British Infantry on Campaign

5th Regiment (Northumberland) - click pix to enlarge.

A side view of the 5th. Note the difference in the original red coat compared to the faded rose colored coat.

3 Pound Galloper Gun

3 Pound Galloper Gun (AE-4)

The picture shows a painted sample of the Galloper Gun set in the Fife & Drum Miniatures range, consisting of the horse, the limber frame that converts the cannon to a "galloper", and the 3 pound Verbruggen cannon on a Pattison carriage.

The stock number for the galloper  is AE-4 and is priced at $8.50 for the set.

The mounted officer is actually the Continental mounted officer, painted in a red coat. The officer on foot comes from the British artillery crew (firing) and is painted as an infantry officer in red coat.

Artillery Equipment - Painted Pix

British 6-pounder (AE3) battery in action (Firing AE12 and loading AE13 sets)

I have been busy painting samples of every figure in the Fife & Drum range so that we can get the figures photographed and loaded onto our new web site. I expect to launch the Fife & Drum web site towards the end of October 2012, so keep checking back on this blog for updates on our progress.

I like the way the artillery sets turned out - they have a lot of action to them, as they are available in loading sets and firing sets for each army. Eventually, each gun section will have a limber set attached to it.  See picture below for a sample of the limber set painted. Each set includes one limber, two horses and one drover. Cannon are purchased separately.

Limber set (AE-5) shown with the British 6-pounder in tow.

Continental Artillery Crew (AE13) loading a Swedish 4-Pdr (AE2)

I recently discovered that the cannon model that I had labeled as an American-cast 6-pdr (AE2) was actually the Swedish 4-pdr, which was part of the French Valliere system of artillery. This model can be used for both the Seven Years War and the American War of Independence.

Continental Artillery Crew (AE14) Firing a French 4-Pdr Valliere (AE1)

The French Valliere 4-pounder, or Long 4-pounder, is probably my favorite piece in our nascent Fife & Drum artillery offerings so far. I like it so much that I plan to add the French 8-pounder and 12-pounder cannon in the future. The long 4-pounder can be used in both SYW and AWI period armies.

A Few Blog Layout Changes

Governor William Shirley

Governor William Shirley of Massachusetts has nothing to do with today's blog entry, but I wanted to put some kind of picture at the top of the page and thought that he was a distinguished looking gentleman of the times, so why not?

I am on my annual required two weeks of vacation right now and I hope to use some of that time to clean up a few things on this blog. For starters, I have added a box on the left hand side of the page to show some of the Links germane to AWI topics. This way, I can come directly to this page (and you can too, of course), and use it as an entry point to other useful AWI blogs and web pages. Over time, this collection of links will grow to a sizable amount.

I am in the process of painting one each of every figure in the Fife & Drum range so that we can take color pictures of the figures (front and back) for posting on our new web site. The web site will enable you to purchase figures on line without having to go through the current, more cumbersome ordering process. Stay tuned for a further announcement on the web site in about another 1-2 months. I hope to have a big web site roll out in say, October 2012, along with some special items added to the range just for the web site roll out.

Finally, thank you to everyone who took advantage of the 1776 Deals that we ran in the month of July. The metal was literally flying out the door as we had to keep sending in restocking orders to keep up with the demand. Thank you to those of you who had the patience to wait on some backorders. These were promptly filled when the new stock arrived. Our policy is to try to fill the order as completely as possible and to back order the few miscellaneous items. All back orders are shipped postage free as I don't think that it is fair for you to pay twice for postage.

July Drawing Winner Is: Volleyfire!

Volleyfire! is the winner of our July random drawing of followers. Please contact me to collect your prize of $50.00 worth of Fife & Drum Miniatures of your choice.

Congratulations.

New Artillery Pictures

AE-12 British Crew Firing (left) and AE-11 British Crew Loading, both with AE-3 British 6-pdr.

I have posted a few pictures of some of the new Fife & Drum artillery equipment and the British and Continental artillery crews, showing how they look painted. I had hoped to get these beauties into a game soon, but they will have to make a first stop in the UK, where I am sending them to be photographed for inclusion in our new web site (to be announced soon). The pictures are OK, but Henry Hyde is a better photographer than I am and we want to put the best possible pictures on the web site. Each stock number will be accompanied by a picture of the painted figure that you will be purchasing.

AE-14 American Crew Firing with AE-1 French 4-pdr Valliere cannon.

I really like the way that the French 4-pounder turned out. It is the equivalent of about a British 6-pounder in cannonball weight because the French pound was larger than the English pound measurement in those days. I black primed the cannon and used a base coat of "clotted red blood" and then did some highlights and wood grains with a common red paint. The iron fittings are painted black and then highlighted with a mixture of black and flesh paint, to give me a black highlight. The crew were grey primed.

AE-14 Firing Crew with AE-1 French 4-pdr

AE-13 American Crew Loading with AE-2 American-cast 6-pdr.

New Fife & Drum Logo Unveiled!

Fife & Drum logo created by Mr. Henry Hyde

Here is what the new logo for the Fife & Drum Miniatures range will look like. I want to thank Henry Hyde (editor of Battlegames Magazine) for his fine work in creating this logo. It really evokes the feeling of the 18th Century and the AWI/American Revolution period that is the focus of our figures.

You will start seeing our logo on The Miniatures Page (TMP) in our new banner ads as well as advertising in  the various wargame magazines.

By the way, the 1776 Deals will expire on July 31, 2012 so if you want to take advantage of the 18% and 22% discounts on the regular 12-figure and 84-figure deals, respectively, then get your order in today. Time is running out so don't put this off if you intend to order some of our deals.