MisterE

Fair point re: personal information sir, but I'm sure a way could be found (eg "I have the decals you're looking for, and have just put them on eBay" is one which leaps to mind). Further research tells me that the decals in the reissue were different to the original, allowing all 6 figures to belong to the same unit. For a 3-man Bren section, I'd need another two decal sheets from the original, or one from the reissue...or, go 1/35, which is my other option. Well, I could freehand - I'm a good painter, but not that good!!

Scored a box of original Multipose British Infantry on eBay. Woohoo!! So the original plan was to do a single figure, but then having checked out the 17 per kit, decided to do a diorama with the anti-tank gun supported by a 3 man Bren section. Imagine, then, my surprise when the Multipose box turns up today and I see the decal sheet...with sufficient decals to build one mini from the South Lancs, one from the KSLI, one from the Hampshires and so on. Are we to believe Airfix intended a mixed unit of hand-picked troops, one each from different regiments? Was I short-changed on decals? Or should I have sought out the 2014 reissue, which appears to have enough patches (both regimental and divisional) to assemble all the figures as members of the same regiment? So, that aside, does anyone have any spare decals they'd be willing to sell? Or would 1/35 be noticeably too small?

Oh, and a 1/24 EE Lightning...or an RAF Phantom...or Buccaneer...or Jaguar...

The return, and expansion of, the 54mm Collector Series!

Next build... So the next Ebay acquisition has arrived and I just couldn't resist putting glue to plastic. Again, a delightful build with great detail and very little flash and hardly any filling. The only changes I've made to an out-of-the-box build is a Historex head, using foil for the straps, popping the morion on the belt and hanging a tankard onto the strap of the bottle. I decided to discard the plume from the morion ad Popish Foppery, and I'll be painting up the mini as a member of the New Model Army. More updates to follow... /media/tinymce_upload/09a12d75704bac2e37f966eadffa6d6f.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/48f9726b20c7eb58e9d0bfbc54bd2c42.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/9260f3d94aff311760b00d2bbfe82def.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/1ed82bc1704d6c63e909ec67045c961a.jpg

As you seem to be one of the most prolific picture posters on here, I suggest you be getting on with it! 😆

I know nothing about this specific subject but can throw in a couple of sweeping generalisations to consider. You're absolutely correct in that unit colours would show a degree of variation between those which have been worn for some time, and those issued to new recruits, or troops rotating through resupply depots. If the units are for your personal collection, then as much variation as possible would look really attractive, and make the units more interesting to paint! I do kind of pity the Napoleonic wargamer, sitting down to a block of 50 French infantry and thinking "ho hum...blue again..." However, if painting for competition, I think you would need some way of showing this narrative to avoid viewers/judges just thinking you were being inconsistent with your mixes! The other thing which strikes me is the way in which the sun would bleach the fabric, or more properly the direction. Perhaps think about the areas of the uniform which would be more exposed to the sun's rays, and those which would be more sheltered. I'm not sure which scale you work in, but this would be more of a consideration for larger scale miniatures. The final thought from me is that you could have the odd garment on an 'old sweat' which looks new, as perhaps those trousers have been patched one time too many and he managed to scrounge/steal/win-in-a-game-of-dice/be-reissued-with (the most unlikely prospect of all!) a new pair. Look forward to seeing the results!

Ah, thanks Aad Gadgie, kind words, my friend! I'm guessing the link to a Vallejo tutorial on YouTube was contrary to forum rules? My apologies...i just wish I could remember the havering I did after the link, as that disappeared too! 😆

These things happen 😀

Day 5, painting has begun... /media/tinymce_upload/dfb73c7d66b5ed1fd6ea0710c13339f1.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/d061339c40ef0d0851963f7299541917.jpg The lesson to take away there is that the techniques I'm used to with smaller scale wargaming miniatures do not necessarily transfer to larger scales! Oh, it's not dreadful, but there's vast room for improvement, and looking at some YouTube tutorials (Notably this one: ">

By "multiple" I clearly meant Multipose!

Would have been nice to pick up some tips from your build mate

Far nicer than a kit of it's age has any right to be Ratch! This one is very much a trial run, and I'll definitely be getting hold of another one. I have an idea for a set of Coldstream Guards - an ECW musketeer, an grenadier guard from 1776 (easy conversion with a sharp knife to trim away every third lace on the jacket), Coldstream Guardsman from Waterloo and a multiple infantryman from WWII. (The Coldstreams we're my uncle's regiment, so I feel an affinity after growing up with his stories)

I forgot to mention, if you go the Mantis route, here's a UK stockist: Mantis Miniatures - SK Miniatures

Day 4 Made and sprayed! A few thoughts - the face is actually okay, really grown on me, so I've fixed the head in place. I've decided to go with a single figure instead of the vignette - I may do something with that idea at some point in the future though. The figure itself builds up really well and is nicely in proportion. The torso twist looks better when the arms are on. Only a very minor conversion, in removing and repositioning the hand to hold the standard more upright. I'm not 100% happy with the foil straps, particularly on the knapsack - there's a lot of strapping (bayonet belt, canteen, haversack and knapsack) going under that left armpit, and with the bayonet itself and a buckle for the haversack it looks very "busy" there. Hopefully, the paint job will resolve that. So what else...I had a slight panic after glueing the cartridge belt and bayonet straps in place, as some illustrations I found afterwards showed the bayonet going over the cartridge, counter to the kit illustrations and instructions. Fortunately, the book referenced above is very comprehensive and confirms that Airfix had it the right way. The book also showed a strap going across the chest for the knapsack, which is;t modelled or referenced in the kit instructions. The match case on the cartridge belt would very much get in the way of this, so I was in a bit of a quandry, but the book made reference to the fact that this strap was uncomfortable and unpopular, so I modelled it undone, perhaps reflecting the fact that the pack was donned in a hurry? That aside (well, I cheated and used an etched brass musket strap), the kit is remarkably accurate out of the box, with minimal conversion required. So he's primed. I'll be using Citadel acrylics, as I have loads of them. For those who are interested, I used a base layer from a rattlecan of Grey Seer, with a second coat of Corax White at a 45-degree angle to give a bit of a zenithal highlight and act as a guide for shading and highlighting. /media/tinymce_upload/7b302e828a1657d35651ed7ab9b84cb4.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/9be0e538621df6ab2ed381f62fe022c7.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/d57db6d91468eb28ce8a74176240bd50.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/4df36c98f2e656a45a833c22665b304c.jpg