Great War Miniatures 1914 French Cuirassiers.

Back in late June, quietly and without fuss, three packs of 1914 French Cuirassier figures appeared on the GWM pages of the North Star website. I ordered one of each and they arrived last weekend.. There are no images of the figures on the North Star site so here is a picture of the first to be painted up. The troopers are are very similar having swords drawn and held as seen in this example, the only variation being the direction in which the head is looking. The Officer figure in the command set has his sword held down at his side and the trumpeter is pointing to his right (very similar to a Perry Miniatures Napoleonic Cuirassier Trumpeter). In all there are six horse variations (the usual six found in GWM packs) and once cleaned up from mouldworms I find them a very characterful little group. The colour scheme for this example is taken directly from Andre Jouineau's "Officers and Soldiers of the French Army 1914". Here it is from Amazon.

Ottoman Dervish Infantry

Back in early 2010 I was asked to take some Empress Miniatures SCW Morrocan Regulars and do some very minor conversion work to create something that would pass for Dervish infantry in Ottoman service. Well, three and a bit years on a repeat performance for the same client who wanted another unit of similar.

Artizan Designs "Thrilling Tales" Miniatures

Rather fun and characterful figures to paint are these miniatures. These are no doubt destined for great adventures on the tabletop in far away places with their owner. From left to right: Bowler, Commandant Dreyfus, Corporal Clotski, Legionnaire Dumas, Ali, Claude and Sergeant Nocker.

More WW1 Aeroplanes

Can't bear to watch the tennis? Watch these instead....

The Pfalz DIII

Halberstadt DIV

Sopwith F7.1 Snipe

Sopwith Camel (I just love the engine sounds on this)

Sopwith Pup

SE5A

Nieuport Ni 11 "Bebe"

Etrich Taube 1913

Vickers Vimy

And finally.... a doco from 1980s about Tommy Sopwith!

Game, set and match!

Dixon Miniatures WW1 British Cyclist

A bit of a rushed job to see what one of these chaps would look like with some colour on him. Four figures come in the pack. Two in soft trench caps, two in helmets.They are on the small side so would mix with Foundry and Woodbines but would be dwarfed by GWMs, Renegade and Brigade Games figures. Painted up as a Lance-Corporal of the Army Cyclist Corps, 48th (South Midland) Division, 1915. I baulked at painting the word "CYCLIST" on the red flashes on the arm...... I know..... I am weak.

Great War Miniatures British Infantry in Cold Weather Clothing 2.

June is a black hole where painting is concerned. Work committments mean that I normally don't pick up a brush until July but I managed to find time this weekend to complete the remaining three Tommies in Cold Weather Clothing. Here they are with a couple of photos of the complete pack of six figures.

These three chaps are painted up as 5th (Service) Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment. The Divisional badge of 12th Division, the Ace of Spades, can be seen painted on the rear of the helmets. The Division wore other patches on the back of the tunic, just below the collar, obscured here by the small packs. You might just make out "5RB" painted in red on the two helmet covers. This is purely conjectural.

And here we have all six miniatures. Click on the photo for a larger image. 

I have always loved WW1 Aeroplanes

For a while I've hunted down clips of all sorts on YouTube. You can't get better than watching the clips on the Historical Aviation Film Unit's YouTube channel. Someone in New Zealand appears to have a brace of F.E.2bs.

There seems to be at least seven Fokker DR. Is.

And a Fokker D.VIII!

But the best of the bunch has to be the DH. 2.

Go and spend an hour just watching these wonderful reproductions take to the skies right here.

Oh.... and did I mention the Albatros?

Great War Miniatures British Infantry in Cold Weather Clothing.

The first three figures from the GWM B010 British Infantry in Cold Weather Clothing pack. All painted up as 6th (Service) Bn. Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. The figure on the right of the picture appears here.

 I like the idea that Tommy is wearing a balaclava, probably knitted by his old Mum back home in Blighty. A touch of the white varnish residue... again.... Time to buy a new bottle, I think.

 It would have been very simple just to paint the "Stinker" in one colour but the photographic evidence shows that these full sleeved versions were pieced together from a number of skins. I found a photograph that showed an example with two very darker sleeves. I like the end result.

Three more to come. This weekend is will be the last available time for some painting for the next month.

The 100,000th Volunteer

I started painting this chap when I realised that the milestone of 100,000 pageviews was lurking on the horizon. I intended to post him to mark this event. Unfortunately, the hits moved faster than my painting and the number clocked up before this miniature was finished.

In August 1914, Lord Kitchener called for 100,000 volunteers to swell the ranks of the British army at the start of the Great War. He got more than initially asked for.

This figure from Great War Miniatures is great because it is one of the very few that show Tommy as he would have looked when Kitchener's "New Armies" first took the field in late 1915 and 1916.... P1914 leather equipment and the PH gas hood.

He is painted up as a private of the 6th (Service) Bn, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. His helmet bears the badge of 20th (Light) Division and the black Brigade patches of 60th Bde. can be seen on the arms of the greatcoat. The other five figures in this lovely pack from GWM are prepped and ready to go, but I am about to enter the painting void that is June where real life work takes over and the brushes get a rest for a while, so I have no idea when the blog will see the other five complete. Enjoy this one for the time being.

100000 Hits

There will be doughnuts!