I recently bought some Portuguese light infantry from eBay. The figures are 25mm S Range from Minifigs and were quite well painted, although a little worn. I touched them and rebased them and they provide a nice little unit of cacadores:
There are enough figures for a second unit, although some have broken bayonets. I'm not sure whether to repair them, or cut them all down and use them as rifle armed infantry.
However, before I start on them, some 54mm Romans have grabbed my attention!
Last night I finished off the cavalry loyal to King James, consisting of three units.
Here is the King at the head of his horse, with his army beginning to deploy to the rear:
A close up of King James II. I was not responsible for painting this lovely figure. he comes from the collection of Bob Black. All I did was repaint the base to match the other figures. Over his right shoulder are the kings Life guards, later to become the Household Cavalry, supported by some Scottish Horse:
Today I finished basing some Dutch and Irish infantry. Two Dutch battlions are added to the Williamite army:
These troops join a third unit, forming the Dutch brigade:
I also finished off another of two Irish infantry units on the Jacobite side as seen here:
I am now getting close to completing the painting part of this project, ready for action on the river Boyne.
It's been a while since my last post. That is because I have had around the 10 54mm units on the painting table that I have gradually been working through. First off the production line is King William of Orange and his cavalry, three, three figure units. All are Del Prado conversions, apart from King Billy. I am not sure where he came from and was a unpainted donation from Bob Black.
Here is King Billy and his troops heading down into the Boyne valley in 1690:
A quick paint conversion of the Del Prado King Gustavus Adolphus figure into a 1690 dragoon. This was a paint conversion with very little surgery being done:
My next figure will have the lace on the collar filed back as it shows up on the finished model.
From French Marshal to Hamilton's Horse.
The Del Prado figure of Marshal Turenne, Battle of the Dunes 1658 is a good size to match my 54mm collection and wears a uniform suitable for the 1690 campaign in Ireland. Unfortunately he is waving a baton rather than a sword. However, I was able to buy some sword arms and other bits from Tradition of London and quickly replaced his right arm.
The Turenne figure is quite common and can be found cheaply on eBay. I now have five. My plan is to create two four figure mounted regiments.
Otherwise the figure was pretty much good to go. I decided to paint the figure as Williamite Hamilton's Horse, with grey tunic, faced in red. The horse was repainted too:
Hamilton's Horse is on the left, with Turenne in black on the right:
In my previous post there was some discussion about the varying scales amongst Del Prado figures. Here is an example. Two figures from the same range, on the left Frederick Henry II of Orange and on the right a British Dragoon 1704. It can be seen that the left hand figure is much larger in height and bulk:
If using these figures alongside conventional 54mm castings care is needed to determine their size before investing in them.
