to represent the false fronted "Tombstone" shako adopted by the US regs in 1813.

Loki has mentioned the Fat Lady Singing.  Hopefully at our house Sadie (picture enclosed) will be singing- she's not over sized but certainly has some nice curves.  No Fat Ladies singing, only an out of shape middle aged dude bashing out Beatles songs on a guitar. 

Thanks for running the Challenge Curt.  Have a large glass of something strong - you've earned it.

War of 1812 Odds and Sods

I've got a bunch of odd bits that I've worked on over the challenge that I am submitting as one War of 1812 smorgasbord.  The enclosed pictures are of

• 9 Royal artillery gunners using the Victrix plastic set.  I like the Victrix artillery set, but am going off the Victrix experience as a whole.  The unit of infantry that I'm finishing off was a real bugger to assemble and paint.
  
• 2 Victrix 6 pounders from the plastic box set.  They went together ok, but a tad fiddly.  
  
• 2 metal naval guns from Brigade Hobbies picked up at the same time as the Meese.  I believe that these are an 18lber and a 12lber.  From what I can tell, fortress guns in North America often came on naval carriages (that is certainly the case at Louisbourg).  
  

• A US command stand including a General and a Light Dragoon escort (both on horseback).  These are modified from the Perry French Dragoon set.  The general has his lapels trimmed off and a Victrix infantry officer head.  The dragoon was modified as with my earlier unit of the 2nd Light Dragoons.  I really like the plastic dragoon set.

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• A British command stand including a General and an Aide-de-camp from the Canadian Fencibles Regiment.  Again, these started life as French Dragoons.  I trimmed the lapels down but not off to represent the British officers' coat which frequently had a triangle of coloured lapel showing.  The general's head came from the Perry British infantry box and his aide de camp sports a Brigade Hobbies round hat (the ex-Victrix Royal Marine Hats).  The round hat was apparently the very height of fashion with the beaux sabres on the Niagara in 1813.  Much like the Dukes of Hazard hair and mustache in 1980s Biloxi I imagine. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

For the artillery, I opted to mount the gunners on one base and the pieces on a separate base so that I could switch the weaponry around to suit.  

Painting Challenge - Grand River Six Nations

Next up for the painting challenge is another War of 1812 unit - as Anne O'Leary says I've got around to the good guys.  This is a unit of 12 native warriors from the Grand River Six Nations, who featured in  many War of 1812 actions especially along the Niagara.

The figures are 28mm from Crusader's FIW range.  I did some poking about of Webstores before settling on the Crusader figures.  I was looking for figures which had a mix of European and native clothing and equipment, and these guys did the trick.  I have some Crusader figs in my El Cid armies so I knew the company.  Plus Caliver Books in the UK had them in stock and they ship world wide post free if you order £15 of figures.   At some point it would be great if North American hobby suppliers could be even in the same ball park as the UK firms in terms of shipping costs and timeliness of delivery.  OK, I'll get off the soap box now…..

For painting these figures, for me the big challenge was skin tones.  I live in a city with a fair Native population so have the ability to do some people watching among fellow bus riders, shoppers and people wandering the halls of academentia.  I hope I didn't come off as too creepy!

I settled on Liquidtex "Dark Portrait Pink" with a heavy wash of "Raw Umber"  - being a Artist's Acrylics man at heart.  This contrasts with my European figures which use "Flesh" topped with washes of "Terracotta" to give a tanned look and Raw Umber to get the crevices.  This Bloom County gem from the 80s sums up the process nicely I think.

I never paint eyes on 28mm figures, or at least I haven't in 20 years or so.  I subscribe to the theory that eyes are only discernible at much closer range than that implied by a 28mm fig.  That and the fact that most figures I see with eyes remind me of pandas and raccoons.

I wanted to base these figs to give the impression of native warriors operating in a loose order and taking advantage of cover.   Therefore I used double sized bases with 2 figs per 40mm square base instead of 2 per 40mm*20mm.  The fuzzy caterpillar grass is an Evil Empire product while the other scenic items were produced by mother nature.  Incidentally SWMBO had me roast the sticks at 400 degrees to make sure that no new friends were introduced to our indoor environment.

Challenge Entry - Meese

OK before either the grammarians or the biologists get on my case, I know that "meese" is not a correct plural of moose.  For the record either Moose or Mooses are acceptable plurals (like fish and not like Goose).  While the Beaver may be Canada's national symbol, to many the Moose is the quintessential Canadian critter.

These figure came about from a google query "28mm Moose figures".  They are made by Brigade Games, come singly or in a pack of 3 and are quite nice figures.  I intend to use them as game markers for unknown or suspected units.  So hopefully that gets me over the umpire's hurdle.  If not then I claim that they are mounts for the Teddy Roosevelt amphibious assault force.

I've based them on Perry Miniatures bases left over from my plastic infantry boxes.  Since moose are happy both on land and lake and like marsh plants, I've given bases with a watery edge.  I did the water in Ultramarine artists acrylic topped with Acrylic Gloss medium to  give the effect of ripples (hopefully).  I also used taller plant like to show rushes along the water's edge.  I am sure that there is plenty of Moose Moss for the trio to munch.

Originally I was going to base each moose separately.  But Junior Moose is definitely too small to be far away from Mum so two bases it is.

To give an example of size for the figures, I have one photo with Laura Secord - a combination of Canadian icons if there ever was.

Oh and just for the Mad Padre I've included a shot of their backsides, since I know he is a connoisseur of moose butts.

More moose info on moose can be found at the link below.
Hinterland Who's Who 
Canadian baby boomers like me can likely recite the narration from heart.

Analogue Painting Challenge - Hero(ine)

This fortnight's bonus round has the theme of "Hero or Heroic Group".  My submission is Laura Second from the War of 1812.

Laura Secord and her husband were from loyalist families in the Niagara area of Upper Canada.  By the summer of 1813 the war had been rough on them.  James was injured at Queenston Heights where he fought with the militia and thier store was destroyed by American bombardment in the same battle. After the US capture of Fort George they lived in the US occupied zone.

There are photos of Laura Secord later in life when she was Victorian and matronly.  However,  I prefer this sketch of her before her marriage when she was well, pretty darn cute.

Laura overheard US officers planning an attack on a British outpost.  Leaving her injured husband and 5 children (ages 3-14), set set off on a 32km trek through the US lines and the Canadian wilderness to warn the British.   The result was an ambush at Beaver Dams by Native forces with a few redcoats and the capture of the entire force of 500 Americans.  Here's a link to the full story at Wikipedia and a Canadian History video vignette.  They built them loyalist women tough!

Ok there's the history snapshot, now onto the figures.  Laura is a Reaper Bones  Townsfolk - intended for medieval times but her clothes work well for later periods too.  I opted for plain colours but tried to work hard on shading and highlights to bring the details out.  She is based singly so that she can be a civilian on table.

The US command stand shows two infantry offices (one Perry and one Victrix) with a Victrix sentry.  They can serve as a command group on table since infantry officers often took the role of leading detachments.  I posed the figures to (hopefully) give the impression of the officers deep in conversation without noticing that they are being overheard.  The map is made from vellum paper folded and crumpled.

The details are fuzzy on how and where the invaders were overheard.  For simplicity I have placed them in a wooded area, presumably close to Laura's house where she has been occupied with domestic duties.  The trees are woodland scenics and the rise is floral foam shaped and flocked with ground cover.  I placed the figs on my standard gaming mat for land based games.