Sharpe’s Rifles

A little bit of concerted effort on a Sunday morning allowed me to finish painting up Sharpe.

In terms of painting, the main difference between my approach on this larger 54mm model compared to a 28mm figure was not using any washes, lining recesses instead. I used more layers when highlighting areas, with glazes to them smooth out, and generally didn’t push highlights to the same brightness as I would for a smaller figure.

I’m pretty happy with the end result, especially in keeping the Rifles green quite dark.

Updates are going to be sporadic, with the occasional work in progress images as and when I remember to take them.

I’ve pretty much just laid down the base colours on the 54mm Sharpe model and started on painting his face. I’m trying to build up layers a bit more than I would with smaller models, and trying to make the highlights less stark.

Looking at the picture below, I’m slightly horrified at all the white specks where I failed to cover the model with the base coats. Easy to rectify, but I can’t believe how many gaps there are!

Starting this project gives me an excuse to delve back into a few different books for reference and inspiration. Obviously there are the Sharpe novels by Bernard Cornwell, and the TV series, which I have in a lovely big DVD box set.

I’m also going to re-read Rifles by Mark Urban. I think this book is sadly out of press, but it is a very readable narrative history of the 95th Rifles during the Peninsula Campaign from 1809, and following them through to 1815 and Waterloo.

For reference images and visual inspiration, I will be looking at Far in Advance. This collects Peninsula War paintings by the artist Christa Hook, accompanied by a narrative of the campaign by Nick Haynes. There’s a lean towards the actions of the Light Brigade, and hence the 95th Rifles, as sales of the book help support the Rifles Charities Care for Causalties. The book is a superb collection of art, and I don’t really need a reason to pick it up again.

This was an inevitable project. Sean Bean’s adventures as Richard Sharpe were thoroughly enjoyed in my younger years, alongside Bernard Cornwell’s books. Whilst there’s a few Sharpe figure ranges available (Brigade Games has a particularly nice one), I have resisted buying any, mainly from a reluctance to double up a collection from one historical period as I already have a Peninsula War Napoleonic collection in 15mm.

My resolve broke with Wargames Atlantic announcing a new licensed Sharpe range. This range starts with some character models in both 54mm and 28mm, with the larger sized models an additional attraction, as it would be nice to challenge myself with painting something a lot larger than normal.

Wargames Atlantic will be releasing a game in due course, but this project starts with a bit of a slow burn, with the first released model, which is of course Sean Bean as Richard Sharpe.