From StefanK: 28mm AWI British Infantry, Viking Bondi & Challenge Desperado (110)

From Stefan:

The 44th Regiment of Foot. The regiment was raised in 1741 and firstly bore the name of its founder Colonel James Long and was originally the 55th regiment of foot. After first employments during the Jacobite Risings of 1745 and the Flanders campaign in 1748 the regiment was renumbered as 44th Regiment of Foot, actually as part of a large reorganization of the British army. A few years later the regiment was brought into action during the French Indian War where it fought in important battles like the Battle of Carillon, the Braddock Expedition and the famous siege of Fort William Henry. Above all it served in the Battle at La Belle-Familie which the "Bloggers for Charity" want to restage this year at several events to create attention and rise funds for the charity projects "Help for Heroes" and "Men Matters".

For this excellent venture I agreed to paint a unit of redcoats which will represent this heroic regiment. It consists of twelve figures manufactured by AW Miniatures who is establishing a quickly growing 28mm range covering the FIW. Overall the miniatures are very nice. The casting quality is good at most parts although some thin details like the loading stick are damaged on several miniatures. The sculpting is crisp and clear and make it rather easy to distinguish the different parts and layers of the miniatures. Unfortunately a lot of the finer details (especially the lacing) are left out and must be painted on.

The faces are quite good but don't have the excellence and expression the top-notch manufacturers (Perry, Wargames Foundry, Front Rank et al.) usually provide.

As usual I used Vallejo Model Colours and Armypainter Quickshade to paint the figures. My main source for the uniforms was C. E. Franklin's "British Army Uniforms from 1751 to 1783". There I read that officers used to wear waistcoats in their regiment's facing colours. Therefore I decided to give them that individual blot of paint. This time I didn't base the figures because James and Andrew preferred to do that themselves.

Next is a unit of eight Viking Bondi for my SAGA warband. All eight figures are metal ones from Gripping Beast's SAGA range. Some of them look slightly old fashioned and stiff but altogether they are really good. 

As most SAGA miniatures I know so far these Bondi have open hands to glue the weapons in. Most of mine got spears this way. But I used steel wire spears rather then the leaden ones provided by Gripping Beast. Absolutely outstanding are their faces which make it easy to bring out some expression.

As usual I painted the figures with Vallejo Model Colours and shaded them with Armypainter Quickshade (Dark Tone). The fine artworks on the shield are decals from Stephen Hales' Little Big Men Studios. For the bases I used my habitual combination of sand, static grass and tufts.

And so it ends... As my last entry I proudly present: The Cowboy.

The miniature is from Wargames Foundry and actually his name is "Lonesome Dexter" from the "This town ain't big enough". But this time he shall represent one of the countless cowboys immortalized in Sam Peckinpah's movies. Curt asked for such an act of appreciation and I hope my humble work bestows honour to his concern.

This fellow was the first Wild West figure I ever painted. And it was great fun. It is well detailed and sculpting as well as casting are of top-notch quality as usual for Wargames Foundry. Once again I employed Vallejo's Model Colour range to paint it but skipped Quickshade this time because I didn't have the time to let it dry long enough. To give the miniature a little special 'something' I didn't only decorate the top of the base but the bottom as well.

Well then, Curt, this one's for you. Many thanks for organizing this year's painting challenge. It was great fun to participate and I enjoyed the company of all those excellent painters and modellers a lot. Additionally those three months let me learn a lot about my very own way of painting and pushed my skills forward. It was an honour to see my humble work presented alongside the pieces of art our fellow competitors submitted. For next winter I'll definitely reserve a time slot for the next painting challenge hoping to snatch a slot again. I hope you like this little sign of appreciation. 

Stefan, this is beautiful work, all of it.  I'm sure whoever receives your AWI figures from the 'Bloggers for Charity' event will be absolutely delighted with their 'score'.

Your bondi certainly look the business - I'm particularly taken with the colour detail on their jerkins and trousers. Beautiful.

Finally, I give my humble thank you for the wonderful cowboy figure you've painted as my Challenge 'levy' (or 'Curtgeld' as some have now called it). I really like his grey hair and his jersey chaps are an excellent choice (great pattern). Also, the Challenge banner on the bottom is pure class. Thanks again!

This wonderful assortment of miniatures will give Stefan 110 points, with a bit extra for the chaps! This will be enough for Stefan to exceed his Challenge target of 600 points. Congratulations on pushing through to the finish! 

It's been a pleasure Stefan, I'm delighted you could join us in this little bit of winter madness.

From StefanK: 28mm Viking Berserkers & Herdmen (41 points)

From Stefan:

Besides my other project I'm mustering a force of Vikings for Saga. Lately I finished a squad of four Berserker that will set free ferocious havoc on the battlefield hopefully.

The miniatures are by Gripping Beast and belong to their nice range of Saga figures. Although some of their figures are slightly old-fashioned these berserkers stick out a bit. They are very dynamic and with the wolf hides over their shoulders they look really fierce. Only their hands are a bit tricky because the weapons have to be glued inside. On the one hand that seems a bit uniform but on the other hand it offers the chance to equip the guys individually. So I chose to substitute the leaden spears with steel ones. 

Very exciting to paint were the faces of the figures. They've been sculpted with a lot of expression and fine detail in them. So it wasn't too hard to work out the eyes, the beards their hair. The clothes - if present at all - were rather plain so for the gifted painter they present lots of space for freehand sketches. Although I wouldn't count me to this illustrious category I'm really pleased with the striped trousers. The result really encourages me to try more patterns like this from now on.

Simultaneously to the Bersekers I was working on a unit of Hirdmen for Saga.

The miniatures are by Gripping Beast and belong to their nice range of Saga figures. Actually I like them a lot although the sculpts are slightly old-fashioned. They are very dynamic and have excellently detailed faces. Their hands are a bit tricky because the weapons have to be glued inside. On the one hand that seems a bit unfirm but on the other hand it offers the chance to equip the guys individually. As Hirdmen they are kind of elite warriors and so I wanted to have them different from the Bondi with spears so I gave them swords and a two-handed axe.

 

Very exciting to paint were the faces of the figures. They've been sculpted with a lot of expression and fine detail in them. So it wasn't too hard to work out the eyes, the beards their hair. The tunics are rather plain so for the gifted painter they present lots of space for freehand sketches. I didn’t dare to experiment too much there so I left it at some careful braids in contrasting colours. The result really encourages me to try more patterns from now on.

As usual I painted the figures with Vallejo Model Colours and shaded them with Armypainter Quickshade (Dark Tone). The fine artworks on the shield are decals from Stephen Hales' Little Big Men Studios. For the bases I used my habitual combination of sand, static grass and tufts.

Lovely work here Stefan.  You've done a wonderful job on reflecting the varied nature of the clothes, shields (hides!) and equipment of these fierce fellows. I really like most Gripping Beast sculpts but I have to say I'm not a big fan of their open handed design. The weapons don't easily sit well within the fists and are always at risk of being broken off during play. I often resort to puttying them close to give them a better chance of tabletop survivability.

These eight Vikings will give Stefan 41 points, with an extra pip for the excellent striped trews on the one fashionable shield-biter.

From StephanK: 28mm Napoleonic French Sleigh (25 points)

From Stefan:

As one of the final piece for our participation game at Tactica convention in Hamburg I assembled and painted a sledge. It shall represent a sledge which the Grande Armée seized during their retreat from Moscow in 1812. It’s drawn by a single horse and provides enough space for three or four soldiers or some goods. I decided to put a single French soldier in the sledge who is defending its load against some marauding Cossacks. Luckily he has a second loaded musket at his side…

The sledge model itself is a kit from small but excellent Westfalia Miniatures. Kawe and his fellows offer awesome and unique kits and figures for French, British, Russian and Saxon Napoleonic miniatures as well as some fine vehicle kits. The soldier on the coachman’s seat is a conversion from a Victrix plastic Old Guard grenadier. I removed the epaulettes and changed the had to have him represent a simple soldier from a line infantry regiment. The barrels are actually two halves of a Renedra plastic barrel and the blankets are made of soaked tissues. For painting I used Vallejo model colours as usual and prepared the base with corundum sand, some snow covered grass tufts by Mininatur and some cork bits as rocks. I tried to plough the centre of the base a bit to represent the snow well-trodden by the horse.

As special feature I left the load of the sledge unglued and mounted it on a thin base itself. For the future I’m planning to make some substitute loads: wounded French, seated officers or just goods.

Lovely work Stefan! I've been mulling over getting one of these from Kawe for quite some time and your excellent efforts here chivvies me along nicely. I really like the special insert you've created for the sleigh - I'll be shamelessly nicking that idea, thank you!

This wonderful vignette will give Stefan 25 points. Well done!

From StefanK: 28mm Napoleonic Retreat from Russian - French Foreign Allies (35 points)

Those following the Challenge will know that Stefan and I are both enjoying working on the Perry range of French 1812 Retreat models. Here are seven members of the Grande Armee's foreign allies that he's recently added to his fine collection.

From Stefan:

Once again a couple of Perrys' excellent 1812 Frenchmen and allies. This time I chose a couple of figures from their infantry and cavalry sets. Actually they were meant to be a group of heroes for the last bonus round but unfortunately I wasn't able to finish them on time.

Actually I tried to paint them slightly unusual. More precisely I wanted to represent as many German soldiers as possible. These are the results:

An officer from some kind of cavalry unit. Actually all of his clothing besides the coat is civilian. But this coat is the pattern usually worn by cavalrymen of the Grande Armée.

A soldier from Napoleon’s Légion Portuguese. Clearly recognizable from the very special hat. In addition he’s wearing an army greatcoat and a couple of civilian scarves.

Cavalryman from the 1st Carabiniers. This regiment served with four squadrons in the 4th Cavalry Division under General de Division Jean-Marie Defrance at Borodino. This guy here seems to weare a rather full kit under his greatcoat although he obtained some civilian clothing as well. Anyway he looks fierce wielding his two pistols and therefore I use to call him “Django” in a friendly way.

Just a grenadier from a line infantry regiment. He’s wearing a combination of mostly civilian clothing and an army greatcoat. Therefore special characteristics aren't recognizable and so I like the idea that he is from a unit from the Grand Duchy of Berg.

An artillerymen from the French foot artillery. Actually he is from the infantry set but the greatcoat is hidden enough to resemble the double-breasted version which was worn by the artillery as well. His shoulders are covered with a civilian blanked which I painted in a checked pattern so his epaulettes aren’t visible. Actually he might be from my home the Grand Duchy of Berg as well…

A very nice figure of a hussar having lost parts of his kit and wearing a kind of blanket. I chose to paint him greenish since he should represent a soldier from the 1st Westphalian Hussars.

Another infantrymen with rather average equipment. He’s wearing an army greatcoat and a civilian jacket and cap. Once again this guy could be used as a soldier from every regiment of line infantry or any other unit. Maybe he’s a boy from the Bergische Land as well…

As usual I employed Vallejo model colours. It was great joy to paint these figures since they are as excellently sculpted as the other miniatures I know from that range. Especially the hussar general (the heroe entry) and the hussar with the blanket have extraordinarily detailed faces. But when I varnished the minis great havoc came over me. Carelessly I used Army Painter Anti-Shine for the final layer and stuff partly dissolved the paint and caused it to wrinkle partly. Fortunately most defects are rather small but the Portuguese infantryman and the Frenchman with the purple cap are rather filthy. I was so angry yesterday because Anti-Shine caused me to repaint a dozen horses two years ago so I should have known better than using it again. But in between I used it on some other miniatures and it worked well. Anyway that stuff will never touch my miniatures again!

I hope you like the results nonetheless. Up to this point I couldn't bring myself to decolour them…

Beautiful work Stefan. I really like that you've picked a theme for these fellows giving us an insight to the incredibly varied nature of the Grande Armee at that time. 

Sorry to hear about your mishap with Army Painter's Anti-Shine spray. I've had similar problems with it myself. It seems to be misnomered as it instead should be called 'Anti Anything' or 'Pro Infuriating' spray. I now stick to Testor's good ole stinky Dulcote.

These seven miserable fellows will give Stefan 35 points.

Stefan, like a poker game I'll see you these excellent chaps and raise you with some more Russians by the end of this weekend. Stay posted!

From StefanK: 28mm Napoleonic French Infantry from the 1812 Retreat (40 points)

Stefan and I are obviously channeling the same winter theme with these amazing Perry miniatures.

From Stefan:

Retreat from Moscow 1812:

After he found Moscow burning Napoleon had to abort his campaign in Russia in 1812. He wanted to return to safer countries as Poland or Prussia and wanted to spend winter there to undertake another try in 1813. But he hesitated too long and his Grande Armée was assailed by the relentless frost of the Russian winter.

The eight miniatures I happily present here are from Perry Miniatures's excellent Napoleonic range. They represent a couple of French and Allied soldiers fighting for their bare survival. They collected winter gear wherever they found it and are wearing a mix of military and civilian clothing. The miniatures are extremely detailed and very well painted. Especially the faces are crisp and clear and great joy to paint. They are full of expression and make it easy even for a mediocre painter like me to work it out. As usual I painted the miniatures with Vallejo Model Colour and Army painter Quickshade. As snow I used corundum sand. It is bright white, durable and has a nice sparkle in it. The tufts of grass are by Mini Natur and -to my mind- complete the bases nicely.

Hmm, I dunno, there's nothing mediocre at all about your work Stefan - these miniatures are excellent. I really like the detail you've pulled from their faces, and you've really done a wonderful job with the basework - I would have never guessed you could get that nice of a snow effect from sand. I learn something new every day (and I need to get some of those great looking winter tufts instead of continually puzzling through my handmade ones).

These eight freezing Frenchmen will give Stefan 40 points. Beautiful work!

From StefanK: 28mm Drunken Monk (5 points)

Stephan debuts with this great little vignette of a inebriated friar.

From Stephan:

This is a nice 28mm miniature by Shadowforge. It's a rather old one which I bought ages ago. Since then it had been hiding somewhere in my lead mountain but now I found it time to paint this little fellow.

Ha! That is a great little vignette Stephan. He would be great as a watchman whose job it is to look out for Viking raiders - a Lindisfarne stamp on the keg would be quite fitting...

This happy tonsured chap will give Stephen 5 points to put him on the board. Welcome aboard Stephan!