Tuesday 14 April 2009

6th Continental Regiment


I wanted to paint another American battalion in a mix of shirt and coats for use predominantly in the early phase of the war. Having painted one such unit in blue faced red coats and wanted to paint the second in brown faced red ones. This unit is designed to be the 6th Continental Regiment of 1776. The previous year it was raised as Colonel John Brewer's Massachusetts Regiment and at some time after 1777 the unit became the 13th Massachusetts Regiment. The unit was present at the Siege of Boston, went up to Lake Champlain, then fought at Saratoga, Monmouth and Rhode Island. The regiment seems to have disbanded in 1781. I chose the 6th simply because there are records of its soldiers wearing brown coats faced with red (or white).


For "British Grenadier" scenarios, I see that the 13th Massachusetts appear with 16 figures at Monmouth and Newport (i.e. the main 1778 Rhode Island battle). The flag is from "Flag Dude" and is one reported as being carried by General Sullivan's "life guard" at Rhode Island in 1778. Whilst this regiment is not Sullivan's guard as such, I have the flag lying unused and thought it might be appropriate for a unit that did eventually fight in the campaign. Incidentally, there is an interesting account of Sullivan and the Rhode Island campaign here. The figures are all from Perry Miniatures, a mix of various packs and with a couple of "freed men of colour" thrown in.


20 figures. Painted February 2009. Flag by "the Flag Dude".



6 comments:

Sire Godefroy said...

Good to see you're "back on track". ;) Seriously, a very nice looking unit, as always. I'm also thinking about such troops of mixed uniforms and 'races', and your version is an appealing example. Thanks for the inspiration!

Cheers

AJ (Allan) Wright said...

Nicely done. I'm currently working on some Perry riflemen in hunting shirts and I could only dream they'll come out half as nicely as these.

Ubique Matt said...

Hello Giles,

Lovely figures. Can I ask how do you achieve that effect with the flag and what adhesive do you use? I'm always apprehensive of tearing the paper.

Regards,
Matt

Giles said...

Matt

The flag is a ready-made number from Flag Dude - they are sold as you see them on the figures: already fixed to the pole and crumpled. For GMB flags, I use "pritt stick" white glue adhesive and then self-crumple the flags a bit once the glue has begun to set (if you crumple too soon the edges begin to part company). I find that tears can usually be remedied either with paint or, for larger damage, more glue.

Giles

Ubique Matt said...

Hello again Giles,
Thanks for the the info and tip about the flags.
Matt

johnpreece said...

Those are very impressive hunting shirts. really like the look of this unit and once more I am awestruck at the facial expressions that you achieve.

Really, it must be heartbreaking for the Perry twins to turn out those faces for someone like me who just puts a gloop of humbrol on them. A rael treat to see just what detail there is .