Dismounted Confederate Cavalry

Hello There! The lock down goes on and the weather has taken a turn for the worse as grey clouds and rain have turned up.

I have completed the latest American Civil War recruits for the skirmish project and here are the newest finished models.

This is the last figure from the Confederate infantry figures that I had shown in a recent post. He was missed out during the painting and is now shown here. I like to show the completed figures close up as a photo of a group of figures from a distance shows very little detail. It is also handy because you can see any mistakes or pieces of flock that need to be trimmed! 

After having a shortage of flag bearers and buglers I turned to Redoubt to fill the gap. Typically after I purchased these Perry Miniatures released a further set of command figures for their range! Oh well not to worry .

As it has been an overcast day I had to use a light box and internal lighting for the photography but it came out to an acceptable level. Here is one of the flag bearers. I have used the GMB flags sheet. These supply a number of variations of cavalry flag and I have used all that were available so there are three different types.

I have used a number of various shades of grey and brown to break up any monotony of the same colour. I have used a number of paint triads to provide shading and highlights.

Some of the flag bearers poses are quite dynamic and a few are charging forward as seen here. 

I have replaced used either brass wire or cut down metal pikes for the flag poles. These already have a point at the top which also acts as a reminder to be careful when moving figures!

It  is useful to have some figures with clear corporal or sergeant stripes for a skirmish games as the more figures that are used in the game the easier it is to confuse which figure is which as different figures have different characteristics on their respective stats.

This is the only bugler in this set. I used Vallejo 856 ochre brown as an undercoat and then a brass on to of that.

This last flag bearer is charging forward with  great elan! It was actually the last torso and legs left after I had paired up all the other figures.

After doing so many greys and browns I took a look at a different colour to finish off this guy. It also helps to identify different figures again as well.

'French Blue' What the hell is that then?

Hello there! I am currently doing a number of projects in between working at the hospital and one of them is to complete a battalion of French light infantry for a refight of the battle of Maida. They will also be used for the 1809 campaign and the Peninsular.

I have not painted Napoleonic French for over twenty years. I used to paint 15's and 25's, (as was then), but am now collecting Perry's and Front Rank for my work now.

After searching around the internet for suggestions of what shade of blue to use (even to TMP), I found a wide range of suggestions in many different makes of paint.

I use Vallejo paints, which narrowed it down a bit but I do use the triad system so looked at the Wargames Foundry paints and bought a few from their range as they looked very promising.

To help me find what paint I require and what colour or shade goes with what I make my own colour sheets and write up a painting plan for each of the units I paint. This stops me having to refer to different books all the time when painting and then weeks or years down the line I can still remember what colours I used to paint them if I need to paint more!

Here are a few examples of what I mean. I group the colours in, for example, Greens (above), then red triads on the left and a colour chart for the 4th Swiss I painted recently. I have similar for each colour triad and each main colour, (red, blue, green, brown and yellow). This helps me find the colour I want straight away.

Back to the French blue. I did a test figure and thought well that's done then! However I stopped and thought 'That's maybe a bit bright?' I looked through my reference material at home and did a few searches on the internet and started to think it was too bright after all. I feel I had been influenced by the illustrations from the Osprey books on Napoleons light Infantry from many years ago.

I did some colour swatches for the blues I was thinking of using, including the Foundry paints I had brought and started to do some more trial figures.

Foundry Paints:      Blue 65 a,b,c    These are intended to be used as a base, middle and highlight. I started with the first shade but on painting the mid coat and leaving it to dry, (wet paint appears brighter as it reflects more light), I  found it very hard to tell the difference between the two shades. The third, highlight, shade was noticeable but did not stand out enough for me.

I was beginning to think I had either 'blue blindness' from looking at so many different shades of blue I could no longer tell one from the other or they were only slightly different!  I left it for a couple of days and found the same thing. So on to something else.....

Vallejo Paints:     899 Dark Prussian Blue, 965 Prussian Blue     I have seen this combination suggested a number of times. I first tried a black undercoat with the dark Prussian blue but found it was miles too dark for me. The indigo dye used in real life was VERY dark and when it faded, quickly, started to give off a definite green hue. I was beginning to feel that going with reality was not going to pay off as it was looking like I was going to give my French troops black uniforms!

With this still not looking good after adding the 965 Prussian Blue I tried it with a lighter undercoat but still not fun. Next up.....

Vallejo Paints:       965 Prussian Blue, Various mid coats and highlights, (840 Andrea Blue, 925 Intense Blue, 930 Dark Blue, 962 Flat Blue, 963 Medium Blue).      These combinations just got lighter and lighter and while I knew this colour did fade in real life I was just not satisfied with the result. 

I started to mix paints to get what I wanted. Starting with an empty dropper bottle I used a two ml syringe and a drawing up needle to mix fixed quantities of 899 Dark Prussian Blue and 965 Prussian Blue. This started to get near to what I wanted and used a grey undercoat on the figures to help the shade of blue look lighter. Things had started to come together.

One night I had a few minutes to spare so I went back to the Foundry Paints and instead of using the triad I used the 'a' shade as the shadow and the 'c' shade as the main colour and added some 840 Andrea blue as the highlight. Bingo! All's well with the World and I can now get on with the light infantry.

Here is a colour comparison of the colours I was using. Top left is 965 Prussian Blue. Below it is 899 Dark Prussian Blue. Along the top is mixes of 899 Dark Prussian Blue with progressive additions of 965 Prussian Blue. Top far right is 899 Dark Prussian Blue again. The group of three lower down is the Foundry paints. The large square is Foundry 'b' and is done to show that a larger area of the same shade dos look lighter than a small area.

I was not expecting this photograph to come out as clear as it has but I was surprised to find the different shades of blue are apparent.

An interesting article on different dyes available in the Napoleonic period can be found here

I will hasten to add that this is for 28mm figures, not 15's as the smaller areas of paint will make things look darker.

Now on with the French!

French Foreign Legion 'Conus' 75mm MLE 1897

Hello There! I added to the French desert force as I wanted to take a small break from the ACW forces.

Although not present at Bir Hacheim, and probably crewed by Spahis troops instead of Legion Etrange, this was a version equivalent to the British 'Deacon' which had a 6pdr gun.

This item has yet to be varnished. I lost the original driver and passenger heads from Raventhorpe so had to replace them with others from the bits box. I was considering making the gun rotate but if this is possible gamers are induced to do this and so making it more likely to get broken. I was unable to find figures small enough to fit in the turret.....yet!. 

I have further models of this and the Tanake to complete. I have also read that FFL Legion Etrange patrols consisted on Marmon Herrington armoured cars. I view a Herrington at the Samur Tank Museum and which had FFL markings on it.

28mm Confederate Infantry

Hello There!  Here are some more additions to the Confederate skirmish forces.

These are the Wargames Foundry CWH010 Infantry in hats and shell jacket firing line. When I saw the pack I realised these would be suitable for my ACW project. There is one other figure which is kneeling firing and he shall be appearing in the next paint.

The two prone figures in the pack are a bit limited for a skirmish game but still useful. I tried to position the tufts to provide some cover.

I tried to brighten up the remainder by adding a few lighter colours to the blanket rolls. The last figure came with a separate hand and musket but was a easy glue on.

I have the equivalent in the Union infantry from the same range coming along as well.

Spanish 28mm Napoleonic Guerillas

Hello There! Next up today are some Spanish guerrillas for and extension of the skirmish project. With the similarity of arms technology between the two periods, (excepting the artillery), I hope to be able to use some rules for this period as well. This has lead me to consider using Donald Featherstone's skirmish rules but with some extra sections on morale and/or reaction. Well that is for the future but first here are the figures.

The first figure came from 'Bad Squiddo Games' They provide a range of female figures from all through history and this one fitted best with my Spanish guerrilla plans. I have been told it resembles a character from the 'Sharpe' series. I like the way that the shading and highlighting came out on the cape.

I wish I could remember the supplier of the following figures. I think I purchased them from Partizan last year and they were part of a demonstration game with these for sale at the end of the table. Although with more rugged facial features and not what we have come to expect they still have a place in my guerrillas force.

This chap is waving on someone else to die for King Ferdinand, (sensible fellow). Although much of the clothing for these guys is bland browns I have added the odd bright colour to appeal to the eye.

This chap is almost certainly influencd by the Dighton illustration of  Jose de Espin from the Blandford book 'Uniforms of the Peninsular War' His 'uniform' was decorated with skulls. 

The last two figures are the last items from the pack I purchased at Partizan. These are  foot soldiers but still have a character of their own. If anyone out there can remind me of the company that produces these then please add this to the comments below.

Lastly a civilian figure that comes from the Perrys Carlist War range. They do some boxes of civilians and they are very useful if you are using Spanish guerrillas. I replaced the pole, (spike. spear?) with some brass wire and continued with the dulled colours for the clothing.

American Civil War Confederate Colonels and Casualties

Hello There! Well while the 'lock down' continues and work does not call upon my time, I have been completing some more American Civil War bits and pieces. First up are a couple of Wargames Foundry cavalry which will be passing for Infantry colonels. As I continue with these 'targets for my Union sharpshooters' I shall also be introducing sharpshooter rules into the ACW rules I use for games.

I put both riders on skewbald horses as you normally see officers on fine roan or dun horses, which was not always the case. Officers had to ride what they could get hold of and so for a difference these are as you see them.

I believe I used Vallejo 921 English Uniform with highlights for the riders coat and the gloves are 858 Ice Yellow with a wash of Army Painter of soft tone or mid brown. This picks out the moulding of the fingers on the gloves nicely.

Here is used a triad of 868 dark sea blue, 904 dark blue grey and 905 blue grey pale, for the trousers and 866 grey green, 869 basalt grey and 991 dark sea grey for the coat. To represent infantry I added a sky blue collar

Next up are some casualties. These are from the Redoubt range. As you mix the heads there are many different possibilities for each figure. I have not placed them on an MDF counter as these are intended for use for the ACW skirmish project but they can still be used in larger games for casualties or 'fluff'