Britains Hollowcast ACW With Havelocks or Argentinian National Guard
I have,over the last couple of years bought, at bargain, a lot of pre-loved Britains from Palmersaurus. Many of them have been partially or entirely repainted and have seen many battles. One lot consisted of standing and kneeling firing confederates. Some of them were repaints, with different heads of British redcoats! Many had home casting heads with some obscure facial detail (even more so than normal for old Britains). A few figures were standing Hillco Federals. There was a a sma amount of paint loss too.
Having read the Osprey War of the Triple Alliance recently I decided to paint them and convert them as Argentinians but with a uniform that could still enable them to serve as Confederates, albeit early war ones. In an earlier post I posted pics of some plastic figures also converted this way.
The color scheme on the figures already matched - light blue pants and facings on a grey jacket, although some needed repainting. The additions were white trouser stripes (not regulation for Confederate 'regulars' but certainly worn by some state troops or volunteers, so the figures can still serve for both wars).
The main addition were the havelocks (named after a British Indian Mutiny general). These white cloth cap covers with neck shades were worn by some units on both sides of the ACW at such battles as Bull Run.They were also worn by the Argentinian State Guard.I made them with green Stuff and have some time ago done this with a Mexican unit. (A number of regiments in both sides of the 1860s civil war there wore this. The havelock was never unique to the French Foreign Legion).
Often I paint old hollowcast in the original style but I digressed somewhat this time so the figures look more like 'enhanced' figures of the time. Collectors repainted them with whites of eyes, and so on but kept the round splash of pink rosy cheeks. I didn't paint much in the way of shadows and highlights either, not that there was much in the way of clothing folds to paint anyway. Where the faces lacked definition I did use some white mixed with the flesh to make the noses stand out more. (On other occasions I have used liquid Green Stuff to make noses bigger. the other trick is to paint small moustaches under noses to indicate where the nose is even if it is barely perceptible. Some of the home cast heads had thick blobby noses that I cut into to give better definition as the beak of the noses went up to the cap brim.
Lastly I gave a coat of artists mat spray which gives a semi-mat appearance.
The figures are dwarfed by some other makes such as Armies in Plastic but they look good as a unit. I still have to find appropriate officer and flag bearer and might use plastic figures for the purpose. I'll also glue the existing card basing to some slightly larger bases. The soldiers might well see first service as Ruritanians.
Having read the Osprey War of the Triple Alliance recently I decided to paint them and convert them as Argentinians but with a uniform that could still enable them to serve as Confederates, albeit early war ones. In an earlier post I posted pics of some plastic figures also converted this way.
The color scheme on the figures already matched - light blue pants and facings on a grey jacket, although some needed repainting. The additions were white trouser stripes (not regulation for Confederate 'regulars' but certainly worn by some state troops or volunteers, so the figures can still serve for both wars).
The main addition were the havelocks (named after a British Indian Mutiny general). These white cloth cap covers with neck shades were worn by some units on both sides of the ACW at such battles as Bull Run.They were also worn by the Argentinian State Guard.I made them with green Stuff and have some time ago done this with a Mexican unit. (A number of regiments in both sides of the 1860s civil war there wore this. The havelock was never unique to the French Foreign Legion).
Often I paint old hollowcast in the original style but I digressed somewhat this time so the figures look more like 'enhanced' figures of the time. Collectors repainted them with whites of eyes, and so on but kept the round splash of pink rosy cheeks. I didn't paint much in the way of shadows and highlights either, not that there was much in the way of clothing folds to paint anyway. Where the faces lacked definition I did use some white mixed with the flesh to make the noses stand out more. (On other occasions I have used liquid Green Stuff to make noses bigger. the other trick is to paint small moustaches under noses to indicate where the nose is even if it is barely perceptible. Some of the home cast heads had thick blobby noses that I cut into to give better definition as the beak of the noses went up to the cap brim.
Lastly I gave a coat of artists mat spray which gives a semi-mat appearance.
The figures are dwarfed by some other makes such as Armies in Plastic but they look good as a unit. I still have to find appropriate officer and flag bearer and might use plastic figures for the purpose. I'll also glue the existing card basing to some slightly larger bases. The soldiers might well see first service as Ruritanians.
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