From RayR: Spanish style Fountain for Santo Domingo [Art] (35 points)

 

The country now known as Haiti was once called Hispaniola by the Spanish who discovered the island in 1492. The French had a colony on the eastern side of the island, they called it, Saint-Domingue, the Spanish called it Santo Domingo and the English Saint Domingo.

In Cap-Francis, the capital of Saint-Domingue, a fountain was built to honour the namesake of the colony St Dominic. It was built in the 1720 by the renowned French sculptor and painter Ramon Mentuer Pantalon de Feu. It took just over a year to construct, and as it neared completion, Ramon succumbed to a yellow fever that also took his wife and 6 French art students and labourers who accompanied him to Saint-Domingue from his studio in Mensonges,a suburb of Paris. The four un-named students who survived finished the work of the fountain.

The statue was damaged by a runaway donkey and cart in the late 1780, when St Dominic's pointing arm was broken off, I have chosen to keep the arm in place and not snap it off, for art's sake!!

The statue and fountain can still be found in Cap-Francis, or rather Port Royal as it is known today.

The fountain is from Tablescape in the UK. I bought it at the Cavalier wargames show in February.

I'd been eyeing it up for a couple of years and finally took the plunge. John the owner explained that the centre plinth was left open so any gamer could put any statue they wanted on top.

I chose a Monk, from Iron Gate Scenery, to use as a St Dominic substitute, I think it works rather well?

I did put some Woodland Scenery water effect, into the fountain, but it hasn't shown up in any of the photo's at all, I guess I should have added a little blue paint to the mix?

Here's a pic of the fountain when bought from Tablescape.

Art: Tap into your muse and show you artistic side, or perhaps do something about an artistic subject.

Well I'd say Ramon's fountain fits perfectly into the art bonus round??

As for the points, 5 for St Dominic and 20 for the bonus and whatever today Minion decides to give me for the fountain? it measures 4x4 inch with a height of just under 3 inches, not including the figure.

Ah, I would almost say that it is just like you to come up with a difficult minioning task at the last moment, master Ray. However, I guess you're lucky to find the Junior Assistant Librarian, who is in a fine mood on a beautiful spring day. Yes, the fountain fits nicely in the Art theme and shall we say half a cube or 10 points for it? I love the background to the story (especially the traffic accident) and I must say that you have chosen well for your Saint Dominic stature, even if it still has its arm. No doubt it is due to the influence of the venerable holy man that the water is so completely clear! Well, there you have it, 35 points for you. Well done!

Martijn

From RayR: Haitian Revolution - 25mm Saint-Domingue Cavalry (90 points)

 

It's back to Haiti or Saint-Domingue as the French called it.

Here we have a unit of 9 Haitian Cavalry.

I wanted to paint up a cavalry unit for the anti French side, but of course these can be used for both sides. 

The troops would have been raised by the French using the local population and used by the French as seen fit.

I'll be using these in my up and coming game, fighting for the Haitian Revolutionary side, like the infantry I painted previously, they might be dressed in a French uniform, but that doesn't mean they can't and won't fight the French!

I've been painting away like a madman trying to get some figures painted for my next entry, the clock is ticking down to the 21st a lot quicker than I'd like, I think I might struggle with my 1000pt target!

These 9 Trent Miniatures are from the French Cavalry pack, now sold by Skytrex. Three figures for a whooping £18!!! Yes £18. I believe, one figure per pack is cast in silver or gold????

I've had these figures for quite a while and bought them from Arcane Miniatures, when they were a lot more reasonably priced.

Anyway, moan over

Onto the points

9x mounted figures@10pts each = 90pts

TeemuL: You can of course spend your money on GW's metal squire command pack for their Bretonnia range, that's £32 for 3 foot miniatures. I guess they will be sold more than those French Cavalry packs, so they must be worth it... But back to your Haitian Revolution, it is good to have unit that can fight on both sides, just try to remember which side they are fighting during the game, unless, of course, you are looking for some nice plot twists. Those are painted by your usual great standard, well done, and I have my fingers crossed for you to reach your target!

From RayR: More Haitian Infantry 25mm (90 points)

 

No, they're not the same figures I posted last week, although most of the poses are the same!

Yes today I bring you more Haitian Infantry for the Haitian Revolution. Woo Hoo!

The first 8 figures are Grenadiers

Once again the troops are from Trent Miniatures.

The second lot of 10 figures are ordinary infantrymen.

They can fight either for the French or against them.

In my planned game at Broadside these will be fighting against the French, for a free Santo Domingue!

These 18 figures will add 90 points to my total.

TeemuL: Excellent continuation for your Haitian project, Ray! I do like the little variation in the colours on the hats and trousers, but still a uniform look. I wait to see all those minis at the same time.

From RayR: Haitian Revolution - Haitian Infantry 25mm (140 points)

 

More figures for my Haitian Revolution project.

These 28 figures are all from Trent Miniatures, now available from Skytrex in the UK.

I've split them into 3 units of 8 plus the 4 command figures. I haven't added the flag yet, as I have a cunning plan in mind.

All the infantry minis come with unattached heads, (Very French Revolution eh?)

So you can add 5 different heads to the same pose and make the figures look very random.

You can see the same pose and a different head in this pic on 3 of the poses.

I think my favourite is the bear headed chap, that's a very useful head. At one time you could buy the bear heads as a separate purchase, but not anymore I'm afraid.

My plan for the flags is this. 

As the troops can be used for either pro French or Anti French, I want to have the flags swapable, so I'm looking for a thin round sleeve to glue the flags to and then they can be removed as and when I need to.

The only problem is, I can't find what I need.......yet!

Love the pose of the leader on the right, his face is so expressive!

Anyway 28 figures x 5pts make me....

140 points!

TeemuL: I like your cunning plan, it is always handy to have both flags with you, when doing the fight - especially if you are not that interested in who wins, but you survive. Of course, it might back fire and you might lose your head...

Very neat brushwork, I assume your recovery is going well? At least the production quality and quantity are what is expected from you. The guys on the hex bases look especially nice.

From RayR: Haitian Revolution - Revolting Slaves with hand weapons (90 points)

 

I've been working from home this week, which has allowed me to also get a little painting done as well.

You may remember from past Challenges or on my blog, I've been building up all the sides for the Haitian Revolution??

Well for this years Challenge, my plan is to get some of the final figures I need all painted up.

In June at the Broadside Wargames Show, I plan to put on a Revolution game There's not a great deal of info on the actual bttales that were fought, but I think I've found one that could make a great game.

For this un-named battle I need a few more figures, surprise surprise!

Here we have another 18 revolting slaves carrying handweapons, ok some do have pistols, but its the swords and daggers that count.

Rear view!

Lastly I thought I'd split the 18 into two. On the right are Trent Miniatures Slaves with handweapons, while on the left are Foundry Pirates, some with head swaps some just painted with brown skin as I couldn't be ar$ed to cut more heads off.....I have been ill you know!

So to the points

18 x 25mm figures at 5pts each gives me a total of  90 points!

TeemuL: 90 points it is. You do undestand, that working from home means you need to work from home, not paint at home? :) Of course you save time when not driving to the work place and it is easier to paint a little bit during lunch and coffee breaks or even during Teams/Zoom/etc session.

These look fine, very nice colours, bright and tidy. Non-uniform scheme means the painting might be slower, but it might be more interesting, too, and you have been painting these unofficial troops a lot in the past, so you know what you are doing.

From RayR: Haitian Revolution - Farm Workers [Overdue & Returns] (70 points)

 

Well, what a few weeks that has been, being whisked off in an ambulance for a suspected heart attack, to be then told, good news its not a heart attack, but you've pneumonia and 3 blood clots on your lung!

After 10 days recovery in hospital I'm back home on the road to recovery, thank gawd!

These 10 figures were finished a few weeks ago, but I never got the chance to take any photos, so here they are now. They are I believe Eureka figures, although I can't seem to find them on their website??

These 10 figures will be added to my Haitian Revolution collection, but could be used for any period from the 1650's up to the ACW.

I'll be claiming some bonus points for the post, I'll be visiting the Overdue & Returns room. Definitely been avoiding these figures, but very willing to come back to the period!

Overdue and Returns: Those things that you've been working on, or have been avoiding, but are willing to come back to.

So to the points...

There are 10 figures @ 5pts each = 50pts

plus 20pts for the Bonus round

Making a total of 70pts

TeemuL: Good to have you back and glad you are recovered! Heart attack or pneumonia? Well, I guess the pneumonia is the preferred answer. And let me assure you, my Thor's Day emoji selection of "Sauna whisk" was chosen before I read you have been "whisked off in an ambulance."

Very nice civilians, always a pleasure to see them in Challenge. They could be innocent bystanders, something to protect or perhaps something to scare off and loot? And usable on different eras and theathers, like you said. Solid 70 points for you!

From RayR - Haitian Revolution - Jesuit Priests 30pts

Its back to the sunny climbs of Santo Domingo or Saint-Domingue as the French used to call it for this post. I did plan on painting more Haitian Revolution figures during the Challenge but ran out of time.

I've actually got around 60 figures all base-coated and ready to go from AHPC 11!!

When I first started my Haitian adventure, I emailed Stuart from Dust, Tears & Dice blog, for some advice, he'd been painting up Trent minis for Haiti, which is where I got the idea from.

He told me to get the above book, as its a great starter for the period.

How right he was.

 

Early in the book it mentions several Jesuit Priests, that were trying to convert islanders to the Catholic faith, who unfortunately came to a very sticky end. So I thought I'd paint some up, they could be used for the basis of a game.

The figures are from Redoubt Enterprises, I didn't really need two of each figure, but what the hell, when in Rome!!!

As you can see they weren't  very difficult to paint up, which was good for me!

These points will take me past my target of 1000pts!

6 x 25mm figuges @ 5 points each

30 points!

_________________________________

A nice nudge past your 1000 point target, AND we get a treat of seeing some more figures for your Haitian Revolution project. Excellent work, Ray.

- Curt

From RayR - Haitian Revolution - Royal Navy Landing Party 40pts

 

Its Haitian Revolution time!!

We had their leader Horatio Hornblower earlier on in the challenge.

so here we have his Royal Navy landing party.

The figures are from Britannia Miniatures that are available from Grubby Tanks.

These 8 will add 40 points to my total.

These fine naval gentlemen are all suitably attired (unlike your last entry...), ready to wrest control of Saint-Domingue from those French and their rebellious slaves. The Haitian revolution seems like quite an interesting period, with lots of betrayals, shifting loyalties and political backstabbing, giving you plenty of room for gaming small skirmishes and the occasional set-piece battle. 

Cracking work on these 8 additions to your collection.

From RayR - Historical Drama - Hornblower 25pts

 

Its back to the Challenge Studio map for this post, I'm off to Historical Drama, which is my last room for a Green Security Pass.

Historical Drama: The whole of history at your fingertips and painting brush-points. Which historical drama will you choose to paint in miniature?

Horatio Hornblower is a fictional officer in the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, the protagonist of a series of novels and stories by C. S Forester.

Forester's series about Hornblower tales began with the novel The Happy Return, published in 1937. Here Hornblower is a captain on a secret mission to Central America in 1808. Later stories fill out his earlier years, starting with his unpromising beginning as a seasick midshipman. As the Napoleonic Wars progress he steadily gains promotion as a result of his skill and daring, despite his initial poverty and lack of influential friends. After surviving many adventures in a wide variety of locales he rises to become Admiral of the Fleet.

I've never read any of Forester's books but loved the ITV series Hornblower from 1998-2003.

My Hornblower figure, will be used as the leader of a small British Navel force for my Haitian Revolution project. The figure is from Britannia Miniatures available from Andy at Grubby Tanks.

Horatio will earn me 5 points

Bonus 20 points

Total 25 points!

Great, a model that I don't have to squint to see. Hornblower looks very dashing and I'm sure he will make a fine addition to your project. Coincidentally, I just started listening to a podcast about the Haitian Revolution yesterday, it seems like a fascinating (if bloody) period.