New 25mm ACW Federal Units

I recently acquired another fellows collection, these were minis from several different ranges (Mark Fenlon, Old Glory, Foundry, Sash & Saber, Renegade, and Redoubt) I didn't want any units to stand out as different so I remounted them all in mixed manufacturer companies. I am pleased with the results. The pics below are not the best but i think it really adds an interesting level. When you look at photos of real ACW units you see men of all heights and builds. While I wouldn't do this for the ones I paint up on my own I really think this helped bland them into my current collection.

25mm ACW Federal Hospital and Ambulance

I bought the Old Glory 2 wheeled ambulance. Its a nice cart but not really representative of a 2 wheeled Coolidge pattern ambulance (original image below). So I broke out some balsa, tissue paper, and paints and added a 'canvas' top and frame. I also made a rider up with a hospital flag. Would you have seen this in the field? No... but I like all of my units to have colors for display purposes. I left him unglued so I can remove him during games.

Here is the whole 'unit'

ACW game House Rules Fall-In 07

So a buddy and I made our annual trip down to fall in at the start of the month and what a trip is was. After spending several thousand dollars on minis, terrain, food, booze and the room I can safely say it was a GREAT weekend! Here are more shots of the game we did, house rules developed by my friend for fast play and ease of use after a few drinks! It was a fictional battle. I jokingly named it "The Battle of I Can Use All My Fences - 1863"

MIA

Hello all! Sorry I have been MIA for nearly a year! Life caught up to me and I simply didn't have time to post. I have, however, had plenty of time to paint. I have expanded my ACW forces twice over and will start to post images shortly. Here are 2 images of a game a buddy and I did at Fall-In 07 for now...

15mm WWII FoW

Here are some shots of a fairly new foam/plasticard building with a few of my US Rifle Company miniatures out front.

You can't see terribly well, but I added glass to the jeep window frame then painted it to look as if the wipers had cleared it (top right). I had seen someone on the FoW forums do this and loved the look.

The shot in the bottom left shows how I modified the Peter Pig vehicle to make larger style coupe with a second spare tire in the fender.


Last is a shot of my 3 Peter Pig vehicle mods. First is the basic car, next the limo conversion and last the rusted out wreck complete with fresh bullet holes (silver spots). There are a lot of small details on the wreck that cant be seen here. I'll get better close ups of these soon.


I plan to pick up work again on my 25mm ACW federal cav soon, and will post some shots of them as soon as I finish.

25mm AWI

Yesterday's winter weather made going out difficult so after getting some prep work done on my ACW federal dismounted troops, I broke out this old photo of a 25mm AWI set up of mine and had some photo shop fun.

Original Image:

My AWI forces are some of my favorite. They consist mostly of Perry, Front Rank, and Old Glory minis. I will get some good shots of them and do some AWI dedicated posts in the coming weeks once my ACW phase slows down.

Here is the modified image, with sky and smoke added, I also cleaned up the bases so it looks as though they are fixed on the table...

Completed interior

I finished the 2nd floor bedroom last night and made the furniture for the cabin. I will be adding the interior doors and a painting as well as a bear skin rug to the cabin...


Finished 1st floor...


I just picked up some Sash & Saber federal minis and will be starting on these next. I also am in the process of setting up some FoW dioramas and will have more pics in the next 2 weeks or so.

Shenandoah House Interior

It wasn't long after I put the house out that the empty interior started to get to me. Today I started the first elements of detailing on the Shenandoah House. I made the first floor into 2 rooms, one whitewashed, the other wallpapered. For now there are some tables a desk, book shelves etc. I will eventually make the upstairs into a bedroom and add the fireplaces on both floors.

New ACW Table shots

I recently acquired some of the Americana Series buildings from MBA and added to my table. As much as I love making my own terrain, its very nice to be able to take a piece out of the box and put it right out on the table. I plan to add a detailed interior and some more things to the outside.

For now here are some shots of the over all table...

Some more 15mm WWII Flames of War

I have received a bunch of emails about my FoW stuff so here are some more shots for ya'll to take a look at. The Germans were painted up by a friend of mine. I have a US armored infantry company to get through before I move on to a force of opposition.

Below is a shot of the cafe I made. I used paper building from Paper Terrain. I found that if you cut the buildings out neatly you are left with great templates to make your own and that's exactly what I have done. The buildings are nice but I like lots of detail on my tables so I had to add my own touches...


Here we have a shot of the pontoon bridge at the rear of the town. This was a piece actually made for 20mm figures but with some gentle persuasion and sanding it fits right in!


Another shot the cafe and the "bookstore"


Here is a shot of a pre-made building from Miniature Building Authority. Great stuff and the insides are left plain so you get to do all the fun modeling. I added floors rubble, furniture, and wall paper...


The barn blown to hell. Here I added the horse stalls and rubble...


AIR SUPPORT!!!! Modified die cast P-47s


Here is a Peter Pig vehicle that I modified with green stuff. Made it more of a square back coupe


An overall shot of the town. I tried to come up with a realistic combination of buildings. I like varying heights on my rooftops, different roof tile colors, etc...


This is my favorite building. I have made more intricate ones but there's just something about this one I love. Not to mention the shot came out pretty darn good if i do say so myself.


One last shot of the town from the backside. Thanks for taking a look, hope you enjoyed!

25mm ACW US Sharpshooters

I picked up a set of US Sharpshooters from Redoubt Miniatures. The figures are nice but required a bit of trimming and flash clean up to make look right. Overall I find Redoubts offering quite nice, but some of the features can be a bit over sized (large hands , legs, etc). They come with separate heads which is nice for painting as well as creating figures with a different look. They are true 28mm minis so they don't work well with my Sash and Saber armies. Most of my federal forces are Old Glory so these blend in quite well

Again The images are not the best, and to repeat my all to familiar mantra...I am getting a better camera!

Richmond Depot Jackets

Sorry for being MIA! I have decided to write a post that’s bit more clinical in nature today. The topic is Confederate uniforms, specifically Confederate Depot jackets.

When painting an ACW army, the first thing one must do is decide whether to go early mid or late war. This is a bit easier with US forces, early war has more frocks, and state issue jackets, some shoulder scales and some more Hardee hats then you would see later on. With CS forces however, there are many styles you can choose from depending on the area as well as the phase of the war.

A close study of CS records reveal some startling statistics. During the last six months of 1864 and including to 31 January 1865, the Army of Northern Virginia alone was issued the following:

104,199 Jackets
140,570 Pairs of Trousers
157,727 Cotton Shirts
170,139 Pairs of Drawers
74,851 Blankets
27,011 Hats and Caps
21,063 Flannel Shirts
4,861 Overcoats

These were field issues only, and did not include issues to men on furlough, detailed at posts, exchanged prisoners or any other issues. Moreover, these were over­whelmingly central government issues, and did not include issues by any states except part of North Carolina's. During this same period, Georgia provided to the Confederate Army as a whole, over and above the figures quoted above:

26,795 Jackets
28,808 Pairs of Trousers
24,952 Shirts
24,168 Pairs of Drawers
7,504 Blankets

With all of these choices, none of which account for state issues or the commutation system, narrowing down the field is most important

I tend to concentrate on the Eastern Theater and the ANV as a result most of my troops from mid to late war wear some form of Richmond Depot Jacket, The Richmond Depot jacket had 3 styles for early mid and late war, Richmond Depot I, II, and III or RDI/RD II/ RD III. It should be noted that these terms are modern and were not in use during the war.

The RDI is great for early war. It features twill tape edging along the collar cuffs and shoulder flaps

The RDII below is basically the same as the RDI but the trim is gone. There are some slight differences in construction but more mini painting these are not noticeable.

Last we come to the RDIII. No shoulders straps, belt loops or piping. This is the simplest of the designs and was made as it was to save on time and materials.

I have not even gotten into commutation jackets, Tait jackets, or the various frocks . If you would like any further info on different types of uniforms email me!You can also follow up with the Company of Miltary Historians.

New 25mm Federal Cavalry Unit

Last night I finished up a Federal cavalry company. These are more early war as they are decked out in full yellow trim with mounted service jackets. Again I have to apologize for the poor image quality but they are clear enough for you to get a sense of their appearance...

The League of Augsburg

I got an email from a friend the other day with a link to a Waterloo game. I had frequented the site in the past but had not visited for a while. Well its been updated and loaded with great images of historical minis. The site is the home base of "The League of Augsburg" a loose organization of gamers over in the UK but primarily the showcase for the collections of Barry Hilton.

I have pulled one picture in particular from this site to showcase here. Mr Hilton apparently had a sizeable ACW collection at one point but sold most of it off. He has since ventured back into the realm of ACW with some Confederates. Below is a shot of his 1st Texas, and 3rd Florida regiments deploying by the right of companies into a battle line from column of companies. Take a look he has some great shots to offer!

New Fields and Fences

Happy New Year and all that. I have made some modifications to my recent ACW set up and will add some full table shots. For now here are some images of the new farm fields and fences I made...


I made the fences out of balsa, going forward I'll be using match sticks, saves time. The corn stalks are made from an old Christmas wreath I cut up and the cabbage patch is made up from pieces of coarse flock and I used coffee grounds for the dirt...