Waterloo in 28mm - My journey log

[Helge]

I need some insights from the wiser members: what sash colour would be appropriate for the 1st Nassau Regiment?

I am preparing the two Nassau formations for painting and noticed that every single command model has a sash. Perry, Eagle, Front Rank - all modelled with sashes. And then I noticed that the officers of the 1st Regiment don't have sashes on the Cent Jours website. The 2nd Regiment has orange sashes which I guess indicates that they are in Dutch service as part of 2nd Brigade of 2nd Netherlands Division.

Since the sashes are there, I need to know how to paint them. Would orange sashes be appropriate for the independent 1st Regiment? Any other colour?

[Helge]

The 1st Nassau sash colour remains undecided. Various blogs - including one kindly linked by a member - show lots of orange sashes, but I don't know if that's historically correct or just everybody making the same incorrect assumption from the 2nd Nassau regiment in Dutch service...

So while I wait for more authoritative guidance, let's get started with 4th Hannover Brigade in 6th Division. The brigade is composed of four Landwehr battalions but only two were engaged. I will skip the other two. For now, here is Colonel Best, commanding the brigade.



I also just realized that my choice of sash colour for this officer might be wrong. Charles Best was a British officer who held commissions in various British regiments and ultimately 8th KGL Line. In 1814 we was sent to Hannover to lead a brigade in Hannover service. Would he wear the red sash of a British officer or the yellow sash of Hannover? I picked red because I saw that the KGL officers seconded to Hannover Landwehr units in Kielmansegg's brigade retained their red sash. But maybe those were only transferred temporarily for the battle while Best had been seconded for longer? Would he have switched to a yellow sash and thus needs to be repainted? Ah, the agony of indecision...

[Helge]

I have concluded that the red sash is appropriate for Col. Best. There are various illustrations showing C. Halkett with a red sash and he has the same background: KGL officer commanding Hannover brigade. I remain less sure about the 1st Nassau but might just go with orange for simplicity.

Here we have Landwehr Osterrode with their special green cord on shako. Perry metals.

[CapnJim]

Here's a surprise - I like these guys!  Well done!

[Helge]

Thank you as always CapnJim. I know this gets somewhat repetitive. At least we are almost through the redcoats at this point. Below is Landwehr Verden. The two other Landwehr battalions can wait for now so I declare 4th Hannover Brigade provisionally completed.



Since this also completes 6th Division, I can also reveal the last British foot artillery battery. Below is Capt Sinclair's battery of 3rd RFa. The second RFA battery in 6th Divisions pool was kept in reserve.



After this, the only redcoats left are the three battalions in the truncated 4th Division which was otherwise posted at Hal. I will leave those for later so the focus is now on the black Brunswick and green Nassau regiments. And of course some more cavalry!

[Helge]

I just noticed that the completion of 6th Division also marks a big milestone for this army. Two actually. First, I have now painted over 2,000 figures for this army. Second, the infantry has crossed 45 battalions which rises to a much more noteworthy 50 if you count the skirmishing light infantry battalions. Plus of course some cavalry and artillery. Not bad for 8 months of grinding . There are about 700 figures left to complete for the Allied Army - mostly Brunswicker, Nassau and the remaining cavalry - and then it will be on to the next big project.

[Belgian]

I just noticed that the completion of 6th Division also marks a big milestone for this army. Two actually. First, I have now painted over 2,000 figures for this army. Second, the infantry has crossed 45 battalions which rises to a much more noteworthy 50 if you count the skirmishing light infantry battalions. Plus of course some cavalry and artillery. Not bad for 8 months of grinding . There are about 700 figures left to complete for the Allied Army - mostly Brunswicker, Nassau and the remaining cavalry - and then it will be on to the next big project.

That's quite an output and quality too

[Helge]

Thanks Belgian!

We are now heading in the land of green uniforms. Lots of batch preparations so hopefully i can bang out the Nassau battalions in rapid succession. Leading the independent Nassau Brigade is Major General von Kruse. I have settled on orange sashes in the absence of any other good options.



The first battalion of 1. Nassau Regiment follows below. These are Perry Miniatures. There is some debate whether the white shako covers were worn at Waterloo, but I opted for visual impact as usual. All the Nassau battalions are Large formations.

[Aethelflaeda was framed]

Man, those are some sweetly painted figs…when you run your game can i play!?!

[aphillathehun]

Wow, this was a fun thread to catch up on.  I love how you do your artillery bases.  What size are they?

I noticed you made a comment that they are prone to warping and need heavy clamping when adding basing material.  You might try spray painting them with a lacquer varnish first and then try basing.  I've had success that way for larger bases.

[Helge]

Aethelflaed, you are always welcome .

Aphillathehun, thanks for the kind words. I had some debate on the artillery bases but ultimately decided that single large bases would look better. The base sizes are tuned to the rest of the collection rather than having a consistent width per gun. All are 10cm deep (same as a cavalry regiment in two lines) and width varies:

10cm for a single section with 1 gun (same as a Small battalion of 2 50mm bases)
20cm for three sections with 3 guns (same as a Standard battalion of 4 50mm bases)
30cm for four sections with 4 guns (same as a Large battalion of 6 50mm bases)

That covers all the typical battery sizes and lines up with the Blackpower unit scales. The exception are two section batteries such as the (not yet completed) Dutch half-batteries attached to the cavalry. I will be using 15cm 8 10cm for those. While not a consistent "cm per gun", it works quite nicely in the overall context of the army.

Thanks for the tip on warping. I gave up on the clamping early on and just paint a layer of brown paint on the base first. Similar to the lacquer, that seems to do the job.

[Helge]

And here we have II/1st Nassau Line. These models are from Front Rank in full dress uniform with massive plumes. Glorious! Still in 1815-16 uniforms though to match the regiment.



I have also started a Sci-Fi and Fantasy paint-along post to feed me some side projects (in the respective sub-forum). Fear not, the Waterloo project will remain the primary focus. Next is the Nassau Landwehr!

[IronDuke596]

Sci fi and fantasy!? Heresy I say, heresy!

A wonderfully painted unit that will grace your table. I still can't get over your production and quality rate. I bet you have borrowed some of Santa's elves to help you? Well done!

[LazyStudent]

Absolutely stunning!! 

I have a 6mm Quatre Bras British + Allies project that has been on the painting table longer than your 28mm version! I am very jealous of your output!

Are you making use of contrast paints? If so, which ones do you prefer? Do you have a certain receipe you have found that works for the faces? I was not so impressed with my trials with larger models.   

[Helge]

Thanks! I am using Contrast paints for almost everything. All models get a Wraithbone spray undercoat and the faces are just Guilliman Flesh. The real "magic" is that everything gets a spray coat of AK Interactive Matte Varnish at the end. That not only takes away the shine of the Contrast paints but also "blends" the transitions nicely.

Next we have the III/1. Nassau. This was a Landwehr battalion with quite different uniforms. I used plastic models from Wargames Atlantic's Prussian Landwehr which fit well enough. Command models are from Front Rank. Not the fanciest unit but it will do.



Finally, I added a small "Regimental Command" base to represent the fact that the Nassau "Brigage" is really just a single regiment with it's own internal command structure beyond the Brigade commander MG von Kruse. Plus, I had spare models .



This wraps up the Independent Nassau Brigade. There are still some Nassau troops to be done for the 2nd Dutch-Belgian Division but I think I will mix things up with some Brunswickers first. Or maybe some cavalry.