Military Miniatures

I have made a start on some of the figures which will make up the command stand and also one of the officers behind one of the faces of the British Square.

These are 1/72 plastic figures and I find the techniques for painting and preparing plastic model figures very different from working with metal military figures.  The plastic figures had a lot of mould lines and pieces of flash which needed removing. Sandpaper left a rough surface and I found the best tool to use was a razor sharp blade.

Also the quality was not nearly as good I find with cast metal model figures. For example the drum on the British Drummer in the rear of the picture below was not round. Its sides were straight making it more of a sausage shape than a drum shape.

But it was enjoyable working in a different figure modelling media, and I look forwards to the other 40+ still to do

I have not posted for a while as I have been planning a couple of military miniature dioramas, both of which are outside my normal 54mm field.

The first diorama is in 1/35th scale and will be a small convoy of WWII Russian vehicles and figures. This is way outside my modelling experience and, having opened the kits, I can see it will end up as quite a large undertaking once completed. But more about that project later as I start to work on it.

My latest project is called “A Corner of Waterloo – 18th June 1815″ and is also in a new scale for me, and that is 1/72nd. I have chosen this scale as the planned diorama will have around 50 figures on it and 1/72nd keeps it small for basing and display purposes.  Plastic figures are lighter too, but I find them more difficult to work with and modify than metal figures. But each to his own choice. I would have loved to have done it in 54mm lead figures, but the cost, let alone the space and final weight of the diorama would have been too much.

The figures and horses for the Corner of Waterloo are coming out of the following kits:

• 1 kit by Italeri of “British and Prussian Allied General Staff”
• 2 kits by Hat of “Waterloo British Line Infantry”
• 2 kits by Italeri of “British Infantry 1815″

I have duplicated the kits as I intend to slightly modify a number of figures so that they are not all in the same basic three or four poses. The extra figures allow for slips of the modeling knife

So, after all that, what is the diorama actually about?   It is one corner of a British Square, with command and cavalry waiting behind the infantry.

Figures of what will become a commanding officer, a junior officer, and some cavalry have all been removed from their sprues, tidied up and are now awaiting undercoating. The plastic figures take some getting used to, and I look forwards to seeing how painting them will turn out.

The French Lancer has now been painted in the facing colours of a Lancer in the 1st Regiment, and he has been mounted on the metal base alongside his saddle. I will be making a wooden base for this soon.

The rear view of the French Lancer:

There is still quite a bit to do yet. Supplied with the kit is a wooden bucket. This needs holes drilling through what are meant to be wooden lugs to lift it up with. Then very fine twisted wire will be made into a handle, painted and secured in the drilled holes to make a ‘rope’ handle.
Also the Lancer’s saddle roll (rolled up greatcoat) needs to be painted and affixed to his saddle. Then he will be finished.

I have two projects in the pipeline and am not sure which of them I will do next. Both projects are in different scales. One will be of around 45 to 50 figures in total (1/32 scale). The other project is a WWII diorama (a complete change for me). But watch this space …

The wooden pole supporting the Lancer’s saddle has now been completed. The base colour of the wooden pole was Vallejo Burnt Umber diluted very thinly and applied in a number of thin coats. Then highlights were put on by dry brushing of light grey to emphasise the wood grain.

All my previous models tended to have greenish bases so I decided that this time I would make the base stonier and earthier in colour.
The Lancer’s base was given an initial grey wash made up of 50% black and 50% white. Then dry brushed coats of Burnt Umber followed by Vallejo Deep Green were applied in random areas.

To finish off, more light grey was dry brushed onto the base, but this time it was concentrated in rocky areas. As a finishing touch some static green grass was applied to the area where the pole uprights met the ground.

Now the Lancer’s saddle was glued in its final position on the pole, and the French Lancer was put on the base for the photograph.

The saddle cloth (sheepskin) has been given a number of dilute washes of white. I added a minute bit of yellow to some of the washes to give a little colour variation and to prevent the Lancer’s saddle from looking too flat. For me, Vallejo acrylics are the easiest paints to use and control). It is important to use very dilute paint otherwise the detail of the saddlecloth would be lost.
As I am painting the Lancer as a Lancer and not as a Trumpeter, the saddle cloth is white with red saw tooth trim.

The stirrups were then painted silver, the stirrup straps and the straps around the saddle were done in brown.
Finally a thin strip of lead was painted brown, glued to the right hand side of the saddle and then bent over the top of the saddle to represent the girth.

Now the saddle is resting on the pole. For reference, the undercoated French Lancer has been temporarily placed next to it.