LUMLEY'S HORSE

I was delighted to get my copy of Dragon Rampant on getting home from t'mill today, pictures here .

Last night, having completed the evenings decorating duties (we are giving the oldest lad his own room, and I'm mournfully re-painting it) I cracked open my new tin of yacht varnish and glossed up these fellows for the Funny Little Wigs project...possibly Lumley's horse

Very nice Del Prado figures, picked up here and there. The most expensive was £3.80. Some of the paintwork was badly chipped, but this didn't matter as I was re-painting.

If I was playing real Little Wars, and firing missiles at them (which I might do with Playmobil cannons) these chaps would be invincible. They are really heavy and must contain a fair amount of lead.

I need to get on with some Bavarians and/or French soon.

PRINCE EUGENE OF SAVOY

Rather a hero of mine, I painted this figure of Eugene ages ago, but have just got around to posting him.  An all round splendid soldier, incredibly brave, and an implacable foe of Lewis the Grand who refused him military service insisting he join the church. Eugene left the French court (after his mother was implicated in a murder and witchcraft scandal ) and went to serve the Habsburg's becoming their finest general. A testament to what a good egg he was, he willingly served under the untried Marlborough, despite already being a general of renown. I could burble on about him some more, but it's worth reading Derek Mckay's biography of the Prince if you want to find out more about this extraordinary chap.

A Peipp 45mm figure, mounted on a Del Prado ACW horse, with Del Prado pistol holsters from their Turenne figure. I tried to give the Prince the sallow skin he was recorded as having, but he came out looking a bit ill!

BAVARIAN RE-INFORCEMENTS FROM RUSSIA

In the interests of better Russo/British relationships, I ordered a pile of these rather nice figures from Tehnolog via ebay and they came recently in record time and ridiculously low postage. Tehnolog are a Russian toy company making a range of soldiers in different scales and model kits etc. and some of them are very nice.

The chaps I was interested in were billed as Soldiers of Peter the Great and will be perfect for my Funny Little Wigs project in which I will use them as Bavarians. The figures have a slightly cartoonish look with jutting jaws, stocky bodies and big feet, but there re so few early 18c figures available in 54mm all are welcome. Tehnolog have started casting their soldiers in softer plastic and supplying them in bags which makes them a bit cheaper than the old method of hard plastic and boxes.

Let's have a look at the 5 poses ( you get one of each in the set).

The pile of jumbled bodies after unpacking (9 bags worth here)

The 2 most useful poses for the firing line

A sergeant and officer, also suitable for conversion to ensign

The obligatory odd pose in all plastic sets. I'll probably convert this fellow into a grenadier.

The bag header, for those of you that understand Cyrillic script (I certainly don't)

Tehnolog make a number of useful sets....Vikings, Gladiators and some very nice fantasy figures. I've purchased a multi Fantasy set for the youngest laddie which contains Barbarians , Elves and some Orcish types wearing WW2 German Stahlhelms.

SOUND THE TRUMPET, SOUND THE CHARGE .... (from Strawhead's album 'Sedgemoor')

I managed to pick this chap up on ebay. He is a bit smaller than other 54mm cavalry figures so I needed to make the base a bit thicker.

Now the Duke can pass orders on clearly. I must get one of his famous running footmen.

4TH DRAGOONS FOR ARMY RED

Although I have pledged to crack on with 54mm ECW figures, I couldn't help dabbling with my Funny Little Wigs project. I have just blown a good deal of next years budget on an order to Rose Miniatures for some Marlburians (bigod, 54mm metal figures don't come cheap).

I have managed to get some cavalry done and varnished, but I will have to find a new supply of yacht varnish as my current batch is drying very yellow (noticeable on pale colours, I had to repaint the white bits on these figures)

Irregular Miniatures riders on A Call to Arms ECW horses with milliput pistol covers.

I'm think I'm right in saying the 4th Dragoons (also known as Essex's) were Christian Davies regiment, that indomitable female warrior, shown here with blue facings, but I'm sure they had green...oh well who cares (not me for sure).

I'll try and post tomorrow with a summary of the years painting.Toodlepip.

THE FIGHTING PELICANS

Here we have the first part of Army Red for my Funny Little Wigs project, Colonel Horace Bampfield's Regiment AKA 'The Fighting Pelicans'

The regiment in array

Uncle Toby puts the sentinels through their paces

Bayonet practice

The Grenadiers bearing Bampfield's Pelican on their mitre

The colours (pre 1707)

Dr. Hare, the Duke's chaplain blesses the colours whilst the regiment sing a toast to the duke

" Marlborough the great commander

he'll conduct us, into the field

as brave as Alexander, he'll die before he'll yield

Sound the trumpet sound boys

let no man steal your ground boys,

ne'er let us flinch, nor give back an inch

so let his health go round boys.

This is the year of wonders

the gendarmes gor'd with bullet and sword

quake when the General thunders

Almanza was the word

Sound the trumpet sound boys

this to his health be crowned boys

Circle his brows with fresh oaken boughs

and thus let the glass go round boys."

All the line infantry and Dr. Hare are from the Replicants Culloden series, as there are very few early 18c figures available, but I've painted over any non Spanish Succession detail to make them look like Marlborough's troops. The grenadiers are my favourites. Replicants figures are ok, but come with serious flash, and the plastic is very brittle and breaks easily. I had to repair or replace quite a few muskets and bayonets on this lot. Uncle Toby and the ensigns are ebay finds.

I have some cavalry awaiting varnishing and then need to look into getting some artillery (non firing...I have some Playmobil cannons for serious FLW fun). If any readers can suggest sources of suitable figures for this project I would be grateful. I need more line infantry for the Bavarians and French, and suitable artilley crew and pieces.

Off to Reveille in Bristol tomorrow, so I may pick up something useful there. It's a great little show.

HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH

Following on with a more cheerful post, here is a 54mm figure I painted a while back as the start of a 54mm Funny Little Wars project, but based in The War of the Spanish Succession (I'm calling it Funny Little Wigs). I plan to paint a small force each for the allies and the Franco-Bavarians and am making good progress with the former.

A rather nice figure from Tradition, but Rose Miniatures do an even better version of the Duke which I hope to get hold of (for Christmas). 

THIN RED LINES

The usual apologies for not posting for a good while, I've just been bone idle combined with a large black dog hanging about in my head . Every so often (usually in the Autumn) I feel like chucking all my figures out of the window and starting a single project from scratch, one that doesn't need rare and hard to source figures and provides a game with nice neat lines of soldiers in uniforms found in handy reference books and not too much imagination.( I suppose it's a comfort thing, like putting on a favourite jumper or cravat after a long and tediously hot summer).
 This generally means any conflict between 1700 and 1900. Seven Years War and Napoleonic don't really float my boat (although I do like Napoloeonic Bavarians and Brunswickers), but I have always had a real interest in The War of the Spanish Succession. The uniforms are attractive, but not too complicated and of course the wigs are a bonus. There is a good supply of uniform and reference books (including plenty of eyewitness accounts) but not an overwhelming amount. Likewise the figures are readily available, but not too much choice. I find the 28mm figures out there a bit bobbleheaded, so that leaves a choice of 20mm, 40mm or 54mm. The latter ticks the toysoldier box and inspiration can be found at the wonderful (but sadly quiet) blog Vauban and Shandy . 20mm are cheap, the rank and file coming from Zvezda's Infantry of Peter the Great . Zvezda likewise do artillery and some cavalry which could be supplemented with Irregular and Les Higgins figures , they also paint up nicely with a nostalgic "Airfix" feel. I have never painted 40mm figures before but I have a Marlburian officer I picked up on ebay and it's a nice scale. Figures from Irregular , supplemented with Price August semi-rounds, the cavalry would have to have the coat tails converted.

Just to get in the mood, and wielding a paintbrush again, I tried painting a few plastic Zvezda infantry as British foot. I was quite pleased with the result, 10 figures in an evening using white undercoat, and then yacht varnished.

THADDEUS PERUQUE, WIGGER TO THE COURTS OF EUROPE

Following a post from The Duke of Tradgardland which showed a picture of the latest fashions at court, I thought I would post this little vignette I made a few years ago for my 15mm Marlburian armies who were fighting the War of the Electors Wig, Thaddeus Peruque, the greatest wigmaker in Europe is being pursued by all the Margraves, Kings, Electors and other various gentry to be seized and held to make them the most towering and impressive head pieces that can be imagined. The whole plot was inspired by the costumes in The Draughtsman's Contract, a wonderful if rather strange film.

M. Peruque welcomes 2 prospective clients to his battlefield emporium

The Travelling showroom

Thaddeus inspects his wares

A satisfied customer, helped by Peruque's loyal assistant MaCrackin. Note the TP monogram on the flag,The sign of Excellence in Wigmaking.

A page from the latest catalogue.

I have a feeling we may be meeting Thaddeus again in a different scale. I am being sorely tempted to buy some 28mm 18c figures. Mainly civilians at first, and making some landscape gardens to put them in. Oh no, another project to start.