From Afghanistan to Denmark?

I've had a hankering to collect and game around the 1848 Schleswig Holstein War for a while. I've always been drawn to the European mid 19th Century conflicts.. maybe just because they are a little different from the wargames norm. Also - I have some 'blood' in that area.. it's where my ancestors on my mother's side come from.. NordFriesland.

Anyway - I reckon 28mm is likely to be rather expensive way of scratching that itch and I found that Pendraken to a range in 10mm for this particular conflict. I've played with 15mm figures before, (still have boxes full of unpainted) but no experience of these. 

I was thinking of ordering a couple of packs, just to paint up and see how I get on with them , when I remembered a show purchase from many years ago. I have a North West Frontier 'Army Pack' which has been lurking in my drawer for ages. So,  I've rummaged through and picked out 24 British regulars from this pack to use as a test unit. I know it will be khakis rather than reds and blues, but hopefully will give me some feel for painting and basing these little fellas.

Step One - stuck on coffee stirrers. next up, black undercoat.

Black undercoat done.. I was tempted to drybrush these in khaki, then pick out 'details' . However, it can look a bit rough, so I resisted the temptation and blocked in the colours instead, leaving a fair bit of black showing as 'shadows';

1. Flesh - Vallejo Flat Flesh
2. Uniforms - Vallejo Iraqi Sand
3. Rifles - Coat d'Arms Wood Brown
4. Puttees - Vallejo Khaki
5. Straps and kit - Coat d'Arms White
6. Some kit - Vallejo Flat Earth

Finally I gave the figures a dilute wash of Games Workshop (Citadel) 'Gryphone Sepia'. I have no idea of GW still make this, as I'm not a regular customer, but it's a really useful wash, especially for whites and pale colours.

So, overall from gaming distance (ie a couple of feet away).. I think these look okay. (The pictures aren't great but there is no daylight at the moment). Took me about an hour or so to paint the whole unit and once based up, they should be fine. 

It's certainly given me encouragement to look at the ranges for the Schleswig Holstein war.

Now.. do I paint the rest of the pack? (including hordes of Pathan?)