Friday 21 October 2022

Heavy Horses

This post looks at the latest unit on my painting table, a unit of Cuirassiers for my Swedish army of the 1620s. 

28mm Avanpost Cuirassiers.

This is the second unit that I’ve created using Avanpost’s 28mm resin figures (see the previous one here: https://theviaregia.blogspot.com/2021/06/ake-totts-cuirassiers.html).  I’m not very confident about the longevity of these rather fragile figures but they are lovely to paint! 

After seeing someone else’s unit with different finishes of 17th century cuirassier armour (hello to Paul Mackay on Facebook!) I decided that I would have a go at a mixture of armour finishes.  I have also always liked the Angus McBride illustration in the Osprey Elites title on English Civil War Cavalry that shows Haselrigge’s lobsters with three types of armour finishes. Untreated metallic armour would have rusted very quickly and so metal armour typically had some form of protective patina added. 

Base coat of mixed gunmetal, black contrast and blue metallic.

Dry brush of steel and dark wash applied.

Blackened armour was probably the most common (and cheapest) finish and this could be achieved by coating the heated armour with linseed oil and soot. To achieve something like this on my miniatures I used a base coat of equal parts of GW Leadbelcher, VMC Blue Gunmetal and GW Contrast Black Templar. Over this a dry brush of GW Ironhands Steel, and then a final wash of thinned GW Nuln Oil.  By adding more of the Blue Gunmetal in the base then a bluer finish can be achieved which was a considered a more desirable, and expensive, finish in the 17th century. 

Base of gunmetal, washed with red-brown contrast.

Dry brush of steel added. 

Russeting was another patina finish which gave a reddy-brown finish, and was most popular in the 16th century.  One 17th century recipe I’ve seen for this suggested oil and vinegar. To represent this I used a base of Leadbelcher with a ‘wash’ of GW Contrast Fyreslayer Flesh. Finally a light dry brush of Ironhands Steel. 

Gumetal base, dry brush with steel, and highlight with silver. Final dark wash. 

It is also possible that some individuals may have kept their armour ‘white’ (plain metal, uncoloured) if they had the available man power to constantly polish and clean it. For this I used a base coat of Leadbelcher, a dry brush of Ironhands Steel, and a wash of Nuln Oil.  For a really fancy finish (for the Cornet) I painted on some VMA Silver as a highlight.

I like the final look of the cuirassier unit in their fancy armour, and it was fun to play armour with the armour recipes. 

The cornet (flag) is from Mikhail Betskii Creation.

The trumpeter rides a Piebald horse, a popular choice in the Swedish cavalry.

As with most of my recent units I added a casualty tracker base for the unit.  This uses one of the lovely Bloody Miniatures ‘Dismounted Cuirassiers’ next to a Avanpost wounded horse.  The base is from Charlie Foxtrot. 



Next time, back to the infantry. 


Until next time,

Andy @ The Friends of General Haig (FoGH). 


Tuesday 4 October 2022

“And it was all yellow”

 This post looks at the latest unit for my 1620s/30s Swedish ‘Yellow’ Regiment. 

28mm figures from The Assault Group (TAG).

The latest unit is another ‘sleeve’ of shot for the expanding Swedish Squadron. All 28mm figures from The Assault Group (TAG). I made one head swap, on the sergeant. The original figure was wearing a Montero, but I preferred to have him in a helmet and so made a swap with a spare TAG figure. 

Rear view showing their swords etc.
Rear view, with the sergeant and drummer on the right hand side.
Casualty from Warlord Games and counter base from Warbases.

I’m definitely getting the hang of these now, and quite enjoying the uniformity. 

The Yellow Regiment, so far. (The command group are from Warlord Games.)

Here are the three completed units together;  the pike unit with two sleeves of shot, and also a command base I completed for the Yellow Regiment sometime ago (all Warlord figures, see here for more details https://theviaregia.blogspot.com/2019/05/generalmajor-count-nils-brahe.html).

They obviously know where they are going, and they’re off! (Flags from Flags of War.)

Next on the painting table, a respite from the yellow, and some ‘heavy metal’ horse for the Swedes. 

Close up on the Warlord Games command group.

Until next time!

Andy @ The Friends of General Haig.