There's nothing wrong with my eyes; my arms are just too short!

I've been short sighted since the age of 12 but with my glasses I've had 20/20 vision, close or at distance. Until recently, that is! After an unproductive (figure painting-wise) year, I've noticed that after a fairly long break where I didn't put brush to figure, I find it difficult to focus on the details. Hence, after a recent visit to the optometrist at work, I now have not one, but two pairs of glasses! One for everyday distance and computer screen use and the other pair for close in work, like painting figues and reading. The improvement is astounding! I hope this translates to a marked increase in productivity, not only in figure painting, but blogging as well.

Below is the latest output from my workbench (which due to said age-induced eye failure has taken months) namely a continuation of my Neapolitan project. In this instance it's more Guard infantry and the Swinging Dick himself, King Joachim Murat. The command figures and the 1st Regiment of Velite Grenadiers are by the ever brilliant Franznap, although the messenger's horse is a ring in from Zvezda, as the original horse's delicate legs snapped off at the ankles after a mishap.

1st Velite Grenadiers of the Guard 

Command figures

"Andiamo, ragazzi!!"

NCO telling it like it is.

The other ranks aren't that impressed, though.

Hurry up and wait!

"Message for you, Your Majesty!"

Joachim on his Tiger-skin saddle

ADCs from the rear.

The Voltiguers of the Guard are a mishmash of various elite figures from HaT sets like 8095, 8166 and 8167 with head replacements using Italeri heads with the shako plate and cockade shaved off. The unique look of the shakos was achieved by painting alone. Only the officer hasn't had any modifications, besides having his shako details trimmed. He's the only Italeri interloper amongst all the HaT figures.

My version of amaranth is a little too red-brown, when it should really be a pinky-purple as per the images below. I can't work out from the images and what little description I've found if the stripes on the shako were hussar-style flammes / bands or just painted decoration, but as my conversion is just a paint-job, that's the view I'm taking. Also, the images don't make it easy to decide whether the colours should be buff or yellow, so I've made an executive decision for buff shako and collar and yellow lace.

Voltiguers of the Guard

Firing line

Command and infantry 

NCO and marching infantry.

Neapolitan Reinforcements

The next battalion off the workbench is the 1st battalion of the 7th Line Regiment of the Neapolitan Army. This was the famous black regiment recruited from Caribbean exiles from Saint-Domingue which was foisted onto Napoleon's brother Joseph when he was King of Naples. An anecdote I read somewhere claimed that this regiment went from being the worst in the French army to the best in the Neapolitan without any change in their abilities! I'm not sure how many, if any, of the black troops were left by the Battle of Tolentino in 1815, but I decided to paint them up that way to lend a little exoticness to the brigade. More info on the history of this regiment can be found here

Speaking of Tolentino, I realise now I've completely cocked up the OB; So far I've painted the 1st and 10th Line regiments and the 1st Light. Only the 7th and the 1st Light are from the same brigade! I should have painted the first two as the 4th and 8th Line, which have amaranth and pink facings, respectively. It looks like I'll either have to repaint the facings (groan!) or just keep adding to my Neapolitan collection!

I've also added some command stands to the collection using Franznap's brilliantly characterful figures. First off is a dismounted stand featuring a general and his AdC viewing the battlefield before them with an Italeri horse contentedly munching the grass in the background.

Second is the mounted general receiving some news from his AdC, who rides up, touching his hat in greeting.

I'm shortly going to paint up an army command stand featuring the Dandy King, Joachim Murat himself! Stay tuned!

Refurbishment of 2nd Division #2 - 28th or 34th Regiment of Foot

"O'er the hills and o'er the main

Through Flanders, Portugal and Spain.

King George commands and we obey

Over the hills and far away."

These wonderful figures from Hagen miniatures are full of character. They are battle-weary old campaigners in tattered uniforms with individual embellishments like legionnaire-style neck shades, firewood stuffed into the knapsack, trousers rolled up to the knee, espadrilles instead of boots, rolled blankets in place of kanpsacks, and various styles of forage cap. They really were a joy to paint, being used to the cookie-cutter figures in most plastic sets.

My only gripes are that there were no elite figures in the set, necessitating the fiddly application of Milliput shoulder wings to a couple of figures, and no command figures, either. The officers and drummer are HaT plastic and are slightly smaller and finer compared to the metal figures, but it's not a big problem, really.

As there were two yellow-faced regiments in 2nd Division, I haven't settled on which of the two this unit represents, hence the confusing post title. As the colours are furled and cased, they can be either at this stage. I use generic coloured flags, anyway, so it doesn't really matter.

I'm happy the way that the furled and cased colours turned out, especially after the doggy-disaster! The replacement figure has a slightly thicker furled colour than the original, not that you can really notice on the table top. Because the infantry look like they're on the march, rather than actually in battle, I wanted the officers to match. The only colour party figures available carry naked poles with finial and tassel which really need a flag attached. My solution was to bodge up a couple of ensigns carrying cased colours based on the image below.

I used the marching officers from the HaT command set, cut off the swords each arm pose carries and glued on a cased colour each, made from piano wire and Milliput. I also added another shoulder strap to each figure with Milliput; an exercise in extreme frustration!

The varnish I used for shading is a little too dark (I finished the last pot, which I got from Masters, a hardware chain which has since gone out of business!), but I think it accentuates the grubbiness of a hard-campaigning regiment. Still, I think I'll have to find a varnish that isn't quite so overpowering.

Grenadiers with home-made shoulder wings

Rear view showing firewood and neck-guard

Corporal in forage cap and espadrilles

Patched knees

HaT drummer and officer

Colour party

Two different arm poses

Left hand colour slightly thicker. Looks heavier, too!

Shako at a jaunty angle and second style of forage cap

Light bobs. The right hand figure came from another set I ordered, but instead of 4 marching elites, I only got this one and more marching centre company figures, because they'd run out!

Rolled blanket.

Refurbishment of 2nd Divison #1 - 92nd Foot (Gordon Highlanders)

"Can yer mammy sew? Well, get her to stitch that!"

After finding out I'd shortchanged myself with the size of my British infantry battalions, I've started expanding or replacing my Peninsular War forces. First unit off the desk is the 92nd Foot, or Gordon Highlanders. My existing battalion was only 12 figures strong, when I could have had a 15 figure-strong battalion!

The new Strelets set of marching highlanders seemed to fit the bill, though I found out too late that they were all elite figures, all sporting shoulder wings. I shaved off the wings on the figures used for the centre companies, swapped a couple of heads for variety and stuck a couple of highland bonnet-wearing heads on a couple of HaT flag bearers. That worked quite well, despite them having their sashes around their waists instead of over their shoulders. There is a flag bearer in the Strelets set, but the figure has a moulded flag, and there is only one.

I varied the appearance of the figures with some head swaps; a wounded head from Lancier Bleu, and a Tam o' Shanter wearing one from the HaT command set. The wounded head conversion worked well, but the other on didn't so much; the collar looks much too thick and messy. I'm not sure why, because they were the same figure.

The full battalion in comlumn

Wounded head conversion.

HaT flag bearers with Strelets heads. Officer in full dress, including sporran!

Drummer and piper

Light company troops including (not so successful) head conversion.

I also have been working on a line battalion using the wonderful Hagen Peninsular Infantry set in their battered, hard-marching campaign best, so I thought I'd have a go at creating a couple of ensigns carrying furled and covered colours using HaT command figures. I'd finally managed to make two after much fiddling about with Milliput and thick piano wire and was ready to start painting. I hadn't reckoned on our newest family member, though, had I? We recently got a Jack Russell/Fox Terrier cross puppy, and she understands that anything that drops on the floor is hers....to chew. Obviously I hadn't caught up on the news!

Sigh!