From PeterD: 28mm War of 1812 US 13th Infantry (82 points)

From Peter:

So I got these guys finished just in time for the final deadline for the 4th Analogue Painting Challenge. These are 16 members of the US 13th Infantry from the War of 1812.  The are Victrix figures from the British Penninsula infantry boxes, with heads from the Victrix artillery box wearing the Belgic Shako.  Let's just say that the honeymoon is over with Victrix and I have deliberately not given any closeups of this unit.  I think that I've got bits from 3 different Victrix sets with torsos from the flank company box with left over arms from the centre company box.

For the 13th I gave them the regulation blue coat - the coats are blue but my lighting and camera skills give them a purples hue.  I have used the Belgic shako to represent the false fronted "Tombstone" shako adopted by the US regs in 1813.

Loki has mentioned the Fat Lady Singing.  Hopefully at our house Sadie (picture enclosed) will be singing- she's not over sized but certainly has some nice curves.  No Fat Ladies singing, only an out of shape middle aged dude bashing out Beatles songs on a guitar. 

Thanks for running the Challenge Curt.  Have a large glass of something strong - you've earned it.

I'm glad you made it in with these - nice work Peter. You've really had a great push over the past 3 months with your 1812 project and I'm looking forward to some games in the near future.

This regiment of US regulars will give Peter 82 points. Congratulations, you've almost doubled your original goal - Well done!

From PeterD: 28mm War of 1812 British Artillery & Command Stands (125 points)

From Peter:

I've got a bunch of odd bits that I've worked on over the challenge that I am submitting as one War of 1812 smorgasbord.  The enclosed pictures are of

• 9 Royal artillery gunners using the Victrix plastic set.  I like the Victrix artillery set, but am going off the Victrix experience as a whole.  The unit of infantry that I'm finishing off was a real bugger to assemble and paint.

• 2 Victrix 6 pounders from the plastic box set.  They went together ok, but a tad fiddly.  

• 2 metal naval guns from Brigade Hobbies picked up at the same time as the Meese.  I believe that these are an 18lber and a 12lber.  From what I can tell, fortress guns in North America often came on naval carriages (that is certainly the case at Louisbourg). 

• A US command stand including a General and a Light Dragoon escort (both on horseback).  These are modified from the Perry French Dragoon set.  The general has his lapels trimmed off and a Victrix infantry officer head.  The dragoon was modified as with my earlier unit of the 2nd Light Dragoons.  I really like the plastic dragoon set.

• A British command stand including a General and an Aide-de-camp from the Canadian Fencibles Regiment.  Again, these started life as French Dragoons.  I trimmed the lapels down but not off to represent the British officers' coat which frequently had a triangle of coloured lapel showing.  The general's head came from the Perry British infantry box and his aide de camp sports a Brigade Hobbies round hat (the ex-Victrix Royal Marine Hats).  The round hat was apparently the very height of fashion with the beaux sabres on the Niagara in 1813.  Much like the Dukes of Hazard hair and moustache in 1990s Biloxi I imagine. 

For the artillery, I opted to mount the gunners on one base and the pieces on a separate base so that I could switch the weaponry around to suit.  

I've had a good laugh at your CSA uniform.  In solidarity with your coming out, I enclose another entry in the "dumb looks from the past while in uniform" challenge. The year is I think 1976, my scout troop was one of the few to wear kilts, and yes that was a lot of hair.  

The only good thing is that given what was fashionable at the time, this picture would likely be more embarrassing if I was wearing pants.

That picture of you is wonderfully dorktastic so I heartily welcome you to the club, congratulations! I must say I get a bit of vertigo looking at the photo as you're pretty much upright but that building in the background looks like it's in the midst of a crash dive or being slowly dragged away by a Cthonian (who must be just off camera).

Great work on the artillery and command stands. I quite like those naval guns on their deck carriages. I can't imagine how difficult it would be to manoeuvre one of those monstrous things in uneven terrain. I have a box of the Victrix guns in the wings and I'm looking forward to giving them a go after seeing yours.

These guns, their crew and the mounted officers will give Peter 125 points. Well done!

From PeterD: 28mm War of 1812 Native Warriors from Grand River Six Nations (60 points)

From Peter:

Next up for the painting challenge is another War of 1812 unit - as Anne O'Leary says I've got around to the good guys. This is a unit of 12 native warriors from the Grand River Six Nations, who featured in many War of 1812 actions especially along the Niagara.

The figures are 28mm from Crusader's FIW range. I did some poking about of Webstores before settling on the Crusader figures. I was looking for figures which had a mix of European and native clothing and equipment, and these guys did the trick. I have some Crusader figs in my El Cid armies so I knew the company. Plus Caliver Books in the UK had them in stock and they ship world wide post free if you order £15 of figures. At some point it would be great if North American hobby suppliers could be even in the same ball park as the UK firms in terms of shipping costs and timeliness of delivery. OK, I'll get off the soap box now…..

For painting these figures, for me the big challenge was skin tones. I live in a city with a fair Native population so have the ability to do some people watching among fellow bus riders, shoppers and people wandering the halls of academentia. I hope I didn't come off as too creepy!

I settled on Liquidtex "Dark Portrait Pink" with a heavy wash of "Raw Umber" - being a Artist's Acrylics man at heart. This contrasts with my European figures which use "Flesh" topped with washes of "Terracotta" to give a tanned look and Raw Umber to get the crevices. This Bloom County gem from the 80s sums up the process nicely I think.

I never paint eyes on 28mm figures, or at least I haven't in 20 years or so. I subscribe to the theory that eyes are only discernible at much closer range than that implied by a 28mm fig. That and the fact that most figures I see with eyes remind me of pandas and raccoons.

I wanted to base these figs to give the impression of native warriors operating in a loose order and taking advantage of cover. Therefore I used double sized bases with 2 figs per 40mm square base instead of 2 per 40mm*20mm. The fuzzy caterpillar grass is an Evil Empire product while the other scenic items were produced by mother nature. Incidentally SWMBO had me roast the sticks at 400 degrees to make sure that no new friends were introduced to our indoor environment.

Lemme get this straight: You cooked your sticks so they would get past house-safety quarantine? You need to tell your lovely wife that it's not the outdoor critters that are the danger to your household, rather it's you being around any sharp tool or piece of cutlery. Last I heard you barely escaped cutting cabbage without losing a digit!  :)

Great work Peter! Your recipe for Native American skin tones looks very convincing and I see you have been converted to the 'Cult of the Tuft'. Good man. I look forward to seeing these fellows in a game soon.

These Native Americans will give Peter 60 points.

From PeterD: 28mm War of 1812 British Infantry - 8th King's Regiment (122 points)

From Peter:

This is the 8th (King's Regiment) from the War of 1812. I have plugging away on this unit for a while now and finally finished them last night. I was slowed down by February blahs and grumpiness, a broken figure (thanks Victrix for the weak joint) and another kitchen injury involving chopping vegetables. This time it was a sweet potato and I sliced a bit of the tip of my left ring finger. Next time, I'll listen when my wife says that the knives need sharpening.

Anyway not a lot to say about this unit (24 strong). The figures are all Victrix, except for one of the standard bearers. The flags were downloaded from Warflag (a great free resource).

I've developed a real preference for the Perry plastics after working with Victrix. The Victrix poses offer ore variety at a cost of far more fiddliness. Plus I find the Perry poses more natural and easier to paint.

I believe that this takes me over me Challenge target (yeah me)!

Ah, this is great as I know you've been working on these fellows for a while - must be great to have them completed. They look wonderful! I quite like the cords and finials on the standards, they give a very nice finishing touch to the colour party. I agree with you about Victrix vs Perry: the flexibility of accoutrements and pose with Victrix is a boon, but they are definitely more fiddly to assemble than the Perry offerings (and somewhat more fragile in my experience as well).

This battalion of the 8th will give Peter 122 points, which includes a couple extra for the smart set of colours. This will indeed put him over his 500 point Challenge target. Well done Peter! Now go re-attach your finger and remember: don't run with scissors. 

From PeterD: 'You Say Meeses and I Say Mooses. Let's Call the Whole Thing Off.' (12 points)

From Peter:

Some Meese for you. 

OK before either the grammarians or the biologists get on my case, I know that "meese" is not a correct plural of moose.  For the record either Moose or Mooses are acceptable plurals (like fish and not like Goose).  While the Beaver may be Canada's national symbol, to many the Moose is the quintessential Canadian critter.

These figure came about from a google query "28mm Moose figures".  They are made by Brigade Games, come singly or in a pack of 3 and are quite nice figures.  I intend to use them as game markers for unknown or suspected units. So hopefully that gets me over the umpire's hurdle.  If not then I claim that they are mounts for the Teddy Roosevelt amphibious assault force.

I've based them on Perry Miniatures bases left over from my plastic infantry boxes.  Since moose are happy both on land and lake and like marsh plants, I've given bases with a watery edge.  I did the water in Ultramarine artists acrylic topped with Acrylic Gloss medium to  give the effect of ripples (hopefully).  I also used taller plant life to show rushes along the water's edge.  I am sure that there is plenty of Moose Moss for the trio to munch.

Originally I was going to base each moose separately.  But Junior Moose is definitely too small to be far away from Mum so two bases it is.

To give an example of size for the figures, I have one photo with Laura Secord - a combination of Canadian icons if there ever was.  Oh and just for the Mad Padre I've included a shot of their backsides, since I know he is a connoisseur of moose butts.

More moose info can be found at the link below:

Hinterland Who's Who  

Canadian baby boomers like me can likely recite the narration from heart.

Jeez Louise, the Hinterland's 'Who's Who'?! Wow. Just wow. The theme from that has been seared into my mind from being raised in a northern prairie town with only one TV channel. The funny thing is that CBC, who produced 'Hinterland's Who's Who', didn't realize (or simply didn't care) that half the population that were forced to watch these 'nature vignettes' could look out their window and see the same critters in the front yard eating the flowers and fertilizing the lawn. 

Anyway I like these a lot (nice rack dude...). 

These moose will give Peter 12 points. 

And I'm not going to say a word about the Mad Padre's predilection to moose butts. Nope. No siree...

PS: Peter, bring 'the family' out for our 'Muskets & Tomahawks' game tonight! Maybe they'll scare away the marauding Canadiens...

From PeterD: 28mm War of 1812 Canadian Incorporated Militia Battalion (40 points)

Peter adds some additional reinforcements to his War of 1812 collection.

From Peter: 

It's been awhile since my last submission but I've had several units on the go. These are a 24 man unit from the Incorporated Militia Battalion of Upper Canada. However, only 8 count towards the challenge as I had painted the original 16 last year. The unit is mostly made up of Perry plastics with with a few exceptions as follows (all in the 8 new additions): The two kneeling figures are Victrix plastics, but with Perry packs so as to have the same kit as the rest of the unit; the officer with the round hat is from Brigade (ex Victrix) and comes in a pack with 3 metal command figures and 30 heads to turn Victrix British infantry into Royal Marines. Apparently round hats were all the rage among the young Canadian officer corps during the war.

My old gaming buddy Ross had noted that my American infantry regiments gave the look of individual figures firing at will. With this unit I tried to get the impression of platoon fire by completing the new 8 figures in firing poses and basing them together. The remaining 4 bases hold figures in the process of reloading and readying to fire.

The Incorporated Militia Battalion was formed as a permanent standing force from men in the existing militia units of Upper Canada (now Ontario). They were well trained and pretty much as good as regulars and fought well during the War of 1812. Members of the unit served all along the frontier and fought in many of the battles.

The original plan was for red uniforms, but supply issues led to them getting green faced red for a time. This makes a nice contrast in the thin red line. 

Officers apparently got scarlet coats faced blue, and darned if I can find any reference to the musicians. In the end I decided that they got the regular green faced red with extra lace.

Great work Peter! I really like the variations in kit, colour and uniform that you've added to reinforce these as bodged together Canadian militia, especially that posh round hat for the officer - very nice. 

These eight fellow (doing great credit to the rest of their battalion) will give Peter 40 points. Well done!

From PeterD: Challenge Desperado 'Zeke' & War of 1812 American 9th Infantry Regiment (65 points)

From Peter:

I am not sure of Zeke's exact origins, but the smart money is that he is a Minifig Boer commando whom I inherited via RossMac's spare parts bin.  The old style true 25mm figures aren't much in fashion thee days but I think that they have a certain charm to them.  They paint up very nicely with the right approach.  

To the best of my memory (never the best), I've never seen a Peckinpah movie so based him of Westerns that I have seen - True Grit (both of em), Butch Cassidy, Clint Eastwood etc.  I opted for a muted dusty appearance to suit the lone wolf who hasn't seen a bath or a laundry tub in a long time.

Next up for me is the US 9th Infantry regiment, but once again only 8 of the 24 figures should count towards the Challenge.  I've been beefing up my 16 man units to 24 strong and the US 9th was next to get the upgrade.  These are a mix of 16 Perry figures and 8 Victrix.  The new additions are all Victrix and I partially rebased the unit to mix the two makes.  These were all painted up straight out of the box - ok, out of the box and then assembled as per the box as closely as I could get.  

I've represented the 9th in the Official uniform - blue coat with red facings and white lace and the 1812 shako.  As with the 16th US,  the packs are a fudge as they regulation pack was shorter, softer sided and had black straps (not white).  More over there shouldn't be a blanket roll on top - I clearly painted these before I worked out that I should trim off the blanket roll like I did with the 16th.  I learn, but slowly, so the next US battalion will be the Perry figures with the shorter pack and the blanket roll trimmed off. 

I quite like how the unit paints up, but having looked at the photos I need to fix the flags a little.  RossMac noted that my 16th gave the impression of soldiers taking individual aimed shots rather than volleys, and I've aimed to get that appearance here as well.  I should really do a red coat unit that mimics the look of platoon volleys rippling up and down the line.

That's 4 units of Americans.  Now I need to work on the good guys!

Haven't seen a Pekinpah movie? Good god man, we'll have to correct that and damn quick! 

Great work here Peter. 'Zeke' is wonderful. I really like seeing these old Minifigs again, it makes me quite nostalgic, though they almost seem like a 20mm casting amongst today's ubber robust figures. The American 9th is very nice as well and my kudos to you for sticking through the Victrix assembly process - not everybody has the patience to deal with them.

Zeke and his additions to the 9th Infantry will give Peter a very respectable 65 points to add to his tally. Well done Peter!

From PeterD: 28mm War of 1812 American Light Dragoons (60 points)

Peter accelerates his pace with this excellent unit of American light dragoons from the War of 1812.

From Peter:

My next entry for the painting challenge are these 6 members of the US 2nd Light Dragoons.  They will serve as a small unit in my war of 1812 Black Powder base games.  The figures are Perry Miniatures plastic French Dragoons, from the same box that provided the light infantry unit the Trojan Greens.  Conversion work was minimal - I trimmed off the Plastron of the jacket otherwise everything else was paint work.

The French dragoon sword is really too heavy for light dragoons but it works.  I retained the dragoon muskets instead of rigging carbines, I also used an arm from the dismounted figures so that one trooper carries a firearm in hand.  I don't have a lot of info on the horse furniture (I love that term, it makes me think of equine recliners) but i think the French sheepskin and shabraque works ok.  I really enjoyed painting these figures, especially the horses.  However, my patience is not really up to the task of the assembly and gluing as I always rush things to get to the good stuff (the painting).

There were two regiments of US light dragoons and between the two of them detachments served at mos of the actions of the War of 1812.  likely their best moment was at Crysler's farm where the 2nd charged British regulars.  They were repulsed by fire but their action allowed most of the artillery to get away.

Excellent work Peter! I must admit I'm a bit amazed at your output during this Challenge. It must have something to do with your daughter going to university halfway across the country this autumn! I look forward to eviscerating these Yanks on the tabletop...

These American light dragoons will give Peter 60 points and I see he has several others waiting in the wings so stay tuned for those.