The Wargamers Secret Weapon

Without this my hobby would have withered years ago. Indeed, it's such a secret I forgot to post it on my blog on Sunday 😆

Three products that change how I paint forever

I've been painting miniatures for over forty years, so it is inevitable that my style of painting and the products I use will have changed over the years. But what are the three products that have changed the way I paint and have become permanent features on my desk?

Russian Line Musketeers 1812

My second entry to the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge was on Sunday with these Russian Line Infantry for 1812. Once again they are wearing the 1808 pattern ‘stovepipe’ Shako, this time covered with an oilskin cover to keep them clean on the march. I will eventually get some infantry with the 1812 Kiwer Shako but many regiments hadn’t adopted the new style before the French invasion. One thing my troops have in abundance are Greatcoats. So as well as making my figures considerably easier to paint than the French troops, they were also much more comfortable in the harsh conditions of the Russian winter. Ironically as my boys are warmer than the Frenchies the greatcoat is also a great way to show the cold by dusting its lower edges with frost. 

Russian Line Grenadiers 1812

The Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge started a little over a week ago and I completed my first EVER unit of 28mm Napoleonics. These are part of a joint project with Ray and we are doing The Retreat from Moscow in 1812.  These are 1812 Russian Grenadiers, but they are wearing slightly out-of-date equipment. They still wear the 1808 pattern ‘stovepipe’ Shako with its enormous plume. From February 1811 regiments started being equipped with the new ‘Kiwer’ style shako with a much thinner Plume. Still, many had not received these before the French invasion in 1812 and some regiments didn’t fully change to the new regulation uniform until 1814.