Brigade Models Belgian WW1 Dog carts released at Salute

wow look at these lovely's been waiting for ages for these to materialise from the Kentish firm of Brigade models.....and as usual they are going to be released at salute.....yes that massive model show which always takes place at that time of the year when MOT, car tax & summer holiday costs all conspire to impose immediate poverty on my bank balance!!! I just know that attending Salute would be 'fatal' !! Anyway aiming to visit wargame shows in the Autumn this year

Belgian Great War Cavalry By Brigade Models Launched at Salute

There I was thinking it was dog carts next from Brigade Models for the 28mm 1914 Belgians & here are the cavalry!! Released at Salute and from the web site straight after...the lot please!!!




From their web site Salute Page:

Belgian Great War Cavalry
'Absolutely hot off the presses, so much so that we only have a limited number of photographs, we present three types of Belgian cavalry including officers and buglers. All cavalry troopers are supplied with seperate arms allowing them to be equipped with sabres or lances.'

GW-1117 Senior Officer £1.50
GW-1118 Lancers in Czapka (x2) £5.00
GW-1119 Lancer Officer £3.00
GW-1120 Lancer Bugler £3.00
GW-1121 Guides in Colback (x2) £5.00
GW-1122 Guide Officer £3.00
GW-1123 Guide Bugler £3.00
GW-1124 Chasseurs in Shako (x2) £5.00
GW-1125 Chasseurs Officer £3.00
GW-1126 Chasseurs Bugler £3.00
GW-1127 Mounted officer in Field Cap £3.00





Above 'pony' may be a 'nosebag enthusiast'! but definitly a time to raise a glass of




.........to the fellows at Brigade Models!!

Belgian Carabiniers & Maxim Gun Team 1914

The latest figures to be painted for my Belgian 1914 army are some carabiniers with their madly inapropriate for modern warfare Tyrolean headgear! Included in my batch of 5 figures to go under the brush was a Maxim Team all Brigade Models figures.



There are some great Photographs/Postcards of the Carabinier maxim teams in action or posed as if so and these make for excellent references. These images were found as before on my earlier Belgian 1914 blog posts from some excellent web sites.




The back view of the 2 man team supplied showing spare Ammo box & Mauser rifle placed on the base.





I presume the ropes the gunners have about them were used to help carry the gun?? The Germans had Maxims on ‘sledge’ type stands and wore towing belt arrangements to help pull/manoeuvre the gun.





I referred to various sources to paint the Carabiniers, like the postcards on the web as below




Also two volumes of the Funcken series 'Arms and Uniforms the First World War part 1' and Arms and Uniforms 18th century to the Present day. I decided to go with the basic dark green coats , grey trousers etc and left off yellow trouser stripes etc.




Above is my reference chart for painting these chaps again which helps my memory...now what colours did I use/mix? and hopefully a starting point for others afflicted with researching what colours to paint WW1 Belgian Carabiniers of 1914!!




Behind You!!




About face!


Basing the Figures

The figures was based on a Renedra Plastic Stand (bought with an order from Gripping Beast) covered with B&Q ready mixed filler to the depth of the figures metal stand. Builders sand was washed and left to dry and then the base with wet filler dipped in it. When dry a well pigmented wash of GW Graveyard Earth was applied then a darker well thinned down black brown wash was added & just started using the new Citadel washes ‘Devlan Mud’ useful for bases. When dry highlighted with graveyard earth lightened with white. Finally Hornby Light Green Grass R8863 was cut to length and glued in place using B&Q wood glue (dries clear) and a few tufts of GW static grass.


To seal the paint onto the figure & protect it Humbrol Matt Varnish was carefully sprayed on.


I didn’t really get on with the Citadel/GW Inks but the Washes are very useful especially as it saves time watering down paint to the right consistency to run into creases/along belts etc. The Ogryn Flesh is particularly handy for faces.

Phew thats it for now

Great War Belgian Armoured Car Models

One of the features of the Belgian Army in 1914 was its antiquated uniforms and structure. However thanks largely to having a ‘modern’ car manufacturing industry the Belgian Army soon realised the value of armoured cars and they played their part in the early war period before the bogged down attrition of the trenches. An excellent article was written in Wargames Illustrated in September 2008 on these early Belgian armoured car engagements so I don’t want to cover that ground again but advise anyone interested to look at various web sites especially Minerva Armoured Motor car which has many great pictures and detailed history of the Minerva and Sava companies. The other reliable source of info for WW1 model makers is as always Landships on there are a couple of useful pages on Belgian armoured cars including a review of Convoys Minerva armoured car in 1/76 scale. On the web site ‘A Great War in a Different Light’ can be found some excellent photos of mostly Minerva armoured cars.





Now recently I have got hold of 3 Belgian armoured car models. The first is purely a 15mm War Gaming piece representing a Minerva armoured car and is produced by my favourite 15mm wargames figure producer ‘Peter Pig’. In their WW1 range they produce Belgians….’hurrah’ and a very simple metal Minerva armoured car in 8 pieces!! Now admittedly its only 15mm scale so you wouldn’t expect too may pieces especially if you want to retain your sanity! It is basically a one piece casting for the body work and chassis, 4 metal wheels, and 3 crew members as can be seen from the photo below.





I have cleaned and primed this model as I thought I would start with the simplest kit of the three…..good for morale!!





The next two kits I obtained at ‘Trucks and Tracks’ at Folkestone last weekend. It was my main reason for attending and its always nice to visit a show to see other modellers/wargamers work as well as look at the goodies on the stalls.





The Convoy models kit of a Minerva Armoured Car is a proper resin and metal model kit and is a more complex build. The chassis and bodywork come in two resin pieces with interior, exhaust and lights on 3 more resin sprues which have a lot of resin ‘flash’ about each part, the driver crewman is a nice little figure. The wheels and gun are in white metal and are very well cast indeed with good spoke detail not easy to cast I would imagine!





The main problem with the kit on looking at it without detailed knowledge of interiors and dimensions is that the axles are cast in resin and I will replace these with suitable dimension brass rod/thick gage wire for strength. The landships review includes pictures and is definitely worth a look.





Finally a new release is the offering from Retrokit. This is a very professional production with very finely cast pieces for a Automitrailleuse SAVA. The Chassis and main bodywork not including the turret is cast in 1 piece of resin.





with a considerable number of separate components too complete it.





The wheels are a masterpiece being cast in resin with an etched brass fret for the spokes, which if completed correctly will look stunning and advice is given on the instruction sheet for this. I would probably have preferred white metal cast wheels and spokes like in the Convoy kit as I prefer easier lazy builds! But I will give it a go!!





The biggest letdown on all three kits is the instructions!! From none with Peter Pig …but with 8 pieces you don’t need any! to 1 rough exploded diagram for the Convoy and Retrokit kits. This is often the way with these small production run resin/metal kits and it’s a shame more care is not taken with the drawings.





What is great that someone has produced these models in the first place and having seen what other armoured cars took part in WW1 a collection would be fun and Convoy also produce other kits and carry the Tommy Atkins range including a nice Lancaster AC. Really only the Peter Pig model would last being handled in a wargames environment and where ther is a gap in the market is a model of the type produced by Brittania Miniatures in 28mm well cast with enough detail and not too expensive (Retrokit was not cheap!)sadly they just do WW2 & Modern vehicles.

Ralph known for his Blog site concentrating on the Monmouth rebellion and late 16th century period in general has also another blog Ralphadeus on which there is further info on the Belgian army of 1914

First Belgian Line Infantryman of 1914 Painted and Based - Paint References Included

At last the ‘prototype Model’ Brigade Models Belgian Line Infantryman is finished. Delay caused by ‘rushing’ the basing which looked dreadful too much flock and too dark a brown used meant I had to remove the filler etc from the base and start again!!

‘The Belgian infantryman of 1914 had something of a comic opera appearance. The shiny hats of the Carabiniers and the stiff shakos of the line, the dark green or dark blue uniforms and the glinting brass all helped to make the Belgian soldier an easy target’ (Funcken)

So this is what I used to paint the Belgian Line Infantryman of 1914 all paints are acrylics click on table and enlarge to read!


Basing the Figure

The figure was based on a Renedra Plastic Stand (bought with an order from Gripping Beast) covered with B&Q ready mixed filler to the depth of the figures metal stand. Builders sand was washed and left to dry and then the base with wet filler dipped in it. When dry a well pigmented wash of GW Graveyard Earth was applied then a darker well thinned down black brown wash was added. When dry highlighted with graveyard earth lightened with white. Finally Hornby Light Green Grass R8863 was cut to length and glued in place using B&Q wood glue (dries clear) and a few tufts of GW static grass.



To seal the paint onto the figure & protect it Humbrol Matt Varnish was carefully sprayed on.



Now I’ve got this first figure painted I will follow the ‘recipe’ to paint the rest of my Line Infantry 5 at a time. Note the only omission is not having the confidence to paint a white number in the middle of the oilskin shako cover plate denoting the regiment!! so left it off!!!

Belgian Army WW1 References Part 2

I thought its worth adding at this point all the Belgian Army of WW1 and principaly the 1914 army references that I've been able to gather so far and the best way was to supply a few web site links and also a list under Belgian Army websites in the left hand margin.

One of the best is Patrick De Wolf's 'Het Belgische Leger 1830-1914'

For Photo's and Belgian Martial Music! try 'Ermeton sur Biert et les combats de 1914'

For Belgian Army Organisation and photo's the superb 'Belgian Fronts'

A great article by James Reeve on the 'Uniforms and Equipment of the Belgian Army in WW1'on the very useful 'Welcome to Landships! - a site for WW1 Military Hardware & WW1 Military Modelling

The place to visit to see the uniforms and weapons of Belgium is the Royal Museum of the Army and of Military History, Brussels - Belgium. I must go there this year if possible no excuse easy Eurostar ride from Ebbsfleet for me here in sunny Kent.

Useful and interesting postcard references can be found on the 'Brave Little Belgium' page of the 'Around the War in 80 Postcards' site.

For those who prefer to do their fighting above terra firma have a look at 'The Belgian Air Force during WW1' This is on 'An Illustrated Hitory of World War One Aviation' a very good source of info indeed with lots of pic's!!



Books are a little far and few between apart from those listed on the earlier post I have found a page in my copy of 'Arms and Uniforms 18th Century to the Present Day' by Liliane & Fred Funcken published by Ward Lock. I have ordered second hand (they are mostly ex library copies)their World War One part 1 volume via an Amazon seller.I think these books are great references and fun to flick through requiring very little reading!! The Carabinier above is a funcken depiction of a Belgian 1914 Carabinier.

Another useful book on the Belgian Army in 1914 is the 'Handbook of the Belgian Army 1914'
The Amazon review by Robert Newman of the USA says 'A reprint of two British War Office manuals that detail the Belgian Army on the Western Front in WW I. It provides details on the organization of the army, and equipment of the Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, Engineers & others. Uniform details, personal equipment, drill & tactical doctrine and an order of battle as of 1914' can be ordered from Caliver books who lists it as 'latest imprint of original source'. Other specialist shops may have it too (very BBC!)

But whats that on the horizon not an Osprey !!!!!!!





From their Men at Arms series this is due to be published on 10th June 2009

Product Description
While small in numbers, the Belgian Army played a vital role in World War 2 that is often overlooked. Germany's invasion of neutral Belgium, which led Britain to declare war in August 1914, should have been swift and fierce yet the unexpected heroic defence, against great odds, of Belgian fortresses, frustrated the German Schlieffen Plan for a thrust to Paris and a lightning victory. The plucky Belgian resistance proved successful in buying time for French and British troops to mobilize and report to the front, where the Belgians would then go on to fight, stubbornly defending the northern end of the Allied trench line for the rest of the war. In this work, discover the story of this determined Army, from their organization and commanders, to their uniforms and equipment. The only main combatant army of World War I not previously covered by Osprey, this volume will be an important addition to any enthusiast's collection, accompanied by detailed artwork and archive photographs.

I think I might want a copy!! Trouble is I want it Now!!!

Phew I am all Belgiand out if I carry on like this I will have to change my name to Tintin Poirot!!!

Belgian Army WW1 References

Not too much in my library of books on the Belgian Army in the Great War so will have to do research on the web. I have had a couple of good links suggested on the Great War Forum which as usual is absolutely brilliant.The help I got on researching a silver wounds badge was incredible (Brodsky of the 18th Husssars)and will relate the story here on a future update.One of the references I have got at home is a colour plate by Simkin of 'Types of the Belgian Army'from my grandfathers set of 'The History of The Great European War' published by Caxton.



Secondly from 'World War 1 Infantry in Colour Photographs' europa militaria No3 a superb study of a Belgian Infantryman 1914. This book is extreemly useful & worth getting for your reference library.



Well as I'm off today from work due to working all of last weekend I must get back to re decorating the bathroom but hopefully will also manage an hour priming and painting before tea.