Peruvian Legion Grenadiers.

Oh the opportunities that time off work presents: I was spending a little well earned downtime yesterday evening re-visiting Osprey Publishing's title on the Armies of Bolivar and San Martin and stumbled upon a plate with the titular unit featured. Now how I missed this before is anyones guess but in the caption is a description alluding to the fact their appearance was very similar to Napoleons Imperial Guard. So now thanks to the bearskin grenadier heads in the Victrix french plastic set I now have the nucleus of a Peruvian division to add to the Venezuelan Patriots already completed.
Here is the first stand below:

The time off has also allowed me to finish off enough units to stage a small game, scheduled for Wednesday next. Pictures and battle report to follow.
Well thats the last post before the madness of Christmas descends on HGA towers, I'm off to down a few glasses of good single malt and sleep the sleep of the righteous. Joyeuse Noel & Wassail to One and All.

Liberators! Slightly Generic Patriot General.

Based on the mounted Colonel from the Victrix Miniatures Austrian Infantry boxed set, I've used the covered bicorne head from the same company's french infantry box and applied a suitable paint job.

He may not be bang on the money, but for the few pence he cost near enough I hope. The slightly allegorical theme to the base is a bit of a departure from the norm, forced upon me by by being unable to separate the horses base from the rectangle of plastic card I used to hold him whilst painting. So in order to tie in the resulting plinth effect to the rest of the base I've added a few fallen stones and some fresh greenery. I may yet add a stand of arms and a captured standard to enhance the effect.
The only real downer to the whole thing is the horse; the body and head are fine, but that neck is way too long.

Cantabria Regiment. Fusilier Company Number One.

Finished the first stand of Fusileros for the Cantabria, three more to go.

I don't know who was responsible for selecting the uniform colours for the Spanish Army at this period but it would appear that they weren't short of imagination.

Quick & Dirty Update. Cantabria Regiment Try Out.

A rum pair for the Royalist Cantabria Regiment, they are faintly reminiscent of the Seven Years War era Prussian 'Triple Blues' . Well at least in my feeble mind.

Liberators! Update. Venezuelan Red Hussars & Burgos Cazadores.

Finished basing these fine fellows this evening. First up Venezuelan Red Hussars:

These chaps along with the Dragoons of Colombia will form the mounted arm of my Patriot Army. Compared to their European contemporaries they seem a paltry bunch, but numbers aren't everything.

Secondly the finished Burgos Regt' lights complete with enthusiastic Subaltern.

Currently on the work bench ( of Doom) are Royalist Cantabria Regiment soon to be resplendent in dark blue jackets with light blue facings, red turnbacks and purple collars.

Dragoons of Colombia.

Despite using up the better part of the day consuming a large lunch, several pints of stout and sleeping it all off afterwards I've managed to complete another base of Patriot Dragoons. Ever so slowly creeping toward having enough units completed for a small game over the festive season. Capitan Games do a downloadable skirmish ruleset for this period which I need to investigate in more detail, but it might be a practicable route to take.

Obviously carbines and scabbards still to add, but thats for tomorrow.

Burgos Regiment Cazadores.

Just a quick post today before heading off for a pub lunch. I was going to do some work on the vegetable garden this afternoon but its raining fit to float the Ark and a lengthy luncheon seems a better bet.
I wasn't going to bother doing any light companies for the Royalist army, theres a little mechanic in Fire & Fury Liberators that abstracts light infantry combat into the overall firing resolution. However I had loads of spare heads left over from the Perry Miniatures French Hussar sprues that were almost identical to light infantry shakos and nothing better to do on a Saturday night so voila!

Fernando VII Husares. Fin.

Hussar! Finished the first unit of Royalist Cavalry for the Liberators project. Actually there's still the sabretache and sabre scabbard mouldings still to add, but artificial lighting isn't the best for painting in royal monograms & wreaths on sabretache(s) at 28mm scale.

Credit where its due these Perry figures really are excellent and I'm tempted to go a bit mad and buy a few more, but staying within broadly historical bounds there just weren't that many regular cavalry available to either side involved in this theatre of war.
I do wonder what the locally available horseflesh was like in South America. I imagine that the temperate grasslands of Argentina would be suitable conditions for breeding good quality horses but the extremes of environment prevalent in other parts of the South American would be less conducive to their long term well being. Certainly the mountainous terrain in which the armies operated in the Peruvian & Chilean campaigns would have limited the usefulness of the mounted arm which may also have had a bearing on the low numbers employed.

Burgos Regiment Completed.

Chalk up another battalion for the Royalist cause.

The rest of the Sabbath will, I think consist of completing Fernando VII Hussars. Painting fiddly braid as a change from painting fiddly straps and people ask me why I squint all the time.

Tabletop World Graveyard. A dangerous distraction.

After a wait of two weeks a package of resin goodies arrived from the depths of Croatia.

Overall this piece of Ruritanian real estate measures 12 1/2 x 11 inches and consists of the single piece base, a mausoleum, a three part dead tree, 30 odd gravestones, crows, mushrooms, gravediggers tools and gates and railings for the walls. All virtually flash free and zero mould lines, even on the very fine ironwork castings. There isn't a single air bubble anywhere on the castings and even the cast on hooks for the gates to hang from are perfect.
It wasn't cheap at around £100 but the sheer amount of detail on the piece is unbelievable, much better than my paltry photographic skills can capture and if painting it is anywhere near as enjoyable as The Guard Tower ( see much earlier posts) worth every penny.
The only danger is it could distract me away from painting South American stuff, but with the holiday season fast approaching it could prove a welcome diversion from all that festive cheer.

Burgos Regiment Command base.

Have finally finished the command base for Regimiento Burgos after what seems an interminable length of time; preparation for and enjoying of 'The Otherhalf's' birthday having got in the way somewhat, not to mention recovering afterwards.

So far I'm happy with the look of El Burgos, the uniforms are quite striking if somewhat fiddly to paint and the red-coated drummer makes a nice contrast to his brethren.
The flag comes courtesy of a file posted on the Liberators 1810-1830 forum by Capitan Games featuring a nice selection of both Royalist & Patriot standards and guidons for which I owe them a debt of gratitude, the quality of detail really is quite remarkable. I did texture up the white field and red ragged cross with some acrylic to give the whole thing a bit of life but so much easier than starting from scratch.
Once the last two fusilier companies have been finished this weekend then its back to finishing off the cavalry contingents and then its Venezuelan Rifles for which I will be using Perry miniatures 95th Rifles with green stuffed ragged trousers.
Hopefully it won't be too long before Perry release their Prussian Reservist plastic figures as I was intending to use these as a basis for the Patriot Cazadores Britannicos, but in the meantime there is enough to be going on with.

Liberators! Burgos Regiment.

The latest recruits to the Royalist cause, a fusilier company from The Burgos Regiment.

More to follow soon, I hope.

Husares de Ferdinando VII.

A quick update on my Libertadores project, Ferdinand VII Hussars.

For a reason I cannot fathom they remind me of Norwich City or The Green Bay Packers.

Casting about for something to do. More Dungeon Scenery.

Woke up this morning in the grip of a stinking chest cold and as a consequence have absolutely zero motivation to do anything remotely productive in the painting or modelling department - which is a shame because Sunday is the only day of the week that I get proper opportunity to indulge in some prolonged painting time. So just to keep the end up I have photographed the results of my silicon mould making from earlier this week.

Above, the two sections of posh dungeon walling designed to be fixed to foamcore or similar backing to get some impression of thickness. They could equally be used for classical interiors I suppose.

Above, a curved section of sewer, latest addition to "Uncle Soilpipes Sewers of Despair", the less than groundbreaking range of fantasy drainage real estate that has spectacularly failed to set the world of RPG scenery on fire.
On reflection a less revolting product name may have helped.
A quick update, here are some painted sewers of despair.

These were all painted with acrylics and the water added using two part florists resin. Its a pain to use because it takes approx 24 hours to dry and will find even the tiniest of gaps to flow through, thus requiring a jig with silicon rubber gaskets to keep it in its rightful place and the piece perfectly horizontal to prevent any overspill. On the plus side it degasses really well so no telltale airbubbles and no meniscus round the edges that you get with some of the single part water effects available.

To finish here are a couple of gelatinous cubes cast from the left over resin in a simple mould.

South American Update, not to mention some other stuff.

Its been a while since the last post was posted,  mainly due to having an awful lot to do at work which has precluded much wargaming output of note. Heres where I'm up to of now.

Talavera Regt finished, obviously some basing still to finish:

A test figure for Burgos Regt:

Ferdinand VII Hussars:

Dragoons of Colombia & a Venezuelan Red Hussar:

Finally Venezuelan infantry to date:

Obviously quite a long way to go with this lot before anything hits the table in earnest, but I'm having a lot of fun doing the research and painting and at the end of the day thats what its all about.
On a different subject I've finally cast up the moulds for some dungeon scenery thats been a long term project for a couple of years now, below is a curved section of sewer

 and here some classical style wall sections for your better class of tomb:

These masters have been laid down in some two part silicon rubber today so should be ready for a test cast tomorrow evening when I finish work ( and have dinner and do paperwork and phone customers and ad infinitum, so maybe not tomorrow).
I did have somewhat nebulous plans for putting these up for general consumption to cover costs but a couple of abortive attempts on Ebay bought home to me the lack of demand in this sector of the market so back to the drawing board in the attempt to make my first million. If anyones interested I can do straight, T junction and curved sewers, entrance stairway and a circular room with central pool. Cost wise a couple of quid apiece plus postage. There are pictures elsewhere on the blog but I can soon repost them if anyone wants to take a look.
Enough of this blatant commercialism heres another picture:

Figures from Warlord Games Petard set assaulting a breach, inspired by Sir Wm. Vaughans capture of Parliamentarian siegeworks at High Ercall House in 1645.
Fin.

More Talavera Regiment.

A couple of work in progress shots of the Royalist Talavera Regt for my South American project.

Having a hugely enjoyable time doing these, Victrix plastics are great.

More Fresh Meat.

Two Spaniards from the Talavera Regiment fresh of the boat.

These chaps are straight out of the Victrix French infantry box with a paint job conversion. Easy.

Its been a long time coming.. 1st Battalion of Venezuelans complete.

Title says it all really. These chaps are constructed from a mixture of parts from the Victrix Austrian & French 28mm plastic boxed sets.

A close up of the command base:

And the Grenadier Company:

Have already assembled the figures for a second battalion of the same but in the meantime to cure the blue blindness currently being experienced I'm going to assemble a Spanish Royalist unit, the Talavera Regiment in green jackets.
I also need to look at some pictures of South American terrain to get a feel of how verdant or otherwise to do the bases.