Perry Brothers British Intervention Force Royal Artillery

Some more recently completed work.

Found these half-finished figures while unpacking from November's change of house and put them in the painting queue.  28mm Perry Bros figures from their British Intervention Force range.  One day I'll get back to the ACW Trent Crisis Goes Hot project, at which time these fellows, who look suspiciously like hotel bellhops, will play a vital role in defending Upper Canada from US invasion. Before then I still have work to do repairing my ACW command stands from a terrible shelf disaster.

 

Cheers and blessings to your brushes!  MP+

28mm Foundry Victorian Civilians

Hello friends:

I can’t believe it’s almost the middle of January and I still have some finished projects from 2021 that I haven’t blogged here, so today I can offer these four Victorian ladies and gents from Foundry.

These minis were primed in Citadel Corax White and then painted with the Foundry tri-tone paint system, which I’m slowly feeling more comfortable with.  I’m happy with some of the colour gradients in the men’s suits and the blue dress.

These four were a test paint from several bags worth of Foundry’s Victorian civilian range.   I’m happy with them and plan to paint the rest for ACW (and my alt-ACW) tables.

Cheers and blessings to your brushes,

MP+

Union Reinforcements from Perry Miniaures

I hope this finds you well!

I dedicated most of my hobby time in January to finishing some American Civil War figures languishing in the Mad Padre’s painting chapel, including three lead mounted officers from Perry Miniatures.   Two are based separately for either Sharpe Practice or to use as Staff Officers in Pickett’s Charge, which I hope to revisit soon.

The third figure in the Perry set, a duplicate of the chap in the kepi with his hand raised, was pressed into service as the colonel of the newly raised 116th Pennsylvania Volunteers.

The foot figures are also Perry Miniatures, from their plastic box set, Union Infantry Skirmishing. I don’t like assembling plastic infantry as a rule, but ten bases worth of 28mm figures for about $1.25 Can a figure was a good incentive to stick with it.

The flags are by GMB.   I had them set aside for a someday purchase of a third regiment for the Irish Brigade - I was looking at the Steve Barber figures with the Irish Brigade heads, but the flags included in the Perry Box, for a US Regular regiment, didn’t work out, so …    I found the detail on these figures somewhat lacking, and could definitely have achieved a better result with lead figures, but as I said, cheap and cheerful.  I’d give this box set an A for economy and a B for detail.

Finally, I had this Foundry Union cavalryman in my finished and orphaned box for a long time, so gave him the fourth horse from the Perry Union horseholders set.  

He makes a nice little vignette, maybe a deployment marker for Sharpe Practice.  

With all these figures added to the ranks, I should definitely put them all on the table and give the Pickett’s Charge rules another look.  Who knows, perhaps these troops will be deployed to the Canadian border.  I hear that there’s trouble brewing there.

Thanks for looking.  Blessings to your brushes!

MP+

Banner Blunder!

Good morning and happy February!   I hope this finds you and those you love well and healthy, and that we all get good news from the groundhog tomorrow (is there a COVID groundhog, I wonder?).   In January, my main effort at the Mad Padre’s painting chapel has been finishing a box of Perry Miniatures plastic Union Infantry Skirmishing.  They are finished and just waiting the final touches in the Basing Barracks before they muster into service, but I wanted to share a small tale of woe with you.

Notice anything wrong?

Probably shouldn’t have put the regimental banner on dark and early after only half a cup of coffee.   Looks like the Union is in trouble!   Good thing I got the national flag right.   A great pity, as these banners were included with the figures in the box, and the print and paper quality were sufficiently high that I was quite happy using them to make this a new unit of US Regulars.  Alas, trying to get the regimental flag off the pole intact proved impossible and it had to be sacrificed.

Fortunately I spoke to the War Department and we agreed to muster this unit into the Irish Brigade as the 116th PA, as I fortunately had the GMB Designs flag set for that unit in my stores.   This will allow me to bring the strength of the Brigade up to three regiments, which is quite respectable on a 28mm table.   Col. Meagher will be quite pleased.

Morale of the story, go slow and drink lots of coffee!   I won’t mention the slight damage I did to myself with a new Olfa blade when I finally decided to remove the old flag - that’s another story, but these chaps now march on a bloody battlefield.

Cheers and blessings,

MP+

Perry Brothers Miniatures Canadian Volunteer Cavalry for the American Civil War

With four hours here in Ontario before the old year sees itself out, it seems like a good time to unveil my last completed project of the year.   Cracking on with my alt-ACW project, here are Perry Miniatures’ Canadian militia or volunteer cavalry from their British Intervention Force range.  The figures are product codes BIF 32 (Command) and BIF 34, standing with shouldered swords and stabled jackets.  I don’t know much about the organization and uniforms of the militia cavalry from this period.   There are some regiments in the Canadian Reserve Force, like the Governor General’s Horse Guards or the Queens’ York Rangers, that have pedigrees dating back to the  War of 1812, but I haven’t found much on their dress.  The uniform is my guess from one of the plates in the Osprey Book, Canadian Campaigns 1860-1870 - blue with white piping.  I have the figures for another regiment so I may do it in blue with yellow piping, just for contrast.

 Sadly they don’t have a guidon bearer, though I have no idea where to source the appropriate flag or whether British cavalry units typically carried flags of any sort.  The Sergeant is single based, for use as a leader in Sharpe Practice.

 If they were anything like most Canadian militia units of the period, these fellows would most likely be gentlemen and more prosperous farmers, able to afford the horse and uniforms, hoping to impress the ladies, and probably not trained to anything near a professional standard.  Put them in the field against a trained Union cavalry unit of the 1862-63 era, and I think they’d be eaten for lunch.  You may have noticed that none of the figures are sculpted with carbines.   Again, I have no idea if carbines were issued to British cavalry of the mid-Victorian period, but having seen what Sharp breechloaders can do in my previous post, I would fear for these figures on a battlefield.  I suspect they would be employed mostly for scouting and as line of communications troops once the British Army began arriving in Canada en masse.

 

 On weekend training, impressing the locals.

2020 saw me make a decent start on this project.  There are at least as many unpainted figures to go as you see here, so that will be a steady focus of 2021, and hopefully some battles to follow. 

With that, I bid 2020 a less than fond adieu.   Joy and I were blessed with good health, and unlike many, we were fortunate enough to remain mostly sheltered in comfort, wanting for nothing, so we refuse to moan about our lot.  I missed friends and gaming in person, and I hope to see some of that resume in 2021.   May the New Year treat you and your loved ones more kindly.

Blessings from the Mad Padre’s Painting Chapel.

MP+

Perry Brothers Union Cavalry Horseholder and Confederate Officer

 Hello friends:

Taking a moment to document some small ACW painting projects.  28mm Union cavalry horseholder by Perry Brothers:  

These are the type of figures, like casualties, that might make the more practically minded ask - why?  My answer is that I have enough mounted and dismounted figures to represent a small Union cavalry brigade, so now I can represent where the horses are if the dismounted troops have moved some distance away during the fighting.  Could be an important detail.  Also, I like the aesthetic, they add a bit of a diorama feel to the table.

There was a fourth horse figure in the set, but it got misplaced in a small mound of metal horseflesh on a corner of my bench, as I am also currently working on a large unit of Canadian militia horse for my alt-ACW project.  I will find a use for this AWOL nag.

 

Mounted officer sculpt from the now-defunct French producer, Forgotten and Glorious.  I quite love their ACW line and have some in the painting queue.

This fellow was listed as a Union officer, but I need more rebs to serve as command figures in Sharpe Practice, or as Staff Officers in Pickett’s Charge, so he ended up in gray.

 

Blessings to your brushes!

MP+

 

 

 

Perry Brothers Canadian Militia for the American Civil War

It was only six (!!) years ago here that I posted some musings here on what the American Civil War might have become had the British intervened as a result of the Trent Affair or some subsequent provocation in an alternate history timeline.  Six years goes by quickly, much more quickly than I work, apparently, but here are the first fruits of that project. 

These figures are Canadian militia from the Perry Brothers’ British Intervention range: BIF 11 (Command Group) and BIF 12 (infantry skirmish/firing line).   They wear the 1863 tunic and the 1855 shako.  I had an Osprey book on the Victorian British army in Canada on order, but as it went missing in the post (I’ve had bad luck with book orders during the pandemic), I went with the figures as shown on the Perrys’ website.

 

Flags were a problem as I did not have any information as to what Canadian militia flags looked like, so I took the path of least resistance and ordered a set of British regimental flags from Adolfo Ramos in Spain.    Considering the speed at which I paint, I wasn’t too worried about the time i would take for the mail from Europe.   Adolfo does brilliant work.   I ordered the presentation version of his flags, so they come mounted with painted flag staff and tassels, ready to mount.    Absolutely brilliant work.    These particular flags are of the 57th Regiment of Foot, from Adolfo’s Crimean War range, which are close enough for my liking.

I confess I did no absolutely no shading on the red tunics.  I didn’t restock my Citadel red wash before the pandemic hit, so I just used straight Army Painter scarlet, and I was quite happy with the look.

 

Bit of a vignette for one of the bases, as the NCO tries to get the firing line into shape.

I have several more British and Canadian regiments to paint, and some Canadian militia cavalry and two sections of Royal Artillery with 12 lb Whitworths on order, so at some point I should have enough redcoats to go up against a small brigade of Yanks, or maybe some skirmish actions using Sharpe Practice.  To keep my interest, I followed a friend’s recommendation to read the Britannia’s Fist series by Peter Tsouras, which imagines a British entry into the Civil War in 1863.   I’ve read the first novel, and found Tsouras to be a wooden sort of writer, but it is interesting.    The campaigns I envision, perhaps entering on Halifax or the old battlegrounds of 1812, will be much smaller than the grand campaigns that Tsouras imagines.

In the meantime, blesses to your brushes!

MP+

 

Renegade 28mm Confederate Infantry

Good day:

 

I hope his finds you and yours well, healthy, and weathering the pandemic.   I’m pleased to say that I’ve used the lockdown time to be fairly productive.  Last night I finished this regiment of Confederate infanry, 28mm figs from Renegade in skirmish/firing poses.  Sadly I believe that Renegade is out of business.   I bough a box of these figures at HotLead many years ago, started painting them, life got messy, and put the on hold.  The minis got knocked around badly during several moves, and I lost the nerve to get them finished until recently.

The flag is a Mississipi state flag from GMB Designs.   I chose Mississippi as a homage to my late wife Kay, aka Madame Padre, who was a born and raised there.  I already have two MS regiments, so this this regiment gives me a third, enough to form a brigade, which is important if I want to play more Pickett’s Charge.

See if you can spot the one Old Glory figure in this group.

The figures are definitely on the large side, perhaps the largest range of ACW figures I’ve ever seen, and there solidity reminds me of Dixon figures.   I always find that Confederate figures are a bit of a slog to mix, as I try for a convincing mix of greys, tans and browns in my uniform palette.

Thanks for looking and blessings to your brushes!    Stay well and safe.

MP+

Perry Brothers ACW Dismounted Union Cavalry

Good day and happy Sunday from Ontario, Canada, where March has come in like a lamb after dumping a LOT of snow on us.   The path to my front door looks suspiciously like a Great War communications trench!   

As I find some more time for my blog, which is more and more just a hobby diary with photos (and bless those of you who do sop by and comment), I have some photos of a project I finished over the Christmas holidays, which are rather a distance in the rear view mirror now.

I’ve become a fanboy for Perry Brothers miniatures, which though pricey and perhaps smaller than the heroic 28mm scales in vogue these days, are full of detail.  Here is a unit of 28mm ACW dismounted Union cavalry, to give me a second such unit for the tabletop.  The flag I believe is from GMB Designs.  Sorry, the lighting on these photos is not of the best.

Sergeant Davis is not having a good day.  He reminds me of a character in Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage:  “The lieutenant, retiring from a tour after a bandage, produced from a hidden receptacle of his mind new and portentous oaths suited to the emergency.  Strings of expletives he swung lash like over the backs of his men, and it was evident that his previous efforts had in nowise impaired his resources.

One of the curious things about these sculpts is that one set are cast in the classic cavalry piped shell jacket and piped riding breaches, while another pack look like mounted infantrymen: they have Sharps carbines but are wearing the classic four button sack coat, with infantry trousers and brogans (shoes) instead of riding boots.   I painted all of the collars with yellow piping to give a uniform impression. 

Ready to see off Johnny Reb while waiting for the infantry to come up.

 

In some decent lighting.

 

The finished regiment on the tabletop, awaiting they first fight.  They did well enough.   More on that in another post.

I have a box of Perry plastic mounted cavalry and two sets of householders to do next, and then, with my previously painted figures,  should have the makings of a tidy little Union cavalry brigade.

Blessings to your brushes!

MP+

Limbering Up: Perry Brothers 28mm ACW Union Limber Team

Hello friends:

I've been limbering up at the gym as well, but that gets harder as I get older and painting this delightful kit from Perry Bros over Christmas was much more fun than exercising.

Even though I am amazed at how much space my 6mm! Napoleonic limbers take up on a 6' by 4' table, there's something about having a limber team that denotes a certain seriousness in how one approaches the game, even if one only has one such model (for now).  So I splashed out on this set, having already assembled and painted the limber and gun shown here, which are from the Perry's plastic ACW artillery set.

The figures are beautifully sculpted and didn't require much cleaning.     They are also in dynamic poses, given the impression of a gun rushing into battle at a desperate moment.

The three limber riders are cast in one piece and fit perfectly on the seat of the plastic limber model.   I like how it looks like they are holding on for dear life.   Bouncing along on an unpadded chest full of gunpowder, that's not at all stressful!

I've based the horses separately in pairs so the team is more manageable to handle on the tabletop.

A quick story before I go, from my re-enacting career, such as it was.   In October 2000 I attended an event in Loudon County, VA, that was organized by a guy called Rob Hodge, who was one of the gurus of the authentic re-enacting community.   Hodge makes an appearance in the late Tony Horowitz's Confederates in the Attic, a book which is both amusing and insightful.

Anyway, I was part of a Union infantry "battalion", perhaps 75 in all, in line at one side of a long valley, perhaps 2 kms across.   I found a photo that I took from my place in the second rank that afternoon, showing a little infantry skirmish in the middle of the valley.   

Shortly after this photo was taken, from the spot in the treeline which I've marked in yellow, a Confederate limber team and gun appeared    I recall vividly how quickly they moved into position, well out of rifle range, unlimbered, and fired a few "rounds" at us.   The horses were a joy to watch as the wheeled to bring the gun into position, and the whole process seemed to happen in just a few minutes.    It was distinctly eerie to think that had it been real, round shot would be buzzing at my general direction and me powerless to return the favour.   I wish I had taken a photo of that gun and team.

There are however some excellent photos of a re-enactment group that knows something about guns and horses, and from what I can see, they are pretty convincing.

That's all for now.   Rabbitman is coming over this weekend for a dirty wargames weekend so more to say about that soon I hope.
Blessings to your brushes!
MP

Farewell to Forgotten and Glorious ACW ,Minis

I was saddened recently to learn that Forgotten and Glorious miniatures will soon be no more.   They are (soon were) a French-based manufacturer of 28mm figures, and had a small but lovely range of 28mm ACWs.    As their website says, they will be out of business in 5 days, on April 15, and their figures will no longer be available.   I have no idea why they are closing - perhaps it is because their figures were never cheap - a command group of 6 foot sold for 15 euros, and the postage from Europe probably didn't help.


Here are some of their figures from my collection, and some more here.

They are lovely and full of detail and great fun to paint.

I have really agonized on ordering some more before they're gone, but I think I am going to resist pulling the trigger on this one.   I have a goodly number of ACW figures to paint, including two boxes of Perry plastics, and a regiment of Renegade figures that have languished, half painted, for two years now - and that's just the ACW part of my lead and plastic mountain!


However, if 28mm ACW is your thing, I would encourage you to have a look at their website before these figures are gone.


Blessings,


MP+