Free Major John Andre Paper Soldier

I run a business called Through All Ages LLC (www.ThroughAllAges.com).  For Through All Ages, I create historical posters, postcards, and paper soldiers.  Would you like to assemble one of our paper soldiers for free?  Just visit http://www.currclick.com/product/102345/Major-John-Andre-paper-soldier to download a free paper soldier and his base.  This figure is the Adjutant-General of the British Army and spymaster Major John Andre.  His face is copied from a portrait of Major Andre, and his uniform is carefully researched.  The page also includes a short biography of Andre, as well as assembly instructions.

Introducing Red Coats and Ruffles!

Hello everyone!  I recently started a new blog called Red Coats and Ruffles.  Red Coats and Ruffles is dedicated to my painted toy soldier collection.  Each soldier will be tagged with their historical era, manufacturer, and army.  There will be historical figures as well as some from movies and books (like Will Reynolds, left).  The primary era Red Coats and Ruffles will cover is the 1700s and most soldiers are in 54mm scale.  Visit it at www.redcoatsandruffles.blogspot.com!

Beyond the Mask--54mm Plastic Soldiers

 The American Revolution-era movie Beyond the Mask was released earlier this year.  I recreated four of its characters with 54mm plastic soldiers.  I hand painted all of them, and a few were converted with a knife and some sculpting.  Clicking on a picture will enlarge it.

Will Reynolds

At one point in the movie, Reynolds becomes a masked highwayman, battling Loyalists and keeping Philadelphia firmly in the grasp of the Americans.  The original figure is by BMC.  I cut off the original figure’s knapsack to create Reynolds.

Mr. Harrison

Harrison is a Loyalist ringleader in Philadelphia.  He recruits his friends to thwart the city’s rebels by intimidation and sabotage.  While the picture shows Mr. Harrison in brown, there is one scene in the movie where he wears a gray overcoat.  The original figure is by Accurate.  The figure was originally standing firing a musket, but I cut the musket off, bent his arms, and added a pistol.

Benjamin Franklin

In the movie, Franklin runs a printing business and manages to avoid any Loyalist attacks on his print shop.  He employs Edmund Bentley and William Reynolds.  The original figure is by Accurate and was sculpted to look like Franklin.  I just cut his musket off and added a cane.

Edmund Bentley

A minor character, Bentley is fired from Franklin’s print shop.  He then joins Mr. Harrison’s Loyalist band, and appears to be Harrison’s trusted assistant.  While the picture shows him in a brown coat, he more often appears in his cream-colored waistcoat.  The original figure is by Marx and was intended to represent Johnny Tremaine.  No conversion was required on him.

2nd Pennsylvania Regiment by Armies in Plastic

The 2nd Pennsylvania Regiment had an excellent reputation during the American Revolution.  They fought gallantly at Brandywine (1777), Paoli (1777), Germantown (1777), and Monmouth (1778).  The 2nd was a unit of trusted veterans and George Washington knew it.

When Major John Andre was captured and Benedict Arnold fled to the British, George Washington believed that West Point (where Arnold had formerly commanded) might be in danger.  He needed reinforcements to halt the British if they attempted to capture it.  He called on the Pennsylvania regiments, who marched 16 miles in 4 hours (from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m.) to reach West Point.  "When Washington got word of Wayne's forced march and timely arrival, he quite rightly called the feat 'fabulous.'" (1)

In 1781, the Pennsylvania Line mutinied because of a lack of pay, but the 2nd Pennsylvania did not initially join them "until the other troops threatened them at bayonet point and with artillery." (2)  The 2nd was sent to join Lafayette and his hard-pressed Continentals in Virginia.  There they took part in the Battle of Green Spring and ultimately, the Battle of Yorktown.

The 2nd Pennsylvania wore blue coats with red cuffs and lapels and white waistcoats.  Colonel Walter Stewart was the colonel of the 2nd Pennsylvania and he was an officer who cared for his men. "I find the little necessaries for my regiment difficult to be procured and at the most exorbitant prices, but I am determined to get them and have them I will if possible,"--Stewart wrote. (3)


Figures are by Armies in Plastic "American Revolution: French Infantry."  I chose French infantry as the base for these soldiers because they were cast in white plastic.  Most men carry "Brown Bess" muskets, but one man has a French musket (distinguishable by the barrel bands).  These soldiers are painted with Testors paints.  Click on each picture to expand it.

(1) pg. 65, Victory at Yorktown by Richard M. Ketchum
(2)http://www.243regiment.com/history_2nd.html
(3) http://www.243regiment.com/WalterStewartHistory.html

Monongahela with John Jenkins Designs

These are a few pictures I took featuring my John Jenkins figures.  These pictures attempt to recreate some scenes during Braddock's defeat at the Monongahela (July 9, 1755).  The first one shows a close-up of Captain Robert Orme with some infantrymen of Halkett's 44th Foot in the background.

The second picture is from the point of view of a French-Canadian soldier, as he reloads his musket for another shot at the British invaders.

To see more of Mr. Jenkins work, I recommend that you visit www.JohnJenkinsDesigns.com

Will Reynolds of Beyond the Mask

This fellow is my first painted soldier who is not strictly historical.  His name is Will Reynolds, the hero of the movie Beyond the Mask.  His dress is closely copied from the picture at right.  With his purple coat and decorative brass buckles, he was a very interesting and enjoyable figure to paint.  The figure was produced by BMC as an artillery commander.  I cut off his backpack and canteen, but left the cartridge box, so that his pistol has more than one shot.
Figure by BMC, paints by Testors, painted by myself.

Lord Rawdon's Volunteers of Ireland

The Volunteers of Ireland were a Loyalist unit raised during the American Revolution by Lord Francis Rawdon.  They fought at the Battles of Camden and Hobkirk's Hill.  The Volunteers of Ireland were one of only two Loyalist units to be granted the status of a British regular regiment (the other unit was the Royal Highland Emigrants).  When they became a British regiment, they were numbered the 105th Foot.

Their uniform consisted of a light-infantry cap with an Irish Harp on the front, a red coat with an unusual style of lapels and lace, white breeches and brown marching gaiters.  While not recorded, I painted shamrock turnbacks on one soldier.

The soldier loading is a conversion from BMC's British grenadier fixing bayonet.

Figures by BMC, painted by me.

This fellow is an officer of the elite Continental Light Infantry.  Serving with the young French general the Marquis de Lafayette, this gentleman has seen much of Virginia through the summer's campaign of 1781.  But neither he--nor anyone else--expects that this campaign will play a critical role in the American Revolution.  For Lafayette's maneuvering would lead Cornwallis to encamp at Yorktown, and Generals Washington and Rochambeau would entrap him there.  The American victory at Yorktown would mark the end of all major battles in what would later become the United States.

Figure by BMC; paints by Testors; varnish by Winsor & Dammar.

American Revolution Light Infantrymen

Here is the complete group of 6 Continental Light Infantrymen.  Light infantry were an elite corps generally used as advanced guards and skirmishers.  They were very useful in the forested continent of North America.  Figures by BMC, painted by the author.  Plumes made from pipe cleaners.

54mm Soldiers--AWI Light Infantry Sergeant

One of my interests is painting 54mm plastic soldiers.  This fellow is painted as a sergeant of the Continental Light Infantry during the American Revolution.  He originally came from a bag of poorly-cast American Revolution soldiers that I bought at Williamsburg.  For two years he was shuffled around in the closet, until I embarked on painting him.  But I ran out of steam quickly and back to the closet he went.  Finally, last year I pulled him out of the closet and painted him.  But he is not my only light infantryman.  He has five comrades, whom I hope to show soon (as soon as I glue on their red-and-black plumes).

Figure by BMC, paints by Testors, varnish by Winsor & Dammar.  The plume is made of two pipe cleaners connected by model cement.  

Chevalier de Bernetz

I enjoy collecting two things: books and military miniatures (a.k.a. toy soldiers).  My collection of soldiers is about the French and Indian War and made by two manufacturers: Frontline Figures and John Jenkins Designs.  Three soldiers in my collection belong to Frontline Figures set FPW.1, which contains General Montcalm and two senior officers.

One of the officers is an engineer or artillery officer (from 1755 to 1759, artillery and engineers wore the same uniform).  The other one is a senior officer of the French regular regiment Royal-Roussillon, likely Chevalier de Bernetz.

"Of the Chevalier de Bernetz, Lieutenant-Colonel in command of the Royal-Roussillon, Montcalm said: 'With courage worthy of his extraction, this officer is very intelligent and well-placed at the head of a corps.'"--pg. 27, Montcalm at the Battle of Carillon by Maurice Sautai

 As a senior officer, and a Chevalier of Saint-Louis at that, I (1) trimmed his waistcoat with gold lace; (2) trimmed his coat and coat pockets with the same; (3) painted the cockade in the hat white; and (4) added the Cross of Saint-Louis on his coat.