A Song of Blades and Bronze... More Northern Europeans.

 Greetings...

Here we have the next batch of Northern Europeans...

I had intended these chaps to feel a bit more rank and file... Plainer cloths and less tattoos...

I have however failed in this... as I got carried away... I really enjoy painting the tattoos and the plaid and I am finding it difficult to hold back.

So for now I will say that the more rank and file troops will ‘mostly’ have bronze shields.

There are some slingers in the Bronze Age pile I may move them up the queue...

I would also like to add a Northern European chariot... and Mharaid would said she would really like another one pulled by giant geese (you will of course remember that there is a fantastical element to this collection)

A couple of years ago I bought Mharaid a lot of Britains (54mm) hollow cast farm animals... at the time every other eBay auction had Geese Geese Geese, which would be perfect.... not now though... the hoarders have got in there and emptied the shelves... utter swines!

I will persevere. 😆

So here are the toys...

All of the tunics started of with Citadel Administratum Grey and then the different plaids were added with a mixture of muted colours.

I am very pleased with the results and I will no doubt get carried away again with the next batch...

The miniatures are...
https://www.wargamesfoundry.com/collections/european-bronze-age-scandanavia-north-west-europe-1600-bc

The bases are...
https://warbases.co.uk/product-category/bases/round-cornered-bases/


The paints are Wargames Foundry and Citadel...
https://www.wargamesfoundry.com/collections/paint
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Painting-Modelling

All the best    Aly

Shiny Napoleonics... New toys

 Greetings...

I recently received a lovely box of new/old toys in the post...

These are from the seemingly inexhaustible collection of the late Eric Knowles... via David Crook (http://awargamingodyssey.blogspot.com/ )

They are a mixture of French Cavalry and British ,French and Brunswick infantry.

They are mostly S Range Minifigs but there are a few Lammings and some dashing Garrison Hussars... which I am finding hard to resist renovating immediately.

At least I won’t run short of things to do as Nottingham ‘braces’ Itself for a local Covid lockdown...

I should have something Bronze Aged and Shiny next....

All the best.  Aly

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