Spanish Lead Painting: Conversion time! Front Rank 28mm "Miquelets" or "Migueletes" PART I

Hello everyone,

I put here a small "work in progress" of a unit of skirmishers or shooters of the seventeenth century Catalan guerrilla known as the migueletes or miquelets, rough people of the mountain and the rural areas near the border. They fought both on the side of Spain and to a lesser extent, of France recruited in Roussillon or rebels and deserters on our side of the border. Despite being a body that was not officially part of the Spanish army, they were not 100% irregular and guerrilla, because they were paid by the crown and in 1695 they were more than four thousand men that caused more casualties to the French than the regular army and the allies of Spain on that front of the Nine years war.

These miniatures I want to represent here would be Miquelets, both from the Dutch war of 1673-78, and from the Nine-years War of 1688-1697. The chronicles of the time describe them dressed in civil clothes, peasants, armed with muskets, hunting shotguns, a pair of pistols and white arms (swords and daggers) as well as a wallet that could be carried sideways or in the belly, and canteens made from pumpkin. Many Miquelets covered their heads with the typical Catalan cap, the barretina.

I have taken Front Rank figures from their excellent late 17th century range, references shown here are from Monmouth rebels, and I have converted them slightly, some heads wear a hat very similar to the barretina others wore a typically English woolen cap so they were mercilessly decapitated and I replaced their heads or hats by other plastic Warlord and Warhammer, also some details such as canteens, knives, bags or ammunition cartridges. I will paint them!

There are 8 in total, all of them different... Here you have some conversion work and the first 4 painted.