"Come out you Black and Tans." Topic

I have begun my Irish rebellion project with a gang of Black and Tans. Any suggestions from anyone who has already completed their project.

Paint and colors used (please don't say black and tan).

Is the tan a khaki color or more brown?

I used English Uniform brown from Vallejo for the "tan" part, as the deficit in uniforms was supposedly made up by leftover Army bits.

For the "black" part, Rifle Green is the theory, but in the interest of being honest, I use a very dark green craft paint with a dot of black mixed in. I want to say it was Folk Art,, but it's an elder bottle of paint.

Eric

Yes. English uniform brown, and Rifle Green.
They originally mixed uniforms because the Royal Irish Constabulary had full Rifle Green.
The Black and Tans were recruited from British officer veterans of the Great War.
So early mixed. Later, the "uniform" became more uniform.

The even more despicable Auxies had blue uniforms and a Highland Tam.

For trucks, look for Matchbox Crossley Tenders on eBay.

For IRA, Google. Basically figures in Dusters and civilian hats.
For Irish army, use Great War British, painted a greenish.

Watch "Michael Collins".

Hah. I checked eBay for Crossley Tenders.
One was asking $108.95 USD.
Another was asking $10.95 USD. 😄
Which tells you everything you need to know about using eBay as a selling guide. I remember arguing with some Omodhauns here about "eBay bidding strategy".

Riever has a pretty good line up of troops and vehicles in 28mm.

RE Crossley tenders, thanks for the tip. I noticed the same thing regarding price differences between sellers. As always, with eBay, shop around before you buy.

Did you repaint yours and, if so, what color did you use?

I didn't repaint any.

Always remember! If you take them out of the box, and actually PLAY 😱 with them, you've ruined their value!!!

I once saw a guy on eBay selling the empty boxes. 🤷 It's like trying to restore virginity.

Two crossleys on the way. Asking price $6.99 USD with another $6.99 USD shipping each, offer $5.00 USD each accepted. We'll see if they combine shipping.

RE boxes, I've seen the same thing on O scale buildings. I destroy any old boxes included in my purchases to prevent being part of an attempted fraud.

My Step-Father's Step-Father was in the Black and Tans (Irish R.C.).

Later on he joined the Palestine Police Force.

I believe the Black and Tans were mainly poor Londoners (English) – playing as back-up coppers.

The Auxies though – very nasty – politically motivated ex-army officers (British).

I imagine the Ulster Special Constabulary were similar in outlook – if not in methodology (Ulster Orangemen)

YouTube link

Pretty much as noted above -- a mix of British uniform (khaki serge, a green-tinged brown) and RIC police uniform in dark green. Here's some of mine. Probably too bright a green in these photos, but I live with it. I've sadly forgotten where I got them from originally. It's been some years. Hmm, I didn't know the Auxilliaries wore blue!

There are some nice Rolls Royce 1920 armoured car models out there in 25mm scale, too! I find them on eBay, not usually too expensive. Usually in dark yellow, for Middle Eastern service -- but you could repaint them in green if desired. I leave mine alone, the idea is that they were hastily shipped to Ireland to deal with the sudden troubles and there was no time in England to repaint!

link

Irish Volunteers (1916) in uniforms makes a nice mix -- some of these are available or you can use some police figures, or Boer irregulars (slouch hats), or even some WWI Australians, or British (caps again) if they're not too laden with belts and packs.

Some Irish rebels!

Excellent work. Some of the figures look like Footsore miniatures.

What was your source for the IRA figures?

I believe the auxiliaries were in black and tan style uniforms to start and later went to the blue.

I my case I plan to paint them in the early black and tan for then same reason my Zulu war 24th foot have white helmets.

Footsore sounds familiar -- you're probably right. I went to all sorts of companies looking for my Irish Wars minis, an obscure period for most manufacturers. I want to say some came from Australia, others from the UK, and some via US distributors.

Gosh, those IRA types, again a hodge-podge. I think some were sold as IRA rebels -- but most are simply various 1920s gangsters, plain clothes detectives, or generic Spanish Civil War guerilla or WWII partisans that looked right and had suitable equipment.

Most of the females came from Pulp Figures (Bob Murch), taken from various packs of adventurers and even an SS "she-wolf" figure! Those are a bit more apocryphal… the Cumann na mBan weren't usually kitted out in fighting togs like these. But I have a few fictional women fighters in my Irish forces. Even a sea captain. They make good gun runners!