Brig. Gen. Archer, 13th Alabama and Mass Graves....Oh my

“there are those damned black-hatted fellows again. ‘Taint no militia.  It’s the Army of the Potomac.”
 Brigadier General James J.Archer Battle of Gettysburg July 1st 1863.

Hello All. It's been a while since Ive posted anything. First off a big thanks to my good friend, Alex Landing from Ironheart Artisans, for the photo work of my Archers Brigade Project. This post and all upcoming will be chock full o' pictures. OKAY! Lets dive into the first set. Below are some angles of  " the little gamecock" himself Brigadier General James J. Archer and staff.

Again, I have chosen miniatures from Sash And Saber Castings to represent the brigade command stand. 

 I was shooting for a simple portrayal of Archer and a member of his staff in an exchange of what was happening on the field of battle in front them.

I really enjoy the simplicity of the two models eye contact and think it really pulls off the effect I was going for.

Next up are photos of the 13th Alabama Infantry. This time around, I decided to mix it up a bit and go with a battle line vs. marching column.  

 Again I have gone with Sash And Saber Casting for this unit. As I described in a prior post, this company offers regiment packs of 40 white metal minis without any duplicate sculpts. I find this really gives the unit a dynamic look with so many different actions of firing, loading, priming, etc.

 I also found with the few random casualties thrown in it really gives the unit a realistic middle of battle feel.

All in all I'm very happy with the way the 13th Alabama Infantry has turned out. The battle line was a welcoming change from painting right shoulder shift days on end :)

Last but not least, my unit casualty markers or mass grave markers as I'd like to call them.

 As you can see Ive decided to not use minis for my markers. I figured mass grave markers would be a little more appropriate for the brigade due to the heavy losses taken at Gettysburg.Well, the truth is, I took the easy way out and cut down the amount of minis I have to paint * cough cough I'm a wuss*.

 These were very fun to construct. It was challenging to find enough toothpick sized dead twigs to construct the cross grave markers. I think they came out as intended.

Well I hope you all have enjoyed the progress photo. Up next will be the 14th Tennessee Infantry. These are done and just awaiting photos so I hope to have them up soon! Until next time keep the paint flying and have a great day!

Big Rob

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.

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