Anyway, quick update on what I'm up to. Currently finishing off Spitfire for some aerial cover for Bolt Action and just started painting a Lowland Scots Army based on the forces of Earl of Mar for The Battle of Harlaw 1411, for Lion Rampant for the Claymore Rampant event in April, run by the chaps at Claymore Castings. More photos naturally anon.
Anyway here is another selection of past painted materials.
I used to work as a Volunteer and Uniform assistant at the Royal Greenjackets Museum in Winchester, a goldmine with its Waterloo model for any military modeller and wargamer if there ever was one. Luckily they sold the old Suren Tradition of London 54mm figures, which are beautiful and are on my shopping list sometime in the future. Depicted on the Retreat to Corunna, it depicts the ragged nature of campaign uniform in Spain 1809. Again very pleased with the facial features, hope this is a project will return to imminently.
Part of the ongoing 1/72 scale Huge Napoleonic project, these are Italeri 1eme Dragoons, cracking sculpts. Although the image is not particularly good, am very pleased with the Eagle and Guidon, although naturally, these were not often carried on campaign.
Being Portsmouth born and bred, Nelson's naval campaign's were naturally going to pop up at some point. Forged in Battle's 1/3000 scale Napoleonic ships totally do the job. Hoping to expand to the British Navy sometime later this year, these depict the Franco-Spanish fleet of Villeneuve for Trafalgar. While the sculpts do not have the detail of say 1/1200 Langton's, they have a certain charm and the lack of having to rig anything is a bonus in my book. Probably going to be used for Osprey's recent "Fighting Sail Rules
Following on from this is my Army for Lion Rampant. Created for use in the Glasgow Phoenix Wargames Society club project last year, based upon the 1460 Towton campaign during the Wars of the Roses (untrue to form I lost more battles than won). Using a combination of Perry's 15th century Infantry (by far my favourite miniatures company, particular as some of the faces are quite familiar in the reenactment world) and Irregular Miniatures, my force was based around Warwick the Kingmaker's retinue. Called "The King Rat" by the likes of David Chandler, Richard Neville and his ilk Salisbury and Westmoreland basically acted as the powerbrokers in Machiavellian British 15th century politics, back sliding everyone and very much under their banner prelonging withdrawal from the Hundred Years War in France, while deposing, deposing and then reimposing the monarch in the form of Henry VI and Edward IV respectively at St Albans, Northampton, Towton and finally with his death and dismemberment at Barnet. Certainly for a further painting reference, If you are not using either Osprey's or Europa Militaria books as painting guides, a top class further painting guide is the Kingmaker Exhibition at Warwick Castle, depicting Warwick's household and Retinue preparing for the battle of Barnet, the costuming and dummies being respectively done by Ninya Perry (the Perries wife) and Gerry Embleton, of Osprey and reenactment fame. Well worth a look.
Armour, where possible has been painted using gloss varnish, a military modelling technique I think works quite well. Above is pictured a captain holding aloft the family banner for the de Neville's, rather than the more apparent Bear and Ragged Staff
Richard Neville, the Earl of Warwick himself. The Gothic English harness he is wearing has not been painted at all. Instead the armour has been burnished using a pin head in a pin vice, to allow the base metal to shine, then briefly around edges, mail and gauntlets been washed to highlight and then coated liberally in gloss varnish-a technique I think will continue to be used due to how impressive it looks.
You might have noticed that not all the soldiers in my army actually wear the colours or livery coat of the Neville/Warwick Household. Serving as a means of differentiating within the rules for Lion Rampant army lists (2 retinued units, 2 yeomen units) as well as within real life, these soldiers in blue coats actually represent the Windrush Frei Compagnie, as often depicted within the Medieval Siege Society. Returning from the wars in France and the continent during the 1450's as a Free Company of Routiers, without employment (and certainly around the time of Jack Cade) they started ravaging the Suffolk lands under Warwick, who was forced to pay them to stop their excesses. I think this quite clearly matches the clear mercenary attitude towards the makeup of medieval armies. I am currently considering matching them with a further army (two is always better than one, means someone has something to play) for a game based around the 1480 second battle of Bannockburn/Sauchieburn/Richard III's failed campaign in Scotland, again using converted Perry's (ability to be used for later Flodden), watch this space/
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