Messing about in the Mess

Just a short update on my pottering around in the Mess over the last couple of months. I've finally managed to get the superb painting by Christa Hook framed and mounted that I bought from her in January. Christa was commissioned by Helion & Company to paint the illustration of an Irish Militiaman for the front cover of my latest book, 'Rebellion, Invasion and Occupation: The British Army in Ireland, 1793-1815.' It now takes pride of place next to one of my figure cabinets. The other photos are of some minor projects that I've fitted in between painting up larger units. These include a second-hand Front Rank SYW British cavalry mounted officer which was given to me painted as a Bavarian, a Front Rank mounted Duke of Monmouth which I've painted as a Jacobite general for my 1690 campaign in Ireland, along with my version of the Duke of Cumberland and staff which will be my command base for the British '45 and War of Austrian Succession campaigns. Other photos are of an American Plains War 7th Cavalry Gatling gun and crew. I picked this up at the annual Christchurch wargaming swapmeet last year as I always wanted a Gatling gun...although I'm not sure where I'm going to use it. I've currently got von Bose's Hessians under the brush for AWI games, but these will also double for SYW stuff as well. The Scottish/ Irish Pele tower and barmkin is not far off completion, so hopefully this will be the subject of my next posted

Until next time!

Irish Jacobite foot regiment- de Boisseleau's Regiment 1690

Introducing the freshly recruited de Boisseleau's Regiment of Foot for my Jacobite force to fight against William of Orange in Ireland. These superb Front Rank figures (now sold by Gripping Beast Miniatures) were so easy to paint and full of detail. The flags are by Warfares Miniatures who specialise in providing flags from the Williamite Wars. The reason I chose to paint up this regiment was that I wanted another unit in the grey uniform supplied by the French, but also because I had a paternal ancestor who served as an ensign in Fitzgerald's company of the regiment...another example of my ancestors having a habit of fighting on the losing side.The next unit will be Sir Maurice Eustace's Regiment of Foot in red coats with yellow facings, which also had some maternal ancestors serving in it...but that's another story for the future.

Until next time!

SYW/ FIW French 2nd Battalion of the Guyenne Regiment

I'm currently building up my SYW/ FIW French force to use in both the European and American campaigns of the Seven Years War, as well as the War of Austrian Succession. The 2nd Battalion of the Guyenne Regiment is the latest unit to be recruited. I've decided to paint up a second battalion for a few of the regiments I already have to brigade them together as was the norm during the campaigns in Europe. Plus, a lot of the second battalions fought in America during the FIW, so I can cover both units that fought on both sides of the Atlantic. I had already painted up the grenadier stand for this unit a few weeks ago to be part of the composite grenadier battalion that I've put together...although for some reason I had a spare grenadier figure, so I've added him to parent unit. The raggered frontier stockade in the background was built by the talented Rodger Wood, another member of the Southern Strategists here in Christchurch.

Until next time.

SYW British Grenadiers and others

Lately I've been pottering around painting up a couple of stands here and there as quick side projects from painting battalions ans regiments. I've just finshed painting a couple of stands of SYW/FIW Front Rank British grenadiers. Now that they are done it means I can finally field a battalion of grenadiers using stands from units I've already 'recruited.' You can get an idea of how long this has taken me to do by comparing the different painting styles used on the faces. I never used a wash on the first lot and used to paint in the eyes...seems crazy now. I've also included some images of single figures from Front Rank and Warlord Games that were quick to paint up. I particularly like the Indian chief figure on the rock.

Thanks for taking a look. Until next time...

SYW 28mm 6th Inniskilling Dragoons

Introducing the latest regiment to be recruited from my painting table. I painted these dragoons as the 6th Inniskilling, but they could fill in as a generic yellow-faced dragoon regiment if required. These figures are from the superb new Flags of War '45 Jacobite Rebellion range that will be familiar to those interested in wargaming this era. I really like the dynamic poses that the range provides, which is a nice change from the two Front Rank dragoons units I have. I have cheated a bit by using a GMB Flags royal standard from the 10th (Cobham's) Dragoons as they have the same facing colour...but you would have to have a bionic eye to see the difference on the gaming table. I have also splashed out on some British infantry from their range which I've undercoated ready for them to take their place on the painting production line. Thanks for taking a look.

Until next time.

FIW British 42nd Regiment of Foot Highlanders

After over a year shamefully lanquishing undercoated and feeling abandoned, I've finally managed to finish a unit of 28mm Warlord French & Indian War Scots. I love the dynamic poses of these guys and they are ideal for recreating the Highland charge in miniatures. I think the thought of painting all that tartan probably gave me a painting block that caused the delay in getting them done. I've based these up for skirmish games, but intend buying some sabots to move them around on for bigger re-fights. The flags I've used here aren't those of the 42nd Foot for this period, but at my age I can't see the numbers on the device on the regimental flag anyway.

Thanks for having a look.

Lighting up the Mess

Inspired by a post by the venerable Roly Hermans on his 'Dressing the Lines' blog, I recently decided to try lighting up one of my figure cabinets in the Mess. I thought this would be cheap enough to begin with as each strip of LED light was only about $20 NZ from Mitre 10 Hardware. However, because of the configuration of the cabinet, it turned out to be a bit more expensive than planned. I ended up needing 6 strips, but I'm happy with the result. It means I can now see all the figures when I need to, especially during the dark months of the impending southern hemisphere winter. I was surprised as to how many figures I have been able to display in the cabinet when I laid them out on my gaming table. It also gave me an opportunity re-organise how my various armies are displayed. This cabinet houses my Napoleonic, SYW/FIW and AWI forces. I might wait a bit before lighting up my second cabinet...it'll give my long-suffering wife time to recover after I revealed what it cost.

Until next time!