Wednesday, June 24, 2015

6mm AWI Continental Line - Adler Miniatures

The beauty of 6mm miniatures is that you can pack a whole lot of them in to a small space, and create units that are actually close in number to their historical counterparts. Below are Adler Miniatures Continental Soldiers, in this case the majority of the 1st Maryland Regiment for the Southern Campaign. They don't have as much detail as the larger scales of course, but there is plenty to keep the painter busy and to please the eye at close range.

For realism I've included a fair amount of variation in "uniforms," a word that has to be used pretty loosely for the Continental Army. Some soldiers have mismatched outfits, some are completely out of uniform.

I also have not yet done much work at all on the bases, just giving them a simple coat of green as a temporary measure. I need a few thousand more of these, so the full base treatment will have to wait a while.





In addition to the march pose Adler offers two others for infantry: firing figures and advancing figures.




8 comments:

  1. Those are great! You've put more work into them than most would into 15's. Really look like a Battalion.

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    1. Thanks very much Simon, glad you like them. I think we'll be able to get some great spectacles on the table as the numbers climb.

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  2. Very impressive! The crossbelts, facings and varied colored trousers/breeches are amazing at this scale.

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    1. Thanks Dean, the amount of detail sculpted in to these little guys is pretty impressive at 6mm. Adler did a great job on these.

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  3. Absolutely amazing! I have been painting a french napoleonic army and this is great motivation. The basing really makes them look smartly dressed ranks and very convincing. Basing is my least favorite part and I seem to never be able to get them to stand up straight when I cut them individually. I base my french 4 men wide by three deep for post 1808 french companies and whenever I cut them individually the ranks do not look as good as when they are left on the spur. However, I feel I am not able to get them as close as you have done. How do you get the miniatures to stand so straight? I look forward to your future post.

    thanks
    Michael

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    1. Thanks very much Michael, glad I can offer a little inspiration. I actually clip all the figures off the sprues prior to painting (leaving a stump of the sprue as a base for each one). I glue them to a temporary base spaced out for ease of access, and bend any that are leaning over to stand up straight. Then after painting (and varnishing for protection) I superglue them to their final base, sometimes having to gently bend them a little more. It's soft metal and easy to bend, you just have to be careful not to bend too much after painting. It's a slow process, and tweezers are very important! Hope that is a little help. Let me know if you post some pictures of your French, I'd love to see them.

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  4. I think that is my biggest issue I do not varnish before putting the miniatures on the bases! Every time I try to glue them to the bases I end up ruining some of the paint jobs. Do you gloss and then matt varnish your miniatures prior to basing? Also what is your base size 20x20mm? Last but not least do you have any advice on how you get such nice
    looking bases? I find basing my least favorite part so I haven't practiced the art of basing. Also your painting has really peaked my interest in possible painting some AWI Hesse-Kassel infantry. I have an ancestor who served in the prinz karl regiment in the SYW and his son fought during the AWI in the von Mirbach regiment.

    Thank you for your help!

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    1. Hi Michael, sorry for the delayed reply. I buy 20mm square bases from Litko.net, made of plywood. I varnish with Polly Scale Matte Varnish, an enamel, though this has a little bit of sheen to it. I am thinking about going back and adding a duller coat too. It's definitely a good idea to protect your paint job before basing, as that is a prime time for scratching! I agree, it's not my favorite part of the process, but worth doing right.
      That's very cool that you could trace an ancestor to his particular unit. I think the personal tie makes it all the more interesting.
      Regards,
      James

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