The Relief of Lucknow

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.