7th Cavalry nosebands, a bit of detective work!

The Pony wars commission for Mark is coming along nicely and I have just opened the last box of 100 mounted Plains Indians as I finish off the February batch of 60. Mark has collected 240 mtd and 100 foot warriors plus the first troop of 20 7th Cavalry.  I have another troop of 20 cavalry painted plus 60 more Indians. There remains around 100 more mounted Indians, 80 US cavalry and 67 civilians/cowboys that I have here and the specially commissioned dismounted cavalry that are being sculpted and cast for the project.

I mentioned early on in the project that the Native American Indians rode their ponies with just a single rein running along one side of the neck as correctly featured on the Qualiticast horses, often braided rope. No nose or cheek pieces or headbands ( and of course no saddles or stirrups!).

As I was painting the second troop of US cavalry a couple of weeks back I became aware that the horses were cast minus nosebands  and that I had painted the first troops as such. Given the high level of detail on the castings I could not imagine this was an error but determined to do a bit more research on the subject. Mark has supplied numerous Osprey books on the subject and in all of the illustrations the cavalry horses are depicted with nosebands whilst in contemporary illustrations it's difficult to tell but some clearly do not. In reply to my previous 'Custer' post Rob posted a link to a painting of the man riding into battle in his blue cavalry shirt with piping and a red neck scarf as a suggestion for the dismounted figure. What struck me was the fact that the horse was depicted minus noseband! As the work looks well researched I'm taking this as further evidence that this is correct and as sculpted on the metals horses. I will need to do more research around this but if anybody out there knows about these things do please let me know.

George Armstrong Custer (x2) !

I'm just over half way through another batch of 60 mounted Plains Indians which will be finished by Friday. Over the weekend I spent some time painting these two lovely models of Custer for Mark and tried to capture the spirit of the man as best as I could. In the mounted version we is wearing a fringed buckskin jacket and dismounted he is wearing the US Cavalry shirt and has lost his hat in the heat of battle. I think the sculpt captures the desperate situation of the 'Last Stand' very well. Currently unvarnished as I'm just waiting for Mark's feedback ( black hat possibly?) but these are painted as a little thank you for the commission. 

George Armstrong Custer. 1839 - 1876. 20mm scale figures.

Since starting this commission I have been watching a lot of YouTube content on the subject as I paint. Two videos in particular have stuck in my mind and I would like to share them here.

The first is a superb presentation by the Little Big Horn Battlefield guide, I thought that the chap did a great job of bringing the history to life, everything a tour guide should be in my opinion.

The second is somewhat more controversial. The theory that Custer might have taken his own life in a final moment of desperation to avoid capture has long been around, but the official account has always been that he died from Indian gunshot wounds. I stumbled across this compelling film some time back which features evidence from the surgeon who rode with the 7th Cavalry and small arms historians who suggest  that the  bullet in the temple could only have come from a rare Colt revolver issued to just a few people including Custer. It is a fascinating background listen whilst painting.

 

Now what's he doing!

 It's just an experiment OK! I happened across a video of DBACW the other day and it kind of piqued my interest as a potential painting project on the side. I had a couple of ACW Warlord Epic sprues here and thought how would they look if just painted and based as individual regiments, 20 figures per base? Slightly deeper MDF bases (60mm x 35mm) so the strips could be based with enough space between them to get the texture brush in comfortably without getting it all over the figures AND leave a 5mm strip along the rear to be able to attach printed unit labels. So I knocked this up yesterday evening and I like it. 

Decided to keep everything slightly bright looking so those coats are Vallejo Flat Blue with a touch of Blue wash added when dry (I think you can see this on the kepis where I just touched a bit of wash into the centre). I did make a point of cutting all the hats down to kepis, a quick and easy task if doing just 2 strips at a time. I also broke with tradition and am going with matt varnish. To add to the look I will add 15mm scale printed flags which will be slightly tattered and holed in true Civil war style. The base I also kept bright and simple, Vallejo Earth texture highlighted buff and Javis fine turf as a change from static grass. All in all I'm rather pleased with the result and will doubtless have to paint some more, that's all I'm going to say at this stage :)

HMS Dudley!

 I think it was over a year ago that fellow blogger Mark Dudley (Ilkley Old School link at right) gifted me another Langton Models Napoleonic ship to add to the two I already had. It is an older model from the range, produced I think around 20 years ago and features the white metal sail set rather than the more recent etched brass sails although the metal sails are still available for the larger vessels. I told Mark that once built she would be named HMS Dudley as a thank you.

So here she is, built  and painted just waiting for rigging, the addition of etched brass ratlines (best done after the rigging) and ensigns. A lovely little model and I must say that I fond the metal sail sets far quicker and easier to work with. There is a slight noticeable difference of course in the thickness of the sails but I would be very happy to use these on any future models. You can see the difference in the third photo between the metal and brass sail sets.

I can see myself collecting more of these going forward. Unfortunately in the recent move the big 74 gun was de- masted and lost her topsails so I removed the masts, re drilled the holes and will replace them with another white metal sail set rather than the brass set and will also order another model, possibly one of the named ships and I'm thinking HMS Victory which is a huge model! Victory was of course laid down at Chatham Docks just a few miles from me here in 1759. The bulk of the docks is now a designer shopping outlet but much survives of the original buildings including the superb ropery, well worth a visit.

I'm definitely going to get these fully  rigged in accordance with  the Langton guide book, something that I have done before and enjoyed the challenge. It really makes all the difference as you can see from the little Frigate I built and rigged back in 2013!

Lost in the mists of time, but I still like the photos of her!

H Troop, US 7th cavalry!

Here is the first of the 7th US cavalry painted for Mark, specially commissioned 20mm sculpts by the very talented Andrew Stadden (Son of Charles), riding Qualiticast horses. There will be 6 Troops each of 20 figures when complete and this is H Troop who rode Blood Bay mounts. The brief was to try to keep them as close as possible to Peter Gilders superb Pony Wars collection so the lighter (faded) blue coats, the light blue/grey shirts and the off white  hats with yellow braiding. As you can see they are a nice mix of uniform jackets, shirts with braces and greatcoats with the cape showing yellow lining as it flaps back over the shoulder. All are armed with a carbine and revolver. Each troop comprises 2 Officers (Capt. and Lt), 2 SNCO's and a  Corporal who is the standard bearer plus 15 troopers including the trumpeter who rides a grey. I have added rank as applicable to the figures. Each figure has a name label on the underside showing troop identity and the name of historical soldier present at Little Big Horn which is a nice touch.

It's almost impossible to capture the true shades of blue with my phone camera under my painting lamps, they are far more subtle and less 'bright' in the flesh! B Troop are now well underway and I hope to have them all finished for a midweek pick up by Mark, so 40 x 7th cavalry, 240 x mounted Indians and 100 on foot as phase1, so we still have a long way to go compete this lovely commission for the Summer.

On the subject of painting lamps I'm going to invest in a serious upgrade this month ( see below) because it has become clear that I'm struggling somewhat with the smaller scales recently. Whilst I'm fine with 20mm figures like these the 2mm bases are a struggle now. I'm hoping the new lamp will really help with  this, we shall see. 

  

Graham Cummings.

I was shocked to read that Graham had passed away yesterday morning following a short illness. We had exchanged messages only on Wednesday and he seemed in good spirits although still obviously suffering from pain in his legs. He had so many hobby related plans for the future. My sincere condolences go to Grahams family.

I had been painting for Graham for a number of years and three years ago he became the new owner of my 40mm Peninsular War collection with plans to expand the Spanish. He was a much loved character in the world of wargaming and will be sadly missed.