Monday 25 April 2011

28mm ECW Parliament Pike and Cavalry






I exchanged a few blisters of unpainted Flames of War British with my mate Darren for these Dixons ECW models a few weeks ago. There was an assortment of Pike, Foot and Cavalry with the latter both Scots and English. These are the ones I've painted-up so far. I didn't want to take forever as I was anxious to get them done and on the battlefield asap. There's been a few ECW games at the local club and I was looking forwards to fielding some of my own models. To this end I went for a quick black undercoat with one flat colour and occasional highlight on top. I'm happy with the outcome. The cavalry as you can see are a selection of lobsters, dragoons etc. I intend to purchase more and make them up into proper squadrons. Also just noticed there's some individual characters in the bag Darren gave me: William Waller and Cromwell himself. Both Bicorne Miniatures. Nice!


These are the first Dixons Miniatures I've ever had, and I must say I really like them. They've a nice old school feel and I'll certainly be buying a few more in the future.

Saturday 23 April 2011

Crimean War Cannon and Sevastopol Eagle















Here are a few photos I took from a visit to the Leicestershire Regimental Museum. There are two Russian cannon outside both taken from Sevastopol during the Crimean War. As you can see they have slightly different carriages (one with four wheels, the other two). They both seem to be the same calibre guns, although I'm not sure what poundage they may be. There's what appears to be a slightly faded armourer's mark on both. I can't tell what they mean and the inscriptions are quite weather-worn. There were the initials 'M.A' on the rear of each. Apparently the guns were not definitely taken by the Leicestershire regiment during the siege, but the city had 'claimed' them for display at some point (I've seen four smaller guns in Nottingham which I assume were appropriated in the same manner). The Sevastopol wooden eagle, also pictured, was actually taken during the siege. As attested to by the inscription.



If anyone has any further info on the cannons I'd be interested to hear about it!