The Workbench

Thought I would quickly post up a shot of my latest WIP... namely, a unit of Hungarian Napoleonic infantry in 25mm. Since temporarily abandoning the Russians (progress on whom had just slowed to a crawl) I find myself a bit invigorated and enjoying painting more than I have in months! Fantastic stuff, and it doesn't hurt that both the Austrians and ACW Federals don't need a lot of paint to look nice... thank you, dip!

25mm ACW - Federal Infantry #1

Well, I have finished my first EVER 25mm American Civil War unit... so here it is!

So; the background story first. Like with all of my recent collections, this one was bought with a specific plan in mind. When Sash and Saber had their big sale in May (was it May?) of last year I went ahead and bought three new armies... a 25mm Napoleonic Austrian army, and matching 25mm ACW Federal and Confederate armies. This is the first unit of my ACW collection, which will have 10 units of 20 infantry, 3 artillery pieces, and 12 cavalry, with the appropriate officers and limbers and such.

These guys are a unit of 20 infantry mounted five per stand to match a buddy's ACW armies... that way they can deploy with his guys and not stand out.

I have always loved Sash and Saber figures. The incredible variety and details match up well with a nice standard pose to make a very neat and wargamesy unit of infantry. I painted these guys very simply over a black undercoat, just picking out the colors with a single fairly dramatic highlight. I then gave them all a dip in Army Painter Quick Shade of the Hard variety.

I did have some problems with the varnishing... I destroyed a bunch of figures with a foggy Games Workshop varnish (not my first...) and even the replacement bottle didn't spray... well, perfect. I don't know, it is mainly noticeable up close.


However, they have come out pretty nice. Very very simple to paint; I did them in two short evenings, and then a day for the mounting and grassing and all of that. Sand is standard, along with a few pieces of bark as rocks and some GW flock. Topped off with some Flag Dude flags, and these guys honestly have turned out very nicely.

Figures courtesy of Sash and Saber.

Flags waiting for owners...

Just thought I would post a quick photo of the flags I currently have waiting for owners...

All of my flags are from Rick O'Brian, the Flag Dude.

Going clockwise from the top right, I have two sets of 25mm Napoleonic Austrian flags, a single 25mm ACW Confederate Battle flag, a set of 25mm Napoleonic Russian flags, three 15mm ACW Federal flags, a 25mm Napoleonic Russian Cossack flag, and a set of 25mm ACW Federal flags.

They look pretty all together! Here is another shot of a friends order from Rick from a few months ago.

The Workbench

Well, here are a few WIP shots of my first ACW unit! The varnish STILL does not seem quite right, but at this point, not much I can do. They have a touch more work to do (cleaning up the grass, another varnish coat, attaching and painting the flag poles) but for the most part they look pretty sharp.

I wish the drummer was easier to see; he might be the best guy in the unit, and his drum looks great.

When they are done I'll do a real unit showcase on them. But for now, here they are, my first 25mm ACW figures EVER (which is pretty amazing, given those are the scale and era I have worked in the most!)

A nice move with the varnish...

One nice note; I went back to the place I buy my varnish, Highway Hobby House in Ramsey, NJ, and they very kindly replaced it. The new one seems to work fine. Thanks to the guys at Highway Hobby!

Some good shots of my AWI diorama...

My father in law took a few good pictures of the AWI diorama I made for him for Christmas and sent them along... thought I would post two here for now!

Finally, a 25mm ACW figure...

Well, I sort of got one done. He isn't really dry yet, but I am going to bed and wanted to post a photo, so here goes. Sorry he looks soaking wet; I'll get some better shots of him tomorrow. Anyway... after a very disappointing weekend, off to bed. Maybe it will get better this week.

The "Echoes of War" War Room begins...

Just thought I would share here... over at the Echoes of War blog, which has been a bit quiet of late, my buddy is starting to put together his own room of war, a room of war that may indeed eventually become the finest example of a room of war around. He has JUST begun putting the cabinets in, and none of the original weapons and uniforms, prints, and flags (not to mention the bar, fireplace, nice sitting chairs, and flat screen) are in yet... but he HAS put a little taste of some of his minis up... so please, if you like the one above, head over to Echoes of Glory to check it out!

And number THREE ruined...

Thought I would compress all these posts... I had some SERIOUS fogging issues with some varnish and ruined a whole bunch of minis... very upset!:(

A few "landscape" shots...

Hey all,

I have a lot of stuff coming this weekend, including some more of the 10mm Napoleonic battle, some more Lord of the Rings figures, and some 15mm ACW, but for now just a few cobbled-together landscape shots of the table... the top one from the long side, the bottom one from the end!