Call Out The Militia!

Its been quite a while since I added anything to my glossy 40mm armies. I find it hard to get "into" working on figures when I'm not sure what I want to produce or if it'll ever appear on the table, Since the conversion work is the fun part for me, what figure production I've done has had a high drudgery content. Now that the 19thC project is back to being Faraway & Oberhilse, I had a good idea of what things should look like and what I need. I have suitable 1812/1937 Militia in 54mm and chunky 40mm but since I want to try and go glossy toys all the way for the return to Faraway, I figured it was time to  do some up. 

The first game only calls for one company in each village , which for militia, will be 8 figures. I'll probably use some of the chunkies for one village and uniformed militia for the town while these gentlemen will be tasked with the defense of the other village. When the Upper Canadian militia were called out in 1812, apparently they were told to wear short dark jackets and suitable pants. My Faraway volunteers have done the same though the Magistrate who is serving as Captain has worn his frock coat and 2 men are wearing tailcoats. Hats are a selection of fashionable tophats, wide brimmed straw hats, and 1 Scots bonnet. Most of the figures have government issue muskets, bayonets and pouch belts. 

I already had some suitable bodies and heads in the spares box so after supper, it was just a matter of selecting, chopping, gluing, and modifying the occasional bit of detail. The kneeling fellow once served in the Zinnbrigade Prussian army while the gentleman loading served in their Napoleonic French army. Two of the heads came from Sash & Saber Confederate sets. The rest of the heads, bodies and weapons are my own originals. Hiding in the rear row, is the prototype not quite Mexican I had toyed with in July. The crown on his hat has been flattened a bit and he has migrated north to fight for the Queen. 

All of the figures had cast on heads which I removed using a  razor saw. I used a dremel to drill a socket then since both S&S and I make our heads with plug-necks, I just had to trim and glue. I did a bit of minor fiddling with coats and equipment using knife, file and putty to make the figures look less regular and then glued and primed.  For some odd reason I grabbed burnt umber to mix in with the clear acrylic sealer instead of my usual burnt sienna. Luckily once they've been undercoated and painted in a glossy toy soldier style, it won't make any difference. 

Working on these figures was fun of a sort I've been missing. I'm looking forward to painting these though, and already looking forward to doing up a 2nd company.