I've just finished painting and basing the 1st (Royal) Regiment of Foot for my Seven Years War project. These are the superb 28mm Front Rank figures that I love due to the detail that makes them easy to paint. This is only the second British regiment that I have painted so far and this time I changed the painting style; previously when painting faces I left black shading from the under-coat and painted in the eyes. However, this time I just gave the faces and hands a wash using Citadel's Gryphonne Sepia wash. This certainly cut down on painting time but the jury is still out on the final result....my 10-year-old son is my greatest critic of my painting and he prefers my previous painting style.
These units should prove very versatile as I intend to use them in my '45 project, along with gaming the French & Indian War and the Seven Years War in Europe. I'm currently in the process of finishing off some 25mm Dixon Seven Year War Highlanders that I'm painting up as the 42nd Foot (The Black Watch). I have these troops wearing buff facings so that I can use them for the '45 project, as well as for the French & Indian War. The only problem that I have struck with them is that the Dixon standard bearers come with the flag pole attached and are too small for the GMB flags that I use. To remedy this I had to order a couple of Front Rank standard bearers so that the regiment could proudly display their colours. I'm not too worried about the size difference as I have also included in the unit the 'Wee Wully' Highland officer that was free with the Last Argument of Kings supplement for the Black Powder rules; this figure is larger than the Dixon figures but should fit well with the Front Rank standard bearers on the same stand. The blue facing of this unit is much darker than the photos portray, using Vallejo Imperial Blue to get the right dark shade required.
I've also included in this post my newly re-based British Legion cavalry from my American War of Independence British Army. I've had this unit for some time but they suffered casualties in the September 2010 earthquake that struck Christchurch. Hence, they have received a fresh coat of paint and have had their balsa wood bases replaced with mdf ones....and nicer flocking.
Another long term project has been the building of an 18th century brigantine from the plans Gary Chalk published in Wargames Illustrated in the 1990s. Again, this has been a slow process but I thought I should provide a photo of the progress made so far. At this stage I have the 'bones' of the ship together but with plenty of work still to come. Originally I intended this to be a pirate ship but will ensure I have a number of different flags to attach to it to provide some versatility in what I can use it for. I've already decided to call it the 'King James' in honour of my Irish Jacobite ancestors, so I suppose that prevents it from being part of the Royal Navy....meaning I'll have to produce a second ship to fight against it.
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| 1st (Royal) Regiment of Foot |
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| Royal regiments had dark blue facings and, in the case of the 1st Foot the officers & drummers, had Royal gold/ yellow lace |
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| Tarleton leads his British Legion cavalry |
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| Front Rank British Legion cavalry 'refitted' & ready for action |
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| The brigantine 'King James' under construction- fortunately I haven't glued the masts and bowsprit in yet as it appears the bowsprit is too long and I need to swap the masts around....still a work in progress! |
Oh, I just about forgot to mention that the book I recently wrote for Osprey, 'The New Zealand Expeditionary Force in World War 1,' is due to be released on 18 October. The artwork by Mike Chappell is simply superb and I'm thrilled that he has agreed to be part of the second project covering 2NZEF in World War 2, which won't be released until late 2012/ early 2013.
Great work Wayne. The 1st Regiment look very very nice. Keen to see how the ship turns out.
ReplyDeleteHey, Rodger. Hope you are back to your old self again and able to come to the next game. The aim is to have 6 or 7 units per side for the SYW project to have a reasonable game. I hope to get the ship finished before Xmas, but time will tell in what year!
ReplyDeleteGood Progress Wayne. The SYW boys are very tidy, and its a period that I have a growing interest in too. Good work too on the cavalry - I must admit I always find it hard to have to go back and spend time on figures that I have already previously 'finished'. You brought them back to life very well. If I can compare the cavalry with your SYW, I think I side with your son; I prefer the cavalry with eyes done, to the SYW, but agree not doing the eyes saves time. Perhaps a darker wash in the eye sockets may give them a little more 'definition'?
ReplyDeleteNice to see progress on your Brig too. (reminds me I must finish mine too). Just have a care with the side panels. I found the ones I cut from the templates came out a bit too low for my liking, and had to redo them with a bit more height to give the ship some sides to go with its top decks.
Cheers, Scott. It's good to get feedback from others. I'm not really happy with how the wash turned out so I might do as you have suggested and use a darker wash around the eyes...and maybe even add some eyes.
ReplyDeleteThe ship is a side project that started as a father-son project on a wet weekend...but now seems just to be a father project!