10mm ACW Confederates Pt 1 (Steps I-V)

Cpl A passed on to me part of his unpainted pile two days ago so of course, being Easter and after a long sleep in while the girlfriend went family-hopping, I proceeded to unleash some Bunnings spray-can action on them so I can get them on the field as soon as possible.
I'm a big fan of spray cans because I find the investment ($8) saves so much time on basecoating the whole process takes on new life. Having tested it successfully on my 1/300 I thought I'd give it a go with 10mm now

Essentially the steps are
1. Procure minis
2. Procure 16mm square 1mt length of balsa ($2.20 from Bunnings)
3. SQUIGGLES colour matt enamel cans (over 200 colours/shades available at $8/can)
4. Mount minis in groups of 5 (same as a F&F base) on said balsa sticks
5. Paint the secondary main color (as Union are undercoated dark blue that'll be light blue, ironically the same as the Confederates who however start off grey)
6. Mount the miniatures on 20x25mm bases (previously prepared with homemade green textured paste)
7. Let dry then go in to paint the weapons, pouches, bags, sasches, hats, silver of the weapons and skin (in that order - I know many like to paint the skin first but I find leaving it last really brings the color out in a strong way) and give them a first coat of Matt Varnish
8. Highlight very lightly in white
9. Ink with dark brown GW wash
10. Flock with winter green/red/yellow flock
11. Give a second coat of Matt varnish

Today I started work on 30 bases of Confederate infantry.....before realising I'm fresh out bases which I'll have to order now and will be at least two weeks away....AAARGH!!!
You'll note in the photo the first set was sprayed while the can was still slightly clogged and the paint went on WAY too thick giving a really dark grey. Alas, I don't really mind it that much, they'll be intermixed among all the others on various bases for a little more variety still. Otherwise the colour I chose was Sand Grey which means it's a grey slightly tinged with brown (it looks like baby puke in fact!)
Perfect as a base coat for the grey/brown uniforms of the confederates (in my imagination at least - which is after all what counts)

I'm also researching counter miniatures on a few forums like this one: http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=2744.msg23511#new

The rest will follow the following guide, among others:
http://thomo.coldie.net/wargames/general-wargames/fire-and-fury-idiots-guide-to-painting-american-civil-war-figures
The guide below allows you to build a reasonable representative set.

Union Troops	Infantry	Cavalry	Artillery
Jacket or coat	Dark Blue	Dark Blue with yellow trim	Dark Blue with red trim
Trousers	Light blue	Light blue	Light blue
Kepi	Dark blue	Dark blue	Dark blue
Felt Hat	Black	Black	Black
Officer’s sash	Red	Red	Red
Officer’s shoulder bars	Light blue edge with gold	Light blue edge with gold	Light blue edge with gold
Officer’s and NCO’s trouser stripe	Dark blue	Yellow	Red
Chevrons	Light Blue	Yellow	Red
Leather straps	Black	Black	Black
Pack	Black	-	-
Canteen	Black	Black	Black
Blanket	Red or light blue	Grey. Horse blanket is blue with orange stripe	Light blue

Easy then, isn’t it. This guide will cover the major number of troops. There were exceptions to this. Zouaves, for example, tended to have rather bright uniforms. However, in the scale of Fire and Fury, we are dealing with brigades and divisions, so Zouaves would, as a regiment, simply provide a couple of stands in the brigade. Still, they do add some nice colour.

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Confederate Troops	Infantry	Cavalry	Artillery
Coat or Jacket	Grey with light blue trim	Grey with yellow trim	Grey with red trim
Trousers	Light blue	Light blue	Light blue
Kepi – note that later in the period, this was grey with the headband in the colour of the service	Light blue with dark blue headband	Yellow with dark blue headband	Red with dark blue headband
Felt Hat	Any shade from grey to brown or black	Any shade from grey to brown or black	Any shade from grey to brown or black
Officer’s sash	Crimson	Yellow	Red
Officer’s and NCO’s trouser stripe	Dark blue	Yellow	Red
Officer’s sleeve badges	Gold	Gold	Gold
Chevrons	Light blue	Yellow	Red
Leather straps – these were sometimes black as well	Brown	Brown	Brown
Pack	Brown	-	-
Canteen	Black or other shades	Black or other shades	Black or other shades
Blanket	Any shade from grey to brown	Any shade from grey to brown	Any shade from grey to brown

So that's my Easter thus far (HUGE plate of calamari aside....and eggs...yum!)

Here's the first stand completed. So up close the mistakes are indeed obvious, but believe me at a foot's distance they look the part alright
Only 198 to go then....

Thanks for popping by!
S.