Wednesday 11 February 2015

MartinC - ACW finished and no "ish" (151 Points)

Strange painting week this week. Had a delivery of a new army, Crusader Roman Republican Legion from the North Star sale, £77 for 80 infantry 10 cavalry and a mounted general. Figs are great with little flashing nor mould marks. So I've been basing and priming these for a couple of days. They have too many Triarii so I think a trip to the Aventine website was in order.

Haven't decided if I want to paint these for the challenge or finish off the odds and sods that make up the rest of the lead mountain plus 3 parcels I await.

Anyhow before I can start the next phase I had to finish the ACW. I had one unit of Rebs to complete and the dismounted cavalry units to paint.

I had discussed with AdamC interesting uniforms and based on this I picked the 8th Alabama, or more specifically the Irish Legion Company although I did paint the whole regiment as these.

They originally wore green jackets and swapped to grey with green trim when they moved into Virginia. So I painted both versions.
Next I had to paint the 2 units of dismounted cavalry, 17th Pennsylvania and the 35th Virginia. These were Perry figures and were bloody awful. The metal was rough, the flashing was horrendous and some of the detailing poor, definitely a Friday afternoon casting. If I didn't own a vast number of truly brilliant Perry figures I wouldn't buy them again. They were hateful to paint and to complete the effort I also photographed them badly.


I still have about 25 more figures to paint but I now have 2 balanced forces and the 2 storage boxes I have both hold the completed units perfectly, so for now they will stay unpainted and join the plastic mountain.

With this and the hot bonus round points I have now doubled my original planned points so I need a new target. Teaching week next week  (98 Masters students to be taught how to remediate contaminated land) and 2 full weekends of parties so almost no painting for most of the next 10 days. Lets go for a target of 2500

Posted by MartinC at 10:47 am
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28 comments:

  1. Juan Mancheño11 February 2015 at 11:28

    Very nice painting work. In this moment, I hate the Perry´s miniatures because the have lost, in my opinion their past great quality in sculpting and casting them.

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    1. MartinC11 February 2015 at 12:27

      Cheers. The infantry and cav were all perry plastics and OK but not fab. I have some samurai and some Hurons etc. These are very nice but 1st time I've bought metals for a couple of years. Would be a shame if they'd taken their eye off the ball.

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  2. TamsinP11 February 2015 at 11:34

    Nice work Martin ;)

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  3. Unknown11 February 2015 at 12:15

    I didn't know there were Irish fighting in the ACW. Were they first generation Irish? And was the commander Irish?

    I like the way you handled the greys and the greens on those. All of these are nicely painted.

    Also, I can't find a link to your blog on your profile. Can you give it to me?

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    1. MartinC11 February 2015 at 12:49

      Anne, thanks. There were so many Irish units in the ACW that Osprey has a Men at Arms book on them - No.448. They fought on both sides and often against each other.
      The 8th Alabama have their own website http://www.8thalabama.org/
      I don't have a blog, before the challenge .I only painted to keep my brain in check. Now I may consider it.

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    2. AdamC177611 February 2015 at 12:51

      There were lots of Irish in the ACW on both sides. On the Union side of things there were whole Regiments of Irishmen and yes they even had Irish officers. On the confederate side the Irish presents tended to be at the Company level but I know Tennessee, Virginia and I believe Louisiana had Irish Regiments. Many of the Irish were first or second generation though some were form families that had a longer history in the USA.

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    3. Unknown12 February 2015 at 10:56

      Thanks for that information guys. I'll check out that website Martin.

      I know the immigrants, Italian, Irish, Polish, German etc had their own communities in the big cities but I didn't know they stayed together in other areas. I know the Scots were heavy in the Appalachians. Now I'm curious about how spread out the Irish became in America and what their lives were like.

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    4. AdamC177612 February 2015 at 11:05

      Some ethic groups settled certain areas very heavily the Scandinavians and Germans in Wisconsin for example. There was a joke in World War II that every surrendering German had cosine in Milwaukee:). Wisconsin had a Scandinavian Regiment(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/15th_Wisconsin_Volunteer_Regiment) in the civil War there were numerous German Regiments (most of the much maligned IX Corps). New York City produced a kaleidoscope of ethically based regiments and companies, which is not surprising.

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    5. MartinC12 February 2015 at 12:35

      The 79th new York "Cameron highlanders" wore kilts and bonnets and fought in 1st bull run in Cameron tartan trews to the sound of bagpipes. They must have looked the part. Approx 1/3 of all union troops were foreign immigrants, 1st and 2nd generation

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  4. Clint11 February 2015 at 12:40

    A very nice and colourful regiment. I am painting some Berdan's sharpshooters at the moment (15mm) so I really do appreciate seeing these in green jackets. Top Job mate. Top Job.

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  5. AdamC177611 February 2015 at 12:45

    Looks good glad I could supply a little inspiration. They look great.

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    1. MartinC11 February 2015 at 12:56

      Thanks,the inspiration was all yours. I don't imagine you look like a classical muse in a diaphonous toga though.

      ta

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    2. AdamC177611 February 2015 at 12:57

      I could do the diaphanous toga but I doubt it would inspire more than disgust :)

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    3. MartinC11 February 2015 at 13:04

      lol

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  6. Chasseur11 February 2015 at 14:15

    Nice work!

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  7. Millsy11 February 2015 at 16:27

    It's great to see any project completed during the Challenge but one of this size is a real treat. Congrats Martin! It has been wonderful following this from start to finish. You can really see how you've fine tuned your work throughout...

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    1. MartinC11 February 2015 at 16:40

      Thanks. the end was a it of a chore but overall I've really enjoyed it. The support and advice from all has been fantastic and I've learnt a great deal about painting and the ACW. I now know a lot about shading grey and blue;)

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  8. jmilesr11 February 2015 at 19:18

    Excellent work! It always great to see a project completed - I look forward to seeing the armies on the tabletop

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    1. MartinC12 February 2015 at 00:52

      Thanks. I do feel chuffed. Plan to set up a battle to test out my rules before too long. Will post couple of photos

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  9. The Kiwi11 February 2015 at 20:11

    Miniatures that need lots of prep work are a real pain and they certainly put me in a sour mood. I often feel like sending them back and asking for a refund.
    Nice bunch of painted miniatures though. cheers

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    1. MartinC12 February 2015 at 00:55

      Thanks. I agree but instead tend to not buy there again, which is wrong.

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  10. Ian12 February 2015 at 01:04

    Love the 8th Alabama hope the next lot of Perry Min's are back to normal

    Ian

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    1. MartinC12 February 2015 at 03:23

      thanks, have a feeling that they will fight well

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  11. David Larkins13 February 2015 at 21:19

    Congrats on the project's completion!

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    1. MartinC14 February 2015 at 12:20

      ta, wouldn't have done it without the challenge

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