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.

Rebel Officer

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!