Although I have, for me, a reasonable number of painted Chinese Back of Beyond figures I haven't done any for years. When these came out just before Christmas, however, I knew that I had to get some for my Chinese warlord army.
It's a very small unit but then they were just bodyguards for the warlord Chang T'sung-chang. They were armed with Mauser automatic pistols, Da-Dao swords and bamboo lances. The Copplestone figures don't come with lances but Foundry do bamboo lances so I got them from there. At present Copplestone don't make a command pack so I chopped off one of the lancer's hands and replaced it with a hand holding a Mauser pistol from one of my Bolshevik command figures.
I actually had the relevant Osprey, Chinese Warlord Armies 1911-30, so painting reference was not a problem. The only issue, really, is that my existing Warlord army is the one of Wu Pei-fu, the bitter enemy of Chang T'sung-chang, so now I will have to paint a force for Chang. His provincial forces wore blue rather than the normal grey, grey-green or khaki so they might be a bit more interesting looking. I have four unpainted foot soldiers I have just based but have run out of the model filler I use on my bases, annoyingly. Off to Modelzone next week I think!
Wow - those look great! They look just like the painting; the sword pommels are a very nice detail. Best, Dean
ReplyDeleteP.S. I must say some of your side-bar images are distracting though :)!
Thise Russian lancers are looking very nice, great work...
ReplyDeletePhil.
Excellent work! Interesting stuff indeed!
ReplyDeleteVEry nice! Hope ou recover, soon. Simon
ReplyDeleteExcellent painting!
ReplyDeleteNice work, as always, and great idea re. that pistol conversion!
ReplyDeleteAve!
Almost Anonymous
Thanks everyone! I think what sold the unit to me was Stephen Walsh's illustration from the Osprey. It's a striking looking uniform for the period and makes a change from all the blue Prussians and Union troops I am painting at present!
ReplyDeleteTerrific stuff, LH. Hope you feel better soon!
ReplyDeleteBest wishes
Giles