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.

First of the Fuzzy Wuzzy hoards

It seems to have taken me an absolute age, but the first of what I hope will be hoards of Fuzzy Wuzzies are ready for varnishing.

These fellows are armed with rifles and a pair of 7pdr brass mountain guns, likely taken in the aftermath of the first battle of El Teb in February 1884.

Rifle armed warriors caused the British no end of torment, especially when camped at night. Contemporary accounts relate that their fire was more than merely a nuisance, often inflicting wounds on animals and men, and sometimes wounds were fatal.

The first band of rifle-armed Hadendowa warriors. The gun crews are in the foreground, converted from metal and plastic figures, with one fellow pulling a friction fuse lanyard.

These North Star 7pdr brass mountain guns are tiny, just 35mm muzzle to trail.

Magnificent beasts

While I don’t intend to document every small step of progress, this week I have managed to get some day-by-day momentum into the project, so this post is recognition of that.

In addition it’s a long time since I painted camels. The last were for my first century Imperial Roman army [link], Warlord Games’ rendering of EBob’s camels. The Perry Miniatures’ camels are rather more muscular, and I have a sense they will paint up rather well. I also sense I will end up with quite a lot of camels, since both sides deployed them.

I made some progress with the tiny 7pds and their Hadendoa crews too. Base coating seems to be a sensible antidote to a working day which involves very detailed work in the main.

Half the camels and Melton Prior’s horse have been base coated. It’s a long time since I panted camels – summer of 2011 in fact.

More progress with the Mahdist 7pdrs and crews. I plan to finish these and the riflemen at the same time.

Auxilia Dromedarri … I must finish my Romans …

7pdr mountain gun and Mahdist crews

I was browsing North Star’s web site over Christmas and noticed their ‘arsenal’, a small range of guns with and without crews. While Perry Miniatures’s Sudan range features Krupp field guns with Egyptian crews in chains, I wanted to model a battery of mountain guns, likely captured when the Hicks Pash Obeid relief expedition was defeated.

I have repurposed plastic and metal figures, the latter from the crouching warriors code (SA11). One fellow directs another hurrying with a sponge and bucket, another crouches with shot, one crouches with a sponge, another crouches clutching a ramrod. The last is firing one of the guns. I twisted a lanyard for the friction fuse from 34 gauge beading wire, and I’ll adjust the length and attitude when I base the gun and figures.

The gun crews and one of the tiny 7pdr mountain guns, additional figures not yet primed. Medical Staff Corps figures in the background.

Mahdist artillery

I fancied an alternative to the Egyptians shackled to Krupp 6pdrs, and references to ‘brass guns’ in the Mahdist armoury, most likely mountain guns captured when Hicks Pasha was defeated at Shaykan (on the way to relieve El Obeid), suggested a little modelling detour.

I ordered a pair of North Star’s 7pdr mountain guns [link]. Given their small size I thought to convert some of the crouching Beja figures into gun crew, with others from the plastic set.

The first of a handful of Beja gun crew with sponge, shot, sponge and bucket, with the battery commander on the right.