28mm AWI Project

To Scott's December Napoleonic game, I brought along several LaSalle packs of AB Miniatures in hope that Scott would take them off my hands.  With my 15mm Napoleonic Project virtually complete (is that possible? Perhaps I meant stalled?) and having far too much unpainted 15mm Napoleonic lead, my original plan was for a cash transaction.  Scott countered with a swap of my unpainted ABs for part of Austin's unfinished British contingent from our long dormant Saratoga Project.  Knowing that Scott was more interested in fielding his continentals than finishing Austin's British, I of course took the bait.  I returned home with five battalions of foot in various stages of completion, six guns, and thoughts of getting this project back on track towards completion.

After giving the figures a closer look, I found all of the painted figures require touching up as many figures look quite scruffy.  Paint has been rubbed down to bare metal on many of the figures and parts that should have received painting attention were left with white metal visible.  All of the regiments fielded only one standard bearer flying the Regimental Color.  I may add another standard bearer and redo the flags.  

Since matching existing uniform colors and painting style would be difficult, I tried leaving the bulk of each figure intact with small touch-ups where necessary.  I also did not want to destroy the essence and character of the painted figure.  This goal wasn't always possible to maintain.  When these British are engaged in battle, we will know that Austin's troops either fought valiantly or broke and ran.

Beginning with the line regiments in Saratoga uniforms (9th Foot and 21st Foot), I added facial features including eyes and eyebrows and touched up hair.  Cross belts, musket slings, and stockings needed whitening.  Cartouche and scabbards required blackening.  Nearly all of the cartridge boxes showed white metal on the underside.  Undersides of jackets were all left unpainted so white lining color needed adding over the bare metal. 

Taking advantage of The Warstore's After Christmas Sale, an order was sent to bolster existing regiments and to field one more line unit in Saratoga uniform.  Now, the Warstore's sale was only for an extra 5% discount but that almost covered the cost of postage and all except for one, back-ordered item were shipped same day. 

Once completed, these British foot units will join my sole AWI British regiment: the 10th Foot.