The British army has arrived from Newline Designs today. The actual figures are very nice and considering they're 20mm, are very well sculpted and detailed. It's nice to see there isn't much 'flash' to clean away.
I always find it frustrating when companies don't have photos of their stock, so buying a range of figures feels like it's pot luck if they're going to be any good.
However ,the few codes which do have pictures does give you a feeling for the quality to be expected. Judging from what I could make out I took a gamble and ordered a starter force. I have their Little Bighorn range so i knew their quality was quite good. I think it's called blind faith.
It's a little like their starter army deals too, there's no list of what you get, so you just have to take a chance. Luckily, starting from scratch you can't really go too far wrong, as every is going to be useful and not doubled up.
I ordered a few extra packets of figures that were put into the box so things did get a little confusing. Here to the best of my memory is what comes in a British starter force.
Two packs of twenty infantry, one is loading and kneeling, the other is loading and firing.
Six mounted mounted camel corps ( No dismounted)
Two screw guns with crew, one 6 lb cannon with crew, one gattling gun with Naval Brigade crew.
Four dead infantry.
Twelve Naval Brigade at advance.
Nine lancers.
It's a nice starting force and I was glad to see some Naval guys in there as I had planned to get some from their Zulu wars range. Also the screw guns and Naval gattling gun was a nice touch. I was hoping one would be in there, after all ...' we have Maxim, they have not". So it's a must really.
Here is my cunning plan to crank through these guys. Using an old tip shown to me by my old friend Simon Miller, I mounted them on old Jenga blocks. There will be two rows of eight figures on four 50mm bases, so I need eight of these blocks.
The 'Up the Nile' rules also has separate officers for the regiments, so these were created by using two figures on a 30mm base.
The first thing I did was to mix all the poses up and threw in the extra packs I had bought too. It's something that would have made a teenage me giddy, but in my old age I have learnt many things about collecting armies. Mix them all up with as many poses as you can on one base, this looks so much more realistic. I learnt this lesson with my ACW collections.
The look I'm going for with my British is one of organised chaos. Yes they are in line or square, but there are officers and the odd Naval guy running around too. There is tension in the ranks and this will hopefully come out in the finished bases.
The regiment aboard it's temporary steamer about to set off down the Nile.
I always liked the idea of starting an army in 20mm when I saw Newline's ranges. The trouble was I had started everything I wanted in 28mm. However, I'm glad to say I hadn't really got anywhere with the Sudan so it was up for collecting. The 'Up the Nile' rules was the excuse I needed and off I went full steam ahead.
The six camels for the camel corps, it's a nice starting point but I'm going to need some more with a pack of dismounted troops too.
Screw guns.
Straight into the garden and undercoated with Desert yellow. This was a tip I carried with me from painting my North West Frontier forces.
I did try another lighter colour called Desert tan, this was a good match for the Khaki. However, I knew what I was doing with the Desert yellow so went back to that. It's too late for trying new colours, I just need to crank through these, so I'm sticking to the old tried and tested method.
The Naval Brigade in the Sudan often wore hats to protect against the African sun. This in mind, I cut the sailors hat off this figure and stuck on a plastic one from the Perry's ACW plastic box. This just adds a bit more of a Sudan feel to the Naval unit.
These are the two paints used for an undercoat, after some thought I went back and sprayed everything in the Desert yellow. This will be dry brushed with Foundry Drab 'B' and they highlighted with Drab 'C'. This gives a very nice khaki drill colour.
Some of the troops straight from India could have a slightly darker Khaki, but you can get this by using washes.
Here is the sailor with his new hat. It's close enough and should look okay when painted up as straw.
Good old Desert yellow saves the day again, It's Sudan in a tin!
Update: Ive just had way too much fun painting these little chaps. I tried a few new things too from my old method, namely washing the figure with a darker wash to bring out the details.
I knew my greatcoat grey paint would finally come in handy for something.
The helmets were given a coat of washed down flesh wash too when I came to do the flesh colours.It just gives them a stained look.
I still need to go over the straps on the greatcoat etc again in white but these are basically done. I think I spent a bit too long on them as I was trying new stuff out. Now I have it all done, hopefully I can blast through them.
I really enjoyed getting some colours onto these figures.
I kept forgetting this poor guy on the floor...
Couldn't help myself on passing the sandpit...
Here is the sailor with his new hat. It's close enough and should look okay when painted up as straw.
Good old Desert yellow saves the day again, It's Sudan in a tin!
Update: Ive just had way too much fun painting these little chaps. I tried a few new things too from my old method, namely washing the figure with a darker wash to bring out the details.
