At the Colours show I bought a naval boarding party from
Newline Design as another potential opposition for my numerous pirate figures.
The figures are fairly bland in terms of pose and dress, but
seem well cast and do represent good value for money (24 figures for £20). I
added to the basic pack by adding some additional single figure options.
The figures painted up easily; I wanted some variation with
an underlying ‘uniform’ appearance. The figures are more Napoleonic in dress rather
than the earlier period I wanted to depict, but I don’t think the basic clothing
for an ordinary rating changed much over time. The officer and mate dress is
probably incorrect for the period I’m aiming at, but I’m not too concerned
about this anomaly. The Royal Navy has always been a multi-ethnic body and
wanted my force to reflect this. Forces based in the Caribbean would almost
certainly have had a high proportion of different ethnicities; they could not
pop back to home waters to ‘recruit’ replacement men from the slums of Britain.
Actually my European figures in the force look a bit ‘pasty’, they should in
fact be heavily sun-tanned. I also attempted some tattooing on the figures to
help give a seafaring feel.
On the bases, I opted for a decking look rather than
standard flocking. I’m not totally happy about the effect I have achieved; it
looks a bit block-like. Interestingly, this block effect means the figures actually
look OK on cobbled terrain areas. So rather than re-paint the bases, I will
stick with it for a while.
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