Trident Miniatures 40mm American Civil War all complete

With a little extra time available during the Christmas season, I was able to finish the 40mm American Civil War figure from Trident Designs miniatures. The 40mm scale is easier to paint than I thought and the figure, representing a private of the 6th Alabama, turned out pretty well.

WIP #1 Trident Designs 40mm American Civil War figure

I have never painted a 40mm figure and with the generous free sample from Doug Carroccio at The Miniature Service Center I now have the opportunity.

The head went on easily at the angle I wanted with super glue; a nice fit and it looks natural.  Speaking of natural, the proportions of the figure look extremely realistic.  After using white glue to put the figure on a soda cap and allowing it to dry, I used a thinned down coat of GW's Abaddon Black to prime the figure.  I have discovered that thinned flat black paint brings out the highlights of metal figures and makes it easier for me to paint.

 In this picture you can see the CS on the belt buckle.

I noticed after priming what appears to be some flash on the right side of the back. No big deal.

I usually like to paint the face first as that gives me an idea of the "character" of the figure. I used a base of GW Dark Flesh, followed by Dwarf Flesh and then Elf Flesh. (Note: I have a combination of GW paints with the old names and the new names. If you need the conversion chart, you can download a chart here: Citadel Conversion Chart.)  For now the hair is dark flesh - I'm not sure if I will add a highlight at this point or not.

Before I started to paint the uniform I pulled out my handy copy of Don Troiani's Civil War; one of the best investments in uniform and painting guides I ever made. The painting "Until Sundown" features the 6th Alabama at the battle of Antietam and the uniforms are based on a surviving shell jacket worn by the 6th Alabama. With this as a guide, I decided to paint the figure as a member of this regiment from my adopted home state.

The shell jacket started with a base of Adeptus Battle Grey followed by a coat of Dawnstone. To complete the base color for the shell jacket I used Kantor Blue for the collar and Bone White for the collar trim, cuff and jacket trim with just a small highlight of White Scar. For the pants and hat (in fact for anything that will have a shade of brown) I used Mournfang Brown as the base. After that dried I used a thinned down coat of Steel Legion Drab on the pants and then a thicker coat to smooth out the color.

 I missed a mold line on the hat! My eyes are not what they used to be!

Trident Designs 40 mm Figure

On December 9, 2014 I just happened to be on The Miniatures Page when suddenly I caught the headline:

Free 40mm Figure from MSC

We are giving away a free 40mm figure to the first 25 people who email us. These are for individuals who do not already have some of our figures. We would like to put one of them in your hand so you can take a close look at them. Also you must be in the U.S.A. to get the free figure. The cost of shipping overseas would be a bit expensive.

Let us know which of the three ranges you would like a figure from: AWI, ACW, or our Vanguard Men-at-Arms range. Then let us know which type of figure. For example: AWI Hessian, Vanguard Knight, or ACW Rebel.

Needless to say I fired off an email right away and fortunately I was one of the first 25 to email Doug Carroccio of the Miniature Service Center. I knew the service would be excellent as years ago MSC was the U.S. Distributor for Front Rank and I would purchase figures direct from Doug. I requested an ACW figure and it was mailed on Friday and arrived today in mail.

Wow.  The pictures do not do it justice. The figure even has "CS" on the belt buckle. There are no visible mold lines and no flash.  Wow.

From looking online there are 79 different Confederate soldiers including command and an extensive line of Union forces too.  The heads are separate with 15 different head packs available. Doug sent me CS 8 Standing firing, legs spread with blanket roll and one of the heads from HP 2 Slouch hats.

In addition Trident Designs has ranges for the French and Indian War, American Revolution, the Seven Years War and a range of Medieval Figures.

I am definitely going to enjoy painting this figure and I am already tempted looking at the pictures from all of the ranges.