The next batch of troops in my Mexican American War project to base ,was the Mexican infantry. The Gajo line has three units of regular infantry (1st, 3rd and 11th), one of light infantry (4th) and the Grenaders of the Supreme Power (of course!) available.
The five units were straight forward, but with some limited work, I could do another two, as the uniforms were close enough. Using the figures with the soft cap, I was able to put together a unit of Coast Guard. The fatigue cap just allows it to stand out. The other was the fourth line regiment, that is very similar to the third, which is available in the Gajo line.
I decided to go with one inch squares for all the infantry. I did not like the open stand of four figures, so opted to go with five to thicken up the units. I could have done six, but I thought that was too tight. I staggered the troops with three forward on half the bases and two on the rest. Placed in a line, it gives the look I like. Since I am using Valour and Fortitude, the number of figures on a base does not matter. The standard unit is six bases, but since I had the figures, I did a few as oversized at eight.
I attached all the figures with white glue. I then got to work using the Muddy Paw mix I created and applied it to all the bases and finished up with some flock to finish the basing for the units.
The next challenge was flags for all the units. A number of companies have a sampling of flags, but not really enough for the army at large. Fortunately, Virtual Armchair General sells sets for pretty much all the units in both armies. I went ahead and ordered these.
They are a bit pricey for simple prints, but it was a one stop shop for all my units and would save me a lot of time of making my own! I attached these with water and white glue.
With that, I have my first batch of infantry for the army. Fortunately, most of the units in the army have similar uniforms. With a little work on facings and trousers, I should be able to do all the units I need going forward with just a little brush work.
Next, I need to work on the Americans. After that, I will start on paint conversions for both sides….
- Manteuffel