I was checking out what was going on at the I&E website when I found myself thinking “what have you got new” and what a foolish thing to do. If something is over six months old has it suddenly become no longer worthy of my attention, I do not think so!. Just because I missed a release is it not no longer even worth a look at?. So I took a step back in time so too speak and ordered a early I & E release, it must be more than a year old. Oh the shock of it all.

When the parcel arrived from our wonderful post lady, I got even more of a shock it was excellent, this can not be right something not new that is good!. The figure is of a Captain of the 155th regiment Union Regiment, dressed in a Zouave style uniform advancing down a slope with pistol in hand. This guy actually looks American and the part, something that is not quite caught by some sculptors but Alan Ball has done an excellent job here. But there again did I expect anything else?.

All of the pieces are cast in resin. All of this casting is done by Ian at the I&E headquarters, this way he gets the best quality control. I have seen Ian at work and he really does care that his product is good, spending many hours on getting the moulds right If you do have a problem with any figures always contact I&E and I am sure the head man Ian will try to help you out. I did toy with the idea of putting a sword in the left hand but this when tried with a cocktail stick did not look right, the hands were too “full”.

Assembly is very straight foreward after the removal of the plugs and as much as possible was glued together using superglue. The sword and sash were left of as they were in the way. A quick drill and a pin was put in the foot. This serves several purposes as it gives you something to hang on too and stops finger prints appearing as if by magic on your figure. You can also put the figure in a holder when drying and something too attach to the base as well, what more do you want?. A simple thing to do at an early stage and well worth the effort of doing. Now to the good bit, slapping a bit of paint on. I you have nightmares about painting flesh you will like this one, with only the face to do and most of that is covered with a beard!. I completed mine using a artist oil paint mix. This was the old faithful of Titanium White and Yellow Ochre in equal quantities. A small amount of Crimson Red and a small amount of Mars Brown. More Mars Brown for the shadows and Titanium White for the highlights.

The uniform and the under shirt is the next challenge and this is were I wanted to try something a bit different. With all of these blue tones close together it is all to easy to paint the lot in one colour and then play about with the highlights to separate them. I can not get this to work so tried a different method. My plan was as follows. Two batches of colour were mixed up using oil paints, for the undershirt it was Cobalt Blue to this Titanium White was added and for the rest of the uniform it was Prussian Blue again with Titanium White. The adding of the titanium White was so it gave me room to manoeuvre with the shadows in the creases of the cloth. The same techniques were used for the application of both of the blues and it went like this. The base coat of Humbrol Acrylic Dark Blue was applied and over this the pre mixed blue was then put on. As always I tried too use the barest minimum of oil paint. The original colour blue was then used for the shadows and come more Titanium White was added for the highlights and there we go exactly what I was NOT looking for!. The undershirt was too pale giving it almost a very washed out Denim look and the trousers and jacket were the same, what I was trying to avoid!. Try again another mix of Prussian blue which was split into two halves and a different amount of Titanium White added to give a different shade too them. This was all then left too dry.

But what about the undershirt?. A very thin wash of Paynes Grey oil paint diluted with White Spirit was then applied to the shirt which brought it down to a more acceptable colour, more in keeping with the end colour of the rest of the uniform. The rest of the figure was plain sailing from here after my efforts with the “blues”. I may have been the only person to notice this or has it been kept a secret?. Has any one noticed that oil colours dry more matt when applied over a acrylic undercoat?.

Now to the sword and its sling. The slings that had been cast in resin were removed and replaced by lead foil. A ring to put the straps through was made using wire. All I needed to do this was to wrap the wire around a suitable size object, the metal ferrule on a size “OOO” seemed about right and a hole drilled in the scabbard to attach it to. The ring was then attached to this and the straps threaded through. A buckle was made using wire and I was very satisfied with the end result. For those that do not want to make the eyes themselves you can buy ring eyes in very small sizes. What I did like about my end product is that it is so easy to bend the lead foil to shape so that the sword hangs down. I think we have all seen those sword slings in resin that stand out slightly from the figures instead of hanging, even after hot water and the hair dryer!. A quick coat of paint and the sword plus straps were on and the sash knot over the top.

Supplied with the figure is a very nice base for attaching him too, but I decided not to use it, deciding to attempt my own. A oval wooden base from Briwood Bases was chosen and a rough slope was constructed using polystyrene packing foam. This is excellent stuff to work with, light, easy to adjust to the right size and very important, cheap. Over this a skin of Polyfilla was applied, I always try and add some sort of colour in the “brown range” to the Polyfilla as when you paint it up there always seems to be a bit of white showing through like a lighthouse on a dark night.

After this a couple of stones from the garden pushed into the Polyfilla. When I put in stones on a base I always try and push it well it. Use the iceberg principle and have only on third showing, not just pushed in a bit. Try and get the stone in run in strata lines as well not just sprinkled around your base like oversize cake topping!. The tufts of grass are dog hair from my ever faithful source, bless him. Deer hair from the local fishing tackle shop is just as good. Static grass was next applied using diluted white glue, after the sprinkle on give it a blast with a hair dryer to make the grass stand up and there you go a very nice base. The figure was pinned in using copper wire. This is a must for all figures. All it takes is a well meaning admirer to pick up your masterpiece a bit roughly and it all ends in tears. Believe me I know.

The final summing up. I enjoyed this one, no wait I really enjoyed it. Do not ignore old releases there are some excellent figures out there waiting for your attention. Bring on those golden oldies!.

Captain 155th PA. 1864