On a roll....

  Here is the first of my new British battalions for the Niagara 1814 campaign. The 1st Regiment of Foot.   Still have to add colors but it is exciting to finally see my opponent taking shape.

Next up, Canadian militia (mixed uniforms and civilian clothing) and 100th Regiment of Foot are block painted.  Then finnish up the details of equipment and such.

  I am hopping to fight out my first action in January 2017.

Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy

  Two very nice surprises in the last couple weeks. The figure is from Knuckleduster miniatures and is painted with coat d'arms paints.

   As I have mentioned before I am a great fan of the Knuckleduster Miniatures War of 1812 miniatures.  They are very nice figures, and a pleasure to paint.  I know from reading his blog that Forrest Harris put a great deal of research and thought into each figure.  Best of all it is a complete line for 1812.  They finally got me motivated to do my long desired Niagara 1814 project.  Also, Forrest is a gem to deal with.  Outstanding customer service.

  On Friday, as I mentioned I ran into trouble with my paints.  Lots of dried out bottles, and a generally unhappiness with them.  So I decided to try the coat d'arms paint.  I placed a order to Mark Severin at Scale Creep Miniatures for the military colors set.  Imagine my surprise when on getting home from work on Monday here was the set of paints waiting for me!  That is great service and next time I need something I will check his site first.  Also tried the pants out this morning.  They are great and I am most pleased with them.

Works in Progess

  Here it is December.  Back from Florida after helping Janine to take care of her mother and I am now planning out the rest of the year.  It's a very busy time of the year for me both holiday wise but especially work wise.   So here is hoping I can get a little painting time in!

  When I arrived home I had a nice box of goodies from the good people at Knuckleduster Miniatures waiting.  Finally I can start my British/Canadian forces.

   On the painting table I have three regular British battalions, one militia battalion and some artillery crews primed and set to go.

 In addition I have 24 Indians mounted on individual stands also ready to start painting.

Here is how I approach painting.   After cleaning the figures I glue 8 figures  to paint stirring sticks and prime them.  I use black gesso for priming.  Water it down and slop it on with a brush.  I wait for it to dry and then touch up where I missed.  The gesso dries skin tight and does not obscure the figure

details.  Before painting I dry brush each figure white;  so highlights are white and recessed areas stay dark.  Works out nice and helps with shading.  Not as fast as spray priming but more economical in the long run.

  One of the first and major decisions I had recently to make was on my brand of paints.  Due to age (the paint, not me) and the cold I have found most of my hobby paints dried up.  I use acrylics, and have bounced from cheep hobby paints to Vallejo.  Problem is the local craft store is not stocking the craft paints and Vallejo is getting too expensive.  I plan on trying the Coat d'arm paints.  They are the old citadel paints which I liked very much.  Ordered some and  will let you all know how it works out.

Playing wings of war with my son

   Typical game with my son, Nathaniel.  Sort of explains our approach to the game.

Me:  Ok, see this plane.  It was flown by the famous ace Voss.  This is how he painted his plane, and this was a special insignia he used...

Nathan:  Hey Dad, my plane is behind you, and here are my cards shooting at you.

Me:  Oh!  Well down I go, let's play again.  This time this plane was flown by the ace David Putnam.   I painted his plane based on a photo and....

Nathan: Dad, I am behind you again....

Me: Oh drat!

This weekend was Nathaniel's 21st birthday. He very seldom asks for anything, but he wanted to see a Tampa Bay Buccaneers game (his second favorite NFL team). Since we would be down in Orlando to visit with her mother Janine got two tickets to the game.  On the fifty yard yard, row six from the front for Nathan and I.    We just got back and it was a outstanding  game.  Thank you Janine and  Happy Birthday Nathaniel!

A Narrative of a Light Company Soldier's Service in the Forty-First Regiment of Foot (1807-1814)

   Shadrack Byfield (sometimes Shadrach) was a British soldierwho served in the Light Infantry company of the  41st Regiment during the War of 1812. He the author of a memoir of his wartime experiences, A Narrative of a Light Company Soldier's Service, published in 1840. This work is notable as one of the only accounts of the war written by a common British soldier.

Born in Bradford on Avon to a family of weavers in 1789, Byfield enlisted in the Wiltshire Militia in 1807, aged eighteen. Two years later, he volunteered into the 41st Regiment and was sent to join the regiment in North America, serving in Lower Canada and at Fort George in modern-day Niagara-on-the-Lake prior to the outbreak of war.

    He saw much service during the War of 1812;   the Siege of Detroit, the  Battle of Frenchtown (where he was wounded in the shoulder), the Siege of Fort Meggs, and the Battle of Fort Stephenson.  Byfield narrowly escaped capture after the British defeat at the Battle of the Thames and later rejoining elements of his regiment in the Niagara area. He participated in the Capture of Fort Niagara and was at the Battle of Lundy's Lane.  At the Battle of Conjocta Creek, an unsuccessful British raid on 3 August 1814 his left arm was shattered by musket ball. Byfield's forearm was subsequently amputated and he was invalided back to England, where he was awarded a pension from the Royal Hospital Chelsea in 1815.

Byfield returned to Bradford on Avon and married but was prevented from working at his trade as a weaver because he required use of both hands to operate a loom. However, according to his memoirs, a design for an 'instrument' came to him one night in a dream; this contraption enabled him to work at a loom with just one arm, allowing him to provide for his family.

   Byfield published a memoir of his wartime experiences in 1840. Although some sources speculate that he died in 1850 more recent research suggests that Byfield actually died on 17 January 1874 in Bradford, aged 84.

   Shadrack Byfield's Narrative provides a common soldier's perspective of the War of 1812.  Because of this his humble account has  been republished numerous times in many editions.  Byfield has often been portrayed as the archetypical 1812-era British soldier by modern historians.  John Gellner, who edited Byfield's memoirs in 1963, asserted that his story "could have been told by any one of those humble, patient, iron-hard British regulars who more than made up in discipline, training and bravery for their lack of numbers."  Byfield is also the protagonist in a 1985 children's novel, Redcoat, by Canadian author Gregory Sass, which presents a heavily fictionalized account of his military experiences.

An online edition of his narrative is available here:

http://www.archive.org/stream/lightcompanysoldi00byfirich#page/345/mode/1up

Happy Thanksgiving

And I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!