Tuesday 25 December 2018

From Franjo: US Federal Infantry, Cuba 1898 (30 points)

Hi all,

I'm Franjo, from Spain, and I'm new to the Challenge. First of all, I would like to thank Curt for this initiative. To me, it's a great opportunity to get painted a (little) part of my metal and plastic grey mountain, and to share it with other people. My goal is quite modest: 500 points, but to me is quite a personal challenge because I'm a slow painter. Well, let's see what happens.

I'm going to paint mainly in 28mm scale, different kind of troops and eras. Dark Age, Spanish Napoleonics, 1898 Spanish-US War, Spanish Civil War, Spanish at WWII and, maybe, a bit of Fantasy and Sci-Fi and some scenery.

My first entry is about 1898 Spanish-US War in Cuba. 1898 was a critical year in the History of my country. The loss of Cuba, Puerto Rico and Phillipines marked the end of a 400 years long empire. Spain was a mess in nineteenth century. After the long, bloody and economic disaster that was the War of Independence vs the Napoleonic French, Spain suffered the loss of the American mainland territories, the worst monarch ever (Ferdinand VII), years of civil wars (Carlist Wars), political turmoil (liberals vs conservatives) and struggled to keep the pace of the industrial development of the Western and Northern Europe. All this has its consequences, and at the end of the century Spain was a second rate, decadent power and the 1898 war gave way to what became the world's leading power: the U.S.


I bought recently from 1898miniaturas.com excellent range two army packs: Spanish and US in the Cuba front. At the webpage there are also very good historical notes and uniform/weapons research and some wonderful painting tutorials from Javier Gómez Valero, "el Mercenario", one of the owners of the 1898 Miniaturas company and a gifted painter. I followed his tutorial to paint my first batch of figures from their range, and I started with the enemy: a bag of 6 US Federal Infantrymen advancing (different poses in every bag reference):






So 6 x 28mm figures = 30 points

See you soon.

______________________

First, welcome to the Painting Challenge, Franjo! We're delighted to have you join us for the next few months of frenetic hobby madness.

These figures are superb and your brushwork is to match, Franjo. I love it when we get a taste of these often overlooked periods of history. I really like the vibrant palette you've used in painting these figures - they really 'pop' in the photos and show them to their best advantage. I also admire your basework as it conveys the verdant tropical terrain that comes to mind when you think of Cuba. 

I had a look at the 1898 Miniaturas catalogue and I'm very much looking forward to seeing what else you treat us to over the coming months of the Challenge.

30 Points for your opening round in the Painting Challenge. Excellent work, Franjo.



35 comments:

  1. These look really good, a war I know little about so interesting in itself. I like the different poses which really work well in 28mm

    Ian

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  2. Lovely figures and work a Franjo. I’ve dabbled in the Naval Side of this war, so I’ll be interested to see what you bring to the Challenge on the land

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    1. Thanks!

      My plan is to paint a bag of 6 Spanish infantrymen, a Spanish artillery crew and gun and a pair of US Buffalo soldiers and US ofcicer

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    2. Looking forward to the Buffalo soldiers! As an aside, most of the senior command of the US forces were former Confederate officers.

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  3. Fantastic figures Franjo - I love the vibrant blues!

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  4. Cracking first challenge entry Franjo . Welcome along

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  5. Bienvenido/welcome to the Challenge compañero!
    Great looking minis, Inteally like the work on the blue computa

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  6. Thanks a lot, guys, for all your generous comments

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  7. Welcome aboard Franjo! Awesome work on your first entry. I‘m sure I‘m not the only one looking forward to see what else you‘re coming up with.

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  8. What a fantastic first post, I’ll be looking forward to the rest of your entries!

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  9. Great job Franjo - love the individual character you have brought out on these figures.

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  10. Lovely work Franjo, great first post. I like the little details you've added, like the neckerchiefs. I'm looking forward to seeing what else you come up with.

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  11. Very nice! I'm very interested to see your take on the Spanish, especially the rayadillo.

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  12. Nice brushwork on those minis. The faces in particular are well done, adding loads of character to each figure.

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  13. Hi Franjo - welcome to the Challenge. And what a great first entry! I love your colour palette. Looking forward to seeing more of these.

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  14. Beautiful work. I have some of these and they are nice figs

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  15. Lovely stuff- they're all individuals from the same unit.

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  16. Welcome Franjo and stunning work indeed, keep them coming!

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  17. Great looking figures and really nice painting too! Welcome aboard!
    Best Iain

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  18. Welcome Franjo! Lovely painting on these, the vibrant colours are brilliant. And nice to see another conflict featuring in the challenge!

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  19. Welcome! Those blues are brilliant, they really pop.

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  20. Wow, what a warm welcome. Thanks!!

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  21. Really unusual subject matter, great figures.

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  22. Welcome Franjo and excellent work on these. Looking forward to seeing what's next!

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  23. Welcome to the challenge Franjo! Excellent work on these guys!

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  24. Welcome to the Challenge Franjo! :)

    Great painting and nice figures :)

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  25. Great work on a period that is not often covered

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  26. What a debut post Franjo! Those are absolutely glorious and the potted history makes them even better.

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  27. Welcome to the Challenge Franjo. Your painting skills are clearly top shelf, these look wonderful.

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  28. Again, thank you all for your good comments. I'm now out of home, on a trip, eager to come back and get the pencils again ;)

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  29. Welcome to the fray, Franjo! I'm looking forward to the rest of your work. The American forces you've painted so far are aces! ;)

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