First public outing for my figures

This is Vapnartak weekend. On Sunday I will walk over to the racecourse for York's wargaming show. This will be my third show, two years ago after taking early retirement, I was thinking about how to use my new found freedom (apart from cricket watching and films and walking and  reading French history and artillery fortification) and I decided to try painting 25mm figures. I was very keen in my teenage years but lost the buzz when wine women and song took over.

Two years later and I have settled into the 18th century imagination and really enjoying it. I was greatly surprised by the number of companies making figures, not just Airfix, Minifigs and Hinchliffe, and the large number of scales and of figure sizes within the same scale. I still like the Minifigs and Hinchliffe but I have also bought Dixon's, Foundry, Garrison, Zvezda and Revel. Some changes I like, such as the basing of figures, other things I am not convinced by, painting a black line round everything I just don't get that. My eyes and hands are not as good as they used to be but I am enjoying the painting.

I would like to give some credit and thanks to the staff at York branch of Games Workshop. They have been extremely helpful with technical stuff whilst selling me their paints.

Here is the First Battalion of Border Gendarmes, on exercises, practising surprise ambushes, exiting a wood.

The figures are Eagle Miniatures Austrian Pandours

Colour scheme chosen after consulting Funcken Lace Wars Vol2

The officer is Foundry AWI range, the drummer is an old Hinchliffe AWI