Colonial South East Asian Adventure

[Shtim]

Hi all,

Thank you very much for the continued miniature recommendations and pictures.
The Dutch Docu channel and FB page has been a great source, and special thanks to juergen c. olk for those pictures!

Progress has been relatively slow here. Work is slowly ramping up, and I'm a very slow painter..

Below you can see my first unit of Dutch soldiers from the end of the Aceh war.
I finally finished them off and based them! I am particularly happy with the look of the white trousers on the left.



The character on the right is based on J. B. van Heutsz, Military Governor of Aceh
I took the bearded gent from the German officers Copplestone set, filed off his beard, and added some shoulder epaulettes to complete the look.
Here's a side by side:


Also, my models from Gringo40's finally arrived!
I've painted up one test model, from their Taiping Rebels range, but am not quite satisfied..

The skin colour seems off (I tried to go for Northern Indonesian, which is generally lighter... but not this light..) and the clothing colours lend themselves more to Chinese rather than Indonesian origin I think.
Either way, its a test model - and as my girlfriend always likes to say while cooking, the first pancake is always the worst! 



As per usual, any feedback is always appreciated!

Shtim

[Plynkes]

Great use of those Copplestone figures in their new role. Those dark uniforms are pretty cool, aren't they?

[marco55]

Your figures look great.I still want to continue getting some more sculpted,some Acehnese warriors in fighting poses maybe with multiple heads.Some Dutch too,mostly 1890's but maybe some 1870's also..Definitely Van Heutsz. But all that will have to wait awhile I'm afraid.
Mark

[Diablo Jon]

Great use of those Copplestone figures in their new role. Those dark uniforms are pretty cool, aren't they?

I actually prefer them like that to the way they should be painted if they where Germans.

 

[Diablo Jon]

The new stuff looks great.

Talking about  the skin tone of your Indonesian. I was having a similar issue with painting middle eastern skin tones for my Arabs in Africa. Plynkes pointed me in the direction of Foundry Paints who do a range of different skin tone paints perhaps their Oriental Flesh tones might be worth a look?

https://www.wargamesfoundry.com/collections/paint/products/122-oriental-flesh

[Captain Blood]

Interesting project and nice painting and terrain 

[juergen c. olk]

I use Nutmeg color for Indonesians...every Dutch Regt. (KNIL) usually had two Native companies,,(Ambonese or Javanese or there were even some Zulu companies for awhile) Also there is the Penal Battalion (Vorlorn hope)the Penal Battalion was raised from convicts .who if they survived (unarmed)one year,their jail terms would be terminated.They had to put the scaling ladders on the Fort walls and fill the ditches and chop thru bamboo walls//not many would  survive. They wore white plain clothing and a red sash or armband.

[Shipka]

These are 28mm from Steve Barber .odels

[marco55]

Yes some are in 1870's uniforms and tall kepis and some are in 1880's-90's sun helmet.I believe they switched to slouch hats starting in the 1890's until the early 1900's.
Mark

[marco55]

I got this book last year.It's hard to come by,Amazon has one and it's $245  .I didn't pay nearly that much for mine but it has a lot of photos in it.
Mark

[Shtim]

I use Nutmeg color for Indonesians...every Dutch Regt. (KNIL) usually had two Native companies,,(Ambonese or Javanese or there were even some Zulu companies for awhile) Also there is the Penal Battalion (Vorlorn hope)the Penal Battalion was raised from convicts .who if they survived (unarmed)one year,their jail terms would be terminated.They had to put the scaling ladders on the Fort walls and fill the ditches and chop thru bamboo walls//not many would  survive. They wore white plain clothing and a red sash or armband.

Thanks for all the information! Could you provide a source for the Penal battalion - I would love to know more?

I've looked into the African regiments (I assume thats what you mean by Zulu), although the last African troops were brought over in the 1870's if I recall correctly, so a bit too early for my 1900-ish timeline! (edit: see here, at 07:25 )

Great use of those Copplestone figures in their new role. Those dark uniforms are pretty cool, aren't they?

Thanks a lot! I'm pretty happy with them, if I do say so myself!

Your figures look great.I still want to continue getting some more sculpted,some Acehnese warriors in fighting poses maybe with multiple heads.Some Dutch too,mostly 1890's but maybe some 1870's also..Definitely Van Heutsz. But all that will have to wait awhile I'm afraid.
Mark

Thanks for your comment! I really should look into those models you got sculpted... so much to buy! so much to do!

Also thanks a lot for the book recommendation in your other comment!

The new stuff looks great.

Talking about  the skin tone of your Indonesian. I was having a similar issue with painting middle eastern skin tones for my Arabs in Africa. Plynkes pointed me in the direction of Foundry Paints who do a range of different skin tone paints perhaps their Oriental Flesh tones might be worth a look?

Fantastic suggestion! Thank you kindly

These are 28mm from Steve Barber .odels

Thanks a lot for the suggestion Shipka! They're on my list

[juergen c. olk]

I can;t remember the scource for the Penal battalion.it;s been 35 years ...and the Zulus were imported from South Africa..but after like 6 months proved to be unsuited for service and it was discontinued.I;ll see if I can find the article on the Penal battalion..i know it something to do with Aceh campaigns.

[Shtim]

Hi All,

Very short update for you today - I'm leaving town for a week, so have been spending less time painting miniatures and more time finishing off work!

First off, another character for my little settlement: a Dutch missionary spreading the word of god!


Second, I'm happy to say that my Eureka Dayak Warriors finally arrived. Absolutely fantastic models, perfect scale, and very easy to paint - I love them!
After my previous troubles with the Indonesian skin tone, I thought I'd try again on a new Eureka test model - the results of which can be seen below:




I am much happier with the outcome, and will be using this method from now on. While the skin is still not as light as I'd like it, I think it works well - and its easy to paint!
Naturally, any feedback is welcome.

Scale wise they're smaller than the Gringo40s models I received last week, although I think the Gringo's were a tad big...
Seeing as the Dutch are supposed to be taller anyway, I think the slender Indonesian figure works well.
Comparison below: Copplestone Commander, Foundry Missionary, Eureka Indonesian Warrior (although he comes across as smaller because he's crouching)


And in the office book case display:


Once I come back, I'll be sure to start properly painting the force!

Shtim

[marco55]

I have the Dayaks also but are not painted yet.
Mark

[OSHIROmodels]

Great stuff