More Shiny Men.

Now it has been some time since my last blog post. What with one thing and another 2 months have slipped away almost unnoticed so it is well past time for another post.

 I am currently giving India a bit of a rest  and putting most of my currently limited painting time into assorted shiny fellas. This not least because they will be having a public outing in November at the Battleground wargames show in Middlesbrough- at least that is the plan.

Frecbh Carabiniers in the later 'posh cuirassier' uniform. Mostly Hinchliffe Foremost. 

 The 'Shinyloo' Napoleonic collection currently stands at something over 400 models which is not huge but does- even though I say so myself, look pretty tasty. The game at the show will be well... 'a bit like Waterloo- only shinier! - and of course a lot smaller. Not trying for a refight in any shape or form but only pinching the basic scenario for the game. Rule will be, as always for 'Shinyloo' games, the venerable 'Charge- or How To Play Wargames' by Young and Lawford- though I shall be grafting on some better morlae rules probably pinched for Charles Grant's 'The Napoleonic Wargame.

Some offiers- The Artillery officer is Connoisseur Infantry Colonel the same but on a Willie Horse. The Eagelbearer is a converted Stadden.

A Highland Charge- a right nixture of a unit this with Stadden, Connoisseur, Minot ,Willie and Hinchliffe Foremost. More to do here. I am waiting for a small order from Bicorne which will include a colour party . Wirdly I have had an email from them saying they HAVE NOT  shipped it. Still trying to work out the point of that 1 

Regular readers will know that the whole 'Shinyloo' project started as an Homage to and a pastiche of wargaming in the 1970s  using models I could never afford back then  but it has grown over the years rather more than somewhat. The basis is still 30mm models by Stadden Suren and Minot but I also have some hard to find Minifigs 30mm and I have bulked up some units with Hinchliffe Foremost and Connoisseur. Al ranges that were around before 1985- most before 1980.

So here are a few pictures of recently finished units and additions- still plenty more to do. 

Frenc Voltigeurs all Stadden 30mm the two NCOs have had plumes added. 

Shinyloo- Cavalry

  I thought I'd take a few pics of some of the still growing 'Shinyloo' collection. Since I had recently restored a couple of rather battered Minot 30mm French Cuirassiers as well as a couple more Stadden Scots Greys, then some pics of those two units having a bit of a barney seemed apparopriate. 

Frecnh Cuirassiers .Minot with the extravagant movements Stadden next to them and 3 Willies on Stadden horses behing. The Trumpeter is also a Willie. 

A'Helicopter' shot with a few Hincliffe /Foremost Carabinieirs added. 

Now  Napoleonic purists might wail and gnash their teeth and I would not blame them but this will not be as bad as  Ridlyscottaloo after all this is not Waterloo but Shinyloo- like Waterloo only shinier!

Enter the Scots Greys !

 For those unfamiliar with my 'Shinyloo' project it is rather more a pastiche of how my wargaming might have been in the 1970s if I could have afforded it back then. So now it is pure self indulgeance. 

 Scotland Forever perhaps? 

The vast majority of the models are 30mm Stadden ,Willie, Minot or Minifigs with a few Hincliffe and Connoiseur becasue they look good.  Almost all bought second hand and some in shocking condition so the poor chaps often need more than a little TLC. Shiny because back in the 1970s a decent properly matt varnish was almost unobtainable and shiny gloss varish protected the models much better than dodgy matt and gave them a rather nice porcelain look and feel.

Also somehow these older models with their distinctive individual styles look better shiny. 

TLC for old lead Dudes. The Scots Greys.

In the 'Shinyloo' world the Scots Greys are- as yet the only near completed British Cavalry regiment. There are bits of other units as the old models get restored and  painted up. Some Hussars and some Heavy Dragoons  are finished and more Hussars and a few Light Dragoons and Horse Guards are in the 'to do someday' box.

The Scots Greys as they currently stand as one large squadron.

 Most of the ongoing 'Shinyloo'  retro project has been achieved using 'pre-owned' models  acquired from ebay . Sometimes in a pretty poor condition. Often needing new sword blades  and always needing a repaint though not always back to the metal.. There is, without doubt, a certain satisfaction in returning these old models to something close to their 'former glory' . Making the British fit to face the might of Napoleon Shinyparte's army- or indeed the Gloss coated glory of Shinyfarnce to face the perfidious Albion of the Duke of Wellyboot has indeed taken on something of a life of its own over the years.

Closer 

 The units are large by today's standards- or at least that is the plan though they grow quite slowly as regular readers will know this is far from my only project. The Greys can therefore form two Squadrons or one large one as needed. Models are for the uninitiated 30mm either Stadden or Minifigs both from the 1960s or early 70s- the Minifigs being unavailable in the UK since then and  the present whereabouts of most of themoulds unknown.  Stadden are still available from Tradition of London.  

And as 2 squadrons.

And a few Hussars by way of difference- still a bundle of these to paint. 

Could this be the start of something big?

With the success- at least in our eyes of the first "Shinyloo" game I wondered idly where to go from there. Obviously the next game will be bigger longer and shinier as I get more figures painted. Some of that is already done with more British Infantry added and a few more French too.
But then I thought how about something else in the same style. ?

Voltigeurs of a French Legere unit. Old Glory  figures

The same in Skirmish order. 

 As perspicacious readers will be aware Old Glory do a HUGE range of 25.28mm Napoleonics- actually pretty close in size to 30mm  at least as far as the infantry are concerned.Now with around 5000 different packs of figures it is hard to recall them all so I needed to have a look at what was actually available in the Old Glory range. This re-kindled my long dormant interest in the 1809 campaign in Austria. You know Aspern, Essling and Wagram . Now refighting those battles as a whole is out of the question - at least for me. They are too large and impersonal but as a hook to hang some games on and a generator for scenarios ? Well that is another story.

Old Glory French Infantry in Greatcoats- Painted as Chasseurs of a Legere unit 

Officer in a surtout.

 So here are the first small fruits of this idea. I wonder where it will go ?

Old Glry French A.D.C. 

Shiny Chasseurs and a Curassier

As always when you work for a living personal stuff takes longer than you estimate - usually by a good way.
 Thus it was with these finally finished Chasseurs of the French Imperial Guard- Napoleonic  of course. I've been at these for what seems like years and there are only 10 of them. Of course I've been painting other stuff as well both for this project and for others such as the 40mm Wars of the Roses game our group put on at the Durham show last June.

However these are now finally finished all but the Officer being 30mm Minifigs from the late 60s- early 70s . The Officer himself being a Stadden. Horses are Stadden or Willie.

 I've also begun a unit of Minot French Curassiers. These need work most notably with their carbines(which were I dong an earlier campaign I need not worry about but this is 1815 so they need carbines). Now I have carbines for a good number of these. It comes as a small casting integral with the valise but the figures have no carbine belts so as it stands just sort of hangs there uselessly. Carbine belts are easily made from metal foil from used bottles of a decent red. French, Spanish or Italian- your choice, though currently my taste runs to Italian. Its a bit fiddly  but better than letting the carbine hang at a silly angle from nothing in particular. The casualty- hiding quite sensibly in the shrubbery is also a minot.

Was hoping to get the first shinyloo game in this weekend but it does not look likely. Most of the rest of the T.W.A.T.S.  have work commitments so once again I will probably have to postpone until I can get enough TWATS in one place.

Shining again

I decided to have a little bash at photographing some of the nice shiny French I've recently added to the "Shinyloo" project which now only needs some available table time for the first game. I suspect that a little tweaking will be needed but nothing major.

 When I consider what bloody awful condition some of these figures were in when I bought them and how they look now I am on the verge of being rather smug- if not actually so !

 The Chasseurs of the Guard are mostly old 30mm Minifigs on Stadden or Willie Horses . Most of the Grenadiers are Minot- with some Stadden
 The single Mameluke is a Stadden

My mind is working towards using "Charge!" for the games but with a few amendments. Mostly to organisation - French Companies for instance will have 18 privates- allowing them to form 3 ranks of 6 . They will of course only be allowed to fire 2 ranks deep. This should neatly give the British their historical fire superiority without unbalancing the rules. -Solving the tactical problem this causes will be the French Commanders task. The only other amendment I'm thinking of is adding specific rules for the British Rifle. A longer range certainly but hampered by slower loading, perhaps an ability to "pick off" officers etc at closer ranges. Still thinking about this. Possibly not until a game or two have actually been played .

The following day.
Had another look at the batch of pictures I took  before deleting the rubbish and decided to add 2 more photos to this group. The Grenadier officer with his arm stuck out is a 30mm Minifig with a replacement sword from flattened brass wire. The Chasseur officer is a Staddenon a Stadden Horse.

Time to get back in the shine !

 I seem to have been painting 40mm Wars of the Roses for months.  Since about February I've done very little else as far as painting and modelling are concerned. Other projects have very definitely take a back sent.

British rifles- the 95th. Mostly Stadden but the chap with the fixed sword is a Hinchliffe.
 The look is deliberately retro.

 So now the Durham game is done it is time to give the WOTR a bit of a rest and go and do something else. Mind you the WOTR is only resting . I still want to finish the "cart of War" that I collected the components for but ran out of time to complete are also some more pieces from Irregular to add in to the forces. Currently the WOTR is the only one of my 40mm projects that has much life in it. I'm seriously thinking of selling the 40mm ACW and Napoleonic forces and possibly the Dark ages ones as well but only if I can get a respectable price for them- especially the ACW  which has a good bit of professionally painted stuff in it as well as  plenty of my own work when I could see better than I can now.  Actually the 40mm ECW/TYW project still has a bit of life as I have some half done Imperialist Cuirassiers on the table as well as a couple of other figures in various stages of dress. That is a collection that is definitely not in the sale possibility.

Another of the same. The office figure is suppoed to be Harry Smith- somehow he can't get anyone to post his letter for him!! 

So what do I do next- some more shiny dudes as they were on the desk anyway and"Shinyloo" is as good as table ready . After that some 28mm ECW I think unless something else takes my fancy ... I still have some more Moderns I want to add to my forces and I really need to get properly stuck into the 15mm ECW for the Dunkirk Dunes idea.
 However I have now finally finished all the "Shinyloo" British riflemen I have  so here are a ferw pics of them skulking behind some ancient Britains  plastic hedges which are roughly the same age as they are. All are Stadden 30mm except for a couple of Hinchliffe I acquired already painted to a fine standard in a job lot of assorted toys I got from ebay.

So all in all plenty to be going on with. Rules and games- who needs 'em  more stuff to do in the real world.

The Shining does not stop.

Although currently most of my figure painting has been 40mm Wars of the Roses - for our demo at the Durham show in June. I find myself unable to completely (albeit temporarily) abandon Shinyloo.
 I recently picked up a bunch of second hand Stadden 30mm models. These had been through the mill  and some were in a pretty shocking condition. "Painted"(or rather not) by a man who had done the deed with a 4 inch brush whilst wearing a bag on  his head.  These poor lads had then been abused and forgotten- possibly for decades before being rescued by yours truly. They all need a good bit of TLC but most of them can go - once restored -into existing units.
 I've already completed some of them adding to the 44th foot which now boast 2 whole "Charge" style companies plus a few over to start the 3rd which I may just have enough figures in hand for, though some need repairing.and a Battalion HQ. The Royal Scots Greys now has 13 completed figures with 7 more  in hand to do, but all of these need repairs. I've about a dozen Minot French Cuirassiers but all of them need carbine belts as Minot never bothered but gave them a carbine attached to a separate valise which means the weapon hangs from nothing at a silly angle- rather like our current Government. These belts will be made of metal foil- usually from bottles of Italian or Spanish red. I do like a decent Pugliese..

In the Stadden pruchase mentioned above was a single Mameluke. He arrived without plume or Sword and rather battered to boot. Now complete he will join the Chasseurs of the Guard.

 A Sergeant of Line Grenadiers. Plume ad bayonet added. The figure is a Stadden 30mm again in a poor condition when acquired.

I needed a Kings Colour for the 44th. Painting a Stadden standard bearer was the best option.  It was truly a bugger to paint but sits well alongside the Regimental colour. 

Colonel and Colours of the Regiment- all Stadden 30mm figures.

The unit as it currently stands. Effectively 2 Charge style companies. 

As for the French  I have a lot of Minot Imperial Guard and a fair bundle of Stadden but of Line Infantry only a few- most of the centre companies will end up being Hincliffe Foremost- still available but falling into my personal parameters for this project as they were first made in the 70s.. Nevertheless I will have to get some Suren Fusiliers but the "army" is going to be very Imperial Guard heavy simply because the secondhand and restored figures are principally Imperial Guard.
So this project moves on - still slowly - but the first game- using "Charge!" will be this yearas there are now well over 200 completed figures.
 But first I have to get the 40mm Wars of the Roses game for the Durham show in June sorted- more of that in my next post.

Shiny Sawnies......

So finally another small unit for the "Shinyloo project takes shape. These are in therory the Gordon Highlanders

30mm Gordon Highlanders Waterloo campaign... sort of...

Purists will point to the kilts and shout Yah Boo Sucks doundtless but  they are as close as I can get - though the yellow overstripe is a tad on the vivid side.

A night out in Belgium....

Remebering the action of the 42nd at Quatre Bras made it obvious to set up a pic with thecurassiers mixing it with the GordonsNo doubt the Gordons are uttering the famous Scottis War cry - heard on many a field- at least by me- of
 See you!  Has ye mither got a sewin' machine- Tell her tae Stich THAT !"
 or 
"Getyfu-Ya Basa! " - usually when grasped by an enemy.

Highlanders are a mixture of Stadden- a couple of Minot and some Foremost and despite differences in height and style all live happily together.  .

"Shinyloo" -an Occaisional Diversion

Now I'm not one of those single minded wargamer chappies who can start at one end of a silver mountain and with little painting arm going like a fiddlers elbow in the middle bit of the Bum of the Flytle bee paint an army to the exclusion of all else. One may admire these fellow doncha' know but they make you feel just a tad unconfortable- sipping their Ovaltine whilst they paint burning the misdnight oil to finish those Hoplites... One MAY admire but you wouldn't want to BE one- there are too many pubs, too many malt whiskies too much more world for that kind of malarkey. Which Gentle reader is merely a roundabot way of saying that even in Wargaming Terms I'm a bit if a Dilitante. I like doing different stuff.- So There. Which brings me to this small collection of figures. Picked up over the last few year in often shocking condition. It all started with a bundle of hard to find Minifigs 30mm figures - not common these days -separate arms and a bit fiddly.Then I aquired some Minot 30mm Grenadiers of the Guard and a few stadden Brits with a few Minot amongst them. What I thought to actually do with them. A retro look seemed obvious- Charge style Napoleonic? Possibly - so a little at a time I painted 'em up and gave them a gloss varnish- very unfashionably shiny- fine Blog that ! and no doubt an influence here

So here we see the Grenadiers- all Minot 30mm bar the Minifigs Officer. Could use some more of these- or indeed any Minot 30mm Napoleonics.

Here we see the Shiny Chasseurs- well the 1st 3 completed ones- the Officer is a Suren Murat somehat converted and - since the Chassuers were horseless I've use a mix of Stadden and Jacdaw horses. I have about another half dozen of these to do.

And here the French General - A suren figure on a Jacdaw horse. Needless to say there are Britsh too- though not so many yet- this is a very occaisional project as the mood takes me so to speak.

All Stadden here - except for the pair of wounded- Minots again. The cast flag was a painting excercise that I'd wanted to try for a while . I'm quite chuffed with the result.

Finally the british- reinforced by my only 2 Minot Highlanders are chareged by the shiny Chassuers. Oh- Shinyloo?- Its Waterloo only shinier !!