28mm Swiss Line Infantry for the Neapolitian Army 1848

This is the second unit that I've painted for my Neapolitan  (Kingdom of the two Sicilies) army for my Risorgimento project. The Swiss line infantry was some of the highest quality infantry in the Neapolitan army until they finally abandoned the cause. Those that remained loyal were incorporated into their own Neapolitan line units bolstered with local recruits and remained dependable and highly performing. There are enough battles where they fought, and with uniforms this glorious, I had to have at least one unit for my Neapolitan army.

The figures I've used are from Gringo40s Piedmonte Infantry line. Yes, I could have used their Neapolitan figures, but I wanted a slightly different look for these from the bulk of the rest of the army's line infantry, so I opted for the covered, more modern, shakos.

I don't really enjoy painting white straps over red uniforms. I seem to make a mess of it normally. I took a different approach on these. I first primed the figures in a Zenethal white scheme, very heavy on the white. I then painted in the red uniforms using Vallejo Xpress Color 'Plasma Red'. This is a 'contrast' style paint. By doing this there was just a small amount of touch-up of white over red. I then was able to go over the rest of the white straps much more quickly and effortlessly in white. The only other 'contrast' paint used here was my favorite 'Dwarf Flesh' Xpress color on the flesh. The remainder of the figures were painted with a traditional acrylic basecoat, wash and highlight method.

Other than the officer, all of the red was left as a single coat of the 'Plasma Red'. For the officer's coat I went over the recesses with an additional coat of the same paint as a pseudo-glaze / wash.  I'm still getting more experience with highlighting large areas. I feel on the pants on these guys I've done a better job than on previous units. Every unit you paint is a chance for learning and improvement, even after 30+ years doing this. These represent six more figures on this year's tally. Next up on the painting table, a group of three units of line infantry for my Piedmont army.

28mm St. Patrick's Volunteers

When I decided to attempt to do all of the major armies for the Risorgimento for Chocolate Box Wars this particular Papal unit was high on the list of reasons why. These are the St. Patrick's Volunteers. Irish Catholics who fought for the Papal army during the Italian Unification Wars. These uniforms define all this is desirable about the Chocolate Box Wars historical period. Other than possibly the uniforms of the Wars of the Triple Alliance, I can't think of a unit with a more colorful uniform.

 

These are Gringo40s figures. They are in fact the only figures that Gringo40s makes specifically for the Papal army. I will likely be using some Perry British Intervention figures for some of the line units and filling out the rest of the Papal army with various volunteer units. The Papal army is an eclectic bunch. That's part of the appeal of it!

The yellow piping on these figures was a very large challenge for my aging eyes and hands. I took over an hour PER FIGURE to lay down and tidy up just the yellow piping. Suffice to say, I'm happy that six figures is all that is required for a unit in Chocolate Box Wars. I wouldn't be up to the task of painting this unit for rules with larger figure counts.

 

Next up on the painting table are some Polish legion figures and some German legion figures. The latter will be re-purposed to represent one of the many volunteer units of the era.  Following this, likely a return to the Papal forces with a unit of Papal Zouaves. Another wonderfully colorful unit for the Papal army.

28mm Piedmont First Bersaglieri

The next unit for my Chocolate Box Wars Risorgimento project, a unit of figures for the Piedmont 1st Bersaglieri in their summer uniforms. These are Gringo40 figures from their 28mm Garibaldis War 1860 range.

These are wonderfully well sculpted figures although I was surprised to see they came with flat-topped hats. Looking across my various resources, I have found more references for Bersaglieri in round-topped hats, but there are enough references with the flat-topped hat to justify its use here. Considering how well the rest of the line is for accuracy, I'm going to give Gringo40 the benefit of the doubt here. 

All of my references show this unit as having shoulder pauldrons in blue, piped in red. Sources vary from the blue being the same color as the tunic or lighter. The former seems more plausible to me so I went with that. Note the reference to the left shows the unit in its winter blue pants. I've depicted them in their summer white pants.

The figures really don't have any visible piping, so I did my best by painting the whole pauldron in red, then 'filling in' the majority of it with blue leaving a thin section of red behind. Honestly they looked FANTASTIC in all red, but I opted for historical accuracy over beauty. I still regret the decision. Still I'm very happy with this unit and happy to have another army started while I wait for more lead to arrive in the post.

Next up on the painting table is the papal St. Patrick's volunteers in their amazing Green uniforms piped in yellow.