Paint on the 6th Wisconsin

It has been great to see a nice little surge from the Guns of April team members of late, post pics of their WIP and finished units. I'm sure as things get closer to April we'll see an even bigger increase in the quantity of posts!

Anyway, on the Union front I've finished putting paint to model for my 6th Wisconsin unit (pictured above) and painting up a firing line was a nice change from the marching pose of the 2nd Wisconsin. I'll be doing all the basing once I've completed the two units pictured below.

Here is the first shot of the 24th Michigan regiment. For this unit I used a mix of Perry miniatures, almost all of them wearing frock coats (so there was no need to sculpt them). The models were lacking, however, the Hardee hat made famous by the Iron Brigade (aka the Black Hat Brigade), so a solid number of this unit are now wearing them. I decided these boys would be the 24th Michigan as I think the mixture of heads and the variety of equipment gives them the feel of a rough and ready unit a bit late to the game, fitting the regiment from the wilds of the hand-shaped state that was the last to join the brigade.

And here are my 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry unit dismounted. I've modeled them so they will be behind a white, picket fence (from the Perry/Renedra sprue), but I've left it off for ease of painting.

Hopefully my fellow Union players are cranking out their models and will have something to show us very soon.

Cheers

Dave

1st NC Cav

Greetings,
         While over the holiday season I decided that it was high time I finished my Cav reg't for my Confederates and GOA brigade. I had these guys sitting on my TV stand primed, just staring me down to paint them so I decided it was high time to get those little buggers done. Now the fun thing about the Cavalry models is most of us are using the exact same ones, which are the Perry Plastics, and it just goes to show how similar uniforms were that with a little change in paint you can make a very distinct uniform.

As usual my Photography is not amazing, but it also doesn't help tha tone of my lights broke:( so I am left with one. Anyways as was seen on my infantry reg't they are still unbased as I plan to do them all in one go so as to not mess up and misshade the army. As is also the case I have no standard atm :( (big frowny face) as I can't seem to find any that match the reg't! I contacted Flag Dude and with no response I looked at GMB but they don't have the ones I need. Rumor mill has it though that they are about to add a bunch more for the ACW so here's to keep my fingers crossed as I think they have some of the best flags on the market.

A side view of a few of my riders, one of the reason I love the Confederate Uniforms is because of the versatility of them. They would brush up their clothes and that could be the dress uniform, also color wise you get to have a lot of fun because after 1861 their was really no standard as they didn't have the industrial abilities as the North.

I love this model with the black hat here as he screams classic reb, the downside was I dropped him while painting so he pistol broke so he is just mimicking his cohorts. Had I though about it I would have converted some of them with their rifles but I will save that for the rest of the brigade that I do after Adepticon.

Finally a close up of one of the faces. I used GW paints for the skin as I enjoy the end result and they don't come out too cartoony for my liking. I did eyes on everything(which I hate) and even did one highlight to all of the blacks. All in all I am happy with the result as I enjoy the look so far of the army as a whole. Everything has around 5-6 layers on it to achieve the effect minus say a few items as I didn't want to go to light. I am doing this so as to have a smoother contrast to the models...plus I all around enjoy the ACW period. If you are at Adepticon stop on by and check all of the guys armies out as I garuntee it will be a show unto itself:)! Finally next up is the brigade commander Gen. Pettigrew and the brigades artillery as well as limbers. Until then thanks for reading and keep painting..oh ya DAVID PAUWELS LETS SEE SOME UPDATES SLACKER!!!!
-Alex

Game Markers Done!!!

Well, before I moved forward with my army I wanted to get the approval of those thread counters on color choices for the coats, trousers and canteens. So, Don, I guess this is where you come in and comment on my base colors and highlights for those items. :)  If you notice anything else please let me know so I can correct it for the rest of my army. Thanks guys.

 I used the same basing colors that Dave T. suggested but I don't have any flowers. I am also trying to decide if the skin could use one more highlight to bring out the cheek bones, nose, chin, etc.

69th New York - One Step Closer

They may not be much to look at right now but hopefully in the next few weeks they will be completely done and based. I just bought one of those simple photography booths and I am still working out the kinks so the pictures may be a little suspect for the next post or two.

Here is the 69th in all its glory. Soon they will get some highlights and their colors.

Here is the Perry Miniatures metal command to accompany the plastics above. I ended up buying the metal command for each of my regiments for two reasons. First, the plastic command are not wearing sack coats and second I wanted the actions of my command to match what the regiment was doing. 

Stay tuned for more exciting action from the soldiers north of the border........

Double Canister Casualties

Well, here are some pictures of casualty markers that I hope I don't have to use but I know I am not that good of a general. These are Perry Miniatures casualties and the miniatures on hex bases will be used to mark Disorder and the miniatures on the 60mm round are going to be used to track hits on regiments. The miniatures are merely basecoated and dipped (Army Painter) at this stage and once I have some more stuff painted to this point I will begin some final highlights. 

I decided to create a wood lined box for the die to rest in. This way the die isn't accidently  picked up and the wood makes it  seem like a little trench. 

Here you can see the die all snug in its new home. Hopefully no regiment under my command will ever suffer that many hits but you never know what will happen. 

Double canister!

                   Hello all! Here are some photos of my newly finished artillery units.

I have gone with 12lb Confederate Napoleons. If you look closely at the muzzle of the cannon it does not flair out like its Union counterpart. Both units are from Sash and Saber castings.

Well hope you all enjoy the photos. Up next will be the 22nd Alabama Inf. Until then enjoy the upcoming holidays and keep the paint flying.

The 6th Wisconsin are underway!

Another unit of Perry plastics has received the Iron Brigade treatment, with the bulk of the unit receiving the "frock coat/Hardee hat with ostrich feather" treatment.

A few models throughout the unit are sporting forage caps, or sack coats, or shell jackets, just for a little variety. Now it's time to get on with the painting.

Last week my Perry Miniatures order arrived! I now have all the models I need to complete my Iron Brigade (including all five infantry regiments, an artillery piece, the attached 6th Pennsylvania cav (both mounted and dismounted, with horse handlers) and my brigade commander.

Finally, my Movember moustache is coming along nicely. Not quite up to Sam Elliot/Buford level, but on the way. I ask now that you head over to my MoSpace and make a donation!

Click here to donate.

7th tennessee 2.0

I could not let Mr.Taylor and those darn Billy Yanks say us Rebs can't base our minis or use flags ;). Below are some updated photos of my 7th Tennessee.

 I went with about the same basing color as Dave went with on his 2nd Wisconsin Infantry

 The flags I have chosen for all the units in this project will be from GMB designs. 

Well, I hope you all like the updated "complete" unit as Dave would say, and sorry for the short notes on the above pictures. Be on the lookout for some upcoming artillery units, as well as another infantry regiment. Thanks for looking.

6th Pennsylvania Cavalry (mounted) Completed (almost)

And another one bites the dust!

The mounted version of my assigned cavalry unit is complete (apart from the GMB Designs guidon which is on its way). It was pretty easy to get these guys all wrapped up as I actually painted the first six models back in 2009 for an article in WI261 on Union cavalry. The models are the excellent Perry Miniatures plastics.

It was a fairly simple thing to paint up two more models and rebase the older guys.

I hope you like them. I only have the dismounted version of this unit, four infantry regiments, one artillery piece, and a few command stands left to paint ; )

Our Movember efforts have started with a bang. Already the team has raised over $1,000. Personally, I'd like to see us raise $3,000 but we can only do that with your support. Please head HERE to donate.

Cheers
Dave

2nd Wisconsin Completed!

Finally, we can show you a truly finished regiment (note the basing and flags are in place, unlike some of those scruffy Rebs). This is the first regiment of the Iron Brigade, the 2nd Wisconsin Volunteers.

I'm very happy with how the conversions and painting has turned out. Fairly simple yet very effective stuff. Thanks go to Don Effinger for his notes on the Iron Brigade's blue piping on their collars and cuffs, as well as the blue hat cords. You'll note I haven't painted the piping or hat cords on all the models, as no doubt some wore replacement coats and had damaged hats.

Another thing to note is their haversacks/bread bags. I've painted mine in a dirty canvas color, which is not at all historically correct. History shows that these bags would have been black (although a few regiments did apparently carry white bags). I chose this warmer canvas look to add some color and warmth to the dark and cool colors already dominating the models. Purely a painters choice.

The lovely flags are from GMB Designs who do a great range of beautifully rendered banners. The only slight disappointment is that the side of the Stars & Stripes that has the regiment's battle honors stitched on to it is "covered" by the regimental flag and can only really be seen from the back. Not GMB's fault at all.

Anyway, before my colleagues start asking about the colors for the basing, here they are:

Basecoat: Vallejo Charred Brown
First drybrush: Vallejo Beige Brown
Second drybrush: Vallejo Dark Sand

Paint the edges with Vallejo Beige Brown

The grasses on top of the bases are a mix of Late Summer Buffalo grass from Silflor, Jungle and Highland Tufts from Army Painter, Meadow with flowers Assortment (also from Silflor), and then patches of static grass (I used a 50:50 mix of GW's Scorched Grass and GF9's Static Grass: Green).

I hope you like them, only another four regiments of the Iron Brigade to go ; )

Oh, and don't forget to donate to our Guns Of April Movember team as we try to raise money for raising awareness (and solving) men's health issues. You can donate at my Movember page here.

Cheers
Dave

Movember is Coming!

It has been a little quiet on the Guns Of April front, as some members switch jobs and move to other states, and some members forget they're supposed to be painting up 120+ models for next year's big game! Well, things are about to change. You'll see a lot more posts on the blog here, and some of them may even have toy soldiers in them. The rest will be about our fun-filled foray into the world of masculine facial hair.

That's right. A number of the Guns of April team have decided to sign up, grow a mustache, and raise funds to fight prostate cancer (and other assorted men's health issues). Here's a link to our team page on the Movember website, where you can find out all about this great (and mildly venerable) annual institution.

We currently have six of the GOA team participating and you can find links to their individual pages here:

Brien Dulaney - Confederate
Dave Taylor - Union
Jamie Welling - Confederate
Dave Pauwels - Union
Rob Chandler - Confederate
Alex Akers - Confederate

The basic idea is this: 

We all start clean shaven on Movember 1st, and then grow our mustaches over the following month. There are to be no beards, goatees, chinstraps, or mustaches linked up to sideburns allowed. We'll take photos of our progress, upload them to the pages above (and this blog, I guess) and you all help out by donating money and telling your friends to do the same : )  We will even have a poll at the end of the month to see which one of us you think has the best 'tache!

You can donate via our team page, or via our individual pages (all the donations go to the same place). Take note, however, that the side (Union or Confederate) that amasses the greatest combined total of it's participants will get to go first in the big game at Adepticon next April.

And to get you in the mustache mood, I leave you with two beauties from the film Gettysburg.

Buford, played by the excellent Sam Elliot, sporting a fairly reserved yet very full top lip caterpillar.

And Chamberlain, played by Jeff Daniels in his best role before Newsroom, sporting the mightiest walrus I have ever seen!

So, what are you waiting for? Get your wallets out and donate!

Cheers

Dave

7th Tennessee done!

Hello all! My name is Robert Chandler. I just want to start by saying I am very thankful and excited to be a part of the Guns Of April  project and hope I can contribute to this project with the energy and skill as the rest of the team. For my contribution, I have decided to go with Archers brigade from Heth's division which belonged to A.P Hill's Third Corp A.N.V

These are photos of the 7th Tennessee Vol. Inf. there were 5 regiments in Archers Brigade which were the 5th and 13th Alabama along with the 1st, 7th and 14th Tennessee volunteer infantry regiments.

I've decided to use miniatures from Sash and Saber castings. I was rather impressed that they offer 40 man units in white metal with each miniature in a different pose. I know most of us have gotten used to the fact that if we want to use white metal for historical projects we get 4-7 poses and have to deal with the repetition of sculpt in each unit. Having the option to chose from 40 miniatures to create the 30 man units was a welcoming option.

This is the first of five regiments. I must say that so far this project has renewed my passion for the hobby and I cannot wait to dive into next installment. Next up I'm going to start on both Alabama regiments and have decided to do both of these in firing/battle lines verses marching units. The regiments will be from Sash and Saber as well. Okay, until next time, keep the paint flying! - Rob

Onward, 2nd Wisconsin!

After seeing Alex's very nice North Carolina regiment in the last post, I knew I had to pull my finger out and get started on my Iron Brigade. Here you can see the first 12 models from the 2nd Wisconsin Regiment.

These models are the very nice, simple Perry Miniatures plastics, with a little bit of additional greenstuff from me, as you can see below.

One of the most prominent features of the appearance of the Iron Brigade was their adherence to their formal uniforms. According to quite a few sources I've looked at, and discussions with other ACW wargamers, it seems the five regiments of the Iron Brigade regularly went into battle wearing their standard issue frock coat and Hardee hats, as opposed to the more common/popular (at least amongst the Union troops) sack coats and forage caps.

I really like the Perry plastics, but only the officer model has a frock coat, so out came the greenstuff and sculpting tool. It was surprising how quickly the lower half of the coats came together. Even so, I've decided that not every model in the army will have a frock coat, as I'm sure that no matter how hard they tried, the occasional soldier would have lost his frock coat, either removed and lost on a long summer march, or torn from his wounded body by a field surgeon.

You'll also notice that I built a few Hardee hats from greenstuff on top of the standard plastic slouch hats that come with the set. Again, a little bit of quick manipulation with the sculpting tool, a slice across the top with a knife (once the putty was dry) and you have a very serviceable Hardee (check the top picture for reference).

Well, I've just completed building the next 18 models to round out the regiment. More on those guys once the paint is dry.

I hope you like them.

Cheers
Dave