Kirke's Lambs 15mm

kirkes regiment in Ireland 1690. I made the ground quite muddy and wet to reflect the conditions at the Boyne. 

This regiment also took part at the battle Sedgemoor during the Monmouth rebellion. The ground here too was wet and boggy, so having a muddy base is a must for this regiment.

The background book is from Jon Hodgson and is full of atmospheric backgrounds.

Painting this 15mm regiment was fun and very easy to do. After this painting test I'm still on the 15mm side of things for this era. Hopefully it will prove easier to get units painted and finished.

I had to buy two sets of flags from Pendrakon in 15mm. They only have one standard on the sheet for each regiment, so I had to do some research and tweak the second one slightly. I think this period of warfare always looks better with more standards fluttering in the breeze. So two is the bare minimum I think for my units. Luckily for me, the two standards are very similar in most regiments so creating two shouldn't cause a too much bother.

These little guys from Gripping Beast have enough variety in their poses to get the look I was going for.

The regiment starts it's march inland.

 "Fetch"

UPDATE: I thought I would try out this AK puddle solution on the bases.

At this tiny 15mm scale I found it best to apply the solution with a brush. It's super shiny and produces a good wet effect on the mud.

I got slightly carried away here but I applied a well placed tuft to balance things out.

I think the puddle solution works well and now the bases definitely look wet and boggy.

Battalion of the Queen Dowager's Regiment (Kirke's)15mm.

I started these tiny figures by dry brushing a buff colour over all the belts and pikes. I am trying to train myself to paint these 15mm figures a bit faster than my 28s. So, with one brown colour I paint all of the hair and muskets etc. Some of these hair colours may be tweaked later when I have the black contrast colour on my brush.

Contrast paint is fantastic for just going over stuff and tweaking it later in the process.
 

Buff belts for everyone!

GW red paint is used to block in the coat. I found it better to paint the big cuffs and trousers first.

As there is so much red, I did take the opportunity to highlight it with a lighter colour. One of the officers was painted in a very bright red, so it looks like he's coat is made of superior cloth. Above we can see the three makes of figures, now they have paint on I think they go together okay.

The two standard bearers with their brass coloured spear tops.

Grenadiers with 20mm US cavalry behind.

Essex, Furiko, Irregular miniatures.

It's really nice trying to think of a colour to paint the main officer, I chose a nice grey outfit for this gentleman.

The Essex figure is growing on me because he's so accurate. He is a tiny bit smaller but it's not really noticeable as his hat is the same size as the others.

These will be washed with Army Painter strong tone to shade them, nice and quick.

The Kirke's drummer with his reversed coat colours.

UPDATE; The troops are finished and now based up. I hit a bit of a query about what size base to put them on. 50mm seemed the most logical, but it didn't leave a lot of room. I knew I wanted four figures across...so opted for 60mm instead.

I felt like I was rushing in the end, as I based them before varnishing them. I thought it might be easier once they were stuck in place.

I throw in a couple of extra figures and these helped to fill out the ranks.

Theres certainly more troops here than 18 and it wasn't that hard to crack through them all. I haven't counted them but there must be around 32 or so.

60mm base showing the spacing. I suppose they could of been a bit tighter but I do have to base them yet. Painting glue in-between those tiny legs will be a bit easier on this base.

A wolf hound is a nice touch from Irregular miniatures, it came with their little 100 figure deal. It just gives a bit of period character to the regiment.

This was my other option, 28mm. He seems giant compared to these little fellas.

UPDATE; I've given it some thought and looked at more references in the rule books and decided to rebase them on 50mm.

Looking at the lovely pictures in the rule books, the infantry seem pretty close with no gaps. This was the last straw and I bite the bullet while the glue was still wet and rebase them. I think they look better for it to, much more shoulder to shoulder than before.

This looks more like it.

Before I took the leap.

Afterwards...much better.

Being on a smaller base makes for a better looking pike block too.

I cut a 50mm base in half for the command base.