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British Napoleonic Rifles


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Hi Guys,

After coming away from Partizan with a few boxes of British Napoleonic infantry and cavalry,

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I thought I'd have a go at painting some infantry. Now, I'm quite used to painting 6mm, 15mm for wargaming and 1/72 for my aircraft/ boats but I can't remember doing anything with 28mm, so this will push my boundaries some what. These figures are not going to reach a wargaming table but are for display only. I was going to display the whole box set but I'm leaning towards showing them in groups so as to cover as many different aspects as possible,

 

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so I have decided to single out the rifle figures. I plan on keeping the heads separate to make painting easier, as with the backpacks but I might modify them slightly so as to make them look different. These four chaps are not going to cut it on their own, so...

 

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...got them some buddies, these are Perry Miniatures. And...

 

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you've got to have some boss men, Perry's command set. Now, I don't know where I'm truly going with this but the idea is to paint half as the 60th Rifles from the Peninsula War and the other half as the 95th from Waterloo.

 

I like...

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the look of this flashy sod, so I might just start with him.

 

So, their you have it. If their is anything I should know, just shout, preferably before I've done. Comments and critique always welcome.

Oh, these will NOT be fast, these will be fill in jobs, so don't expect fast and furious stuff.

 

Stuart

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If you are doing the 60th in the Peninsula then you need to trim their trousers. The 60th wore the old fashioned knee stockings and not trousers. 

Strictly, none of the men in action should have their knapsacks on. These were left with the baggage waggon whilst they were fighting

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Thanks for a quick response @Black Knight. The 'stockings' mod doesn't sound too daunting; a bit of file work and some milliput but a job none the less. Do you have reference or an image or two to prove your point before I get the file out as the books I have don't show or mention that? As for the knapsacks, makes sense but it does make you wonder why miniature produces make figures with them on if the norm was the opposite. The plastics are easy enough, just not fit them but I would need to hack off the ammo pouches and water bottles, the metals are a different story and will have to stay as-is.

 

Stuart

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  • 4 months later...
4 hours ago, DalekCheese said:

Any progress?

Sorry, not at the moment. Having never done anything with figs before, I'm trying to find my way. After @Black Knight posted his his comment above about the 60th, I've been trying to think of how I change trousers to knee stockings but wondered if the metal figs are the right place to start. Maybe I should start it easy and do a unit of 95th but I need to see if the metal and plastics will mix.

Let's see what the New Year brings.

 

Stuart

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm not sure how this is going to go but I thought I'd better start.

 

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Six are chosen to be from the 95th and primed with my 'go to' Halfords grey primer. it seems that from the videos I have watched, flesh is next, a couple of coats of Vallejo 'sunny skintone' is applied. 

I'm thinking, trousers next? 'cos I'm wanting to do these guys as 1815, I'm also thinking about giving them their issued black green trousers , except the boss, who I was going to kit him out with grey. Thoughts?

 

Stuart

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Anything goes; the grey trousers were overalls to be worn to keep their good trousers clean. Many a h'officer wore the same as the men, excepting their symbols of rank, eg the sash at the waist

According to memoirs; it got around the aul hands that you spoke to any rifleman politely as you never knew if he was an officer or not. Usually an officer was distinguished by wearing a sword, but as all riflemen wore a sword bayonet. . . 

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Add some brown patches to their clothing. Uniforms wore out and were patched with local Portuguese brown cloth. 

New uniforms, in the main, didn't arrive in the Peninsula until the late 1814 as Wellington advanced into southern France

The Rifles were used as Light Companies attached to other regiments.

At one point their uniforms had so much Portuguese brown cloth on them that from a distance the French thought they were Portuguese troops in their brown uniforms. In the early stages the Portuguese troops had a poor reputation, for firing one long range volley then running, so the French attacking got a surprise when they met disciplined British troops instead.

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1 hour ago, Black Knight said:

Add some brown patches to their clothing.

Are you describing the 60th? At the end of the Peninsula war, didn't the 95th return home where their uniforms must have undergone an overhaul, to appear in 1815 with relatively new uniforms?

 

Stuart

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It applied to all regiments in the Peninsula but the red-coated regiments got more frequent supplies to replace their uniforms.

All British regiments were out of the Peninsula by winter 1814 and were sent home from ports in southern France and were fully discharged when they arrived in England.

 

Upon re-enlisting for the 1815 campaign men would have been given new uniforms but it was known that old soldiers from the Peninsula war wore their old patched uniform in Belgium. It was a showing of their experience. At Waterloo, on the morning of the battle, before it started, Wellington stopped and had tea with some riflemen. He noticed their old uniforms and he remarked he was happy that these old hands were there to help him in the fight to come.

 

When a man signed up into the British army, from a period of about 1690 to 1880s, his personal clothes were put on a bonfire and burnt on the parade ground. Then the only clothes he had were his issued uniform. This was to destroy his lice infested rags and to spot a run-away in cases of desertion.

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Slowly, slowly, catch a monkey...

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Vallejo Military Green used on the plumes and the jackets/ dolman/ pelisse. Fours figs were randomly selected to get green trousers, one got brown and the other got grey. Looking at the headgear, it looks like braiding was either black or a very dark green. So for contrasts sake, I went with the green...unless something official crops up. What to paint next...:hmmm:

 

Stuart

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