Wargamers' Standard

Olustee - Perry USCT part one

2010-05-10T14:04:00.000-07:00

Posts to this blog, like London buses: you wait a year for one and then two come along at once. Anyhow, although Gettysburg day one is the long term project, I've had a long term interest in the Battle of Olustee or Ocean Pond.

Fortuntely it has one of the best civil war websites dedicated to it http://battleofolustee.org/
which has a huge amount of research on every facet of the conflict. One of the features of the battle is the deployment of US Coloured Troops in the Union orbat.

At Salute this year, with this battle in mind; I picked up a couple of packs of metal heads (both Black and Confederate sets) to go with the plastics I bought... two years ago... My excuse is that the plastic sets didn't offer enough variety ;)

There are 36 heads per pack (12 different heads x3 arranged on 6 sprues) one sprue seems not to be as crisply cast as the others, but fortunately I only needed 5 sprues for the regiment I'm building.

The first stage was to remove all the existing heads; I found a twist with pliers to be the best method - although these are 'hard' plastic, a scalpel still makes short work of them. Luckily the musket I chopped in two was recoverable!

Next stage involved drilling a hole in the neck to accept the 'plug' attached to the heads(saves pinning each head individually). The first one was done with a pin vice, but I got bored and used a dremmel on the rest (point to note: the drill bit will melt plastic at high rpm).

Having successfully attached the heads (I found cutting down the collar of the sack coat allowed the head to sit correctly; using a thick superglue meant I didn't need to go over the collars with putty which was a bonus), I then looked at the command figures. I wasn't going to use the plastic standard bearer as he is wearing a shell jacket so I had to get the metal command set - oddly slightly taller and more willowy than the plastic troops they command. I debated whether to use them 'as is' but decided to do head swaps for the drummer and NCO. The standard bearers retained their original heads as removing the large beard would have damaged the miniature and in any case, the flags will cover their faces.

The last image shows a selection of the completed regiment. The head swaps are an ideal way to add variety to the massed plastic ranks. Hardee hats next please! (although I imagine the Iron Brigade may be released in metal in due course).

Foundry EIR Auxilia

2010-05-10T05:13:00.001-07:00

Ooh. Can't believe how long since the last post on this thing; I did say it was irregular... Anyway, I found these photos hiding on the hard drive: Foundry Imperial Roman Auxilia. Again these were knocked out on a production line, so true wargamer's standard for these!

The optio's spear has been replaced with wire; the original looked like a tree trunk, but apart from that they are unconverted. The shield is an overpainted decal.

Roman EIR work in progress

2008-11-29T15:11:00.000-08:00

A few months ago I posted an entry about a Roman unit I was painting up to see how quickly I could complete them. As with most things, it took a lot longer than planned...

Even now, they aren't quite complete - the scuta (shields) desperately need transfers - if anyone has any going spare please get into contact!

The pila also need to be attached, static grass applied to the bases & I'm probably going to do another layer on the tunics.

Painting this number of figures at the same time requires a certain degree of discipline - but I'm reasonably happy with the results.

I've already started on a unit of 24 Pretorians & a smaller unit of archers. Over the Xmas holidays, my painting schedule has been cleared to finish off the remaining Romans, so hopefully I'll have about 150 done by January...

Rally men, Rally!

2008-11-16T06:57:00.000-08:00

Haven't had time to paint much recently, but aim to put that right over the Xmas hols.

This unit represents 13th Mass. Volunteers, who formed part of Paul's Brigade (1st Corps, 2nd Div). The unit was engaged in defence of Seminary Ridge on the first day, suffering heavy casualties.

As for the figures themselves, they are as always from the Foundry range, with several small conversions. A couple of the casualty figures have been resculpted from Foundry's colonial ranges - the Boer in the foreground of the first image with a blanket sculpted over his bandolier, and the Sikh Wars figure I posted about previously.

To break up the uniformity of the charging line, many of the rifle arms have been swapped around to create the impression of movement.

Foundry Gordon Highlander - North West Frontier

2008-08-31T12:02:00.000-07:00

Another one from the lead pile, one of the Perry sculpted NW Frontier range from Foundry.

I assume he's a Gordon Highlander because of the tassels on the sporran, and it would fit with the campaign - he'd be perfect for storming the Dargai heights!

The yellow & blue in the tartan may need a little more work, as it seems to bright, although Photoshop's levels may be to blame - it doesn't look quite as conspicuous in reality. Also note the black and red stockings; which became red and white in later conflicts.

The tunic was painted in a mix of the 'Moss' and 'Linen' Foundry paints, the leatherwork Vellejo Cavalry brown / red leather. The choice to use brown for the leather is inferred from various paintings detailing the campaign; I don't usually rely on these second hand sources, especially when uniforms are so often subject to artistic license.

The Roman unit I began has expanded slightly - I now have about 60 individual miniatures based, undercoated and in various states of completion. Other things on the work bench include some of the new Perry ACWs and a couple of old Citadel knights (the 'Barons' War' range later released by Foundry) I have had since they were first released!

CS Divisional Commander

2008-08-18T12:56:00.000-07:00

The Div. command base would (according to the FnF rulebook) usually be a single mounted officer; but although mounted on the correct sized base, I felt the foot figure added a 'story line' to the base.

The figure on foot is from the Crimean British command pack, with a hat taken from one of the ACW mounted packs. I particularly liked the turned down collar, which is under represented in the ACW range itself, despite its prevalence in period images.

The horse also originated in the Crimean range, although I had to resculpt the saddle, blanket & pommel oil skin.

The mounted officer's lower half is from the CS mounted infantry officer, pinned at the waist with the CS artillery officer miniature. The sash and sword belt are made from green stuff & hide the join.

By the way, the figure on foot is reading a map, not feeding the horse!

Completed fences

2008-08-04T14:01:00.000-07:00

This is what the fences look like painted & based; I just put this little scene together to show what they'd look like on the gaming table.

They are really quick and easy to make, and I think they look pretty authentic. All from cat litter & lolly sticks :)

Photoshop Tomfoolery

2008-08-03T10:23:00.000-07:00

Just a bit of fun with Photoshop... CS artillery with the Roundtops in the distance. See if you can spot the monuments I didn't stamp or clone :)

The only miniature that hasn't been discussed before is the officer out front, who some may recognise as one of the British officers from the Indian Mutiny range; havelock removed, head resculpted and a straw hat replaced.

Although static grass on the bases probably needed to be blended in a bit, and it's probably out of scale, I am quite pleased with the results. The next time I visit, I must remember to take some 'stock' photos for this purpose; it will be more of a challenge trying to find a suitable vista without also getting a bunch of tourists, a large bronze statue or an RV in view!

Gettysburg terrain - fences

2008-07-26T16:13:00.000-07:00

I wanted to make up some authentic looking fence lines for background for photos and also to work as gaming pieces. I knocked up five bases like this one in just under an hour (unpainted). Card base, cat litter coated in PVA shaped into a line, upright posts made from barbecue skewers, horizontals made from spliced ice cream sticks, all held in place with diy filler. Once dry, the bases were sprayed black, the 'ground' coated in sand, painted brown, drybrushed then static grass was applied. Excluding drying time, the five bases took only a couple of hours to complete.

CSA artillery pieces

2008-07-26T15:28:00.000-07:00

Another couple of bases that have been hanging around for a while. The first one is pretty much out of the box, just the rear figure has the head taken from the straggler figure in one of the vignette packs. Painted to represent the Washington Artillery; dark grey shell jacket with thin red piping & red kepis with dark blue bands.
http://www.washingtonartillery.com/Uniforms%20page.htm

(scroll halfway down for the Civil War images)

The second base again has a headswap from the CS mounted infantry officer (rear figure) with no other conversions.

The Leister House (Meade's HQ) Final Part

2008-07-20T11:03:00.000-07:00

Finally done, even down to the carving on the picket fence. As previously mentioned, the window frames have been intentionally left a darker colour, as per the early images I have posted. Like most things, it took longer than I anticipated, but I am pleased with the results.

Lessons learnt?:

I will be buying moulded plasticard for tiles, bricks, boarding etc. Life is too short.

Complete roof separately and affix at end, allowing access to the interior so any mishaps with windows etc can be sorted out easily.
Research is vital. There's not much point in taking time making something that's not historically accurate. The Gardner images were a perfect starting point, and the Library of Congress architectural drawings were a Godsend. These, together with my own photos, images from various websites & books such as Early Photography at Gettysburg by William Frassanito gave me more than enough material to work with. It's fair to say at some point conjecture and informed guesses will be required, but the more research; less guesswork.
Use cheap paints for terrain. I used large pots of cheap acylic (Inscribe pots picked up for 50p, and old Citadel paints that were near the end of their useful lives) to cover big areas. I was surprised how much paint got used. Conversely, use a quality wood glue!
Put it together using masking tape to make sure it all fits before you glue it. Bulldog clips make excellent clamps for gluing wood joints.

The next building will be the Bryan House. Again, I have all the wetplate images, drawings & photos. The Bryan House is pretty similar to the Leister House, so much so that Brady mistakenly took photographs of the Bryan residence whilst trying to capture Meade's HQ in 1863. Strangely enough, I saw an ebay auction for 'Meade's HQ' last week; guess what? It was a model of the Bryan House!

The Leister House (Meade's HQ) Part 8

2008-07-19T11:27:00.001-07:00

The house is now complete, but not photographed. I thought I'd just show a couple of features in the penultimate post of this project.

The chimney was constructed from brick plasticard over a wooden core. A layer of two bricks width was added at the top, then a single bricks width to finish off the detailing. This was all then painted black then Dark Sand for the mortar. The individual bricks were picked out in Plaka Brick Red (!), then weathered with some black added to the mix. As you can see, the shingles are all painted as per the porch roof (the white plasicard has now been painted too).

The ground was sand painted dark brown, dry brushed with various tans, red browns and ochres. PVA was then painted randomly over the whole area, followed by a mix of static grasses. Once dry, the grass (which to my eye always looks too bright) was lightly coated in brown ink, which blended it all in nicely. Again, once dry, the grass was dry brushed with various greens and browns.

CSA Breakthrough marker

2008-07-19T10:56:00.000-07:00

FnF breakthrough marker, from the Foundry Southern command pack. Painted with Vallejo greys - black grey and dark sea grey blended with white, Andrea blue facings & dark Prussian blue trousers.

I've also finally finished Meade's HQ which has been a slightly longer project than I expected. Pictures later! I also managed to secure some Foundry Roman standards, so I'm waiting for them to arrive before I start the Legio (excuses, excuses...).

Foundry & Perry - shoulder to shoulder

2008-07-06T14:45:00.001-07:00

I've seen a lot of nonsense written on the interweb (of all places!!) about compatibility between the old Perry sculpted miniatures released by Foundry, and their new range. As you can imagine, this issue probably affects me more than most!

Well. As you can see with the two Northern firing line figures, there are differences in the anatomical construction; the new sculpts, as mentioned before, are more 'lifelike'. I don't think these miniatures are incompatible on the battlefield, but maybe not in the same unit. They are certainly more compatible than with Old Glory, Sash and Sabre, Redoubt, Dixon, Renegade etc. Indeed, the differences are less marked than between their Foundry ECW and own range, and I don't remember that being such an issue. There is as much difference between the Foundry ACW artillery and infantry - the artillery being half a head larger - and that's the same range!

The mounted Generals pack I photographed in an earlier blog entry show that although the heads may be slightly different, the overall size of the metal miniatures is similar. After I have painted up one of the ACW3 pack I will let you see the differences.

As to the plastic figures themselves: the main feature is the cost; large armies could be built up for a fraction of the cost of their metal counterparts. They are sculpted in 'generic' sack coats and shell jackets, so for most units they will need to be split US/CS. With a couple of packs, there should be enough to put together three FnF brigades, with a few left over.

Preparation is much like for white metal - there are mould lines which need to be filed, and a rinse with washing-up liquid will get rid of any release agent present. This one was undercoated with enamels and painted with the usual mix of Vallejo, Foundry, Plaka & Citadel; there were no problems with application.

The only thing I found was the detail was harder to pick out on the plastics - especially areas like eye lids; and there are areas on the sculpt, like the hand in the cap pouch that are not as well defined as metal.

I enjoyed painting this figure, and I am looking forward to painting the rest of the range - the plastic horses display the best of the plastic medium; I'm surprised they don't replace their metal horses in their normal ranges. I am of course reassured that there is a continuing line of metals, as not only will we see the 'finishing off' of the Foundry range (Negro heads already sculpted!) but hopefully some new personality figures (Hill? Longstreet? Burnside?) and some unusual units like the Red Legged Devils!

The Leister House (Meade's HQ) Part 7

2008-06-26T13:17:00.000-07:00

This modelling project is starting to take shape! The base, built up from polystyrene, with modrock added in the first image; coated in PVA and covered in mixed sand and gravel.

In this next image, the sand has been painted with a mix of black and brown acrylics. The main roof has been covered in plasticard tiles and the chimney has been added; a wooden core with brick textured plasticard affixed.

The last image is another artillery base, this time standard unconverted Foundry figures.

The Romans undercoated last post still remain unpainted - although the bases have been coated in sand and the remainder of the brown paint mix from the Leister House base.

Roman Holiday

2008-06-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

No this posting has nothing to do with Gregory Peck! Surprised at how quickly I completed the Roman Cornicen, I decided to take a break from the ACW & dig out some old Foundry Romans I bought from ebay a couple of years ago.

Unfortunately, they had been "painted", or more accurately doused in what some call "magic dip" (i.e. floor wax and dark brown ink wash over a base coat). I guess if you just want figures to game with and are not too fussed with the effect, it's ok, but close up it looks very odd. Anyway a week in Dettol (pine oil disinfectant) stipped them back to bare metal.

There are 15 figures in total, including Cornicen & Centurion, but will include a Signifer when I lay my hands on one. If any one has a few they want to dispose of, send me a message!

The challenge will be to paint them in as short a time as possible without sacrificing the quality of the painting. I will however cheat this time and use transfers as a template for the shields.

The first concession to time was to use black aerosol spray rather than the normal painted humbrol enamel. Once dry the figures were mounted on 20mm bases, tidied up with milliput.

Once the bases have been covered in sand and gravel, the clock starts!

The Leister House (Meade's HQ) Part 6

2008-06-15T06:15:00.000-07:00

The rails have been added, and the whole model attached to a wooden base. Because of the uneven ground, polystyrene has been glued in place. The only thing that remains is to tile the roof, but I haven't managed to summon up the enthusiasm just yet!

The windows were constructed from clear plasticard, with a thin slice of white card to represent the sash, and the actual panes scored with a scalpel. The whole window was then painted, left to dry, then rubbed clear of paint, apart from where it has caught in the cuts and in the corners. Not all the paint has been rubbed off in this photo.

The window in situ. Light reflects off the cleaned panes creating a realistic appearance. The window frames on the actual building are now painted white, but as previously discussed, the period images suggest a darker paint or stain.

The Leister House (Meade's HQ) Part 5

2008-06-08T09:19:00.000-07:00

Next stage: The porch roof. If only I had some shingle tile plasticard... instead, each row was cut from plain plasticard, and each tile individually cut. Because the card was so thin, it twisted up, so it had to be cut again into five to ten tile widths so it didn't curve. This took an age, and I'm not looking forward to doing three times this area on the main roof.

Once dry, it was sprayed with a black undercoat, then painted Vallejo black grey. This was worked up with white added to the mix, then washed with black ink to smooth out the texture.

Finally, individual tiles were picked out in a mixture of different greys and browns. The porch timbers were also painted and dry brushed. Note that for the porch and windows, I have decided to use brown paint, unless I find evidence to the contrary.

With the porch in place, I could now add the railings. The cross beams still need to be put into place. Compare to the photo I took (see Pt 1).

The Leister House (Meade's HQ) Part 4

2008-06-06T11:59:00.001-07:00

The first photo shows the completed construction, including window frames, which amusingly enough had to be puttied in with 'green stuff'. After the glue had been allowed to dry, the whole thing was sprayed black. I then proceeded to drop it on down some steps and onto a concrete floor. Fortunately it just bounced with no damage whatsoever!

Next the whole building was given a grey undercoat and then drybushed in various shades of light grey and finally white. Obviously the area below the boarding will be covered up as part of a scenic base. It is interesting to note one of the problems with accurate scale representations, the fact that the real buildings are not in themselves perfect. If I was constructing this model to be used without a base, I would have had to alter the design, as the house itself actually sits on an incline, as can be seen in the second image.

The Leister House (Meade's HQ) Part 3

2008-06-01T10:53:00.000-07:00

It is obviously a distinct advantage to have architectural drawings to work from when constructing a scale model. The originals were blown up to the correct scale for 28mm, then cut out and traced onto mdf.

The mdf was then cut out to form the rough template & the windows were drilled out. The model was then taped together to make sure everything fitted correctly.

Separate roofs were constructed from lightweight wood. The internal view shows where the house was glued and strengthened.

The inside was painted a dark brown and the small porch room (cellar entrance?) was added. The porch iself was added, but not glued. This porch was later replaced as another photo shows the stonework actually runs under the porch. The stone (textured plasticard) was added, followed by row after row of wooden boarding.

Day two. The work in progress. Note the boards on the rear of the house, with a central join as per the real building. I think I will invest in some wood effect plasticard. Gluing the boards one by one was simply too time consuming. The wood will look better when painted though.

The Leister House (Meade's HQ) Part 2

2008-06-01T09:59:00.001-07:00

Another image of the Leister House, originally from an engraving from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, December 5th 1863, republished in 'Farms at Gettysburg' by Thomas Publications using Adams County Historical Society images.

Interesting to note the first floor window (above the ladder), which was not visible on the previously posted wetplate images. The window is also present in the 1935 architectural survey, but has now been removed from the building itself. Again note the dark door.

I can only assume this window was added between July and December 1863. Perhaps one of the shell holes (described by Leister herself in a later interview) was carved out and a window frame inserted?

The Leister House (Meade's HQ) Part 1

2008-05-31T03:32:00.000-07:00

The Leister House, or Meade's HQ as it is now often called was the home of the widow Lydia Leister, located a mile from the centre of Gettysburg down the Taneytown Rd.

The photo above, now in the Library of Congress collection, was taken only days after the battle, as the horse carcasses that litter the field bear witness. This image will be invaluable in an accurate representation to scale. Note the dark window frames and door.

This second image shows the house in better detail. According to the photographer it was taken during the battle itself, although the density of foliage on the trees doesn't seem to compare with the first image. Note the faded clap board on the near side, and again the darker window frames. I assume the outbuilding is the smokehouse mentioned in period descriptions.

On my last trip, I took a number of photos, which I could compare with these period images and the scale drawings from the LOC website.

The house today, which has been restored to its original appearance. Note the window frames are now painted white, and I am not sure as to whether the porch window (left of photo) is present in the earlier wetplate images.

This view from the rear of the house (taken between 1874 and 1888) shows another larger extension, added in the 1870's. Strangely when Leister sold the property to the Battlefield Memorial Association, she removed the extension and attached it to her new house.

These changes over time show the difficulty in returning the property to it's original state. However, by using these sources, it is possible to form pretty complete picture of how the place looked in 1863.

Roman Auxiliary Cornicen & CS Firing Line WIP

2008-05-21T14:12:00.000-07:00

Back to the painting table, with a day off! Unfortunately most of the time was spent undercoating and putting on base layers, which is not terrifically exciting. I did however, start to paint my first Perry plastic infantryman. In comparison to their Foundry output, the new figures are more slender & truer in terms of proportion. I will suspend judgement until I've painted a few, but I am a little concerned about some of the detailing, for example around the hands. I haven't started on the metal sculpts, but they look as good as their AWI output.

This miniature (from the Foundry Roman Auxilia command pack) has been in a semi painted state for a while, and I finally finished him off. Strangely the face was the last part I painted, usually it's the other way around. Black enamel undercoat, with the usual mix of Vallejo, Foundry, Citadel and Plaka paints. Note that in the photo, the wolf pelt looks slightly 'flat', but I have a feeling this is a side effect of the Dullcote being applied before the paint had actually dried.

The Cornu (horn) was interesting to paint, starting with old style Citadel 'tin bitz' and 'brazen brass', then Vallejo copper and Liquitex gold highlights. This didn't look quite right, so I used some brown ink to blend the metallics and give it more 'weight'. The ink was then wiped from the body of the horn to reveal the gold highlights. Having managed to finish this example off in a fairly short time, I'm tempted to paint up an entire unit of Romans to see how quickly this can be achieved. I certainly have enough unpainted legionnaires that need to exit the leadpile.

This CS veteran was also finished off today, and is one of my favourites from the Foundry range. The brown leather cartridge box and brogans help to break up the grey tones. This will be added to a firing line stand - with the remaining miniatures hopefully being finished over the weekend.

Battlefield visit

2008-05-12T14:30:00.000-07:00

Recently, I was lucky enough to spend a couple of days wandering around the battlefield at Gettysburg. Starting at the new museum, which is a lot larger than the old one, I sat through their new film (not recommended for anyone with any basic knowledge of the war) then went off to the Lutheran Seminary, walking down to McPherson's ridge looking at the position of Buford's defense on the first day. Unfortunately we didn't get to go into the Adams County Historical Society which is based at the Seminary.We then followed the path of the collapsed Union line as it retreated through the town towards Evergreen Cemetery, and ending the day at Culp's Hill observation tower.

Day two started from the museum again, moving towards the Leister House (Meade's HQ), where I snapped some photos in order to reconstruct it for the wargames table.

This is the rear view of the barn. Wow. I bet you wish your holidays were as exciting as mine :)

Amazingly, the Library of Congress http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html
has architectural drawings of many of the most important historical buildings on the battlefield including the Leister house and barn (part of the Historic American Buildings Survey) so there's no excuse for inaccuracy.

We then went towards the Pennsylvania monument where some re-enactors were doing a demonstration. These well fed federals, seen doing rifle drills above, were accompanied by their Rebel counterparts stationed by the Longstreet monument. Strangely, someone was actually getting married on the site, with a Confederate honour guard! It is always good to talk to these enthusiasts, as they always have interesting tales to tell, even if one felt compelled to apologise for one of their 'pards' who had brought along an 'authentic' 1860s deckchair for the Reb camp...

Onwards to Little Round Top through the Peach Orchard and Wheatfield, back up to the Virginia Monument and across to the Angle in the footsteps of the Pickett Pettigrew charge. A lot of ground covered, and some very sore feet, but I could have done another month without covering the same ground twice. This all too brief trip has given me a taste for a longer holiday later in the year.

As well as the new Perry miniatures that need to be glued together, the Leister House will be a first terrain piece. I'll leave the Seminary until later - that's going to be a project in itself! I should probably then do the McPherson barn. So many plans. so little time...

Salute!

2008-04-20T03:18:00.001-07:00

I haven't posted in a while. I haven't painted in a while. However, I thought I'd do a quick update on Salute (the biggest UK Wargames show) & my thoughts on the prospect of painting the first Perry sculpted metal ACWs.

It has probably already been said that the Excel venue is like an aircraft hangar, with as much character. However, I wasn't there for the ambiance (or the £5 vege burgers!), I was there for Perry ACWs! Picking up the plastics (Infantry and Cavalry) from the Perry's themselves & delaying while I admired their demonstration game, I then went to pick up some metals from Dave Thomas. Unfortunately by the time I got there, all they had left were limbers! I picked one of those up, but then they found a Generals pack they hadn't sold. The day was saved(!)

I have seen a number of posts about the compatibility of the old Foundry range, and as I'm sure you can imagine, this was certainly an issue for me.

As you'll see, the fears were unfound(ry)ed. The Perry sculpt is on the left. I picked two similar looking miniatures to compare, and although the Foundry sculpt is slightly 'chunkier', they are by no means incompatible. The new Perry miniatures have more realistic proportions (horses do too!) and the detail if anything, is even finer than before, although this may be due to the respective ages of the moulds. Suffice to say I am very happy about these new models - and can't wait to pick up the rest of them. The artillery they had on display looked superb.

In terms of the models themselves, this pack is most suitable for the Union, due to the sculpted shoulder boards, although they were used down South (Wade Hampton for one). A needle file would sort them out, but I think I'll keep them as Blue Bellies.

Once I've painted some of the plastic horses, I'll do another side by side post, although apart from the benefit of more realistic horses, I don't see too many problems.

As for the rest of Salute, I picked up some bargains at the Foundry stall - 4 complete (and a few extras) ECW artillery crews plus guns for £5!

I also picked up the interesting Touching History terrain building guides. I'm off to Gettysburg in two weeks, so hopefully some of the tips will come in useful!

Fightin' Joe

2008-02-04T13:06:00.000-08:00

For those Gettysburg 'what if' scenarios... Or Chancellorsville.

Currently a work in progress, I may remount him on a horse that's a better match for the one in the tintype. Correcting the relative scale of horse and rider may pose more of a challenge though...

The horse in the WIP is from the Crimean Russian Generals pack, with resculpted saddle blanket. I will use him for the General's staff when I find a better match.

Hooker himself is based on the Foundry Union mounted Infantry commander with the head from the CS Cavalry with Shotguns pack. The sideburns were added with greenstuff.

While I was on the Foundry site, I noticed the work done on Stonewall Jackson - his coat's painted grey! Jackson was wearing this coat - a black oil cloth raincoat when he received his fatal lead poisoning. It's still on display at the VMI. Their Little Sorrel looked a little off colour too :(

The start of a Roman WAB army?

2008-01-02T10:13:00.000-08:00

This one's been in a semi painted state for a few months now, but I dug him out and finished him off today. I have a bunch of these Foundry sculpts and their Dacian adversaries, but they always seem to be on the 'to do' list.

Although they should be easy enough to paint in large batches because the colour schemes are quite basic (... by that reasoning so should the ACW...), the major problem is the shield. As this was a test piece to see whether I was inspired enough to do an army, I did this one totally freehand. The prospect of doing a hundred more is, however, enough sap my will to live. Although it looks ok, I will order some decals and paint over the top of them. Decals never look quite right on their own, but as a template they'll be fine.

It's a shame I painted this model and then attached the shield. I didn't realise the torso would be completely hidden until I attached it. I guess that would save quite a lot of painting time too ;)
Having looked at the tunic colour debate that seems to get the reenactors so animated, I was swayed by the 'undyed' option as for Trajan's army on campaign, resupply would be an issue. Just a shame you can't see it!

Sikh Wars conversions

2008-01-02T09:22:00.000-08:00

Two Foundry Sikh Wars figures that will be painted up as part of a Union brigade. I wanted to have this unit charging forward, taking casualties as they ran. Because of the limited number of 'charging' poses in the ACW range, I have been scouring the lead pile for likely looking substitutes to add some variety.

Fortunately I found these two - the cast of the running figure was slightly misaligned, so the cap would have needed to be resculpted in any case. Easier to simply cut it off and give him a forage cap. As you can see the sack coat tails were added and the shoulders filed down. Bands were added to the rifle to make it look more like the Springfield. I'll probably paint these up over the weekend and post the results later. Yes - the rifle is on the wrong shoulder, but this is a one off, in the heat of battle.

Good news about the Perry's return to the ACW - although I have mixed feelings over their decision to use plastic. I have seen their LOTR plastics, and the horses are especially nice as horse legs can be molded to the correct thickness in this medium. However, I prefer the weight and durability of metal. I guess those 'drastic plastic' orcs put me off... The promise of metal 'extras' for this range makes up for an misgivings.

The idea of producing a 'generic' ACW soldier is great for an entry into the period, they may not satisfy the purist. Although kepis, slouches, sack coats and shell jackets were utilised by both sides in both theatres, it may be difficult to build historically correct armies from these packs in isolation. The price looks extremely competitive though, and I'm sure I'll be buying a number of packs even if they aren't all usable. The prospect of extra bits to use in conversions is an added bonus. Hopefully some separate rifles will be added to the sprue so they can be used in vignettes.

Hopefully the range will be compatible with the Foundry range - I'd be happy with the small differences observed between the respective AWI and ECW ranges. Can't wait for the release date!

The Relief of Lucknow

2007-12-23T15:33:00.001-08:00

This one's been hanging around for a while and to celebrate our reconnection to the Internet (stupid wifi) here he is.

From the (very) old Foundry Indian Mutiny range, I think he's stood the test of time. This officer from the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders is painted in the brown 'boat jacket' they wore at Lucknow, covering their famous red tunics - they were, after all, the 'Thin Red Line' immortalised in Robert Gibbs painting.

Note the badger head sporran - worn only by the senior ranks of the 93rd.

Strangely I only saw the Osprey Indian Mutiny book (which I assume was the inspiration for this miniature) the other day, which was, more than likely itself inspired by "The Relief of Lucknow" by Ernest Ibbetson. Back to the ACW next post!

More of Buford's Boys

2007-11-04T12:11:00.000-08:00

Again, painting time has been eroded by real life, lucky I have a number of 'nearly finished' figures to concentrate upon. This command stand from the Union Cavalry - pretty much straight out of the box - the only change was that the flag pole was removed and replaced with a thinner length of wire, with a small finial sculpted on top. The guidon itself is made from thin metal cut from an old tube of paint.

I also painted up a small backdrop - although I need to adjust the photo options - it doesn't look quite right yet. I need to finish off two more bases then the first unit will be ready to give Heth a 'boot' up the backside ;)

More Union casualties

2007-09-10T13:21:00.000-07:00

The ACW range didn't have any Zouave casualties, this one was originally from the old Franco Prussian War range. The only thing needed was the removal of the canteen.

The other figure started life as a Boer casualty, with a poncho sculpted over the bandolier.

Damaged Battery

2007-08-25T14:07:00.001-07:00

This one's been sat around for ages. In retrospect, I think a prone figure would look better - but I didn't want the base to be too large. The figure is straight from the ACW casualty pack.

As you can probably see, I prefer the special bases to the bread and butter line regiments. I promise I will post a couple of regiments I have just finished real soon. I just need to do a few little bits and pieces and then photograph them.

AWI diversion

2007-08-25T13:18:00.000-07:00

Like most painters / gamers, I have many miniatures sat in the 'lead pile'. I usually have one or two non ACW figures on the painting table so I don't go mad only painting blue and grey. This is a Perry sculpt from the Foundry range, painted up to represent the 55th Regt. of Foot. I have a few units worth of AWI's that will be based for British Grenadier. I love the new Perry range too - I wish they'd give the ACW the same treatment! The new Perry horses are especially nice, and I bought a few packs just so I can use them for the ACW Corps commanders bases.

More Southern Artillery

2007-08-25T11:10:00.000-07:00

I'm finally getting around to completing a number of bases that needed those 'finishing touches'. This artillery piece, like the previous post, has borrowed from the Crimean range, again with the head resculpted. The officer is unconverted.

The 3" rifle is not painted to represent bare wood, but rather the ochre paint used on some Confederate pieces. I was looking for a link with the Ordnance manual regulations. This page has a good explanation. A number of 3" rifles were captured on the march to Gettysburg, so many of the ANV bases I'm painting up now will use a darker olive green.

Union Artillery

2007-08-19T13:30:00.000-07:00

Obviously the bases have to be functional as wargames pieces, but larger bases give the space needed to create mini vignettes like this one with two tired crew being given new orders. The officer is originally from the Foundry Crimean range - which are slightly smaller than the ACW range. Strangely the ACW Artillery crew models are slightly more heroically proportioned than the Infantry in the same range. As a result I had to build up the base so they didn't look too unbalanced. The cap was removed from this figure and the head resculpted. The second model is a simple headswap, the final one straight out of the blister.

I have changed the basing material method on this and probably future models - instead of using sand, paint, drybrush and static grass (as seen on previous posts) which sometimes looks more like a bowling green than a battle field. I can't reference the site this idea came from as I can't find it now, but basically (no pun intended!), the plasticard is covered with PVA and dipped in sand. This is left to dry, painted black brown, then drybrushed up with browns and ochre shades. Instead of applying static grass straight out of the bag, it is then mixed with glue, sand, flock and dark green / brown paint. This mixture is then spread in clumps over the base. Once dry the grass can be drybrushed green / yellow green to bring out the highlights. To my eyes it definitely looks more realistic. I'll try to find a base that gives a better view later.

Rebel Officer

2007-08-18T12:17:00.000-07:00

As I feared, real life gets in the way of painting and blogging. I've also been distracted by painting up some Foundry AWI & scenery for photo back drops. On the other hand, I do now have quite a few new figures that need photographing. A couple of new artillery pieces and once the bases have been finished, Gamble's dismounted Union cavalry.

This is from the Southern Command pack - unconverted, although mounted on an Foundry ECW horse (as I uploaded this I realised the paint under the mane needs some more work).

The rider is not fixed, and I intend to remount him as a staff officer to a Corps Commander. The horse and rider do go well together, so I may paint up another for that base.

114th PA Zouave

2007-07-22T13:40:00.000-07:00

Only a single figure so far. Part of Sickles advanced line on 2nd July which collapsed under repeated Confederate attack.

The Foundry Zouaves are some of the nicest figures in the range - and I can tell they'll look beautiful as a full regiment. I chose the Collis Zouaves as their uniform is pretty much what the Perrys sculpted. Their uniform is also in the classic zouave style - with Fez, blue jacket and red Pantaloons. I'll scuplt some with turbans to create some variety too.

Painting method (in case any one's interested): Black enamel undercoat - Humbrol 33.

Blue base of Vallejo Dark Prussian lightened with Prussian Blue, highlighted with Prussian / Royal and slight touches of Sky Blue.

Reds - Vallejo Black and Dark Red, Dark Red, Scarlet, Scarlet and Yellow with a touch of white.

Flesh - Plaka Red Brown base, washed with Citadel Brown Wash, lightly brushed with more Plaka to bring out the highlights, then the three part flesh Foundry Paint system. Canvas - The gaiters and cravat are the Foundry Moss set finished off with some Vallejo Light Sand mixed in.

Browns - Vallejo Cadmium Maroon - one of the essential colours in my palette. gradually highlighted with either Beige Brown & Ochre, Citadel Snakebite Brown, or Light Brown, depending on what shade of brown I want.

Rebel casualty marker

2007-07-15T12:00:00.001-07:00

One of the things I like about Fire and Fury is the use of miniatures for displaying unit condition and status. Many brigade level rules either don't use markers at all or use ugly bits of card or paper to litter the battlefield.

This 'Disorder' marker was converted from a Sikh Wars casualty figure. The turban was removed and a hat added from the ACW casualty pack. The face then had to be partially resculpted as originally it was covered by the turban. The jacket and shoes needed a little work too.

You'll note the blue cuffs. The so called 'Columbus depot jacket' was more common in the Western theatre, but period photographs do suggest limited ANV usage.

Lysander Cutler

2007-07-14T13:23:00.001-07:00

Brigadier General Lysander Cutler, commanding the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, 1st Corps. Heavily engaged on the 1st July - the 147th NY lost 207 men killed and wounded from a strength of 380 in only 30 minutes during the confused fighting in the vicinity of McPherson's Ridge.

He lost two horses that day, so I painted up this silver bay. He isn't fixed on the horse as I want the flexibility to change from Regimental to Brigade F 'n F. The horse was originally from the AWI Generals pack, with some resculpting of the pommel holsters.

Cutler was converted from the Crimean War British command pack, with a kepi added. The kepi may be replaced if I come across any evidence to suggest he wore a Hardee hat (after all he was nominated for command of the Iron Brigade) or a slouch during this campaign. Information of this type is always welcome.

Work in Progress

2007-07-13T14:37:00.001-07:00

Not completed yet - this base still needs a bit of tidying up. I am quite happy about how it is turning out although I will replace the officer when I have decided which brigade HQ this will represent (which is why there is no flag in place yet).

The horse was originally from the Perry sculpted WSS/GNW range, which seems slightly larger than the ACW sculpts. The horse that comes in the command packs definitely looks a little bit small.

For some reason there was no marching drummer in the ACW range so this one has been converted from the Sikh Wars range - basically the tunic was filed down and resculpted and an ACW head transplanted.

The standard bearer is straight from the pack. Hopefully they'll soon be joined by the rest of their pards although it may take a little time.

Southern Artillery

2007-07-12T14:03:00.000-07:00

I must have painted up eight or nine artillery pieces - but this is one of my favourites. Two head swaps - one from the Foundry Southern command pack and one from the Southern mounted command pack.

As research into Confederate equipment and uniforms has improved, the use of 'butternut' in the ANV has been the subject of much debate. By mid 1863 many regiments would have been recently resupplied through the depot system. Improvements in the dyeing process and imported cloth may have limited the use of organic dyes which produced the darker brown uniforms. The use of photographic images, contemporary descriptions and quartermaster's records where available will hopefully provide the information needed to paint each regiment with a degree of historical accuracy.

The Devil's to pay!

2007-07-09T13:33:00.000-07:00

Welcome. An irregular blog documenting my long term objective to paint up all the figures required to game the 1st day of Gettysburg.

I decided to use Fire and Fury conventions for basing with 28mm Foundry figures. The Perry sculpted range has a number of advantages. Primarily, they are in my opinion (it is a blog after all, so occasionally opinions may be expressed!) some of the nicest sculpts available for this period. Secondly, it's a large range which is relatively complete. There are some omissions - dismounted Rebel cavalry, US Coloured troops, Western theatre Union troops in slouches etc, but thankfully most of these missing troop types don't feature at Gettysburg. The 14th Brooklyn, the 'Red Legged Devils' are one unit which will need to be converted. This brings me to the last factor in choosing this range. The Perry's output for Foundry and their own company provides huge potential for conversions, especially for the accurate portrayal of personalities.

Apart from providing a record of the regiments as they are completed, hopefully this blog will encourage me to adopt a more disciplined approach to painting. I do paint other things too, and I find that a break from 'the blue and the grey' helps retain focus, so I'll probably post a few images of other things along the way. As someone who can't resist a bargain, I have large reserves of Foundry Napoleonic Bavarians, Romans and Dacians, ECWs, AWIs and Perry Ashigaru. Add to these a large lot of Foundry Indian Mutiny I recently got off ebay, I'm not likely to be finished any time soon!