New Tricks - Peninsula 28mm

In this blog post I provide an update on my Peninsula 1811, Sharp Practice (SP), project.

My first unit of Carabiniers ready for basing. 

In my last post on this project (here) I had built my first box of Perry’s 28mm plastic French and started painting. Since then I have made steady, if not stunning, progress. I have completed four small units, three French and one British. Based on this I have established a painting method that I’m happy with and that’s what I’m going to go through in this post.

I have been continuing with GW Wraithbone (‘beige’) primer followed by a GW Agrax Earthshade (‘dark brown’) wash. On this foundation I have been adding a base colour and a single highlight for some colours, and in some cases used GW Contrast or further washes.

Carabiniers almost finished, with heads and packs still on the sprues.

Here is a summary for the French:
(Base colour followed by highlight or other process as appropriate)

VMC - Vallejo Model Colour
AP - Army Painter
GW - Games Workshop (Citadel)

• Blue uniforms - VMC Dark Prussian Blue, VMC Prussian Blue
• Red facings and details - VMC Flat Red, VMC Orange Red
• Yellow facing and details - AP Desert Yellow, VMC Depp Yellow
• Green facings and details - VMC Yellow Olive, VMC Olive Green
• Muskets - VMC Flat Brown for wood parts, VMC Gun Metal, then another GW Agrax Earthshade wash, followed by VMC Saddle Brown highlight on wood. 
• Backpacks and canteens - VMC Saddle Brown, VMC Red Leather 
• Shoes, gaiters, bearskins, shakos, bayonet and sword sheaths - GW Contrast Black? Maybe a highlight of VMC Dark Grey but hardly needs it. 
• Sword hilts and other brass fittings - VMC Brass followed by GW Reiksland Fleshshade. (Shades, dulls and warms the brass bits)
• Belts and webbing - the prime and first wash does most of the work. A highlight of GW Wraithbone and second highlight of VMC Ivory gives me the dirty white appearance I am after. 
• Flesh - GW Contrast Guilliman Flesh, VMC Flat Flesh
• Hair - various browns, including the GW contrast browns which are are a nice and quick single coat. 

I have continued with painting up the heads and backpacks on the sprues, separately from the rest of the figures. Once painting is complete the heads and backpacks are carefully snipped of the sprues and the figures glued together. This require a few tiny touch ups but I have been surprised how quick and easy this has been.

New, finer, snips for getting painted pieces off the sprues.

I did buy some new, finer, snips for this post-painting snipping process so I could be as careful and accurate at this stage as possible. These Tamiya jobs are very nice and do the job.

Here are some of the finished figures.

After varnishing it’s on to basing. I asked the Twitter community on suggested basing for Sharp Practice.  Using UK one pence pieces, and sabot group bases seemed popular, so I’ve gone with this approach.  Once the figure is glued on to the penny, a filler, PVA and Humbrol Dark Earth mixture is thickly painted to the cover the base, and sharp sand sprinkled on to the mixture.  That’s left to dry overnight and a dry brush of VMC Beige added.  (Final touch will be flock and grass tufts but I haven’t decided on colours for the Peninsula yet. )

Carabiniers based up but missing tufts.

Voltiguers based up.

Overall I’m pleased with the final result. Still room for improvement, but these will get me going.

As well as the French I’ve also done a practice unit of British. These are from the 43rd Monmouthshire Light Infantry.  The 43rd were the opponents of the 2em Légère at Sabugal and so they will make up my two SP forces.  The 43rd are Perry 28mm metals.

43rd Monmouthshire Light Infantry - first unit for SP.

Next for this project will be trying to complete the two basic SP forces. I’ve also acquired some plastic Perry British Light Dragoons and some Perry metal Portuguese Cacadores.

Expansion of my forces!

Until next time!

Andy @ FOGH