Tag Archives: Brigade Games

French and Indian War: British Regulars from North Star Military Figures

At the beginning of 2020, Studio Tomahawk announced the release of the second edition of Muskets & Tomahawks, some ten years after the release of the much-beloved miniatures game. Set in the 18th-and-19th North American skirmish eras of the French and Indian War, American Revolution, War or 1812, US Civil War and various worldwide conflicts, the second edition of M&T was hotly anticipated by a worldwide community of gamers hungry for the long out-of-print rules.

In conjunction with the release, North Star Military Figures re-launched their line of 28mm FIW figures as an official tie-in with M&T. A long-time fan of their sculpts, I snapped up a unit of British Regulars and an officer to add to my collection.

North Star figures, cast in my preferred material of metal, are on the large end of the 28mm spectrum and showcase thick, broad details that make them a joy to paint. Features really pop on their castings, allowing my painting to capture a lot of the intricacies of the 18th-century uniforms and equipment.

With my order, I also added in an Indian warrior figure clad in a stolen red coat, ostensibly taken from the corpse of a fallen British soldier. This kind of unique character figure is what makes me a fan of the period and North Star’s models.

As a collector of all their previous FIW miniatures, I was so glad to see the return of North Star’s FIW figures after many years of being out of production and only available on the secondary market. Aside from my British Regulars, they’ve also released new sets of British Rangers, Highland Light Infantry, Indians and Canadian Militia. For gamers in the US, North Star’s figures are available from Brigade Games, a distributor I’ve used for many years to source models from many eras. I’ve also heard they are about to launch their own lines of new FIW figures, something I am very excited about as I continuously build out my 18th-century tabletop forces.

28mm: German Infantry and MG 42 HMG By Artizan Designs

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With my first set of German infantry and MG 42 machine gun complete, I’ve doubled my 28mm Axis force with more models from Artizan Designs. In just a few words, I’m loving the models from AD and my only complaint is that I’m quickly working my way through their figures so I’ll soon have a complete selection of their basic late war Germans.

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paintgermanThis time around, there are a number of animated infantry figures in a mix of helmets and soft caps plus another MG 42 machine gun to supplement my arsenal. My German paint scheme has remained consistently fast and satisfying as per the below.

Painting 28mm German Infantry

  1. Clean flash from metal models with a sharp knife and glue to metal washer or plastic bases.
  2. Apply filler putty to bases. When dry, scrape off excess with a sharp knife.
  3. Basecoat models and bases with flat black spray primer.
  4. Paint smocks and helmets with Tallarn Sand.
  5. Paint pants, soft hats, officer greatcoat and gas mask containers with Skavenlight Dinge.
  6. Paint camouflage on helmets and smocks with alternating Waaagh! Flesh and Dark Brown.
  7. Paint faces and hands with Tallarn Flesh.
  8. Paint packs with Baneblade Brown.
  9. Paint boots and equipment straps Black.
  10. Paint bases, gun stocks, water bottles and helmet straps with Dark Brown.
  11. Apply Agrax Earthshade wash to uniforms, helmet netting, webbing and packs.
  12. Mix 50/50 Baneblade Brown and Off White and lightly dry brush packs, webbing, socks and holsters.
  13. Dry brush pants, soft hats and officer great coat with Light Grey.
  14. Lightly dry brush bases and gun stocks with Baneblade Brown.
  15. Paint metal gun and water bottle parts with black and finish with a light dry brush of Metallic Silver.
  16. Dry brush gasmask containers with metallic Silver.
  17. Paint eyes with small dots of Off White and Dark Brown. Clean up around eyes with Tallarn Flesh.
  18. Mix 50/50 Tallarn Flesh and Off White and brush highlights on cheekbones, chins, forehead, nose and hands.
  19. Cover bases in white glue and cover in 50/50 mix of fine light green and dark green grass flock.
  20. Glue small pieces of clump foliage to base.
  21. Spray coat completed models with matte finish.

And now, more photos of my Germans as my force builds up and looks toward hitting the table soon.

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28mm: German Infantry And MG 42 HMG By Artizan Designs

waffen After wrapping up my first 28mm US Airborne troops, I set to work on some Germans. I ordered a bunch of Late War German infantry and command, plus an MG 42 team by Artizan Designs from Brigade Games and received them speedily. The detail in the figures really pops, and the personality and variety in the poses make them really engaging at this scale. I particularly like the stern officer in his greatcoat and the other figures screaming out orders and gesturing on the move. ADlogo Painting WWII Germans for the first time at this scale, I really wanted to go for more detail than I do at 6mm or 15mm. Artizan Designs offers some great painting references on their website, including a general uniform guide and a lot of detail on German camoflage patterns. Using paints I had on hand plus a few more colors I picked up from Citadel’s paint line, I came up with a palette and painting scheme that produced some great results on my first go. paintgermanThe Artizan figures require little flash clean up before being glued to metal washers. The three man machine gun crew went on a 60mm plastic base I picked up from Proxie Models. Here’s the steps in detail for painting my German infantry.

Painting 28mm German Infantry

  1. Clean flash from metal models with a sharp knife and glue to metal washer or plastic bases.
  2. Apply filler putty to bases. When dry, scrape off excess with a sharp knife.
  3. Basecoat models and bases with flat black spray primer.
  4. Paint smocks and helmets with Tallarn Sand.
  5. Paint pants, soft hats, officer greatcoat and gas mask containers with Skavenlight Dinge.
  6. Paint camouflage on helmets and smocks with alternating Waaagh! Flesh and Dark Brown.
  7. Paint faces and hands with Tallarn Flesh.
  8. Paint packs with Baneblade Brown.
  9. Paint boots and equipment straps Black.
  10. Paint bases, gun stocks, water bottles and helmet straps with Dark Brown.
  11. Apply Agrax Earthshade wash to uniforms, helmet netting, webbing and packs.
  12. Mix 50/50 Baneblade Brown and Off White and lightly dry brush packs, webbing, socks and holsters.
  13. Dry brush pants, soft hats and officer great coat with Light Grey.
  14. Lightly dry brush bases and gun stocks with Baneblade Brown.
  15. Paint metal gun and water bottle parts with black and finish with a light dry brush of Metallic Silver.
  16. Dry brush gasmask containers with metallic Silver.
  17. Paint eyes with small dots of Off White and Dark Brown. Clean up around eyes with Tallarn Flesh.
  18. Mix 50/50 Tallarn Flesh and Off White and brush highlights on cheekbones, chins, forehead, nose and hands.
  19. Cover bases in white glue and cover in 50/50 mix of fine light green and dark green grass flock.
  20. Glue small pieces of clump foliage to base.
  21. Spray coat completed models with matte finish.

 IMG_4954 Helmets, smocks and pants base coated on the MG 42 team and infantry models

IMG_4958Infantry and officer uniforms base coated

IMG_4955Flesh base coats and helmet camouflage added to infantry and officer

IMG_4959Camouflage painted on helmets, and gun stocks and water bottles painted brown

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Equipment detail being painted

Here’s a round up of my finished German infantry from Artizan Designs…

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Now that I’ve got my core German and US forces completed, I’ll be looking to fill out forces on both sides with some additional support weapons and some more infantry from some other manufacturers. In no time at all, my 28mm force continues to grow.

28mm: US Airborne By Artizan Designs

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After a lot of modelling and gaming World War II over the years at the 15mm scale and some toes dipped into 6mm last year, I decided to move up to 28mm at the beginning of 2015. At this larger scale, there’s a lot less needed in terms of getting numbers of models on the table and there’s an opportunity for much more detail and personality in the figures, too. At about $2 USD per metal figure on average across a number of manufacturers, a more than healthy sized force for squad level engagements can be had with 30-40 or so figures on a side for under $100 USD.

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To get started, I happened a  timely sale deal for Artizan Designs miniatures ordered from Brigade Games. I’m very much a late war post-D-Day player, so I purchased a variety of US Airborne riflemen, officers, characters and a M1919 30 cal. machine gun team. I really like the detail in sculpts on the Artizan figures, so the prospect of getting these guys painted up was pretty exciting.

AB Paint Scheme
Artizan Designs provides a lot of painting reference information on their site, and the US Airborne painting guide gave me a good jumping off point. I have plenty of experience painting the US 101st Airborne Division in 15mm, and the larger 28mm scale gave me the opportunity to work through a lot more detail with my miniatures. My existing paint inventory as well as a few extra colors from Citadel gave me all I needed to whip up a solid painting scheme.

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US 101st Airborne decals from Company B

To finish off my figures, I really wanted to add that last bit of realism at this scale with the appropriate patches and uniform markings. Since my painting skills don’t extend to the level of detail needed in painting patches and insignia, I was pleased to come across decals at this scale from Company B.

After some minimal flash clean-up, the individual figures got glued to metal washer bases. The prone LMG team went on a 60mm plastic base from Proxie Models and the two-man team on the move was glued to a larger metal washer. Here’s the painting guide in detail for my US Airborne:

Painting 28mm US Airborne

  1. Clean flash from metal models with a sharp knife and glue to metal washer or plastic bases.
  2. Apply filler putty to bases. When dry, scrape off excess with a sharp knife.
  3. Base coat models and bases with flat black spray primer.
  4. Paint uniforms and bandages on helmets with Tallarn Sand.
  5. Paint helmets and knee and elbow patches with Waaagh! Flesh.
  6. Paint faces and hands with Tallarn Flesh.
  7. Paint webbing and packs with Baneblade Brown.
  8. Paint bases, boots, gun stocks and helmet straps with Dark Brown.
  9. Apply Agrax Earthshade wash to uniforms, helmet netting, webbing and packs.
  10. Mix 50/50 Baneblade Brown and Off White and lightly dry brush packs, webbing and socks.
  11. Lightly dry brush bases, gun stocks, helmet netting, holsters and elbow and shoulder patches with Baneblade Brown.
  12. Paint metal gun parts with black and finish with a light dry brush of metallic silver.
  13. Paint eyes with small dots of Off White and Dark Brown. Clean up around eyes with Tallarn Flesh.
  14. Mix 50/50 Tallarn Flesh and Off White and brush highlights on cheekbones, chins, forehead, nose and hands.
  15. Apply decals to shoulders and helmets, followed by a coat of Solvaset decal fixative from Walthers.
  16. Cover bases in white glue and cover in 50/50 mix of fine light green and dark green grass flock.
  17. Glue small pieces of clump foliage to base.
  18. Spray coat completed models with matte finish.

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Filler putty applied to US Airborne .30 cal machine gun teams

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Helmet and uniform base coats on US Airborne riflemen

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Flesh base coat on hands and faces on riflemen and command figures

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Uniform, helmet and flesh base coats on the .30 cal machine gun teams

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Washes and dry brush layers added to the .30 cal machine gun models and bases

And now, a whole series of my completed US airborne troops from Artizan Designs…

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I still want to fill out my US forces with some additional troops and support weapons, so there will be more to come from Artizan and some other manufacturers. Getting some Germans ready for the table is another pending project on the workbench. Transport and armored vehicles are also very much on my mind. I’m also still debating rule sets, and I’ve been reading up on a variety including the popular Bolt Action from Warlord Games and Nuts! from Two Hour Wargames. With my first 28mm troops ready for action, WWII at a new scale is keeping the period exciting for what I’m certain will be another new year of painting and playing.