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Sunday, May 8, 2022

Bavarian Artillery and Command

 Today I am pleased to show the completed Napoleonic era Bavarian artillery team.  The figures are produced by Franznap Miniatures and are just exquisitely sculpted.  I have painted them to match my old school glossy Hinton Hunt collection, but in truth these do stand out, as they are far more finely sculpted and animated than their older compadres.

To the rear are the artillery drivers which have already graced these pages.  In the left foreground is a command vignette, and to the right, the artillery battery unlimbered and deployed for battle.



The artillerists are depicted in campaign dress, the main difference being the trousers/overalls worn instead of the usual dress pants.






The command vignette was a fun addition to the regular figures needed to represent an eight gun battery.  The figure reading the map is a conversion from the original, which was actually leaning back with his arms extended behind him on the ground.  I was able to reposition the arms and add the map, which I thought made more visual sense, and fit in well with this vignette of an artillery general, trooper, and mounted trumpeter.


The saddle cloth and black sheepskin are a design I was not able to find a historical reference for, but as trumpeters were notoriously variable in their uniforms and horse furniture, I just made what I thought was a reasonable guess as to how it would have appeared.  This is more likely to have been an officer's horse furniture, but I felt not unlikely for a trumpeter to have as well.



Micron ink pens were used to draw the details on the map.

Next up will be a battalion of grenadiers made by a true old school figure manufacturer - Garrison Miniatures.  The figures were kindly provided by Wellington Man, to help meet my needs for the upcoming battle of Vimiero Village.  The Battle to the north of Vimiero is progressing beautifully and balanced on a knife's edge. 

16 comments:

  1. Beautifully done David…
    They are indeed lovely miniatures…
    I particularly like the chap reading the map…
    Maybe you do a different version reading the equivalent of the Bavarian Times…😁

    All the best. Aly

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  2. Thanks Aly. The Bavarian times would give me a chance to practice my high school German. Hmmmm. Glad you enjoyed the map reader. That was a fun conversion!

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  3. Nice one, as you say, they are finer than many of the vintage figures. I particularly like the command group, although I would've painted the guy sitting down as reading a newspaper - no doubt looking to see if his latest exploits have made the front page (or checking on his team's progress in the league)?
    In my defence (against charges of plagiarism) I published this comment some time ago but clearly it didn't take for some reason.

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    1. Thanks Rob. In truth it is a map because I thought that would be the easier choice. I cant imagine trying to recreate a newspaper!

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    2. Just use a Profipen or similar, that's what I'd do - easier than a paintbrush.

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    3. Hi Rob. Yep, I used a Micron pen for the map, but still say the idea of trying to recreate a newspaper page would be insane!

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  4. Excellent painted figures!

    Greetings
    Peter

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  5. Lovely work there old chap! I am with Aly on this one - the map reader is a delightful figure. I hope you are feeling better as well.

    All the best,

    DC

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    1. Thanks David. Even the sculptor enjoyed that conversion. Funny thing is he pointed out originally it was intended to represent a wounded gunner. I just thought he was leaning back relaxing!

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  6. These are absolutely terrific, David! Having siad that, I was going to make a crack about somebody looking at a diagram of his tonsils, but I decided against it.

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    1. Oh great. Thanks for that. Now I will never be able to "unsee" the uvula!

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  7. Absolutely first rate, and very inspirational.

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  8. Appreciate the kind words James!

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  9. Love your work, David. Nothing like Old School.

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    1. Thanks Hal. The Franznap miniatures aren't exactly Old School, but I hope the look certainly is!

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