Friday 20 May 2016

45th (1st Nottinghamshire) Foot Complete

It's been a while coming, what with my hobby butterfly approach, and working on them in batches of 8 models at a time, but my very first 28mm scale Napoleonic battalion is complete! I am very happy about this as Napoleonics has always been near the top of my wish list of things to do, so to finally be making a bit of progress is great.

First up, here a couple of photos of the two command stands:







I think these came out pretty well, the drummer was quite tricky as he has his colours reversed and the flags are my first attempt ever at flags. I had ordered flags from Flags of War but I got impatient and usd the ones that came with the Warlord Games boxed set. I think they came out alright in the end.

On to the main event, heres the whole battalion:





I think they look pretty impressive en-masse. I have gone for a 6 base layout, meaning 24 men per battalion. This is the bottom end of a normal size battalion for black powder but it keeps it more realistic for me in terms of what I can achieve. If it was 9 bases per battation (36 men), I'd never get them done. I can always add more bases at a later date.

Things I have learned from doing these: Napoloenics are daunting at first but once you have a paint scheme down and if you concentrate, you can do them quite quickly. Each pair of bases took on average 8-10 hours, spread out over three or four evenings, and with life distractions. I imagine if left alone, I could knock this out in a week. Just need to quit work and evict the wife and children....

Where will I take this project? I have got a box of Perry British Line, and with the leftovers from the Warlord Games box, I think I can stretch another two battalions just by buying another command set. The Perry set also has four riflemen for a small 95th Rifles detachment. Painting wise I shall be altering things a little bit, mainly by incorporating different trouser colours for a more on campaign feel.

The only bad news is I wouldn't expect to get around to these next few units for a while - too much else on the go. I've got a few more projects to clear off the desk, then I'm going to tackle my 20mm Poles over the summer.

As always, all feedback is appreciated!

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