AW Miniatures

My figures arrived from AW Miniatures this morning and very nice they are too. I ordered them on the 29th September and they arrived today 9th October. A very respectable turn around, especially considering the range has just been released. I bought both packs of the woodland Indians and pack 1 of Rogers Rangers. Thought I'd do a little review on my first impressions.

Both packs of Indians contain 8 miniatures priced at £8.50, good value for money. They also do a War party pack of 20 figures for £20, may be worth considering these. 3 of the Indians are bow armed while the other 5 have muskets. This suits me as I can combine the 2 packs to give one bow armed unit and two musket armed units. One of the musket armed figures has separate arms so you can adjust the pose, allows you to add a little variety to the figures. There were a couple of slight mould lines but nothing that a quick scrap of the scalpel will remove.

Height wise they are very comparable to the Front Rank figures I already have, cannot say if they will mix well with the other ranges until I get my hands on some to compare, but if Front Rank mix then so will these. The photos below were of the first 4 Indians I picked out for painting. I really like the figure with the musket above his head.

4 AW Miniatures with muskets

Next up a couple of photos showing them against the Front Rank Indians that I have already painted.

Firing pose comparison

Aw on the left and front rank on the right

Overall I'm very happy with the figures. I'll post a review of the Rangers when I get to them. I will definitely be buying more figures from this range. I notice on the website that British and French Regulars are coming soon.

FIW Muster continues

A few more additions to my slowly growing French & Indian war collection. First up is the second unit of Companies Franches de la marine. This will allow me to field either 2 units of 8 figures or a single unit of 12 figures. The figures are part of a set I got from Harry and no idea what make they are.

Companies Franches de la marine

The full Company together

 Next up are a few figures from Front Rank Figurines, very nice sculpts and a pleasure to paint. First up is 2 British officers to lead my force. Again I kept with the colour scheme of the 60th Royal Americans.

British Officers

British Officers

For the French, they have the addition of an Officer in summer dress and 3 Regulars from the La Reine Infantry Regiment. Already got an order in with Front Rank to finish off this unit.

French Officer

French Officer

Regiment La Reine

And lastly the start of my Woodland Indians, 3 figures from Front Rank. The centre figure will fulfil the role as a Sachem for these.

Woodland Indians

FIW blockhouse part 2

Finally finished off the model with a little help from my daughter who insisted she helped. I'm still not totally happy with the roof, but it will have to do for now. For the floor I left a hole in the middle in which I can insert my figure to lift it out so troops can be placed on the ground floor if needed.

Finished blockhouse

Close up of the blockhouse

The floor with a hole

On  the figure front a small order has arrived from Front Rank, these are lovely figures. I got myself 2 British and 1 French officer as well as 3 Indians. One of the Indians has a suitable pose to stand out as a Sachem. The other 2 Indians will be added to those from AW miniatures when they arrive to give me 3 units of 6 warriors.

I've also finally finished another 8 Companies franches de la marine, just waiting for the bases to dry and I'll post some pictures over the weekend if time allows. SWMBO has already stated the only painting I'll be doing is the walls in my daughters room this weekend.

FIW Blockhouse part 1

While I'm still in the groove for building scenery and with some left over balsa wood, I decided to build a block house following the same methods I used for the trading post. Once again I went for a lift off roof and even have a removable floor so figures can be put on the ground floor. Took some inspiration from one of the Touching History books by Paul Darnell, excellent if you can get your hands on them.

Main body of the blockhouse undercoated black

Showing the buttresses to take the lift off floor

The roof under construction

I'm not totally happy with the roof, The wife gave her expert opinion and stated that the pitch wasn't high enough! and I think she is right. It will have to do for now as I've run out of materials.

FIW Trading post part 3 and more

I finally completed the basing for the trading post, my usual mixture of sand covered in an Oak finish varnish with clumps of static grass added. I also decided to paint the floor black as it is noticeable when the roof is removed for figures.

Finished trading post

I also managed to obtain a good deal with a club member on some spare figures he had lying around. It gave me 32 figures or enough for 4 units for Muskets and Tomahawks. After a bit of sorting I put together 2 units of 8 British regulars, painted as the 60th Royal Americans. I chose these as there uniform had most of the lace removed as they were primarily recruited for fighting along the frontier. The unit has a mix of headgear, even a couple which may not be strictly legal but I don't care.

60th Royal Americans

60th Royal Americans

Next up are the first unit of French, they still need their bases finished off. They are from the Companies franches de la marine. Very resourceful fighters on the frontier.

Companies franches de la marine

Companies franches de la marine

Next up I have a second unit of french men as I await my order from AW miniatures. If anyone knows the make of these figures I would be much obliged.

FIW Trading Post part 2

Managed some more work on my first building. Gave the whole thing a black undercoat, including the inside, then dry brushed with burnt umber. Once that was all dried I gave the whole thing a dry brush in cream to weather the building. Quite happy with the results.

Coat of burnt umber

After dry brushing with cream

Close up of the front of the building

Next up I just have to add some texture to the base and I can start on a second building. I've got a spare cart wheel that I might add to the front.

FIW Trading Post part 1

My next project that I have diverted into is the French Indian War. Already bought the Musket & Tomahawks rules and started to paint up some figures (will post pictures of these once the basing has dried). This is one period that I tried to get into about 15 years ago and never got it off the ground, couldn't find an opponent or decent set of rules. This time around it's going to be a side project that I can slowly build up over the next couple of years.

To kick things off I decided to scratch build a trading post for some marauding Indians to attack. It will eventually be made up of 2 buildings. I've started the first using a mixture of Balsa and coffee stirrers to construct the building and MDF as a base to give it a bit off sturdiness. The roof will be lift off and made from card strips to represent planking. I decided against thatch for this building.

The building shell

With the roof added

Planking being added to the roof

For the roof I have added a couple of strengtheners on the inside to try and prevent it warping and ensuring it fits the building. I'll post some more pictures as I progress the building.

On the figure front I noticed that AW Miniatures have just released a FIW range so I have treated myself to 1 each of the packs of Indians and 1 pack of rangers. These will finish off a British force as I already have 16 regulars.