Sunday 10 December 2017

A Smorgasbord of Items

A big post today because quite a bit has come off the painting table this week, some new and some just finishing off units. This is also my 300th post.

First up is regiment of French cuirassiers for 1812-1813, the First Regiment to be precise. this will be the first of four heavy cavalry regiments (two cuirassier and two carabinier). They are all Perry plastics.




Another Perry plastic unit that marched out of recruitment hall and into the barracks is this line infantry battalion for 1812-13.




The plastics were bought to fill in any space in the painting schedule for other projects...in this case the gap between shipments of the French in Egypt. That gap wasn't open for long...a mere four days between the completion of the dragoons and the arrival of the next batch - two orders actually in three parcels. And what a bunch it is too: 11 battalions of infantry, two cavalry units, another two guns, crew and limbers, some dismounted camel holders, some colonels and a few plastic command sprues.

A third Perry plastic item completed this week is the North American store. This is intended for the War of 1812 project, but has a broader application. Eventually there will be two more plastic buildings for this project, the farmhouse and the church.


Now the more astute readers amongst you will recognise the name of this particular retailer from the sign above the door: Piggot. This was the name of the retail outlet  that featured on these pages in February (see the construction of Piggot's African branchand subsequently appeared in the WWI East Africa game played in October. 



 

It is not commonly known, but the Piggot family is well known in the 19th and early 20th Century retail trade and it all started with this North American connection. Ebenezer Piggot emigrated  as a young man from Yorkshire in 1765 and established this trading post on the Niagara River 1789.
 
It seems that the Piggot family was destined to attract trouble and war surrounded their enterprises wherever they went. In the War of 1812 Ebenezer and his family was compelled to hide in the cellar while bullets riddled their store. His son, Nathaniel, had seen an opportunity in Texas in the 1830s and established his store near the Mexican border where it was at the centre of skirmishes in the early stages of the Mexican War. Nathaniel’s son, Horace, had established his own retail empire at Sharpsburg in Maryland only to have his premises used as a military hospital after the Battle of Sharpsburg in 1862.
 

Horace’s second son,  Ulysses, set up shop in Tombstone Arizona in the 1880’s, where his store was twice raided by the Apache. Ulysses’ son, Bob, tired of having the family dragged into all of these conflicts and quit the American continent in 1893 established a trading post in Zanzibar, but soon relocated to the town of Kisumu on the shores of Lake Victoria. There he lived prosperously and peacefully until one day in early 1915 when several hundred German Askari descended on the town and burned his store to the ground.


With that Bob turned his back on retailing, left Africa and established a highly successful publishing business in Philadelphia. For the next forty years he published “Piggot’s Almanac” until his death in 1957. With no male heirs the  Piggot family name died with Bob.
 
All of this is a complete fabrication of course. I was struck in a traffic for ages on the way home on Friday afternoon, thanks to a rail strike, on a hot day and I had left my iPod at home. So rather than listen to inane prattle of drive time radio I let my imagination run and this story is the result.

Next items off the painting table are two units from the French in Egypt project that were left incomplete a couple of weeks ago. These are the first and second battalions of the 88e Demi Brigade de Battaille. The former in the violet coats and the latter in crimson. The First battalion was completed by the addition of the mounted colonel, who I dressed in the correct crimson coat (my assumption being that the senior officer would have had access to the correct cloth early in the uniform manufacturing process), while the Second (crimson) battalion was completed with the addition of the command group and another two fusiliers.




Finally there are the camels for the dismounted dromedary troops, with their guards. Originally I was going to mount these as three separate stands, but in the end decided on a single base. I am pleased with that choice.





18 comments:

  1. Fantastic stuff Mark, the Egypt project is really coming along.
    Cheers
    Stu

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    1. Thanks Stu. It is coming together more quickly than originally anticipated. I started the horse artillery unit last night - they are magnificent figures.

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  2. Wow! Mark, this is only one week's worth of output? Amazing! Your recent releases are awash in Napoleonics; not only for one period but two! Beautiful work. The vignette with dismounted camels and guard is incredible. I love it!

    Your General Store is equally fab.

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    1. Thank you Jonathan. Its a bit more than a week's work beacuse there is a bit of overlap with last week. The camel vignette was fun - I was keen to do a bit more on the base (like some bigger dunes), but reason and practicality prevailed.

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  3. I honestly cannot believe the speed you are producing these at, Mark! Great work.

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    1. Thanks Nathan. I am making good time now, but as the pre-Christmas events kick in I suspect that things will slow down a little.

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  4. Terrific output, both in terms of quantity and quality. I feel a bit sorry for Bob Piggott. He must have been well and truly fed up when the Germans burned down his store. It's almost like a Monty Python send-up.

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    1. Yes I am regretting killing Bob off now - I think I could have got better mileage out of his character.

      Just finished the French in Egypy horse gun and crew tonight - great figures and great annimation. I should have them based up for display by Wednesday.

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  5. Great figures as always Mark - you put the rest of us to shame with your productivity off the painting table - in the same time frame, I think I painted on 10 man cavalry unit!

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    1. But I bet if it was one of your units of women you would hsve had it finished on a day!

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  6. Excellent job - jobs - as always; special mention imho to the cuirs and to these wonderful, quiet, camels...outstanding!

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    1. Thank you Phil. Cuirassiers always look good, don't they?

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  7. An astonishing output Mark...
    The cuirassiers look nice and mean...I must add some to my Franco-Prussian collection.
    That was a good call to put the camels on one base ...it looks great and will act as an obvious rallying point when they run away/fall back.
    I am more and more tempted to do some French in Egypt myself and having the Perrys just up the road doesn’t help...
    I shall stay firm and focused...well almost.

    All the best. Aly

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    1. In fairness half of the French line infantry battalion was in greatcoats and that dramatically reduces the amount of time it takes to paint.

      Yes I like the cuirassiers too. When I looked through the OOB for Borodino I found a Cuirassier Division made up of two regiments of carbiniers and one cuirassiers and then another division of three regiments of cuirassiers - I was tempted to buy two more regiments of cuirassiers, but then though when would I ever use that many regiments of heavy cavalry...but you never know there could be one of those sudden rushes of blood to the head...

      I too thought of using the cuirassiers for FPW, but the thought of constructing those "pantalon basane" from green stuff put me off.

      As I wrote to Lawrence above, I finished the French in Egypt horse artillery set running the gun up last night - absolutely amazing set. The limber should be completed tonight.

      Cheers, Mark

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  8. Great cuirassiers, nice line infantry and store but you're Egypt campaign stuff is fab, I love the guards with the dromedary and so fast too!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks Iain. I agree this French in Egypt range is a fantastic one. The next couple of units are really spectacular.

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  9. Great additions, excellent work Mark!

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    1. Thanks Mark. I have some cracking units still to post (maybe tonight) that are just awaiting their base texturing.

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