More Odds’n’Sods!

Well, the clocks going back in the UK has given me an extra hour to get a post done!  Still doing small groups of figures, all for my Boxer Rebellion forces!  Have actually surprised myself by getting some cavalry finished (and I feel it’s only right to mention how much I hate painting horses every time I feature some badly painted horses)!

First up, some Mongol cavalry (shown above).  Mongols still served as irregular cavalry in 1900 and still used bows, although most also carried fairly modern firearms as well.  The three above qualify for the October community painting challenge because they have been sadly neglected for years and can now join three others that were painted ages ago.  It took me a long time to find suitable figures in 20mm scale and these are Kennington Miniatures (now SHQ) Turcoman cavalry from their Crusades figure range.

Next, some Chinese regular cavalry, part of my (very small) force of Kansu Braves.  The figures were basically Newline Designs American Civil War artillery riders with straw sun hats made from plastic discs covered in greenstuff, sanded down and given a coating of Gorilla Glue gel to give them some texture.  Horse were spare cavalry horses from wherever!  These three were not really neglected and they also join another three figures to form a larger unit.

Lastly, some opposition for the Chinese in the form of Japanese infantry, all from B & B Miniatures Russian Civil War range of Interventionist troops.  The old Osprey book on the Boxer Rebellion mentions that Japanese infantry wore either white or khaki summer uniforms, so years ago I painted half my Japanese infantry in the latter colour (as shown by the figure on the right).  A more recent source (that I’d consider very trustworthy) mentions the use of white only, so I repainted the khaki uniforms in dark blue for the figures on the left, with these three now giving me two 10-man infantry units (and the cap band colour changed from yellow to red when the Japanese adopted khaki in 1904).  At some point, I’ll probably re-paint the last 10 khaki figures in blue uniforms, but not just yet!

With these figures finished, alongside the French completed earlier in the month, I’ve got a few of my Boxer Rebellion forces re-organised and ready to fight now.  If I can get some Autumn sunlight, I’ll try and get some photos taken and try and feature them in some upcoming posts.