A Song of Drums and Shakos... Men in Black

 Greetings...

Of course by Men in Black... I mean Brunswickers... though I suspect you already guessed that.

These guys have been edging their way up the painting queue for a while...

I have been very keen to paint them and as Mharaid and I are planning a game soon I thought I would get them done.

They are the Leib Battalion figures from Front Rank Miniatures...

Painting Black on Black is an interesting problem and something I have wanted to try out for a while.

I have used Contrast Black Templar over a Mid Grey undercoat... Two slightly diluted coats.

I have found that using two thinned coats gives more even finish...

The leather gear and buttons were painted with flat black and gloss varnished to give a textural contrast.

In a moment of madness I decided to paint the White Horses on the backpacks... about half way through I was starting to wish I hadn’t... but now that they are done I am very pleased...

They have turned out well and are anything but dull...

Mharaid (Aka Von Rust ) is looking forward to using these troops... The uniforms match her/his cold black heart...

The Uniforms are... Citadel Contrast... Black Templar... Two diluted coats.

The Muskets are... Citadel... Mournfang Brown.

The Knapsacks are... Wargames Foundry...  Charcoal Black Light 34C.

The Canteens are... Citadel... Thunderhawk Blue.

The Valises are... Citadel... Administratum Grey.

The Facings are... Wargames Foundry... Sky Blue 21B.

Aly’s Brown Liquid was washed over the flesh, metals, canteens  and muskets.

The miniatures are Front Rank Miniatures...

https://www.frontrank.com/product-category/napoleonic/napoleonic-brunswick/brunswick-infantry-reinforcement-packs/

Paints from Games Workshop 
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Painting-Modelling

And Wargames Foundry 
https://www.wargamesfoundry.com/collections/paint

The bases are Warbases.
https://warbases.co.uk/

All the best.   Aly

Yet Another New Book...

 Greetings...

This lovely new book arrived in the post yesterday...

Painting 28mm Wargame Figures 4... The Western Front 1914-1918.

By Mark Hargreaves...

This is a splendid book... Mark is up to his usual high standard... we have all of Marks techniques on show...

It is well laid out and filled with helpful and useful information... German bayonet knot colours anyone...?

I always enjoy reading and seeing how others paint toy soldiers... so this was always going to be a must for me...

Mark asked if he could use some of my photos for background shots... I was of course delighted to say yes... I was even more delighted to see that one of my photos is on the front cover...wow!

If you are at all interested in painting khaki and Field Grey... rush out and get this.. You (and Mark)will be all the richer for you doing so...

https://www.caliverbooks.com/bookview.php?ec9sjqomqvme5di28n58rfhmj5&id=28382&subcatcode=C&subcatno=56

All the best   Aly

 

Another New Book

 Greetings...

Here we have another book in The Uniforms of the French Armies 1690-1894 from Soldiershop Publishing...

https://soldiershop.com/shop/the-uniforms-of-french-armies-1690-1894-vol-5/

Strange as it may seem I have gone for volume five as opposed to two...

This is because I have an interest in the French National Guards and Allied Armies... so this one ticks all the boxes...

It includes the rather colourful armies of Naples...

The plate featured on the cover has an image of the un-issued yellow Hussars of the Guard uniform...

Un-issued!!!.... Well that’s not going to stop me... As soon as I find some sustainable figures I’m in there...

A splendid volume full of pretty uniforms... what more could one ask for.

All the best.   Aly

P.S. I posted this using the ‘new’ Blogger interface... It’s a bit like when you go into a trendy hipster restaurant... You know you are reading a menu in English... But you are still not sure what you are going to be eating....

Still it appears to have worked..

Shiny Napoleonics... More Prussians

Greetings...

Here we have the next unit for this project...

2nd Battalion 1st West Prussian Infantry Regiment...

Everything is painted in exactly the same way as the 1st Battalion...

http://alystoysoldiers.blogspot.com/2020/07/shiny-napoleonics-prussian-infantry.html

The paints are Citadel and Vallejo Model Color
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Painting-Modelling
https://acrylicosvallejo.com/en/categoria/hobby/model-color-en/

The Flag is GMB Designs...
https://gmbdesigns.com/product-category/28mm-range/28mm-range-napoleonic-wars/


And the bases are Warbases... https://warbases.co.uk/

I decided to do the 2nd Battalion mostly because I liked the Standard....

I shall probably continue in this theme and add the Fusilier Battalion as well...

All the best.   Aly

An Old Book...

Greetings...

Yes... An Old Book.

The Great War in England  in 1897 by William Le Queux.
First published in 1894.

After talking to my friend David about this book I decided to read it again...

In my opinion this is one of the classics as far as Invasion Fiction is concerned...
Along with...
The Battle of Dorking. Reminiscences of a Volunteer... by George Tomkins Chesney. 1871
The Invasion of 1910... by William Le Queux. 1906
And of course The War of the Worlds... by H G Wells. 1898

The end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th saw a rise in the publication and popularity of invasion fiction... not dissimilar from the Red Scare of the 1950s-1960s...

The Great War in England relates a tale of an invasion from France and Russian and a heroic defence by the British nation.
If you can forgive the dated and somewhat jingoistic writing style it makes for a rip roaring and enjoyable read...

This book influenced me a lot when I was making my Shiny Toy Soldier Little Britons.

I think all of the books in my short list are still available in some form or another from Amazon, eBay or your local bookshop...

All the best.   Aly