The 54mm madness of King George

[Fighting15s]

After a lull, I have restarted my 54mm garden wargaming project and begun painting. It's a very new size for me, as my armies are mainly 15mm AB Napoleonics and 18mm Eureka Seven Years War. Here is my first attempt at cavalry in 54mm: Inniskillen dragoons from A Call to Arms. I'm going for slightly different from traditional toy soldier style.



Blog http://oldschoolminis.wordpress.com/2014/12/13/personal-projects-time-to-move-on-up-2/

Ian

[fastolfrus]

There was a large 54mm game at Battleground/Smoggycon

Page 2 picture below Tarawa beach:
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=70410.15

[von Lucky]

I like the painting style. But you're mad.

[Fighting15s]

There was a large 54mm game at Battleground/Smoggycon

Page 2 picture below Tarawa beach:
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=70410.15

There have been a couple on the shows circuit over the past few years. I think it's an ideal size for demonstration games.

[fastolfrus]

Skirmish Wargames Group used to do all their games in 54mm at one time.

[nathan]

I recently got the 54mm bug as well.  I think your dragoons turned out great.  After seeing them, I ordered a set of the ACTA Inniskillen Dragoons for myself.

With Neil Thomas's rules having 8 units, what were you plans in terms of 54mm?  4 cavalry miniatures = 1 unit?  Or are you going bigger?

[black hat miniatures]

I am also joining in the madness - in fact I may have encouraged Ian to start again  

I'm painting Bavarians and Wurtembergers at the moment.  The first test ones are here:



I've gone for a more glossy Toy Soldier look.

We are looking at 2 cavalry on a base and 4 infantry.

I am also starting a 54mm ECW project:





These are block painted, then super shaded before being varnished.

I already play NWF in 54mm and played a 54mm Cold Wars modern game this morning using Neil Thomas rules...

Mike

[Fighting15s]

I recently got the 54mm bug as well.  I think your dragoons turned out great.  After seeing them, I ordered a set of the ACTA Inniskillen Dragoons for myself.

With Neil Thomas's rules having 8 units, what were you plans in terms of 54mm?  4 cavalry miniatures = 1 unit?  Or are you going bigger?

Units will be 16 infantry, 8 cavalry, based as Mike says. We're aiming at 80mm square bases, which is roomy for the infantry, but just fits two troopers comfortably. Ultimately, I will have bases made with lawn spikes. Playing room isn't an issue as I have half an acre of lawn out front.

I discovered Alexanders Toy Soldiers http://www.ats-uk.net/ at the recent London Toy Soldier Show, and I picked up some bare castings of command figures to go with the plastic other ranks. ATS will do requests for castings by email - it's painted only figures on the website. I've just ordered a selection. I commented to Mike it was just like starting out again back in the 1970s, with metal figures to fill the gaps in plastic ranges. And if I've had a particularly good month, I may buy an all-metal unit for stuff that isn't in plastic.

Although I sell some of the finest model soldiers in their sizes, I am viewing the 54mm very much as toy soldiers. This means being less critical of mould lines, wrong details, and lack of detail. However, the proportions of the figures are much better.

[nathan]

I am also joining in the madness - in fact I may have encouraged Ian to start again  

It's great to have a partner in crime.  Making both sides yourself is taxing at times.  It's definitely results in smaller unit sizes.  Half the figure count means both armies are done instead of just one  

I've gone for a more glossy Toy Soldier look.

I'm still figuring out what style I'm going to go with.  I've been painting some ACTA colonial british:


The yellow on the Post Office Rifles soldier (the guy on the left) is wrong, but I just didn't like the way the green looked, so I changed it.  They're some sort of different Post Office Rifles rather than the ones from Middlesex.

I've decided for my Napoleonics I'm going to do a bit less sloppy highlighting and go for a block paint job of a brighter colour, a thin coat of gloss varnish, a burnt umber oil wash, clean up most of it and then manually blackline every colour transition as well.  I'll probably still highlight the faces and hands a bit, but I'm finding the 28mm style speed highlight just isn't doing it for me compared to pictures of block painted, simply shaded and black lined stuff I'm seeing.  My goal is to have them be like the colonials I painted, but cleaner looking.

Hopefully my stuff will turn out like Mark from New Zealand's but be 54mm:

http://chasseuracheval.blogspot.co.nz/2014/10/how-i-base.html

We are looking at 2 cavalry on a base and 4 infantry.

I'm probably just going to keep mine on the 30mm washers and do the movement tray thing if I feel the need.  Half the figures though, so it's less of an issue.

These are block painted, then super shaded before being varnished.

It's an extra step, but a buddy of mine uses coat d'arms super shader type stuff and does a thin gloss varnish beforehand (he does mostly fantasy stuff for RPGs).  He actually damp brushes it on with a big brush just so the highest points don't get stained by the shader like matte acrylic hobby paints often do.  I ended up going with oil and water colour washes, but that's more fiddly.

I think the ECW guys turned out great though.  Thanks for the pictures.  When I first re-discovered 1/32, it took a lot of will power not to get two ECW armies out of ACTA plastics.  I'm trying to concentrate on 1700-WW1.

Units will be 16 infantry, 8 cavalry, based as Mike says. We're aiming at 80mm square bases, which is roomy for the infantry, but just fits two troopers comfortably. Ultimately, I will have bases made with lawn spikes. Playing room isn't an issue as I have half an acre of lawn out front.

It's not nice enough for enough of the year for me to plan on the project being mainly outdoors, so I'm definitely jealous.

I discovered Alexanders Toy Soldiers http://www.ats-uk.net/ at the recent London Toy Soldier Show, and I picked up some bare castings of command figures to go with the plastic other ranks. ATS will do requests for castings by email - it's painted only figures on the website. I've just ordered a selection. I commented to Mike it was just like starting out again back in the 1970s, with metal figures to fill the gaps in plastic ranges. And if I've had a particularly good month, I may buy an all-metal unit for stuff that isn't in plastic.

All The Kings Men Toy Soldiers is on this side of the Atlantic, so that's my planned source for metals and individual heads for conversions.  How are ATS priced compared for unpainted?  £44 for one cavalry officer is for painted, but what about unpainted casts?

Although I sell some of the finest model soldiers in their sizes, I am viewing the 54mm very much as toy soldiers. This means being less critical of mould lines, wrong details, and lack of detail. However, the proportions of the figures are much better.

I decided I'm not doing a particular order of battle.  Just the sort of general troop types I feel like painting while still covering different unit types for game purposes.  So I'm okay if the figures don't quite have all the details and equipment or braids or whatever than a given unit did in a real battle on a given day.

[Fighting15s]

It's not nice enough for enough of the year for me to plan on the project being mainly outdoors, so I'm definitely jealous.

All The Kings Men Toy Soldiers is on this side of the Atlantic, so that's my planned source for metals and individual heads for conversions.  How are ATS priced compared for unpainted?  £44 for one cavalry officer is for painted, but what about unpainted casts?

I get fairly good weather here on the Isle of Wight in summer, but I wouldn't be out there now.  But I can run to 8ft by 5ft in the shed when it's too wet, which should still be big enough. Mike can easily run to 9ft by 5ft.

ATS castings are GBP6.50 for infantry (not ensigns), and GBP16.50 for cavalry. For 54mm toy soldiers that's not horrible, especially if they're only providing the command elements. I also buy from Ken at ATKM, and earlier this year picked up some artillery and French cuirassiers before his agreement to cast them came to an end. The plastics are my warm-up figures before I start work on his metals.

[nathan]

I get fairly good weather here on the Isle of Wight in summer, but I wouldn't be out there now.   But I can run to 8ft by 5ft in the shed when it's too wet, which should still be big enough. Mike can easily run to 9ft by 5ft.

A few times a year I'm at a gaming day where enough tables can be pushed together, but generally I'll be on 8x4 and smaller.  For the times when I only have 4x4 available, I'll probably break out something like Song of Drums & Shakos or Sharpe Practice and go for less models on the table via 1:1 skirmish.

ATS castings are GBP6.50 for infantry (not ensigns), and GBP16.50 for cavalry. For 54mm toy soldiers that's not horrible, especially if they're only providing the command elements. I also buy from Ken at ATKM, and earlier this year picked up some artillery and French cuirassiers before his agreement to cast them came to an end. The plastics are my warm-up figures before I start work on his metals.

The ATS prices are okay for one-off officers and whatnot.  They are pretty nice.  I keep hearing that A Call To Arms makes small figures for 1:32.  I haven't yet compared their cavalry to any other.  I've heard Armies in Plastic is gigantic but other than that most other manufacturers mix fine with ACTA.  Though even if the ATS end up being bigger, that'll probably be a feature as it'll make the officier and colour party stand out.

I wasn't around for the birth of 1/72 plastics and the practice of supplementing them with metals back in the day.  The closest I've come to something like that was when GW first started doing plastics and you'd get things like these (and then you could buy the leader, musician and standard bearer in metal in a blister):

Though that didn't involve chasing down figures from multiple manufacturers and hoping they worked out as far as size goes.

I think your metals will turn out very, very nice given what you've done with the ACTA plastic dragoons.  Especially given your willingness to paint on detail like white on the cuffs.  How much easier will it be when the detail is actually there on the miniature.

What were you planning on doing for your commanders?  Were you planning on getting your hands on a 54mm Napoleon or Wellington or something like that?

[Fighting15s]

Though that didn't involve chasing down figures from multiple manufacturers and hoping they worked out as far as size goes.

I think your metals will turn out very, very nice given what you've done with the ACTA plastic dragoons.  Especially given your willingness to paint on detail like white on the cuffs.  How much easier will it be when the detail is actually there on the miniature.

What were you planning on doing for your commanders?  Were you planning on getting your hands on a 54mm Napoleon or Wellington or something like that?

As Mike I and keep reminding each other, they're toy soldiers. Discrepancies in size aren't a big issue. The lifeguard trumpeter I got from ATS is huge compared with the plastics from ACTA, mounted on a massive charging horse. He'll be noticeable - at 6ft 6in, he could be the champion of the regiment, mounted on the biggest horse (though I may mount him on one of the plastics). Not yet painted, he will already have a personality.

I do find ACTA slighter compared with, say, Italeri.

My painting technique is in essence the same two-shade style I've adopted for 15mm and 28mm for speed. The Inniskillens have seen an experiment with washes (I'm not convinced, except on the horse), and brown-lining with Coat d'arms Rust where red meets anything else. My only observation really is that 54mm figures eat paint.

I have the British/Prussian and French generals boxes from Italeri to provide my initial generals, but would happily buy a metal casting of a personality from ATS or even Tradition.

I should add that I've gone for 1812 to 1815 because of the number of plastics sets suited to these years, though I first started thinking about 54mm because of the 1798 Austrians from Italeri. I usually don't go much past 1807.

[nathan]

It definitely looks like 1812-15 is the way to go as far as plastics are concerned.  I've been finding some cool 54mm tin figures from Eastern Europe that I'll probably use for named personalities.  I also should probably put in an order for more heads and colour parties with ATKM before year end comes and they can't sell them anymore.  

I have a soft spot for HaT figures as well, so I'll probably get some of theirs as well.  I've painted some of their 1/72 and pictures of their 1/32 lead me to believe they'll support both a simple toy soldier painting approach and a heavily black lines approach equally, so they should work wherever I end up.




Pretty much all I do for washes these days are oil and water colours over gloss varnish.  A minute or so long video by Les Bursley:

[Mike Blake]

"Skirmish Wargames Group used to do all their games in 54mm at one time."

Um...well we still do actually, although to be fair of late it would be more accurate to say 'most of our games are in 54mm' as other scales have also featured, including 1/18th 95mm!! And indeed I took 54mm games to America and put them on at Historicon to help bring the One True Scale to the heathens.

It is very pleasing to see more and more 54mm games appearing at shows all over the country as gamers come over to the Dark Side!

The truth is that there has never been so many plastic, and indeed metal, figures available in the scale, or close to it ie 60mm 1/30th. It is a golden age, and whilst production of new sets has slowed down with the world recession there are still more available now than at any time in the last 70 years.  

[nathan]

What would people recommend for 54mm Napoleonic Artillery?  People seem to like Armies in Plastic guns.  The crew is nice and big and toy soldier style.  Any others I should consider?