Hat Peninsular War Britsh Inf.

[davbenbak1]

For my next project I am going to make two battalions of British infantry combining these boxes.



There are a good number of flankers in this box (warning: the box art does not match the contents in this respect) so I will start off with the 52nd Light infantry since they all had swallow wings on their jackets. Button counters will note that I did not do any head swaps and use those with the bugle imprint on the shako that Hat was kind enough to include. Primed and ready to go. I will mount them on three 2X2 wooden bases with two rows of four on each base for a total of 24 per battalion. I had to trim the bases to get them to fit but I like the visual comparison with my French which I mount three deep.


Hopefully these two units won't take as long as my last WIP, four months!

[Peter]

Great project! Looking forward to the next update!

PS: Only three months and 29 days left!

[davbenbak1]

Making great progress on the first unit. All basic colors blocked in. All that's left is to wash and highlight. This is a great set and I'm sure a good painter could coax a lot of detail out of these figures. I highly recommend these for anyone wanting to paint British infantry from the peninsular campaign.



Not sure whether a black or brown wash will work best. Will post test samples of each.

[Peter]

I would use a sepia wash for the white parts. That's how I did my AWI British soldiers.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6436&hilit=revell+AWI+British+Infantry

They look nice so far!

Only three months and 23 days left!

[davbenbak1]

Here's my test run with the one of the left in a brown wash and the one on the right a black wash.



Peter recommends sepia which to my understanding is brown stain. I do like the way brown interacts with the red, flesh and tan colors, so I'll use it for the rest of the unit and then go back and highlight the white areas if they look too dirty.

[Peter]

Sepia is indeed some kind of light brow wash. My experience is that for white you can only use two colors of washes. Sepia or grey because they have to be soft in my eyes.

As you say the brown goes very good with the red jackets!

[davbenbak1]

Finished with the first of the two units I have planned from this set. Really pleased with the results. Here are three of the better ones:



Of course Mr. Fumble Fingers made his usual appearance most notably and unfortunately on some of the command figures. I will post pics of the entire unit in the gallery once I get them based and flocked.

[Peter]

They look great!

[vellek]

If I may offer a suggestion: it looks like there are mold lines on the kneeling and advancing figures. Those can be tricky because any wash will collect there and accentuate the problem. I've found that with the rubbery HaT plastic it's easier to get a clean cut after they're primed and the plastic is more rigid.

Aside from that, these are fine looking Brits. I like how you got the flanker "wings" so sharp.

Cheers,
Kurt

[Beano Boy]

They all look fit and in fine fiddle to give the French a darn good thrashing.
You have applied a stylish paint brush too.Well done.BB

[davbenbak1]

I do find the mold lines on the rubbery HAT figures very hard to remove and often risk losing some of the great detail that is on the figure once I start trimming. Even with a sharp X-Acto blade there still seems to be some stubble left. Guilty confession: I spent very little time cleaning these guys up. Maybe it won't be as noticeable when they are mounted "en masse" on the gaming table.

Can anyone recommend a good technique for cleaning up the mold lines for these?

[sberry]

I am using a hot needle (heated in a flame) for removing mould lines. Works quite well, for me its faster and easier than using a kife.
BTW, very good paintjob!

[davbenbak1]

Thanks for all the helpful comments and tips. I used a safety pin heated over a candle on the next batch and it turned out great. I was even able to tease some extra details out between the straps and equipment. On to the next unit, the 92nd foot with blue facing.

[davbenbak1]

Here's the latest unit painted as 97th regiment.



While I was able to improve on removing mold lines using a hot needle, it was hard to get the lines around the faces without destroying their features. While I have sung the praises of these figures I ran into some difficulties this time. The arm that attaches to the officer in the command set seems slightly bigger or off scale. The faces of the command set are not as detailed as the box set. The drummer was a little uncooperative this time as I painted, then assembled the figure instead of the other way around. A little less crisp on the details on this unit. The initial fun has fallen way to assembly line painting in order to finish all the units I will need for a Vimerio scenario.

[Peter]

They look great Dave!

[vellek]

Good stuff. Let's see some more pics!

[davbenbak]

After three month's away from the painting table I'll be back with the Ehmar British Peninsular set. A great set that sadly lacks flank companies and flag bearers. I'll be working in some Hat figures to cover the the shortage and will post some comparisons soon so you can evaluate them side by side.

[davbenbak1]

After finishing and posting pics of the Ehmar set in a separate thread and another three month away I am back to working on another regiment for Wellington's forces. Will post pics soon.

[davbenbak1]

Ok here is the latest unit to complete this WIP of Anstruther's and Fane's foot regiments on Vimiero Hill:
The 9th Foot


And to recap:
The 52nd Foot



The 50th Foot


The 97th Foot

Keen observers will note that missing is the 43rd Foot and both Rifle battalions. They will have to wait while until I have finished painting some French units. On the bright side that just mean a NEW WIP!

[Mário]

I have been following this thread because I’m interested in the Peninsular War. Youe figures are great, keep posting them please. It's interesting to see that you are contemplating to recreate the battles of the first Napoleonic invasion of Portugal. Usually people just goes for the third invasion, the Bussaco and Linhas de Torres battles and then the victorious campaign across Spain and France. Just two precisions:
It is Vimeiro, not Vimiero (that means nothing in Portuguese) and the Duke of Wellington was only Sir Wellesley at the time of the Vimeiro and Roliça victories.
A good night