Figures Victory Miniatures - 120mm Trafalgar Gun Crew

[Smeggers]

Following on from a post I originated back in September 2018, I picked on a couple of pieces from Victory Miniatures to start a new project. The pieces chosen were the Royal Marine and the Powder Monkey.

The Leader of the Opposition (aka Mrs Smeg) has often whinged at me about everything being painted either Olive Green or Desert Yellow. I felt it was time to have a break from truck building and have taken on this project. I envisage a 32 - pounder gun in the process of being fired. All crew figures plus a "snotty" (midshipman) and a powder monkey.

Having primed everything yesterday, I undercoated the Marine's arms and jacket in Orange with Blue/black cuffs. The britches were undercoated with Light Sky Grey and all exposed flesh was given a coat of Life Colour's Flesh #1 base. The Powder Monkey had his jacket undercoated in Dark Slate Grey and britches in Deck Tan. Today, I gave the Orange jacket it's first coat of Infantry Scarlet and the britches a coat of off-white. The powder monkey's jacket was given it's first coat of Oxford Blue with his undershirt in Light Sky Grey. The britches received an initial coat of Cold White. Ancillary equipment, including the Powder carrier, shot and charge have been painted in Leather and Steel for the roundshot.

The marine's knee high gaiters were initially painted in Blue Grey followed by a coat of Blue Black. The boots have been given a coat of Matt Black as an undercoat and will later receive two coats of Gloss Black.

As previously stated, all exposed flesh areas were given a coat of Life Colour Flesh #1 Base. Eyes were originally painted in Pearl Grey, with Light Pink for the lower eyes. Irises were painted using Burnt Umber for the Powder Monkey and Blue/Grey for the Marine. Hair colour was Desert Sand for the Powder Monkey, overlaid with Woodgrain. The Marine was given a Burnt Umber hair colour, again followed by an overlay of the Woodgrain. A light dry-brushing with Light Sky Grey was applied to add age. #2 Base was used to pick out the jaw line and blended into #1 Shadow. Light Flesh was dry-brushed over the faces to highlight raised features.

I'm on a day-off tomorrow so I will give the uniforms some attention

 

[SPROCKET321]

that last one's a bit grim, like standing at Traitors gate after one of Henry's wives made up lovers has been dealt with. Coming along though, I like the character you've captured in both faces.

 

[Helm]

Looks very well mate. I'd hold off on the black for boots and use a dark grey like Panzer Grey or similar, it will I think look more realistic.

 

[Smeggers]

Looks very well mate. I'd hold off on the black for boots and use a dark grey like Panzer Grey or similar, it will I think look more realistic.

Thanks I'll give it a go. I was wondering if a darker grey may be more effective.

 

[Helm]

Thanks I'll give it a go. I was wondering if a darker grey may be more effective.

Black rarely looks right for some reason. I only use it for the very deepest of shadows.

 

[Rodney2q]

Looks very well mate. I'd hold off on the black for boots and use a dark grey like Panzer Grey or similar, it will I think look more realistic.

I'd go for a very dark grey with a thin wash of black ink. The shoes would certainly not have been shiny...

Here's a pair from the 1850s

 

[ches]

Smegers, apart from where you've stated Life Colour are the other paints Vallejo?
Having had a long held semi on for napoleonic naval stuff thanks to Paddy OBrian I've been tempted by this range for ages.

 

[Daz]

I'd go for a very dark grey with a thin wash of black ink. The shoes would certainly not have been shiny...

Here's a pair from the 1850s

They need burning down and bulling asap

 

[Chef]

I'd go for a very dark grey with a thin wash of black ink. The shoes would certainly not have been shiny...

Here's a pair from the 1850s

Interestingly boots were ambidextrous; when the trooper had worn them down he swapped them round and got more wear out of them before they needed resoling, I saw that in the National Army Museum. So it's true.

Olden days, recycling and reusing before the environment and St Greta were invented

 

[AULD_SWEAT]

Following on from a post I originated back in September 2018, I picked on a couple of pieces from Victory Miniatures to start a new project. The pieces chosen were the Royal Marine and the Powder Monkey.
View attachment 523163
The Leader of the Opposition (aka Mrs Smeg) has often whinged at me about everything being painted either Olive Green or Desert Yellow. I felt it was time to have a break from truck building and have taken on this project. I envisage a 32 - pounder gun in the process of being fired. All crew figures plus a "snotty" (midshipman) and a powder monkey.

Having primed everything yesterday, I undercoated the Marine's arms and jacket in Orange with Blue/black cuffs. The britches were undercoated with Light Sky Grey and all exposed flesh was given a coat of Life Colour's Flesh #1 base. The Powder Monkey had his jacket undercoated in Dark Slate Grey and britches in Deck Tan. Today, I gave the Orange jacket it's first coat of Infantry Scarlet and the britches a coat of off-white. The powder monkey's jacket was given it's first coat of Oxford Blue with his undershirt in Light Sky Grey. The britches received an initial coat of Cold White. Ancillary equipment, including the Powder carrier, shot and charge have been painted in Leather and Steel for the roundshot.

The marine's knee high gaiters were initially painted in Blue Grey followed by a coat of Blue Black. The boots have been given a coat of Matt Black as an undercoat and will later receive two coats of Gloss Black.

View attachment 523186
View attachment 523188
As previously stated, all exposed flesh areas were given a coat of Life Colour Flesh #1 Base. Eyes were originally painted in Pearl Grey, with Light Pink for the lower eyes. Irises were painted using Burnt Umber for the Powder Monkey and Blue/Grey for the Marine. Hair colour was Desert Sand for the Powder Monkey, overlaid with Woodgrain. The Marine was given a Burnt Umber hair colour, again followed by an overlay of the Woodgrain. A light dry-brushing with Light Sky Grey was applied to add age. #2 Base was used to pick out the jaw line and blended into #1 Shadow. Light Flesh was dry-brushed over the faces to highlight raised features.
View attachment 523190

I'm on a day-off tomorrow so I will give the uniforms some attention

That Marine can't be far from drawing his AFPS... (And the angelic looking powder monkey would need to mind his stern gland..)

 

[Rodney2q]

Interestingly boots were ambidextrous; when the trooper had worn them down he swapped them round and got more wear out of them before they needed resoling, I saw that in the National Army Museum. So it's true.

Olden days, recycling and reusing before the environment and St Greta were invented

Left and right shoes came in much later and all armies in europe at that time had a standard shaped shoe. IIRC the wearer was supposed to alternate them on the feet so that they wore evenly. They didn't last very long though - about a month on a hard campaign was considered pretty good. The French army regularly seized stocks of shoes from the towns they passed through so they could keep their infantry in footwear.

One major problem was the contractors who made the shoes often skimped on the materials and it was not unkown for the shoes to be glued together (rather than stitched) or haave the soles made of a think skin of leather and the rest being cardboard. There are cases when the shoes fell apart during the first march in the wet or rain and lots of accounts mentioning barefoot troops.

In the Penisular campaign both British and French troops adopted the Spanish espadrille style footwear as it was easier to get hold of than proper boots/shoes (like the chap on the left of the pic below)...

Generally it was only the officers who would (or could afford) to have proper boots made for them.

Even as late as the American Civil War the contractors were supplying inadequate footwear.

 

[Smeggers]

Smegers, apart from where you've stated Life Colour are the other paints Vallejo?
Having had a long held semi on for napoleonic naval stuff thanks to Paddy OBrian I've been tempted by this range for ages.

Yes with the exception of the pale pink beneath the eye which was a mixture of Cold White and Vermillion (both Vallejo). Keep an eye out for the next pair, which will be the "snotty" and the 32 pounder.

 

[Helm]

Left and right shoes came in much later and all armies in europe at that time had a standard shaped shoe. IIRC the wearer was supposed to alternate them on the feet so that they wore evenly. They didn't last very long though - about a month on a hard campaign was considered pretty good. The French army regularly seized stocks of shoes from the towns they passed through so they could keep their infantry in footwear.

One major problem was the contractors who made the shoes often skimped on the materials and it was not unkown for the shoes to be glued together (rather than stitched) or haave the soles made of a think skin of leather and the rest being cardboard. There are cases when the shoes fell apart during the first march in the wet or rain and lots of accounts mentioning barefoot troops.

In the Penisular campaign both British and French troops adopted the Spanish espadrille style footwear as it was easier to get hold of than proper boots/shoes (like the chap on the left of the pic below)...

Generally it was only the officers who would (or could afford) to have proper boots made for them.

Even as late as the Cold War the contractors were supplying inadequate footwear.

A little more accurate

 

[Nimbus]

A little more accurate

Beat me to it, except I was going for ‘Falklands’...

 

[ExAuxBalloonCorps]

Left and right shoes came in much later and all armies in europe at that time had a standard shaped shoe. IIRC the wearer was supposed to alternate them on the feet so that they wore evenly. They didn't last very long though - about a month on a hard campaign was considered pretty good. The French army regularly seized stocks of shoes from the towns they passed through so they could keep their infantry in footwear.

One major problem was the contractors who made the shoes often skimped on the materials and it was not unkown for the shoes to be glued together (rather than stitched) or haave the soles made of a think skin of leather and the rest being cardboard. There are cases when the shoes fell apart during the first march in the wet or rain and lots of accounts mentioning barefoot troops.

In the Penisular campaign both British and French troops adopted the Spanish espadrille style footwear as it was easier to get hold of than proper boots/shoes (like the chap on the left of the pic below)...

Generally it was only the officers who would (or could afford) to have proper boots made for them.

Even as late as the American Civil War the contractors were supplying inadequate footwear.

I remember the gem from Ken Burns’ The Civil War in the World Of Shoddy chapter about a supplier being asked why, after a few days use, the soles of the boots he supplied would fall off, only to answer that they were made for the Cavalry.

 

[Smeggers]

A new day and no dramas so far. The Marine's boots have been given a coat of Vallejo Black Grey while the gaiters were given a coat of Life Colour Blue Black. I had spent about an hour sorting through all of my paints and testing anything that was vaguely Black. After narrowing it down to four choices, I then painted a piece of primed resin in each of the colours. The two selected colours were chosen for;
a) their closeness to Black
b) the subtleness of difference between the two shades, and
c) the issue of how true to the original the two shades were.

Marine's boots and gaiters after second coat of paint...

 

[Helm]

Try dry brushing with sepiaish brown on the high points for that worn leather look now, they look good

 

[Smeggers]

While waiting for the Marine's legs to dry, I started on the Powder Monkey's britches. These I'd originally undercoated in Deck Tan. They were given an initial wash of Off-White and when dry, dry brushed with Ivory. After this had dried, I gave them a further dry brushing of Cold-White.I'm quite pleased with the results.

Powder Monkey's britches

During the course of the day, I had primed the Midshipman's various pieces and then given his jacket, sleeves and bicorne hat a coat of Prussian Blue. I also spent some time hollowing out his speaking trumpet. This is the one bit of casting that comes out oversized and needs the walls thinning out with a 2mms ball rasp on the drill.

I also took some time cleaning g up the gun barrel for the 32 pounder. This is a large casting and needed one or two pin holes filling. Also, there were a few holes around the cascade which needed filling. My choice for filling small pin holes in resin is the Works very own Artist's Modelling Paste. This is usually used for adding texture to Oil or Acrylic pictures, but is excellent for filling small holes. It comes out quite wet and needs 24 hours to dry. This can be speeded up by using a hairdryer, but I don't think too many Arrsers will have need of one of them.I

The Paste and the Barrel

The filling around the cascabel.

I think I should enclose a diagram of a cannon with labelled parts to assist those who don't know the various names for the parts.

You may need to enlarge it to read the names. Working late tomorrow so will attempt more on Thursday.

 

[Rodney2q]

My choice for filling small pin holes in resin is the Works very own Artist's Modelling Paste. This is usually used for adding texture to Oil or Acrylic pictures, but is excellent for filling small holes. It comes out quite wet and needs 24 hours to dry. This can be speeded up by using a hairdryer, but I don't think too many Arrsers will have need of one of them

I keep one on a hook next my desk at work for speeding up paint and wash drying...

Never used it for hair drying though.

Edited to add - when I was a lad I went to Madame Tussauds in London. They had a huge tableaux of the gun deck of HMS victory during the battle of TRafalgar:

"The Battle of Trafalgar", the biggest and most complex tableau ever made, was opened in 1966 by an admiral of the fleet. It broke new ground, appealing to all senses. It showed the port side of the Victory full size, complete with forty seamen and four guns. Unlike all previous Tussaud's presentations, only Nelson was made of wax and, unlike everything done previously, it was not just a feast for the eyes. There were streaks of sunlight, gunfire, the sound of the sea and all the noises a creaking wooden warship would have made, plus the smell of gunpowder, tar, smoke, even of the sea.

The display left a big impression on me - semi-darkness lit by flashes (representing the gunfire) etc, the smell and the claustrophibic effect of the low ceiling (deckhead) and the huge size of the guns. I'm looking forward to seeing your model when it's finished.

 

[Smeggers]

I keep one on a hook next my desk at work for speeding up paint and wash drying...

Never used it for hair drying though.

Edited to add - when I was a lad I went to Madame Tussauds in London. They had a huge tableaux of the gun deck of HMS victory during the battle of TRafalgar:

"The Battle of Trafalgar", the biggest and most complex tableau ever made, was opened in 1966 by an admiral of the fleet. It broke new ground, appealing to all senses. It showed the port side of the Victory full size, complete with forty seamen and four guns. Unlike all previous Tussaud's presentations, only Nelson was made of wax and, unlike everything done previously, it was not just a feast for the eyes. There were streaks of sunlight, gunfire, the sound of the sea and all the noises a creaking wooden warship would have made, plus the smell of gunpowder, tar, smoke, even of the sea.

The display left a big impression on me - semi-darkness lit by flashes (representing the gunfire) etc, the smell and the claustrophibic effect of the low ceiling (deckhead) and the huge size of the guns. I'm looking forward to seeing your model when it's finished.

Wow! Sounds most impressive. Wish I'd seen it when I was down the Smoke. I will try to emulate that but without the smoke. By the way, did the guns look Black or Dull Bronze?