As promised in my last post, herewith is my slightly wobbly rendition of the colours the 1st Battalion 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot, Light Infantry.
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| Leeke and Nettles Group |
Unusually for a British light infantry battalion, the 1st/52nd famously carried their colours at Waterloo, with Ensign William Nettles carrying the King's Colour and Ensign William Leeke carrying the Regimental Colour. Poor Nettles was killed by a French round shot shortly before the battalion launched it's celebrated assault against the Imperial Guard. His body, along with the King's Colour pinned beneath it, wasn't recovered until the following day.
To command my version of the 52nd I have a very fine Hinton Hunt BN 90: British Light Infantry Officer charging; and two somewhat less than brilliant Der Kriegspielers Napoleoniques standard bearers from Set 154: British Light Infantry Command Group.
Both the standard bearers needed soldering as the flags were on the verge of breaking off, and I had to inscribe the King's Colour as Der Kriegspielers only produced Regimental Colours! The overall effect is...well...it is what it is, shall we say. They were fun to do though, which is the main thing.
Only 20 more to go.....
WM
They're lovely, their DK heritage is not obvious to me. I am super impressed with being able to read the 'Peninsula' battle honour.
ReplyDeleteNot sure why it didn't occur to me on the previous post but I see you're not giving them buff equipment that regiments with buff facings were supposed to use. Is there good evidence as to whether the 52nd followed that practice or not - and if there is, does it apply to Waterloo AND the Peninsula?
Cheers Rob. I'm aware that buff equipment for regiments with buff facings is the fashion these days, but I rejected it on aesthetic grounds and because this wasn't what was believed in the '60s. I'm with the classic (and contemporary) Charles Hamilton Smith depiction of the 52nd on this one.
DeleteMasterpieces - especially the flags. I’ve never seen the DK LI ensigns before. I quite like them.
DeleteRegarding the white belts, I’m with you. I think that there is much more evidence for white than buff and it looks much better. Here’s a discussion (which I admit to starting) on TMP.
Goya
http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=553114
Thank you Mr Goya, Sir. That is a fascinating discussion in the link.
DeleteThe DK standards have their uses, alright. Being generally rather soft and 'leady' in composition, its fairly easy to rub out the designs and replace them with something else. I did this with a DK line infantry standard bearer for the Field Battalion Bremen a wee while back.
It seems there will be no definitive answer on the buff belts so as it's all down to personal preference I'll probably go with buff just to give my 52nd a distinctive look.
DeleteHaving painted a few Hinton Hunt British standards myself I know how difficult they can be to paint. The 52nd will be proud of what you have achieved.
ReplyDeleteCheers Mark. I'll get round to some proper HH standards eventually!
DeleteThat is some very impressive brush work there!
ReplyDeleteThanks Matt. I think Stryker was right when he said that the British units look the best!
DeleteFantastic job on the flags, I am so jealous of your brush control.
ReplyDeleteCheers Brisbane! It's easy so long as you do it very very sloooooowly.
DeleteI had no idea DK had produced a LI standard. A much better alternative to head swaps or conversions. Your flag is sublime!
ReplyDeleteThose were indeed the alternatives, but I thought it would be more fun to try to make something of the DKs. As you say, they're a bit unusual and I wanted to avoid having to chop up vintage HH BLI officers!
DeleteSplendid work Matthew…
ReplyDeleteIf I do this unit myself… I will of course copy your Standards 😁
One of the things I remember about the Hintons I had was that the flags all broke off… mind you this may have been down to a twelve year olds enthusiasm…
All the best. Aly
When DKs oxidise like these had they develop the consistency of crumbly cheese. I may rue the day I painted these and conclude that I should have aimed for a higher standard of standard!
DeleteI doubt if "proper HH standards" could equal these, unless painted by your good self, of course. Gulp. I've tried painting "very slooowly". The paint dries on the brush.
Delete*Laughter*. That is definitely an issue. I use white spirit to combat this, but even so I end up with a lot more paint on my palette than on any of the figures. The slowless is also extended by having to strip the flags and start again from time to time. This happens to me quite frequently.
DeleteCrikey, but those standards have raised the standard! Reading about all of your sneaky tricks for using enamel paints in the last couple of posts has made me very glad of my acrylics! How you manage to achieve such a smooth surface and keep the colours from bleeding is nothing short of a miracle. I distinctly remember switching from enamels to oils and was amazed at how much more smooth a finish I was able to get. Then the acrylics came along and I just couldn't resist the ease with which they can be used. Kudos to you for sticking with the classic approach!
ReplyDeleteIt's only because I don't know any better! Being too old and set in my ways helps a bit too. Having said that, I've always reckoned that enamels are hard to beat for vibrancy if you know how to get the best out of them.
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