Back to My (Small Scale) Roots

Hello everyone!

I only managed to get one stand of figs painted over the weekend, but instead of 28mm minis like I've been doing lately, these are 1/72; returning to my roots, if you will.  These are French from Italeri 6066 painted up as the command stand for the 2eme Regiment d'Infanterie Legere. (Remember to click on the pictures for bigger versions.)

These guys are painted up in the all blue of the Light Infantry regiments. While there are lots of pictures online of light infantry in dark blue uniforms (and photographs of actual, extant uniforms showing them to be dark blue) I've taken the liberty of painting these chaps in a lighter blue, mainly because I like this color blue. The uniforms are piped in white, with red collar and cuff flaps and silver buttons. The drummer is painted in the later green tunics worn by drummers; I've actually had this figure painted since May, it's taken me until now to finish up his mates.

These guys are based on my standard 40mm x 40mm infantry bases, though these are made of wood. I was at the local Michaels craft store yesterday where I found these bags of wooden squares for sale, and I noticed that the largest squares in the bag might be the right size for bases:

After doing a bit of in-store measuring, I found that I was correct: the larger ones were exactly 40mm square, perfect for my needs. Between the two bags I ended up with 40 precut bases:

These will save me a lot of work in the future, which is always a good thing.

Coming soon: Maybe some American command stands, or some artillery; that's what I have on painting bases at the moment.

Questions, comments and suggestions are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

-Chuck

Ltc. Gabriel Slaughter, Slaughter's Kentucky Militia

Hello everyone!

I finished up another command stand today, this time for Slaughter's Kentucky Militia, which fought at the Battle of New Orleans. As such, the command stand features Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel Slaughter himself, who would go on to become the 7th Governor of Kentucky. (Remember to click on the pictures for bigger versions.)

The figures are 1/72 plastic and are mainly from the IMEX Lewis and Clark set, with the exception of the pointing guy with the fixed bayonet, who is a conversion from a figure from Italeri #6060. Uniforms are a mix and match of different homespun hunting shirts and leggings, with big floppy hats predominating, though LTC Slaughter himself is sporting a rather fetching coonskin cap.

I am originally from the great Commonwealth of Kentucky, and it's been nice to paint up a few of my fellows for the table. Kentucky contributed quite a few troops to the War of 1812; in fact, Kentucky as a state had more battle casualties during the war than all of the other states combined.

Slaughter's unit served well at New Orleans, and it was a member of his unit which was vividly remembered by an anonymous British officer when he wrote:

--------------------------

"We marched in solid column in a direct line, upon the American defenses. ...[W]hat attracted our attention most was the figure of a tall man standing on the breastworks dressed in linsey-woolsey, with buckskin leggins and a broad-brimmed hat that fell around his face almost concealing his features. He was standing in one of those picturesque graceful attitudes peculiar to those natural men dwelling in forests. The body rested on the left leg and swayed with a curved line upward. The right arm was extended, the hand grasping the rifle near the muzzle, the butt of which rested near the toe of his right foot. With his left hand he raised the rim of his hat from his eyes and seemed gazing intently on our advancing column. The cannon of the enemy had opened up on us and tore through our ranks with dreadful slaughter; but we continued to advance unwavering and cool, as if nothing threatened our program.

 

The roar of the cannon had no effect upon the figure before us; he seemed fixed and motionless as a statue. At last he moved, threw back his hat rim over the crown with his left hand, raised his rifle and took aim at our group. At whom had he leveled his piece? But the distance was so great that we looked at each other and smiled. We saw the rifle flash and very rightly conjectured that his aim was in the direction of our party. My right hand companion, as noble a fellow as ever rode at the head of a regiment, fell from his saddle. The hunter paused a few moments without moving the gun from his shoulder. Then he reloaded and resumed his former attitude. Throwing the hat rim over his eyes and again holding it up with the left hand, he fixed his piercing gaze upon us, as if hunting out another victim. Once more, the hat rim was thrown back, and the gun raised to his shoulder. This time we did not smile, but cast our glances at each other, to see which of us must die. When again the rifle flashed another of our party dropped to the earth. There was something most awful in this marching to certain death. The cannon and thousands of musket balls played upon our ranks, we cared not for; for there was a chance of escaping them. Most of us had walked as coolly upon batteries more destructive, without quailing, but to know that every time that rifle was leveled toward us, and its bullet sprang from the barrel, one of us must surely fall; to see it rest, motionless as if poised on a rack, and know, when the hammer came down, that the messenger of death drove unerringly to its goal, to know this, and still march on, was awful.

 

I could see nothing but the tall figure standing on the breastworks; he seemed to grow, phantom-like, higher and higher, assuming through the smoke the supernatural appearance of some great spirit of death. Again did he reload and discharge and reload and discharge his rifle with the same unfailing aim, and the same unfailing result; and it was with indescribable pleasure that I beheld, as we marched [towards] the American lines, the sulphorous clouds gathering around us, and shutting that spectral hunter from our gaze.

 

We lost the battle, and to my mind, that Kentucky Rifleman contributed more to our defeat than anything else; for which he remained to our sight, our attention was drawn from our duties. And when at last, we became enshrouded in the smoke, the work was completed, we were in utter confusion and unable, in the extremity, to restore order sufficient to make any successful attack. The battle was lost."

------------------------

Makes me kind of proud to be a Kentuckian.

I've only put five figures on this base to represent them as a militia unit and not a regular unit. As with the command stand for the 3/54eme, these guys have a painted but unflocked base. I will flock them as soon as I can get some Elmer's glue, more than likely after move later next week. The stand also features a conversion in order to utilize one of the armless AWI figures that I mentioned a couple of posts back: just a simple arm swap.

The two figures I used; I sliced the musket away from the kneeling Frenchman and glued it to the AWI militiaman without a right hand.

Here is the result. I know that very, very few of the American militia units had muskets with bayonets, but I let this one slide because he was going to be on the command stand; the commander gets the better-armed dudes to watch his back.

Coming soon: Some of the 1812 French I have are already on their bottle tops, ready to be undercoated with primer. I have decided that I am going to paint them up as a Legere battalion.

 

Questions, comments and suggestions are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

 

-Chuck

French Command Stand (in Bicornes!)

Hello everyone!

I've managed to finish up six figures this weekend, the command stand -or what will become the 3rd battalion of the 54th French Line Infantry Regiment, wearing the earlier 1804-1807ish uniforms with bicornes. (Remember to click on the pictures for bigger versions.)

All of the figures are unaltered AWI figures from Italeri set 6060, except for the chef de bataillon, who is a conversion:

The two figures used for the conversion: the body from the officer figure from Italeri #6066 and the head of one of the AWI figures that was missing his arms.

The resulting figure. I even managed to retain the AWI figure's queue.

I've painted the ensign as carrying an 1804 pattern flag. This pattern was issued to all battalions of an infantry regiment; I'm pretty sure all battalions were issued eagles in 1804, but I didn't want this battalion (being a 3rd battalion) to have an Eagle, so I left the spear point finial as it came on the figure. I know this was the case during the 1812 reissue of eagles and standards.

Uniforms are pretty standard, based on plates of the pre-Bardin uniforms as well as uniforms from the Revolutionary Wars, save for some variations in their trousers. Some have been painted with striped trousers (such as the colonel; I saw this fetching pattern online and had to include it), white summer gaiters and black winter gaiters. I've painted the older AWI era coats to look like the pre-Bardin reforms French long-tailed uniform coat; I think I was successful.

Though I was able to get the base painted up, I have yet to flock it; apparently the base exchange doesn't carry Elmer's glue?!?! That's just stupid. I'll have to pick some up sometime when I'm off base.

Coming soon: I might continue with the 3/54th, or I might start on some other figures. We'll see what strikes my fancy.

Questions, comments and suggestions are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

-Chuck

Back in the Saddle Again

Hello everyone!

This past weekend my parents came up to visit me, and with them came an abridged version of my painting setup and a few of my 1/72 plastic figures to paint. I will have to fit it all in around my school and work schedule, but I'm excited to get back into painting a little bit once again!

I also have the opportunity now to review the big 1/72 lot that I purchased right before I left for boot camp, since those are the majority of the figures that I had my parents bring down. (Remember to click on the pictures for bigger versions.)

Here's my basic painting setup. A small selection of basic paint colors, some green stuff, super glue, hobby knife, brushes, base flocking materials and bottle tops to hold onto the figures whilst painting. Not pictured is my old Army t-shirt that I use as my brush-cleaning rag.

1/72 Review: Random eBay Lot

12 Strelets Russian mounted jagers. While not enough for a full unit of 18, they will get me well on my way to fielding a full Russian cavalry regiment.

Initial Impressions

The lot I found was unmarked as to what was in it (the descriptions only saying "American Revolution/Napoleonic?"), but thanks to Plastic Soldier Review I was able to determine that the lot consisted basically of the contents of Italeri #6066 French Infantry, Strelets #018 Russian Mounted Jagers, and Italeri #6060 American Infantry (from the American War of Independence), plus a mystery plastic mounted figure. The mystery figure turned out to be a mounted plastic medieval knight or similar and looked to be a board game piece of some kind, so pretty much useless to my needs. Also, the number of figures in the lot didn't match up to the number of figures listed on the boxes, meaning at some point there was some miniature attrition. I was also disappointed to see that some of the figs were incomplete, but more on that in a minute. Overall I was pleased that I got a good deal, and I can use the figures for a variety of projects: The French infantry will be French infantry, the AWI figures will mainly be painted as French in bicornes (not Portuguese as I originally speculated) with some of the figures augmenting my American militia and Native American forces for New Orleans 1812, and finally the Russian mounted jagers for my Russian forces.

29 Italeri American War of Independence figures. These are the only ones from the group that are ready to be painted as is.

Scaleability

All of these figures are the average size 1/72 figures; not the towering behemoths of some Italeri figures, and not the dwarfs of some other manufacturers. Since they will be placed in their own units there won't be any kind of disparity in height amongst the figures.

Here are 11 more Continentals, but all of these guys are missing arms, hands, drums etc. These would have normally been on the sprue, but unfortunately they didn't arrive with the figures in the big bag they came in. I will have to fix these with green stuff.

Quality

For the most part, other than the qualms that the folks over at Plastic Soldier Review have regarding the accuracy of the sculpts and whatnot, I like these figures. The sculpting on all of them (including the Strelets figs) is really good, save for the occasional miss-cast saber. I am rather disappointed that the eBayer I bought these from neglected to send all of the separate arms and drums that go with the AWI figures, which leaves almost a quarter of the entire group useless without some green stuff sculpting on my end. This is a pain.

46 Italeri French infantry in shako. All these chaps need are some cleaning up and then some paint to be table-ready.

Price

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the whole reason why I bought these figures was because of their price: 104 figures (not including the weird green knight game piece) for $5.50 shipped! That's $0.05 per figure, including twelve mounted figs. That's ridiculously cheap compared to what I've paid for 1/72 minis before. The deal was too good to pass up in that regard.

American militia. The three cream-colored figures at the lower right are from the AWI set; all are missing their right hands and muskets.

Native Americans. The figures holding their rifles at their hips are from the American War of Independence set.

The above two groups include the Native American and American militia figures that I salvaged from the Lewis and Clark set I bought at Hobby Lobby a good while back. There were three Native American figures that were included with the Revolutionary War figures, and they will fit in quite nicely with the others as is. There were also three ragged-looking figures in the same set, but unfortunately none of the hands with weapons were included with the figures, which is a shame. At the same time, though, since I will be making new hands and muskets out of green stuff, I will get a bit more variety out of the three poses than if they were all the same. Perhaps it's not much of a silver lining, but I have to work with what I have.

All in all the entire purchase was well worth the minimal price, and I should have plenty to keep me busy during my off times.

Coming soon: Well, I don't have many options. It could be French (either in shako or in bicorne), Russian mounted jagers, American militia for New Orleans, or American-allied Choctaws for New Orleans. Either something painted or some conversions made on those armless figures to get them paint-ready. Either way, I'm quite excited to get back in the hobby!

Questions, comments and suggestions are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

-Chuck

Real Men Wear Pink

Hello everyone!

Well, I guess miracles do occur because my box of Strelets French Foot Dragoons arrived in the mail yesterday, so I happily spent the evening trimming, cleaning and painting a few of them. Today I present the command stand for the 16e Regiment de Dragons, en service a pied, as well as a quick review of the figures as a whole.

(Remember to click on the pictures for bigger versions.)

I based these fellows on my standard 50mm x 40mm cavalry base. Also like my regular mounted cavalry, there are three figures to a base, for a full regiment of 18 figures. They are after all dismounted cavalry and would have had the same number of men as a mounted unit; also, this will keep them distinct from my larger infantry units.

The command stand consists of the Regiment's colonel (in greatcoat) flanked by a drummer and a bugler, both in reversed colors. I love figures in greatcoats; they are so easy and quick to paint it almost feels like cheating. The colonel is holding a Year IX pistol, and his helmet is the standard officer's pattern with black horsehair crest and cheetah-fur turban.

I relied pretty heavily on Funcken plates for the musicians; the helmets of the drummer and bugler both have dark brown 'other-ranks' turbans and the white horsehair crests that distinguished musicians. The drummer is wearing a standard tunic with lapels in reversed colors for the 16th Dragoon Regiment (pink with green cuffs, collars and turnbacks), piped in white with white epaulettes. The drum itself is based on a number of different plates and seemed to be fairly standard across the regiments on foot service; dragoon regiments on foot service were given drummers, unique amongst any other contemporary cavalry formation.

The trumpeter's tunic is frogged across the front in white, as it lacked lapels, with green cuffs, collars and turnbacks piped in white. The anguillette hanging from the bugler's epaulette confused me for a time, until it occured to me (based on Funcken) that it was meant to represent the cord which secured the bugle to the bugler's person. Funcken showed this as being red, so red it it here. All in all, I'm quite pleased with how they turned out.

1/72 Review: Strelets 0009: French Foot Dragoons and Polish Grenadiers

The box. As usual, Strelet's box art is pretty neat.

Initial Impressions

I purchased these figures because I had been hankering after this set for a good while after I had looked at them on Plastic Soldier Review. Having no luck in getting this set on eBay I had a look around the Internet and finally found it in stock at Hobby Bunker, which shipped them the same day I ordered them. I probably would have gotten them sooner but becasue they are in Massachussetts the massive blizzards they have been having up that way more than likely slowed it down.

Sprue 1: Polish Grenadiers in bearskins.

I really like these figures! The French dragoon regiments have always fascinated me, and I thought it would be really cool to have a regiment of Foot dragoons. As far as I know no one makes 15mm French foot dragoons, so these guys were my only hope to make my dream a reality. Additionally, because they are mixed in the set with Polish Grenadiers, I pretty much own every 1/72 Napoleonic Polish set that is out there; the grenadiers (with their bearskins) will form the grenadier company for the 1st Regiment of the Vistula Legion.

Sprue 2: French Dragoons.

Scaleability

These figures are compatable with the vast majority of my 1/72 collection; smaller than some of the massive Italeri figures I have, on par with Hat, Strelets and most of my Italeri figures, and a bit larger than Revell.

Sprue 3: French Dragoons.

Quality

Like most Strelets figures, these guys looked like hammered hell on the sprue but clean up and paint up very nicely. There are a few figures with mushy faces where the mould didn't quite fill and some areas of sloppy sculpting, but generally I like them. There is very little flash, and the figures are well proportioned and accurately equipped.

Sprue 4: French Dragoons.

Price

These chaps were $16.95 shipped from a lovely little company in Massachussetts named Hobby Bunker. For 48 figures (plus a few accessories), this comes out to about $0.35 a figure, which is a bit on the expensive side for  my 1/72 figures, but I had been wanting this particular set for a while and I was willing to pay a bit more to get it.

Sprue 5: Ladder teams.

Coming soon: Not a whole lot. I leave bright and early tomorrow morning for boot camp, so these French Foot Dragoon will be the last figures I will paint until late this summer, more than likely.

Questions, comments and suggestions are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

-Chuck

The 1st Battalion, Pavlovsk Grenadier Regiment: Complete!

Hello everyone!

In a two-day whirlwind of painting I managed to finish up the other three stands of figures and now the 1st Battalion of the Pavlovsk Grenadier Regiment is complete!

(Remember to click on the pictures for bigger versions.)

The eighteen Pavlovs I completed most recently; note the height difference between the Minifigs and AB grenadiers.

 

A view of the Pavlovs that few Frenchmen will ever see; unless the Cossacks have broken into the Regiment's vodka.

The final three stands are mostly old Minifigs, with three AB Pavlovs in greatcoat added to make up the numbers. The AB figures tower over all of the Minifigs, but AB is one of the few companies out there that sell their figures individually, and I only need three to flesh out the regiment. Also, them being in greatcoat ties my painted stands in with the figures that came already painted that makes up one third of my Pavlovs.

As I've done a bit more research into the TO&E of the Russian Army prior to 1812, I've learned that most Russian regiments fielded two battalions, the Pavlovs included. So in the future I will have to paint up a second battalion to complete the Pavlovsk Grenadier Regiment according to the Borodino OOB, which is fine by me since the Pavlovs have such fetching mitres.

Purchased Figures

Well, I had told myself that I wasn't going to be buying any more figures before I left for boot camp, mainly because I wouldn't be able to see them until well into the summer. This resolution has gone by the board, and there are now over 100(!) 1/72 scale figures on their way. But hear me out: I just couldn't pass up the deal I found on eBay.

The lot I found was unmarked as to what was in it (the descriptions only saying "American Revolution/Napoleonic?"), but thanks to Plastic Soldier Review I was able to determine that the lot consisted basically of the contents of Italeri #6066 French Infantry, Strelets #018 Russian Mounted Jagers, and Italeri #6060 American Infantry (from the American War of Independence), plus a mystery plastic mounted figure that I'll have to scrutinize once I see it. All in all it should amount to 109 figures, all at the price of $5.50 shipped! That's five cents a figure! As I said, it was a deal I couldn't possibly pass up.

I'll use the French Infantry for their intended purpose, use the Russian Mounted Jagers as Russian Dragoons (they wore practically the same uniforms, as the mounted jagers were converted from dragoon regiments late in 1812) as the jagers were formed too late for Borodino, and the AWI American Infantry as pre-1806 Portuguese infantry, which wore distinctively old-fashioned uniforms before the Barretina shako was introduced.

Portuguese Infantry, 1790s-1806, wearing handsomely old-fashioned uniforms that are strikingly similar to AWI uniforms.

Will I have any use for a unit of Portuguese in these old uniforms? Probably not, but they'll look classy anyways. But, like I said, I won't get to see them until late this summer, so I'll have something to look forward to and something to post about later.

Coming soon: This is probably the last painting I'll get done before I leave for boot camp Monday morning, unless by some miracle my French Foot Dragoons arrive tomorrow so I can put up a review and knock out a stand. I don't want to get started on something and then have to leave it half finished for five or six months. We'll just ahve to see what Mr. Postman brings.

Questions, comments and suggestions are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

-Chuck

1st Battalion, 88th Regiment of Foot, and More!

Hello everyone!

It's been a little while since I've been able to get anything posted up the the blog, and my only excuses are that I haven't had the time and I've been under the weather. But, this means that now that I have the time, I've come with a vengence! Today I've completed the 1/88th Regiment of Foot (the Connaught Rangers) for the Peninsula, as well as a stand of the 5th West India Regiment for New Orleans. I've also bought a few more figures since my last post, as well as a few books that might be of interest. So without further ado, here we go!

(Remember to click on the pictures for bigger versions.)

Painted Figures

I painted up the remaining thirty figures that I needed to complete the Connaught Rangers, which I started way over a year ago (you can see the command stand in detail here). Unlike the command, which were all AB figures, the rank and file are a mix of Fantassin 18mm and Essex 15mm. The Fantassin figures are on par size and proportion wise with the AB figures, but they are cruder in their sculpting style. The Essex figures are nice and clean, but look a little dwarfish. Anyway, here are the figures that I finished up:

The Irishmen of the 1/88th that I completed most recently...

...and the entire Battalion drawn up into line. General Picton (who commanded the 3rd Division) apparently had a love-hate relationship with these Irish soldiers, probably because, in Oman's words, the 88th was "the most Irish of all Irish regiments." However, it is apparent that he came to admire their tenacity in a fight. Check out this link for a nice concise history of the Connaught Rangers during the Peninsular War.

With the 1/88th finished, this completes the British 3rd Division's 1st Brigade, commanded by Henry Mackinnon at Fuentes de Onoro. Here's the entire brigade together:

1st Brigade, Picton's 3rd Division. From front to rear: Henry Mackinnon, Brigade commander; 3 companies, 5/60th Regiment (Royal Americans)  1/88th Regiment (Connaught Rangers); 1/45th Regiment (Nottinghamshire); 1/74th Regiment (Highland).

Finally, I completed six Minifigs 15mm British in Belgic shako figures to represent a company of the 5th (Howe's) West India Regiment, which fought at the Battle of New Orleans. The unit was a 'colored' Regiment, consisting mostly of former slaves and freedmen and commanded by white officers. These units performed well and were mostly tollerant of the equatorial diseases which devestated European soldiers serving in the Carribean. This and the other West Indies Regiments had distinctive uniforms, especially after 1812, with Belgic shakos, jackets with rounded lapels of the facing color and piped shoulder straps, and light blue trouser-gaiters.

Purchased Figures

If you keep track of such things, you may have noticed that the "Purchased" columns of the 2015 Totals box have been crreping steadily upwards. Most of these figures were AB orders that I placed in order to flesh out the figures that I already have in order to complete several units, as well as the figures I wanted for a couple of command stands (Wellington and Marshal Ney). I also picked up nine mounted Russian general staff officers off of eBay, as well as another 1/72 Strelets set: French Foot Dragoons and Polish Grenadiers, Set 009. I got these mainly for the foot dragoons, of which I will eventually painted up a full Regiment, probably the 16th Dragoons, though the Poles will be useful for fleshing out the Vistula Legion.

With me leaving for boot camp next week, I doubt I'll get much more painted until well into the summer at the earliest, so I think that this year I'll probably be in the negative numbers for my "totals."

Books

I picked up three books which may or may not be interesting to y'all out there. The first is a new set of rules, the second is a non-fiction book, and the third is a Napoleonic fiction novel.

Recently I recieved in the mail a new set of rules: Field of Glory Napoleonics. I've spent the last couple of weeks looking them over, so I thought that I'd write down some initial impressions. That being said, of course, without playing a game with them it's impossible to get a full picture of the game's nuances. Basically, it's a Corps level game, with emphasis on grand tactical maneuvering. From what I can tell, the rules strive to be very period specific, with a plethora of charts and tables that represent the different troops of the Napoleonic Wars, as well as emphasizing the use of period-appropriate tactics in order to be successful. Since it's a corps level game I won't have enough figures painted to play it any time soon, but it will be nice to have for big battles in the future.

I picked up this non-fiction book on eBay because I was running out of things to read and it was cheap: The Frigates: An Account of the Lighter Warships of the Napoleonic Wars, by James Henderson, CBE. This is a historical monograph chronicling the majority of the frigate actions fought by the Royal Navy, begining in 1793 when Revolutionary France declared war on Great Britian and going through the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815. The frigate actions between the Royal Navy and my own United States Navy during the War of 1812 are also discussed. I've only just begun reading it, but it is well written and is very detailed.

Finally, I picked up Sails on the Horizon: A Novel of the Napoleonic Wars by Jay Worrall. This is a fiction book, written in the same spirit as Patrick O'Brien's Jack Aubrey/Stephen Maturin novels and  C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower novels. The novel opens in 1797 at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, and follows the early career of a lieutenant named Charles Edgemont as he is promoted to Commander, finds love, and goes to sea, fighting his own frigate for the first time. I read it in two days; I thought it was well written and quite the page-turner. If you like O'Brien or Forester, check this one out.

Coming soon: Currently I'm working on another command stand, Marshal Ney. When Ney first arrived from AB, he was slightly miscast, missing his right foot. A little bit of green stuff later and no one's the wiser. He and his two companions are primed and I've already started painting them.

Other than that, I don't have much more to say. I'll post Ney when he's done, then we'll see how much time I have left remaining here in Kentucky; I leave for US Navy boot camp a week from today.

Questions, comments and suggestions are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

-Chuck