Wednesday 15 February 2017

Crimean War Royal Naval Artillery

I am delighted to finally see this group posted here, not least because they have secured me some much needed points in the ‘VII Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge’.  I am doubly delighted to have them completed as they were a gift from my Mother in Law, who herself was a proud member of the Senior Service.  The Royal Naval artillery crew and guns are from ‘Wargames Foundry’ and are a tad diminutive in comparison to the more ‘heroically’ scaled miniatures of today.  That said, they are more than serviceable and required very little in the way of preparation.  
I was somewhat taken by the officer with his foot resting nonchalantly on a cannonball and was instantly reminded of a truly great Victorian hero, Captain William Peel RN.  Born in 1824 Sir William Peel, son of Sir Robert Peel was an adventurous soul.  He was awarded the Victoria Cross during the Crimean War having been cited three times for acts of conspicuous bravery.  His citations read as follows:
 "For having on the 18th October, 1854, at the greatest possible risk, taken up a live shell, the fuse still burning, from among several powder-cases, outside the magazine, and thrown it over the parapet (the shell bursting as it left his hands), thereby saving the magazine and the lives of those immediately round it."
"On the 5th November, 1854, at the Battle of Inkerman for joining the officers of the Grenadier Guards and assisting in defending the Colours of that Regiment when were hard pressed at the Sandbag Battery." (Sir S. Lushington is authorised to make this statement by the Lieutenant-General commanding the Division, His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, who is ready to bear testimony to the fact)
"On the 18th June 1855, for volunteering to lead the Ladder Party at the assault on the Redan, and carrying the first ladder until wounded."
Incredibly Peel managed to find himself in the thick of the action from the Siege of Sebastopol in 1854, to the Battle of Inkerman the following month and finally leading the assault on the Redan in 1855.  It wasn’t long before Peel had recovered from his wounds and found himself, once again, in action this time during the Indian Mutiny of 1857.  Peel played an important role in the capture of Lucknow, but was badly wounded by a musket ball.  During his evacuation to Cawnpore, Peel contracted smallpox, which would ultimately call time on the astonishing life of this truly amazing man.  There is a rather splendid entry for him at the ‘Victoria Cross Online’ website along with a couple of interesting images.
Finally then to the gun emplacements, which had been a bit of an impulse buy from 'Tabletop Art'.  I had come across these when looking for basing ideas for my crews, initially thinking that I would build something similar myself.  I kept looking at the marvellously painted examples on the company’s website and in the end succumbed and placed my order, justifying the purchase on the basis of saving time.  
I have to say that I was incredibly impressed with the customer service and the products arrived in jolly good time and were faultless in the casting of the resin.  I simply painted them to match the examples I had seen, which interestingly led me to base the miniatures on clear Perspex discs from ‘Sally 4th’ purely so that I could use the emplacements with other miniatures in the future.
So a good job done, not least because they have allowed me to post about a genuine Victorian hero on my misnomer of a Blog!  Seeing them finally painted and with the addition of the gun emplacements, I have to confess to being delighted with the results, certainly some of my favourite work this year.

60 comments:

  1. That is excellent work sir! love the scenic base.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, I was very pleased with those myself and hopefully they can be used in a variety of scenarios.

      Delete
  2. Doubly excellent work. I love all the little touches to both the resin bases and the miniatures, the weathering and flora really bring the paint jobs alive.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Roy, very pleased with the bases myself and wanted to give them a little lift.

      Delete
  3. Brilliant. I have a thing for gabions. Is that strange?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you and yes it is, but you are not alone. ;)

      Delete
  4. I had bought the same 'Table top art' Gambons and have to say they are impeccable castings. Say what you want about 'ruthless German efficiency' it certainly means their stuff is top notch.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Everything about them was very efficient and great quality, I'm sure they will be taking my money again soon.

      Delete
  5. Absolutly superb sir Michael, absolutly superb...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Impressive work Michael! Seems like you have been fairly lucky with your mother in law then with gifts like these!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you and a splendid Mother in law indeed. I am not sure she entirely approves, but the Royal Navy connection was too hard to pass up.

      Delete
  7. Brilliant...as always! The bases are superb and the minis full of character!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Michael, excellent group I must say . The WF figures still have some really great stuff - good to see it getting some love.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Dave, there is still a lot to love about the Foundry range. Whilst I appreciate the exquisite details on modern miniatures, I often find painting older sculpts much more relaxing.

      Delete
  9. A lovely vignette, and what a splendid character William Peel was!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I really like these Michael. And the bases are superb!

    I am familiar with his Uncle, but had never heard of William Peel. To be taken low by such a horrible disease. What an end to an heroic fellow.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Dai and such an unfortunate end for one so brave.

      Delete
  11. Excellent work once again Michael & I do enjoy using the, money vs time excuse as well. "Dear if you purchase that for me, it would only take me a coupe hours of our time vs 6 or 7 to build it myself"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Terry, not sure the argument will hold too much more water if small packets of resin keep arriving from Germany though! :D

      Delete
  12. Lovely job.........hard to understand what drove this sort of heroism. Interesting to see you have used clear bases ...is this anew development ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Matt and a genuine hero that's for sure. As for the bases, I can't see the clear bases becoming a new development for historical miniatures, but I had bought some for my moderns/zombie hunters as I was considering the effect on the game board tiles. Faced with the decision as to keep the gun emplacements for just these miniatures or make them available for others I thought I would give them a go and see what they looked like.

      Delete
  13. Lovely painting, beautiful terrain and a potted history lesson - who could ask for more? William Peel certainly was a character and I love the counterpoint between the illustration and the report. Whilst many denigrate the years of 'Empire', it is an important part of our history and bred some truly memorable characters.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you very much Jez, I have always loved the Victorian era, but appreciate that I view it from a wholly sanitised viewpoint. That said it did produce some truly exceptional characters.

      Delete
  14. What Jez said, just about covers what I wanted to say about these gorgeous little vignette's, the only thing I will say is I'm personally not keen on the clear bases, but that's just my opinion, so feel free to ignore it.

    Cheers Roger.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Roger. I'm sure how I feel about the clear bases either. I am quite taken with them for moderns/zombie hunters, but not sure in this setting.

      Delete
  15. Lovely painting as always. I remain in awe Michael. :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Truly some fantastic work Michael. The Crimean is one of those conflicts that really interests me so looking forward to any future work you do on it. Hopefully these guns will get to "vollied and thundered" some foes in the future.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Rod, it is always a favourite of mine, although I'm not sure when I will every see these in action.

      Delete
  17. Beautiful pieces, they're vignette's or diorams iin their pown right as well as extraordinary good looking gaming pieces.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Once again, superb work from you Sir M. And thank you for the little slice of history too. I'd no knowledge of this great man before reading your post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Ray and he certainly was an extraordinary character.

      Delete
  19. Great looking vignette, not entirely convinced by the clear bases but I understand why you did it, it would be nice to see your 17th century guns in the emplacement!
    Best Iain

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you and, like you, I'm not convinced either. I was certainly thinking about the possibility of using them with my ECW guns at some point.

      Delete
  20. Lovely work; practical gaming pieces done to the standard of a display vignette

    ReplyDelete
  21. Lovely work; practical gaming pieces done to the standard of a display vignette

    ReplyDelete
  22. Splendid paintjob Michael(as always). Nice reading also my friend.

    ReplyDelete
  23. As a whole and in parts, the lot looks marvelous. Forgive me for my ignorance but does Senior Service refer to the Royal Navy? If so wow - you have one tough mom-in-law! :)

    ReplyDelete
  24. Magnificent! Love your painting

    ReplyDelete
  25. "Come to my website to view the contents of my website
    BOLA PELANGI - BANDAR MIX PARLAY TERBESAR DI INDONESIA HANYA DENGAN 1 USER ID SUDAH BISA BERMAIN SEMUA GAME. Join US ! klik link di bawah ini ☟
    Prediksi Parlay Jitu
    Mix Parlay
    Bola Jalan
    U build Great Artikel ^_^ i already Share this artikel Bandar Bola
    Bola Online
    Berita Bola
    Prediksi Parlay

    Untuk Info Dan Bonus Menariknya Bisa Hubungi Kami Di Bawah Ini :
    WHATSAPP 1 : +6282143134681
    WHATSAPP 2 : +6281333472723
    Ayo buruann , mana tau kamu menjadi jutawan setelah bergabung dengan kami ..
    ♛ Group FB Prediksi Parlay = https://www.facebook.com/groups/346501502486292/
    ♛ Instagram = https://www.instagram.com/bolapelangi_01
    ♛ Pinterest = https://id.pinterest.com/bolapelangilounge/
    kami ..
    ♛ Group FB Prediksi Parlay = https://www.facebook.com/groups/346501502486292/
    ♛ Instagram = https://www.instagram.com/bolapelangi_01
    ♛ Pinterest = https://id.pinterest.com/bolapelangilounge/
    "

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...