Sunday, August 25, 2019

Thoughts on a New Project

      I have done little with the hobby the last couple of months. I try to start a project but lose interest quickly. I did read a couple of books about the Canadian Rebellions of 1837-38, and the Fenian raids. It has me thinking of an imagi-nation game where both sides use militia companies to form their armies.

    I started stripping down my 15mm Minifigs militia, with the idea of 4 man companies. After painting a couple of units, I started losing interest. I realized that at that scale I couldn't paint fine details to distinguish the different companies, such as buttons and hat details. I want to use American militia units as the basis for my games.  For time periods I am thinking either the 1830's or 1880's; these periods saw a large number of Volunteer militias with colorful uniforms and names. Doing the 1880's would be easiest for me; it is easy to find toy soldiers of this period being manufactured. Finding figures that would work for the 1830's is more difficult. What's more, I want an "Old School" look to the figures.

   I have several ideas on how to go with this project, including trying to sculpt my own figures. As my wife and I are leaving on a camping trip tomorrow, I will have time to think this problem out. I also plan to bring a few books for research.


Figure scale from left to right: 15mm Minifigs; 20mm Frying pan and Blanket Amalgamated; 30mm SAE; 40mm home cast, 2 converted Zinnbrigade, 1 Prince August, and a converted Zinnbrigade figure; 54mm Britains.

The look I'm going for. 

To see more shots of these militiamen, look under "Historic Eastfield Foundation".