Perry Brothers British Infantry for the American Civil War

 My alt-ACW project gets some reinforcements with this regiment of Perry Brothers British infantry from their British Intervention Force range.

 The figures are Perry codes and BIF 16 Line Infantry Marching Campaign Dress Plain Frock Coats and Kilmarnicks and BIF 15 Line Infanry Command Marching, Campaign Dress and Kilmarnocks.  I’m sure eventually I’ll add some flashy types like Guards and Highlanders but I want the bulk of the force to plain warriors for the working day.

Once again I went with flags by Adolfo Ramos,which are certainly worth the money if you can afford them and don’t mind the long wait from Spain.  As my friend James says, it’s “Faces, Bases and Flags”.  The flags are of the British 55th Regiment of Adolfo’s Crimean War range, which is close enough for government work.

Unfortunately the national colour was in contact with the paper strip that Adolfo had included in the package and there was some bleeding from the printer ink, which I tried to fix free hand as you can see in the photo below.  No harm no foul, I am a happy customer of Adolfo’s.

 

 A sergeant and an officer separately based for Sharpe Practice.

 “Steady, my good fellows!  Sojers of the Queen ain’t afraid of no Americans!"

 Next in the pipeline in this project are some British artillery and Canadian militia cavalry.  It’s a long haul project but interesting figures and is teaching me a little bit about Britiain’s mid-Victorian Army.

Thanks for looking and blessings to your brushes!

MP+ 

 

 

It's .... Crash Callahan!

R

Racing down a gravel road, her trusty dog Fred in the sidecar of her roaring Indian, it’s Crash Callahan, intrepid girl reporter / secret agent / daredevil / archaeologist - take your pick.

As readers of this blog know, I’m a sucker for fellow Canadian Bob Murch’s line of Pulp Figures, and while I couldn’t see an immediate use for it in my gaming, I thought it would be an ideal present for my lovely bride and dog lover, Joy, who still struggles to understand the art form of miniature figures.  And who can resist a dog in a sidecar with goggles and his tongue hanging out?

 

 

The set also comes with dismounted figures of Crash and Fred - nice touch.  Her blue jeans are done with Citadel contrast paint which I have only begun to use.  I thought it was a bit garish when it dried, but the matte spray varnish toned it down a bit.  I think I like it.

 

Thanks for looking.  Blessings to your brushes!

MP+

The Rockies Ablaze, Part One

<I’ve been going on here about my pulp project for a few years with precious little to show for it, so here goes.   Narrative fluff to start with slightly elaborated from @MarshalLuigi ’s tweets.  Small actions and character reactions to be determined using Call of Cthulhu 7th ed rules, larger actions probably by TFL’s Chain of Command.>

Near Camrose, Alberta, February, 1937.

Frenchy Lamoreux walked his trapline in the high foothills near Indian River every few days, weather permitting.   He often crossed paths with Old Grainger, out walking his line.  Frenchy looked forward to his chats with the Scot.   They’d share a tot of rum or whiskey from their flasks, and compare notes on what they were catching and who was paying best for the fur.  Lately Grainger was becoming convinced that another trapper, Ratko Gligic, was stealing from his traps.   “If I catch yon rascal in the act, I’ll kill him stone deed, I will!"

In the late afternoon, near one of Grainger’s untouched traps, Frenchy found the blood.   He was certain that it wasn’t the result of someone field dressing a kill.  It was more like something, or someone, had been simply torn apart.  Nearby, in some trampled snow, he found Grainger’s briar pipe, still full of half burnt gold flake.

As he surveyed the dismal scene, he felt his hair rise under his toque.  Frenchy knew with a terrible certainty that he was being watched.   He also knew that nothing he had ever seen on earth had made the bloody tracks heading off into the woods, and nothing on earth could make him follow them.

<Notes:   A good exercise in seeing how much winter scenery I’ve assembled thus far, and some fun with a backdrop.  It may be a while before the next scene in ready.  Frenchy is a Bob Murch Pulp Figures casting, and the thing in the trees is by Reaper.  Say vigilant, chaps!>

Meanwhile, in Mordor

Hello friends!

My new (since June) post-retirement church job has kept me happily busy, along with finding safe day-trips to do with Joy during a stay-at-home summer.   I was able to use part of the last few months to finish this lot of orcs for my Lord of the Rings collection.  What a horrible lot!

This batch includes a GW orc captain from the lad pile, as well as eight Thistle and Rose (formerly Vendel) orcs, painted in Mordor livery.  I love that they are well wearing the same baggy trousers and puttees, it gives them a bit of a regular army look, the 3/92nd North Mordor Foot, maybe.  If you want to see Thisle and Rose figures well painted, visit Rabbit Man’s blog.

“Roiht, you ‘orrible lot, what do you do when you sees an Elf Lord?  You stick him, see!  No, don’t bleeding tickle him, STICK HIM!"

This ‘orrible lot also includes a box of Oathmark goblins that I purchased May 2019.   I built some as archers:

Spear chaps without shields.  Sorry the photos are rather dark.

Shields and hand weapons.  Tried for a general red and black theme to the shields, with some Mordor Eye livery, some more tribal.

Shields and shabby sticks.

Regimental photo before marching off to Gondor.

In general I found the Oathmark plastic figures to be easy to assemble, with a pleasing variety of weapons and gear.  While the Oathmark universe, from what I’ve seen of the rule books, is standalone fantasy, the figures fit well with my existing LOTR collection and have a Tolkienesque feel to them.  I haven’t done the math to see if they are cheaper than GW plastics, but they add a variety of poses to the Perry orc sculpts, so I may order a few more boxes over time, though the old Vendel figures, happily back in production through Thistle and Rose, are appealing..  I currently have a box of Oathmark wolf riders half-assembled to tackle next.

Blessings to your brushes!  

MP+