Bolshevik Internationalists.

Having got the new Mutton Chop WW1 packs out of my system I am pleased to say that the Paul Hicks theme continues here on the blog. The latest task is to take some of the Hicks sculpted Brigade Games WW1 Austro-Hungarian Infantry figures (twenty in all) and paint them up as Hungarian PoWs who took up arms for the Bolshevik cause in the Russian Civil War. Instructions are to paint them up in a whole mash-up of clothing from Austrian Pike Grey, Austrian Field Grey, Russian Grey and captured British khaki. These are great to paint up and the variety of colouring makes this a a highly interesting project. I've been gently playing about with this for a few days and I thought I would share the first three completed figures with you all.

 

Mutton Chop WW1. Imperial German Infantry 3.

The completed GER2 pack in M1910 uniform.

Mutton Chop WW1. Four more Tommies. Pack BEF2.

Mutton Chop WW1. Four Tommies. Pack BEF1.

Perry Miniatures AWI Plastic Continentals

Some weeks ago, a contact (who must remain unnamed) passed on to me three sprues of the lastest plastic releases from Perry Miniatures... the AWI Continental Infantry. The instructions were explicit and I understood that not following them would have dire consequences: "Don't you go postin' anyfink on yer blog 'till Salute comes up an these is officially released." The three sprues were clearly "proofs" as there were some holes in the thinner pieces on the command sprue, but there are enough there to keep me happy for a while.

So today being the 12 April, 2014, the day of "Salute 2014", I post the first. I plan to paint up some of these figures based the paintings by Don Troiani. There are some minor variations between painting and miniature (namely the shape of the cuffs.... all these plastic Continentals come with round cuffs) so please don't bombard the comments section with "Very nice... BUT..." types of comments. I just wanted to show that if you are able to cope with minor historical discrepancies, this set of plastic miniatures has a lot of potential.

Check out Don Troiani's photos on his Facebook page for inspiration. I did!

3rd New Jersey. The "New Jersey Blues", 1776.

Mutton Chop WW1. Another Tommy.

Squeezing in these Mutton Chops in between WW2 Italians. A pleasant diversion but progress will be slow. Thought I'd post up Tommy No2. Click on the photo to get a larger image.

Mutton Chop Miniatures WW1. Tommy Atkins Test Piece.

Having varnished a number of Italians yesterday and prepped the next half dozen, I was lured into painting up a Mutton Chop Tommy just to get the feel for them. A figure was pulled at random from the bag and I set to work.

More Perry Miniatures WW2 Western Desert Italians.

The first of two posts today. Thought that I would, after all, post some images of the progress of the WW2 Italian commission. I think I have done a better job on these so far than I did on the original set painted for Michael Perry back in the summer of 2013.

Mutton Chop Miniatures WW1. Imperial German Infantry 2.

Here are three figures from the GER2 pack painted up in the M1914 "Transitional" tunics issued in the early part of 1915. From what I understand these came in three varieties. Firstly, a tunic like the M1910 with piping on collar, cuffs and down the front of the tunic but with the decoration on the rear vents omitted. Secondly, a tunic with simpler cuffs with piping only on the collar and down the front of the tunic. Finally a tunic with simple cuffs with no piping. I've tried to create a figure to represent each type. I hope Mr Hicks will forgive me but I had to take a scalpel and some green stuff to alter the cuffs. I've also chosen the darker field grey for the tunic colour. Photographs from this date start to show that the cloth numbers on the helmet covers were being discarded.

A tiny detail is also included. These figures still wear their M1910 shoulder straps on their newly issued tunics. They are the same grey as the trousers.

This paint scheme has now been added to the Imperial German Infantry 1914-15 paining guide.

And now a return to the WW2 Italians who have been neglected since these figures came through the letter box. The Tommies will follow later.

Mutton Chop Minatures WW1. Imperial German Infantry 1.

Here is the completed GER1 pack. 

Mutton Chop Miniatures WW1 Imperial German Infantry. Test piece.

I'm glad I've got that out of my system. Here's the first of this rather splendid new range from Paul Hicks. The rest are on the table and will be done in due course, Fritz and Tommy alike. This figure also forms the basis of a new PAINTING GUIDE that is now available. A number of people had asked if I would be producing something for the German Army of the Great War and this is the first dealing with the early M1907/10 uniform.