4th Independent Maryland

The state of Maryland raised seven companies of 100 men. The 4th Independent Maryland company was uniformed by its captain in dyed Osnaberg linen with red collars and cuffs. This company was raised in January of 1776 and joined Washington in New York.

The flag is a hand-painted flag of Washington's command flag, which local experts here believe was in common use throughout the army. The officer's sword is hammer-flattened, file-shaped brass wire for durability. Although these stands normally represent a body of troops much larger than a company, as a wargamer I couldn't resist painting a full unit in this uniform as it is uniquely American Revolution and a real eye catcher on the tabletop. The formed stands can work independently or together as can the single skirmish stand.

Laser-Cut 1/12 Scale Lewis Gun Kit

In addition to my love for historical miniature wargaming, my other main hobby is radio controlled airplanes. Where the two hobbies meet is in the skies over europe, 1914-1918. I wargame the war in the air during WWI and I also like to fly scale WWI airplanes. Radio controlled flying is not only a hobby for me, it's also a business. I run a small internet-based business, Wright Brothers R/C which sells laser-cut aircraft kits that I design. Recently I've purchased my own laser engraver that can cut balsa, hardwood, cardstock and thin plywood in order to be able to design and cut more of my own models for sale.

One of my product lines is lightweight scale models of World War I machine guns for use on electrically-powered scale WWI R/C planes. This Lewis gun is the newest addition to that product line. While I don't want to bother readers of my wargaming blog with R/C stuff, I thought this might be of interest as it is a 'Military Model' and that's also what our wargaming figures are. It also explains the lack of figure posts here lately as I've been pretty busy learning how to use my new tool. I do expect to get a lot of wargaming use out of the laser: cutting bases, terrain pieces and specially-scaled rulers all come to mind. Hopefully future laser-related posts here will include wargaming items made with the laser.