The second anniversary of my blog

Firstly, happy new year. It’s two years since my first post here, and what a couple of years we have all had. Against the backdrop of a global pandemic I have collected some 5,794 page views and six followers, although I cannot imagine that these six are responsible for all those page views. Limits to personal freedom and movement weren’t all bad though, as these circumstances enncouraged downtime focused on my Sudan project.

I thought it time to take stock. I work slowly, seeming to spend a lot of time on research and modelling (the Gatling gun limber model is a very good example of this), and not enough time actually painting miniatures.

All the same, I seem to have got quite a bit done, including a handful of scenic items comprising buildings, a fortification, supplies, barricades, trees, shrubs, and thorn bush.

The Mahdists are ahead in terms of finished miniatures, with a rub comprising a camel mounted band, two bands armed with spears and swords, a band armed with rifles, and a command group. Another rifle-armed band and a brass gun battery are finished (both destined to join the main command group. (I don’t think ‘flags’ as such were a form of organisation deployed by Osman Digna.)

Within a few weeks I should have added another Naval Brigade contingent (from HMS Hecla) and a RMLI company (from HMS Carysfort) to the Empire forces.

My first rub, which I have dubbed the Blue Rub because of the blue accent to the flags.

Mahdist brass gun battery; it’s very likely that the guns were spoils of the disastrous Hicks Pasha expedition.

A second rifle-armed band.

Naval Brigade contingent with Gatling gun battery, deployed by HMS Carysfort. Colonel Fred Burnaby is ready for anything at the front, while Melton Prior sketches at the rear.

Medical Staff Corps Number 3 Field Hospital.

A strong point built to protect the construction of the Suakin to Berber railway … a whole other project waiting in the wings.

Three buildings at this scale seems like plenty … but we shall see.

Progress on the painting bench

In addition to a number of finished or nearly finished terrain pieces, I have a handful of figures and equipment ready for shading and varnishing.

Bases are 2mm MDF affixed to thin magnetic sheet, and will be prepared with Vellajo sandy paste before painting.

It’s taken me far longer than it should have to get to this stage, but I now have some momentum, which is just as well because I have a large number of figures primed.

Gatling guns, limber, Hadendowa flag bearer, and the staff of my field hospital, with a couple of casualties.

Clockwise: Melton Prior sketching, Captain Arthur Wilson, and Colonel Frederick Burnaby. Bases have been prepared with Vallejo sandy paste, and are ready for painting.

Mahdist brass 7pdr mountain gun battery, with crew members converted from metal and plastic Perry Miniatures’ figures.

Half of the first Hadendowa rifle-armed band, with leader based separately …

… and the remainder. These are a mix of metal and plastic figures.

Two Victorian heroes and a Gatling gun battery

I haven’t painted anything smaller than a house for about three years, so it’s taken me a while to get my eye in. It also takes a while to familiarise oneself with the castings and mouldings, guides to uniform and attire, and develop a work flow.

Apart form the Beja riflemen and gun crews I’ve been working on a few British personalities, the British Field Hospital, and the Gatling gun battery. I have a Naval Brigade detachment and RMLI company primed, and have got the base coat on a Hadendowa camel band.

Colonel Frederick Burnaby was almost a metaphor for the British Empire’s might, a giant for his times at 6' 4" and 20 stone, a classic Victorian heroic adventurer. Having trekked solo through a Russian Asian war zone, he made a crossing of the English Channel by balloon, and endevoured to get himself attached to whichever military expedition was going. Famously he took on the Mahdist warriors with a shot gun at the second battle of El Teb.

Here’s a an article about Burnaby, and some details of the shot gun, in Guards Magazine:

Link

Captain Arthur Wilson, RN, of HMS Hecla, was in the thick of it at the second battle of El Teb too, protecting a Naval Brigade gun detachment by holding off the Fuzzy Wuzzys with the hilt of his broken sword, a feat for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

Melton Prior was an artist and war correspondent who covered many of the British Empire’s military adventures. Also always in the thick of it, his detailed sketches appeared in the Illustrated London News. I am reading his memoir at the moment.

Colonel Frederick Burnaby and Captain Arthur Wilson … both need a bit of dust adding to their boots.

Melton Prior sketching. I added reins from foil to his mount, since I plan to repurpose his servant to be an ammunition mule driver.

A Gatling gun limber on the right, showing that the lid was a single piece. A useful photographic confirmation of information I have gathered.

I have added hooks for fine chain to the gun carriages, added the handles to the Broadwell magazines, and prepared the hauling chains for the static and towed limbers.

Victorian heroes

The modeller in me wants to feature significant personalities individually or as part of vignettes. Apart from the obvious people – commanders such as Lieutenant-General Sir Gerald Graham and Vice-Admiral William Hewett – I have ideas for characters ranging from Colonel Frederick Burnaby, who needs no introduction, to Private Thomas Edwards of the Black Watch (the Royal Highlanders).

Fred Burnaby is well underway, but today I thought to add Captain Arthur Wilson, a hero of second El Teb. Wilson was captain of HMS Hecla, a depot ship. During the campaign against the Egyptians in 1882 his Naval Brigade ratings improvised protection of wood, plate, and sand bags for a locomotive and rolling stock, and mounted an Armstrong 40pdr RBL gun on a railway carriage. Just over a year-and-a-half later, during the second battle of El Teb in 1884, Wilson won his VC in the thick of the action around a Naval Brigade battery, engaging Dervish warriors in single combat.

I had a suitably animated officer from the Perry Miniatures’ Naval Brigade command code (SB14), but he had no beard! Now I am no sculptor, but a few minutes with a very small quantity of Milliput gave a passable result.

Captain Arthur Wilson’s record at VC Online
Link

The improvised armed train, Alexandria 1882, inspiration for a planned modelling project.

Wilson in the thick of it at second El Teb, February 29, 1884.

Now he has a beard this figure will pass for Captain Arthur Wilson, ready to pitch into the defence of a Naval Brigade battery. He’s in good company with Colonel Frederick Burnaby.

The first Beja

The Beja are trickier to paint than I imagined they would be. The metal castings are intricate, and the plastic mouldings are almost as good, varied poses with lots of detail and great facial expressions.

I looked at this page for guidance on skin tones:
Link: Cool Mini or Not

Black Brown seems to make for a good base. Lightening the Chocolate Brown by adding a little US Tan Earth works for subtly defining muscular surfaces. I plan to matt varnish the figures and then applied a satin varnish to the areas of flesh.

There is a temptation to overdo the eyes; anything too white will stand out too much at this scale, and eyes are often in the shadow of the brow. In any case, I want to avoid the startled look one often sees in miniatures this size.

I am beginning to get a feel for the figures, to learn their contours and details. It’s the beginning of something.

Fred Burnaby preparing to take on the first Beja … getting my eye in.