Progress so far - Comte de Tescaux' Regiment

 Hello again! It's been a few days since the last blog, so I thought I would give people an update on the Mauritzanian project 'rebirth'. I've set my self targets for each week's painting, and this week it's time to get my second standard bearer, drummer and 2 rank and file figures completed.

Here are a few pictures of the progress so far - some of you may have seen these chaps already, in previous posts, and they are chaps I painted a while ago. Already done are my first 'rank and file' figure - varnished and based, and two command figures - the Colonel and 'Drapeaux d'Ordonnance' or Regimental colours. I often paint up a test figure, just to get a sense of what the regiment or unit will look like, and this is the case with the chap below. Given the name of the regiment, and (coincidental) link to many High Street UK shopping consortiums for this Mauritzanian project and the units involved, it seems as though the 'records' show the Comte de Tescaux' Regiment has a colour scheme of (off) white, red and blue.....unsurprisingly! Having said that though, they do look suitably French and early 18th C. ish.

I've got to do the Colonel's Colours yet, and there is a picture of work so far on the ensign carrying these plain white colours - well, white cross on a white background! I love the way that the Perry- designed Wargames Foundry figures have 'multipose' arm choices for many of the command figures - this Ensign originally has an arm with a sword, but I have cut this off, and drilled out the hand to take a standard pole. By next week, hopefully all these chaps will be done, along with a drummer. I won't be basing them up yet, as this will be the last part of the exercise with this particular unit. Next week will see the start of the 'rank and file' proper, first three figures, then two weeks of four figures each! Fingers crossed I can stay on track! Until next time - tatty bye!!!!

No More Butterflying!!!

Hello again! Nice to be back, on a more regular basis! Although the next post may have people groaning again in despair - as I've decided to put a hold on my Swiss Impetus army for a while, and return to Mauritzania!

'But you've only just started on the Swiss!' I hear the cry. Well true, but it suddenly struck me over the weekend, whilst I was sorting through old figures, just exactly HOW many projects I've actually started. The biggest reason why I've not actually got any projects finished off, is because I've not finished any projects off. Simples really! So it became pretty apparent that I might as well return to old projects - and first on the list is Mauritzania. If I had carried on with my Swiss, it would be at least June or July before I had finished that particular army, then I would need to paint some Burgundians (which I'd need to buy) as opposition. More time, more cost, little point. Other projects - on the other hand - have all been started and I have figures for them. In some cases, I have already begun to paint up figures for the different units. So.....2013 will be the year of continuing on already started projects. Mauritzania, ECW, and if I have time, my Napoleonics. Hopefully the backlog of castings and buildings will be reduced. Above you'll see two gentlemen of the Comte de Tescaux's regiment arguing over a similar moral dilemma to mine.....'Look,' says the Colonel, 'let's just chill and go for a drink. Maybe start on something else, no worries, find a new project.....' 'No!' replies the Ensign, 'Forward! To more disciplined wargaming and painting!' Lets's hope I can follow his fine example! See you soon!

Walls!! (and not a sausage in sight......)

As promised, some pictures of the wall section I have recently made. It's about 5 inches (12cm) long, and made entirely of cardboard, on a plasticard base. I was inspired by an article in Wargames Illustrated ( I forget which issue, but it was the one with the Crimean War theme), which featured the amazing work of Dave Andrews. Dave has a name 'well known' in the wargaming world, not just for his work at Games Workshop, but for painting, model making and sculpting with more 'historical' subjects. Dave's work has always inspired me, right from my first view of his figures and terrain in the 'Shieldwall' supplement for the Warhammer Ancient Battles rules. I'd always liked his work and especially his terrain - including the walls - and I've often wondered how to make them. Up until now, I've either used brick walls from Hovels, or resin walls I've picked up from conventions, then repainted. But a close up view of the walls made for Dave's Crimean War table, showcasing the new range of Crimean figures from Great War Miniatures, suggested that I could make them out of cardboard. So armed with some sharp scissors, a load of cardboard off-cuts, and some PVA glue, I set to.

 

The card is quite thick, just over 2mm, and each piece is about 12 mm long by 7-8mm wide. I then cut off random angles at the corners, and then layered them up on the plasticard base, (about 5 rows) supergluing the first layer to the plastic. I then used pieces slightly wider and curved at the top as coping stones, glued at slightly different angles, to show wear and age. When this whole construction was dry, I coated the wall in a slightly watered down PVA and sand mix, to add a bit of texture, and then let that dry as well. The painting was done using Games Workshop's Scorched Brown (I'm not sure what the new name is after the recent alteration to their paint range) as a base coat, liberally applied to all the niches, crevices and corners; then a range of creams and buffs and browns, gradually getting lighter. I'll post up the exact colours (mainly Foundry paints) another time, when I get my card index back (see previous posts!....) The base is sand and PVA, painted with my usual combination of GW paints, then static grass, Woodland Scenics bushes, and grass tufts courtesy of Antenociti's Workshop. A balsa wood fence post, painted up with dark greys (sun bleached wood), completes the whole thing. I eventually hope to make a few more of these sections, as despite using over 100 'stones' of card, and taking almost 2 hours to do, it's been well worth it. Hopefully even the maestro Dave Andrews would approve! Until next time, tootly pip!! ( Swiss on the paint rack tonight - watch this space.....)