28mm The Duke of Wellington's Command stand

I've been busy vignette building, this is one of three 100mm diameter command stands for the later Napoleonic Wars.

 The Duke's horse is 'Copenhagen' an eight year old chestnut.

Lord Uxbridge is a conversion wearing the correct hussar Busby of the 7th Hussars slightly modified.

 I painted these in enamels, oils and acrylics to obtain the best pigment colours.

 Perry miniatures supply some of the finest 28mm figures from their Napoleonic ranges.

 The tufts I made earlier, they are 4mm in height, longer fibers for example 6mm tend to be difficult to make satisfactorily. I'd like to figure out how to make wheat clumps someday.

 The base has textured filler spread onto it and various grades of rock clumps glued on with PVA glue.

 Dry brushing techniques were used for the dirt effects.

 The whole vignette was then varnished with 'Testors Dullcote' varnish to even out the shiny and matt effects of the paint.

 I may have over done the effect with a small gorse bush in the front.

 I like to paint the horses with pink noses, having lived near the countryside with plenty of horses around, it's one feature that I like to pick up on.

The vignette comprises The Duke of Wellington - Arthur Wellesley with a telescope, the 2nd Earl of Uxbridge - Henry Paget in the uniform of the 7th Hussars, Major Henry Percy - the Duke's aide-de-camp from the 14 Light Dragoons, and two other officers. The idea was to base it for a Waterloo 1815 Hundred Days Campaign.

Anyhow, Napoleon's command base will be featured next,
All the Best, Peter.

28mm Ancients - Julius Caesars command stand

 A stab of nostalgia gave me some energy to finish off Julius Caesars command stand this month, this vignette was on the back burner for a few weeks until I finally got the chance to finish it. An mdf disc approximately 85mm in diameter forms the base with a stack of real slate glued together and painted grey to create uniformity, with the gaps filled in with silver grey milliput.

 Most of the figures are 'Copplestone' minis bought through 'Wargames Foundry' a long time ago, the Caesar figure was bought through 'Companion miniatures', though I missed out on the Pompey figure due to lack of funds. I do have the mounted varient but I'm still looking for a suitable horse as a mount.
 Shields are 'Aventine miniatures' oval scuta.

 Caesar's German personal bodyguard is present, a conversion of a 'Foundry' torso, 'Black Tree Designs' head and right arm and legs with copiously modeled green stuff to fill in the gaps.

 As always I have added the tufts made by me of which I frequently seem to be running out of.

 I chose to have the aquilifer carrying the eagle standard wearing a brown bear skin cape.

12 Cretan archers add some firepower to the Caesarean Army I started a long time ago
A group of Cretan archers were known to accompany Caesar fighting the Gauls and the Germans, as well as Numidian archers and Gallic archers and Balearic slingers.

I think I have to paint another 1 or 2 cohorts all 'Copplestone' minis with 'Aventine' shields.

As always I try to get the feel of the period I'm portraying by listening to audio books: In this case Caesar's own account and commentaries on the Gallic and the German war on you tube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snft290-FRc 

 Not having listened to these accounts for awhile I was surprised at the clarity of the accounts and of course all the under handed back stabbing that went on during the wars.

Anyhow back to Napoleonics next month.
Best Regards,
Peter.

28mm Napoleonic 6th Bavarian, 1st Nassau-Usingen & French 7th Hussars

It has been a very busy few weeks, but I've managed to finish a second Bavarian infantry battalion and a Nassau battalion for an upcoming Napoleonic campaign, so here are a few pics
28mm Bavarian Infantry
6th Regiment of Line, circa 1812-15.

28mm 1st Nassau-Usingen Infantry Regiment.
 The 1st Regiment Nassau can be used for late Napoleonic campaigns as part of the French contingent or Allied contingent in the Hundred Days/Waterloo 1815 campaign.

Showing off their green uniforms with yellow piping the Nassau-Usingen regiments have to be the best dressed German regiments in the Napoleonic wars especially when compared with their dour Prussian cousins. It adds a nice colourful touch to any army.

French 7th Hussars
To fund my projects I managed to sell these French Hussars on eBay to some very kind customers :)

The 7th Hussars were the only French Hussar regiment actually present at the battle of Waterloo 18th June 1815. The miniatures are Perry plastic with a 'GMB designs' flag. I cut the fringed edge of the flag painting it in a variety of colours and highlighted with gold to give a nice 3D effect.

Any how just waiting for 'GMB designs' to send me some flags to complete a third Bavarian infantry regiment, next blog I hope to finish a French staff command vignette I've been constructing over the last few days...
All the Best
Peter

28mm Bavarian Infantry & artillery

28mm Bavarian Infantry
4th Regiment of Line, circa 1812-15.
Continuing the restock of my 28mm Napoleonic armies I have ventured into darkest Bavaria to recruit some infantry for a Bavarian contingent.Comprising three battalions of line infantry, one battalion of light infantry,  artillery comprising three 6 pounder guns and 1 howitzer, two squadrons of cavalry and one command base. So far I managed to acquire the line infantry and artillery, over last weekend just two guns and one battalion were completed, varnished and based.

28mm Bavarian line & command courtesy of Perry miniatures.

I decided 16 figure battalions were going to be the standard number for my Napoleonic infantry. This would be kinder on my pocket and each battalion would be fairly quick to paint and base. 

4th Bavarian line infantry Regiment.

 Flags are provided by GMB designs.

Regarding base sizes, each figure has a frontage of 15mm and depth of 20mm, thus there are 3x bases four figures to a base, 1x base of 2 grenadiers and 2 individual bases for the skirmishers/light company.

 28mm Bavarian artillery 6 pounder gun, howitzer and crew.

a gunner stuffs his arm down the short barrel of a 7 inch howitzer to place an explosive shell.

6 pounder long gun ready to fire.

Artillery bases are 60mm frontage and 80mm depth, I don't base the gunners separately, instead I use casualty counters/markers, it helps the overall look and integrity of the base and creates a mini vignette.

That reminds me I need to acquire appropriate battle vignettes to add a little flavour to my battle fields; army baggage, supply wagons, camp sutlers, tents, bivouacs, local civilians etc.

Anyhow the remaining Bavarian line infantry and the 1st regiment Nassau-Usingen infantry are next on the painting board.

Regards,
Peter  

more 28mm Napoleonic Cavalry squadrons: 12th Light Dragoons, Red Lancers and 2nd Hussars.

more 28mm Napoleonic Cavalry squadrons: Continuing with my attempt to boost my Napoleonic armies regularly I have been mostly painting:

the British 12th Regiment of Light dragoons 1st Squadron 1815,  Waterloo/Hundred Days Campaign.
These are 28mm Perry miniatures metal alloy which paint up a treat..

the wooden blue painted water bottles have relevant regimental insignia on them: XII LD

and French Imperial Guard Regiment of Lancers 2nd Squadron 1815,  Waterloo Hundred Days Campaign.

By 1815 the Imperial Guard Lancers comprised 5 squadrons of with the 1st squadron was Polish in their blue uniforms with crimson facings the remaining squadrons being the 2nd through to the 5th squadrons were Dutch 'Red Lancers' as below.

Imperial Guard Lancers in campaign dress.

The lance pennants are made from aluminium foil which can be folded after painting to give it a 'flying pennant' effect.

also to fund my Napoleonic projects I have just sold a squadron of French 2nd Hussars on eBay over the weekend.

28mm Plastic Perry miniatures from their boxed set of Hussars.

and a bunch of other stuff:

a French aide de camp (ADC)

French Infantry officer which could be used a s a colonel or ADC. I converted the head to give it a 'shouty' look.

An Imperial Guard Horse Grenadier.

A Prussian Hussar of the 2nd Brandenburg Regiment 1815.

 Royal North British Dragoons later known as 'Scots Greys'.

Any how a Bavarian contingent of line infantry are next on the painting bench together with some Bavarian artillery.
All the Best,
Peter