Husares de Junin. Work Progresses.

I've finally got back on the horse as far as South America goes with a few more Peruvian Husares completed.

I've also tried a couple with a darker skin tone:

unfortunately they look like blacked up Europeans rather than Peruvian Indians, a South American "It Ain't Half Hot Mum". So back to the drawing board with that idea.

And Now For Something Compleatly Different....

It finally happened, I managed to completely blow a fuse painting fiddly braid & equipment straps. So for the sake of my sanity and eyesight I've temporarily shelved the South American project in order to have a change of pace. In fairness I did manage to stick at it for seven months which is fairly good for someone with a flypaper mind.
For the last few weeks I've been indulging in more RPG based gaming which has been a pleasant change but I've also managed to finish off a couple of other projects that have been lurking in the background, including this little English Civil War vignette using Warlord Games storming party:

It's loosely based on the lifting of the siege of Ercall House by Sir William Vaughan ( the diabolical Devil of Shrawardine) in 1645. An interesting fellow Sir William, he started his military career serving under Mansfeld in the 30 years war then in Ireland in the early 1640's before returning to England to fight for the King in the ECW from 1643 to 1646. It was during this period operating in the Welsh Marches that he earned his sobriquet.
He subsequently returned to Ireland where he died leading a cavalry charge at the Battle of Rathmines in 1649 aged 64. I'm sure he was a rum character but it would seem he was at least persistent.

New Barracks for the Liberators! Armies.

With the leap forward this week into British Summer Time my evenings have been spent outdoors rather than slaving over the workbench of doom. Besides which this recent burst of good weather may be the only summer we get this year, so best enjoy it while its here.
Consequently I've been outside the Shed of Despair knocking together some shelving for the South Americans & their Spanish opponents.

The unit has 'barracks' has been built out of planked sycamore* bought off a neighbour then planed and jointed by me. After a couple of weeks letting the timber acclimatize to the room I'll add a back board to hide the non period wall paper and a door to keep the dust out but it will do for now to keep things tidy.

* Sycamore because its a sterile wood so doesn't give off any natural acetates that affect paint  & glue, it used to be used for lining drawers because it didn't tarnish silver cutlery.

Liberators! Hussar de Junin.

Output has been a bit slow this week, but I've finally managed to finish the first of the Peruvian Hussars de Junin for my South American War of Independence project.

The man himself is a straight from the box Perry British Hussar painted in accordance with the details shown in the Osprey title covering this period. The plate shows the hussar in question holding a lance with the pennant depicted above, but its unclear whether this is intended to be a guidon or whether the Hussars de Junin were in fact lance armed. An albeit quick look through William Miller's biography has failed to clear up this point so for the time being I'm going with the flow and creating a lance armed unit  just to try something a little different. This may lead to some extra work in finding suitable arms to hold a 'couched' lance but it may be worth it in the end to give the figures some variety.
I think I've enjoyed painting this figure but he does seem to have taken quite a while; this may be down to the fact there's a bit more detail compared to the French Hussars that my previous cavalry have been based upon or it may be down to getting used to painting a new figure. I suppose only time will tell.

Liberators! Short Six Pounder WIP.

Spent a little time this afternoon assembling a Victrix plastic gun, well they say you should do something new every day.

The parts went together very well, though the limited amount of flash that required removal did go straight over some very delicate rivet heads which proved to be a bit of a pain. I did notice too that the crew are quite small, certainly in comparison to the French infantry produced by the same firm. Not that it will prove difficult in any way but just seemed a bit inconsistent.
More to follow soon.

Liberators! More New Stuff.

Pictured below are some recently finished miniatures, still fresh from the Workbench of Doom. Firstly I've completed and based the Peruvian Legion Light Company:

As I've mentioned previously there is a small amount of imagination involved in their appearance, but having re-read the relevant chapters of William Miller's biography earlier this week I feel a bit more confident given his description of various Napoleonic 'army surplus' being used by the Peruvian military.

Next up is a Royalist Commander for the Dragoons de Peru, apparently a man of taste and breeding having disdained to wear the gaudy pelisse and brass helmet in favour of a more suitable bicorne:

Finally the first Peruvian Hussar de Junin, Colonel William Miller. Here I feel on safer ground as Miller himself reports that the Peruvian Hussars wore uniforms very like those of their British contemporaries. To this end I have used the Perry Miniatures British Hussars plastic boxed set officer to represent him although he may not have sported the Errol Flynn moustache depicted.

Peruvian Legion Light Bobs.

Inspired somewhat by the imagery featured in the last post I got round to putting together a couple of light infantry of the Peruvian Legion. They're based on a description by William Miller, a British officer who served with the Peruvian Army during the Wars of Liberation who attributes them with a French style uniform and caps similar to the Rifles ( presumably he means the 95th Regiment), I have taken a slight leap of faith in assuming he mean't the shako and not the 'bobble hat' fatigue cap. Any way they have been constructed from Victrix French Infantry bodies & arms and Perry French Hussars heads- the ones with the cylindrical shako. They're probably not spot on but close enough I hope to make a decent impression.