Dixon Miniatures American Civil War - General James Longstreet

 With all this social distancing I'll at least have the time to expand my Confederate force. The latest addition here is a command base featuring Lee's War Horse, Lieutenant General James Longstreet.

 Longstreet played a pivotal role in both the Eastern and Western theatres of the Civil War. He distinguished himself in the early Confederate successes at First and Second Manassas before mounting successful defensive stands at Antietem and Fredericksburg in 1862.

 He was probably most remembered for reluctantly overseeing the doomed offensive that was Pickett's Charge during the Battle of Gettysburg, despite advising Robert E. Lee of its futility.

 On the left is Captain Thomas Jewett 'TJ' Goree, Longstreet's aide.

 Yet another wonderful sculpt by Dixon miniatures, Longstreet was a joy to paint and it's nice to see a command base added to my force. After painting six mounted figures on the spin, I'm going to tackle another artillery piece and an infantry unit over the next few weeks. Thanks for looking and stay safe!

Dixon Miniatures American Civil War - Confederate Cavalry

 I've added to my initial three Confederate cavalrymen (featuring J.E.B Stuart) with another three over the last couple of weeks.

The Dixon civil war cavalry are superb and are in my opinion some of the best in the range.

 Confederate cavalry were considered as superior horsemen to their northern counterparts due to the more rural South where roads were poor and more suited to horses in comparison to the urbanised North where streetcars and carriages were more commonplace.

 Confederate cavalry owned their own horses and were compensated on a monthly basis. If a soldier's horse was lost (killed, sick, injured etc), he was responsible for replacing it at his own expense. The general rule was for the soldier to return with a new horse within sixty days or face the ignominious fate of becoming an infantryman.

 The plan is to paint another six in the near future. I'm currently in the process of knocking out another artillery piece and also a Confederate command base featuring General Longstreet so watch this space.

Dixon Miniatures American Civil War - Confederate 10 pounder Parrott rifled gun

 Hi there. My next installment in my Confederate force is an artillery piece, a 10 pound Parrot rifle, again, by Dixon miniatures, of course.

 Invented by Captain Robert Parker Parrott, a graduate from West Point, they were made from a combination of cast and wrought iron. Despite its accuracy, it was prone to suffering fractures due to its brittle tendencies.

 This was the smallest of the Parrot rifles with the 300 pounder being the largest with the 10 and 20 pounders being used by both Union and Confederacy.

 I have to admit I didn't enjoy painting the actual gun itself but when complete, it's very rewarding and I'm intending to get on with a second gun right away. Once again, the Dixon crew really make this piece with their usual character and charm.

Dixon Miniatures American Civil War - 8th Virginia

 Hi there. I was hoping to post this a little sooner but I've been waiting to find time to photograph this lot.
 Continuing with my Confederate force, I've produced another infantry unit, this time from the 8th Virginia regiment.
 Most of these guys were painted before Christmas but had to wait til New Year before I could wrap up the entire unit.

 Once again, these are from the Dixon Miniatures range with every man in the unit different.

 Formed in Leesberg VA by Colonel Eppa Hunton, the regiment, also known as "The Old Bloody Eighth" would go on to suffer 90% casualties during Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg.

 Once again I'm just so impressed with the individuality and character of the Dixon sculpts. It is certainly helping my enthusiasm with this project with all their diversity. The flag is from Redoubt Enterprises as per usual.

 Next up will be an artillery piece, a 10pdr Parrot rifled gun. The crew are already complete so it's a case of sorting the gun out and basing it all. Then hopefully I can take a break from the rebs and make a start on the Union.

2019 - Review Time!

 Well call it a six month review - or there abouts. It started with great momentum and at one stage was looking like it would be a personal record breaking year for painting input but less than halfway through the year it all dried up.

 A combination of things such as work related exhaustion and some personal issues at home were mainly to blame which thankfully has been resolved and capped off with a move to a lovely house.

 Anyway, I won't bore you with all that. Going back to January, the first project I embarked on was an Oriental Heroes warband consisting of some classics from that range including a Wu Jen and a samurai riding temple dog.

 It was highly fulfilling to finally get the temple dog model done after it had been unpainted in my pile for many years.

 I have to say the Wu Jen was my personal favourite though; a figure I'd been tracking down for a fair old while. Had a lot of fun painting him up.

 For the following three months I worked on, initially a Realm of Chaos Khorne warband and then, sticking with the theme I worked on a unit of chaos knights.

 The warband leader was a conversion job, using two different Jes Goodwin champions accompanied by an unreleased chaos hound. I'd have to say he's probably the highlight of my painting year.

 The knights were a lengthy time consuming process, each one having a little bit of customisation here and there. I've always found painting horses/mounts a bit overwhelming and these giant brutes were no exception.

 It's always been an ambition to have a unit of classic realm of chaos knights painted up. There were so many scheduled models to add to this growing Khorne force and then it all just fell away.

 I would barely look at another model for about another four months. The resurgence came from an unlikely source - the American civil war range from Dixon Miniatures.

I've had no end of fun painting these characterful little guys and have been impressed how many variations there are in the range. I've enough to field a small force of Union and Confederates with every man being different.

 I was aiming to post another unit of Confederates before the year was out but I'm five short of completion.

 So despite five months of painting zilch, I did manage to get quite a bit done over 2019. It was a little disappointing not to manage a diorama or large scale model this year which I have managed to do so for about the last five years running. Hopefully 2020 will see the return of that. The early part of the coming year will most likely consist of more American civil war but I do hope that I can feel the desire to return to painting classic Citadel figures again before too long.

Dixon Miniatures American Civil War - J.E.B. Stuart with Guidon Bearer

 The next installment to my latest ongoing project is that of legendary Confederate cavalry general James Ewell Brown J.E.B Stuart.

 All three figures are Dixon sculpts again of course which I really cannot champion enough. Another thing that amazes me here is the fact Dixon seem to vary their character figures as the previous Jeb figure I've seen online is looking straight ahead whereas my version is as you can see, is looking at an angle.

 Charismatic and flamboyant, the cologne wearing Stuart was a master of reconnaissance and Robert E. Lee's eyes and ears. Stuart met his demise in 1864 at The Battle of Yellow Tavern, mortally wounded by a dismounted Union cavalryman.

 The cavalry guidon is from the Redoubt Enterprises flag range. I'm going to resume with some more infantry for now and fit another couple of cavalry figures as and when. 

 There is also a plan of a diorama of Pickett's charge (or at least a small part of it!) over the coming weeks. Well more than just a plan as I've ordered all the models and purchased a base so that'll be something to occupy me into the new year.