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 British Infantryman

It’s not just Belgians!! At the same time as sorting out the colours for the Belgians I painted up this figure which had been lying around in the tin of undercoated yet to be painted figures. I think it’s a Wargames Foundry late WW1 from some years ago and I have mostly followed the Warhammer Historical Great War painting guide for painting a British Infantryman of 1918.

I do prime all the figures I paint with Halfords White car spray primer, spraying as many as possible in one go. If I’m painting armoured/chainmail figures I then do a basecoat of black on top of the white covering the armour/chainmail areas.

For the British Infantryman I applied a basecoat of Charadon Granite on all uniform areas and the helmet.



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. A lumpy ‘churned’ up effect was applied by ‘lifting’ the filler with Starbucks coffee stirrer (101 applications cut it down to make any tool!) When dry a well pigmented wash of GW Graveyard Earth/Chaos Black was applied followed when dry with diluted chaos black to make the mud look horrific & putrid! The edge of the base was painted GW Bestial Brown. No grass no nothing! Was added to show the bleakness of the ground the troops were fighting over.

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





Below are a few pictures from the 'Military Odyssey' re enactment show 2008 held at the Kent County Showground over August bankholiday. Hazel and I went last year and amazingly I think she enjoyed it or preferred it to an airshow! The best turned out in my opinion were the WW1 re enactment groups and here are some pictures of them;





In the grey corner superbly turned out 'Hun'



In the Khaki corner the 'Tommies' in the background it is a little known fact that white 'Gazebos' were taken to the front line!





Being able to wonder through the encampment was the best bit somehow watching WW1 reenactments simulating being mown down by machine guns is a bit close to semi recent family history!


Sorting out the Books & Modelling Space

The main job on the modelling, painting front hasn't involved modelling or painting!! For some years since moving to 'pooh corner' (the unoficial family name for the house!) none of my library of books has been in order and modelling is vying with work laptop and files on the one desk. This has now changed with two desks in the house! the library lives in the 'study' with pc and display cabinets the modelling desk is in the corner of the spare bedroom...what an improvement! I can now find references & should be able to paint and model quicker without spending a whole evening digging around for references and clearing away after a painting session.