Mercenaries

I've reached the point where I have realised that I am actually not going to do anything with my ECW collection beyond look at it. Reward enough, I hear you cry, but it seems a waste. I've decided to put them up for sale so if you are interested then drop me a line. Regiments are 32 strong for foot and 12 for cavalry. Price per foot figure will be around £6.50 and they are worth it! A few photos below to give you the idea - more individual photos on request. There are other units as well - red, white, yellow,cuirassier.

 

Fort Nelson

For those who live within driving distance, can I recommend a visit to Fort Nelson on the hills surrounding Portsmouth. Built in the 1860's it is one of the Palmerston Forts and has been turned into a visitor centre with the added attraction of an artillery museum. Its been recently refurbished and is an excellent half day out. There's a lot going on - we went on a wet January morning so the crowds weren't great - and you get a very good idea of what life in one of these forts must have been like. Very cold, probably.

Worth a thought if you ever find yourself in that part of the world for HMS Victory or the RM museum at Eastney.
 

Is Anyone There?

I haven't been on the blog since the middle of last year. Apologies but I have been busy at work. I'd rather thought that I would come back and have to start all over again but no. Astonishingly I have had a constant stream of hits - not a huge number it must be said but enough to make me wonder who these visitors are. I'm guessing that some of these must be automatic searches but what do I know. If you have been a loyal visitor then many thanks. Please write and tell me who you are.

I haven't had the chance to paint much. Just a few bits and pieces but I did finally finish Brookes ECW regiment (the ones in purple). An unposed photo below - I'll aim for something more artistic shortly

 

You'll see lurking in the background the latest Regiment. In this case I am using them to represent the Blue Regiment (or Blew if you prefer) of the Trained Bands. I gather that just because a regiment had the name of a colour it does not mean that they wore that colour uniform. Maybe, but I'm not going to quibble. I put in a fair sprinkling of brown and grey in every unit. On a side note note I was glad to see that Bicorne have put out some new command packs. I've yet to see them but will give it a go despite their substantial price.

Talking of which I so wanted the new Empress miniatures Pike and Shot figures to be good. They aren't bad but stylistically they are a world away (unless you tell me otherwise) from the Renegade and Bicorne troopers. Its a shame and at their price I am unlikely to take a chance.

I finished off my Claymore castings. Great figures from a great company.
 

Of foote and shotte....

Here's a photo that has nothing to do with the text that follows. They are some old Foundry Spartans which I was rather pleased with. But I digress.

Well its more of a mini-rant and probably thoroughly irrational but well, it provokes me. So why is it that people use the words 'foote' and 'shotte' when talking about ECW units? Why? Does it lend greater authenticity to a tabletop unit? If so, why not write everything in contemporary text? Because it renders it impossible to read that's why. So why these particular words? It's a bit like the way WI illustrated used to use 'd*****d' in every single article on the ACW. I know that's how they used to write but the 19th Century was, well, two centuries ago. Are we expected to provide some greater historical context for our little men? Leave it alone and dont shotte yourself in the foote.

More Guard Grenadiers

Its surprising how many units you can get out of the Victrix box sets. I ordered 2 boxes of Guard Grenadiers and so far have completed 3 x 24 man Battalions with another one potentially in the pipeline. I've shown a march attack variant before so thought I would put up a firing line version. I'm guessing that the Chasseurs of the Guard box set is pretty similar but with different headress - if anyone could offer any guidance then I would be greatful. Presumably with the addition of shakos the basic figures could also double up as line infantry?

Its About Time.....

....for an update. I haven't been totally idle since I last posted I just haven't been reporting it. I spent a bit of time doing some plastic figures including Perry Prussians and Wars of the Roses and Victrix Guard Grenadiers. I particularly enjoyed the WOTR figures but these now seem so last year as the experts on the Steve Dean forum have switched fire to the new cavalry set. If you haven't looked at what these guys are doing then get over there now and check them out. Some of the metal effects are just astonishing. As a slight digression one contributor reported that he spent 40 hours on a single Napoleonic cavalryman. I mean, it was good but 40 hours? Madness.

I also had a go at some of the new medieval knights (is there another type of knight?) from Claymore castings. Great figures and it was good to get back to some metal. The results were OK but don't do the figures justice. I'll try again when I get home. Two particular points - first I ordered some Flag of War standards to go with them. Now I'm usually a GMB disciple but these were very good. I shall return. Second my order with Claymore was not complete when I received the package. It was missing a packet and so I e mailed them straight away. Now its hard not to sound snotty when reporting this sort of thing so I hope it wasn't too abrupt. Anyway immediate response from Claymore plus a couple of freebie figures. It was great customer service and thanks to the Claymore team. I shall return to them as well.

Otherwise I've been carrying on with my ECW collection. I've been working on Brookes Regiment. These are the ones who wore purple so I decided that less is more. I don't have photos yet because I'm only about 2/3 through but only a few figures have purple on them. I thought that a hint of it was more than sufficient especially when you add the standards. So I was feeling quite pleased myself until 'Olddorg' (you'll find him on the Steve Dean forum) pitched up with his version of the same regiment with every figure in purple and looking fantastic. I'm pretty sure most people reading this will be familiar with his work but he has also done some great late 17th Century stuff. Can't remember his blog link - something like metal mountain - but if you haven't seen it then take a look. Some great tutorials as well and it's interesting to see a welcome return to the oil wipe technique for horses.

I'm greatly tempted by the new Great War Miniatures Crimean War range but they'll have to wait.

Perry Prussians

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