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I am considering giving the regiment the informal name of "The Lillies" as they are in all-white uniforms. (OK, except for the kettledrummer – I followed the Napoleonic practice of having the uniform reversed for musicians.) The flag I think I will use is a French Royal flag shown below.

I will be mounting the individual squadrons on mounts that are unique per squadron. I am thinking bays (dark brown) for the 1st, roans for the second, and dapple grays or blacks for the third. There’s no specific reason for this except that it would be different.Clicking on the images below will give you a larger image whereas the one above will not… after all, the flag is not necessarily detailed! If you want a copy of the flag graphic, let me know and I’ll email it to you. Anyone with any clever ideas as to unit history is welcome to contribute!

I will be using the Spencer Smith AA5 Staff Officer Charging for the officers, AA1 for the standard, and AA4 as the trooper figures. You can get these directly from Spencer Smith miniatures. They will loosely follow the color scheme for Austrian Cuiraissiers – white uniform, black cuiraiss, red trim/facings. The standard bearer is already painted in these colors. The staff is a brass spear which I purchased from VVV. Unfortunately they are no longer being produced as it was not a big money maker.

 The kettledrummer is made from one of the charging staff officers. The conversion was pretty straightforward once I discovered I had the round head straight pins I could use for drum sticks. The drums them selves were made from a piece of greenstuff that I placed on a flat base and then rounded until I was happy with the effect.

 No clever new name for the regiment yet. I’ll have to cogitate on it more. Suggestions appreciated….

The reason I haven’t received them yet was because my card I gave them kept declining when Rich tried to run it. I had ensured that there was money in the account since it was a debit card so I knew I should be able to meet the charge with no problems. When I called him up to clear it up with him, I asked how much it was for, as I had only ordered 16 Bosnians firing and three or four Jacobite samples so it should only have been around $30 or so. There was a pause on the line and Rich said… "Oh, well, did you get the numbers off of the website?" "Yes", I meekly replied, feeling like a schoolboy that had been caught in a prank. "Ah," Rich responded, those codes are for *bags* of figures. Your total came out to be $100 +!" He offered to send me the latest price list for the single figures and fixed the order for me. That’s service with a smile, knowing that your customer is dim-witted and treating him nice anyways. So, Thanks DPC, I appreciate it. 

I am experimenting with some different lighting effects and camera settings and these pictures came out the best of those that I took. The one on the left was edited in Fireworks (although you could do the same with The Gimp) and a background dropped in. This is the "Volley Fire, Present!" picture — what the enemy would see closing in. The second is also edited with Fireworks and shows a bird’s eye view of the front rank’s volley going down range. These figures were a lot of fun to paint as they don’t have a lot of the froo-froo that their European counterparts do. Highly recommended for any aspiring ImagiNation general!

Albay Sapkasiz (Turkish for Colonel Hatless… according to online translators) on his Lusitano. Again, this is an RSM figure on Litko bases. The bottom is magnetized so I can store it properly. He is in a discussion with one of his company commanders which must not be going well as he has his sabre drawn!

The company officers and supernumeraries are attired as shown below. The sgt for each company is shown on the left. There will also be a regimental sergeant major but I’m thinking of using a rifleman with a turban similar to a Mameluke’s for that role. The drummer is an arty figure with arms repositioned and drums made from green stuff. The drums are pinned on each side. The flag was put together in Macromedia Fireworks and I used an online translation service for the motto, so although it’s supposed to mean "no fee too big" it probably means something eschatological!The picture on the right shows all of the regiment’s drummers in a jam session. I think they are practicing for the tryouts being held for the band at the Duchy of Stollen.

I am making good progress on getting the 1st two companies painted. Here’s an in-progress shot. 

I hope to have them done by the end of the weekend.And since someone pretended to have an interest, here’s a shot of my painting desk – completed now that we have been moved in for a while.

1) left side: top shelf is a CD/tape player for audio books,next shelf down, paint shaker, storage of CDs/Tapes, GW paints I repackaged a while ago in Western Plastics bottles,

2) drawers contain basing materials, infrequently used tools, styrene, the odd detritus that we use,

3) front, Reaper paints with most frequently used on bottom, organized by Reaper number ,

4) right side, inks, Vallejos, washes in numerical order,

5) under desk on right side is a toilet paper holder for wiping brushes, etc.,

6)center, cutting board, kitchen counter top for desk, daylight bulb in lamp from Ikea, brushes and frequently used tools in jars on right side, obligatory caffeinated drink (Diet Coke!)

The Hirst molds are made from a premium grade of silicone rubber and can be reused hundreds of times (depending on the casting materials used). I generally make my castings from Excalibur dental plaster or SmoothOn resin. This particular building was an experiment to see how new techniques would look. I used Excalibur dental plaster for the door and walls.The dental plaster is heavy and is a mix of resin and plaster designed for use in making molds for dental use. It can be cast with few bubbles even in the most complex molds. (Bruce has a page on his site where he has designed a shaking table to remove bubbles even further using a hand held back massager and some various other materials)!

The cast pieces are glued together using carpenter’s glue one can get in bulk from a DIY store. I mount most of my buildings on 1/8 inch thick MDF as I like to do some "landscaping" around them to add to the look. I used talus, gravel, and sand on a layer of glue on the board to get the textured ground showing through the grass. Once I was happy with the way the bottom layer was constructed, I also beveled the edges of the MDF slightly because I’m somewhat anal. Next I used a generic brand of flat black spray paint to prime the building and base.

The peaks on either end of the building were made from balsa wood. My wife attempted to use a water soluble paint she got from one of the major paint stores in the area on one of our bedrooms. She *hated* the paint as it was too watery in her opinion and was almost impossible to use properly. Frustrated, she took it back to the store to return it but since it was a "custom" mix – based of course on their colors – they would not take it back. So we were stuck with a gallon of dark brown paint with a viscosity higher than that of acrylic craft paints. Hmmm… wonder what we can do with it now?  I love when domestic issues can be solved in such a beneficial way! I used this color on the balsa as it was a good brown and I could drybrush the wood with a lighter brown/tan and make it look like wood from a distance. These peaks were glued onto the building. I also used the paint on the base as it was sufficiently thick enough to add some gripping power to the gravel and detritus on the base.

The roof is made from sheets of Plastruct shingles. I measured the width of the house and added a quarter of an inch or so at either end and did the same for the height of the sheet. I mounted the cut sheets on thin balsa sheets to make them sturdier and then reinforced the roof with triangles of matt board in a couple of places along the roof line. The roof was then sprayed black (flat, generic, fast-drying) and drybrushed with craft paints. I got the join on the roof peak just right and did not have to add a piece along the length of a roof which is what I normally have to resort to. The roof is not glued on so I can put figures in the building when necessary.

The floor on the interior is made from Plastruct sheeting and is sprayed black and drybrushed grey with hints of brown. You’ll also notice, I hope, that the base of the walls has some browns, tans, and greys added to reflect mud and dirt landing from the surrounding area. The only issue I have is that the carpenter mishung the door. (I had to leave to get to the phone after gluing on the dorr and it moved.) Otherwise, I am very pleased with how this project came out.