15mm Iron Brigade

As promised, here are photos of my recently completed firing line unit of 15mm Iron Brigade figures from Battle Honors. These were the first 15mm I have ever painted. I really am pleased with the results, especially considering I have been painting figures for a short time. I just wished BH had more poses in the firing line. I wasn't sure which way to face the fellows loading, so I used my best guess based on how they could fit on the stand. While I like four-figure stands, I decided to base three figures on 1"x1" 3mm- thick masonite bases from GF9 to save a bit of money on figures, to protect the figures, and to make the stands easier to pick up. I tried for a more ragged looking line befitting the American Civil War.

Painting
I painted the frock coats using Ceramcoat Navy Blue, which looks perfect on my gaming table. I painted the trousers with Reaper's True Blue, the closest blue I had on hand. Since then, I have switched to Vallejo's Deep Sky Blue, which is less intense and still looks good on the table. The hat tassels are the same blue but drybrushed on.

Bases
I wanted to make my stands look like real bumpy ground, so after gluing the figures to the base I spread Elmer's wood putty about the bases like I do for 25mm figures. I ignored the spaces between the legs, and added a few large rocks here and there. When that dried the next day, I spread white glue over the bases and dipped them into a mixture of fine sand with a bit of larger grit tossed in. The sand is cheap stuff from Wal-Mart. After drying the bases with a blow dryer (my best friend in this project!), I painted the entire thing including sides with black gesso. I let this dry overnight.

The next day, I dabbed Games Workshop undiluted brown ink onto the sand, heavier in some places, lighter in others. Next, I drybrushed the sand with Americana's Sable Brown, followed by a lighter drybrush of Ceramcoat's Latte, and then a very light drybrush of Ceramcoat's Golden Brown. The Golden Brown may sound odd after having drybrushed the lighter Latte, but the Golden Brown oddly tied it all together. I drybrushed rocks with Ceramcoat's Rain Grey and then Ceramcoat's Quaker Grey.

With the entire base drybrushed, I dabbed on white glue in spots and dipped the stand into Scenic Express' Pasture Blend flocking. When dry, I brushed the base edges with Ceramcoat's Dark Brown. Finally, I glued a cut down twig onto one base and glued some more flock around it. When everything was dry, I gave the entire stand a shot of spray Dulcoat.

Conclusion
My process takes a bit longer, but I tend to look at every stand as a small diorama and the larger unit a larger diorama. I guess it's the model railroader in me. On the work table, I have the rest of the Iron Brigade (about 30 figures) primed with flesh painted, another 50 primed Union marching, and 50 primed CSA in kepis firing.

For rules, I am using my own regimental set. I used to use ACWarmaster, which I had a small hand in tweaking many years ago, but it just didn't work for me on a regimental level. I'll post more info on my rules as time goes by.