Though no Grande Armee, the17e Regiment d'Infanterie de Ligne, capably led by Colonel Louis Vasserot has made a tentative incursion into mother Russia, trusting that yous truly will send reinforcements along. I sincerely hope the trust is not misplaced, I have a lot of other figures and projects all clamoring for attention!
The figures here are all Der Kriegspielers, most from the esteemed Wellington Man of New Zealand, who was kind enough to send a battalion of figures my way. The majority of the figures are DK 9s, with a smattering of command figures and I think the only actual drummer I have been able to find. My other battalions will all have to have a converted artillerist if they want to advance to the pas de charge.
I have mounted the battalion on thick plastic card which I have painted a candy apple green Testor's spray paint simply called gloss green. I have decided I like the contrast of the bright base with the more muted green of the figure's metal base. For the figure bases themselves I use an intermediate green from Vallejo.
Once painted I spray the figures with Testors gloss coat, which seals the figures and prevents any inks from smearing, when I brush on the Windsor Newton Gloss Varnish. I varnish the figures as a last step after attaching to the plastic bases with white glue. My hope is that by varnishing after the figures are attached to the base, not only will the base itself have an additional layer of protection, but the varnish will act as an additional binding agent and help keep the figures firmly attached.
The flag is a pre-printed paper flag that I purchased from the "Flag Dude", with an eagle salvaged from a Minifig standard bearer I believe, and attached to the wire pole. I highlighted the flag a bit with some gold, red and blue paints, but was essentially just as purchased. The Flag Dude prints his flags oversize, and this 15mm flag was perfect for the 1/72 scale Der Kriegspieler figures.
Grenadiers in support of the eagle. I have always liked the red flash of the French grenadier uniform!
The voltigeurs I decided to mount on smaller basses, to facilitate casualties, but also to give me the option of a combined voltigeur regiment down the road.
Like their elite cousins the grenadiers, there is something about these uniforms that I find quite appealing. I love that you can use a little discretion in assigning yellow and green, or red and green combinations with the voltigeurs.
The line companies I tried to distribute amongst the bases so that most of the company pom pom colors would be grouped together and represented. With 6 companies and 24 figures per battalion, that just leaves 4 man companies. With four command figures I decided to just have three of the line infantry companies represented with light blue, violet, and orange pom poms (no green).
Lots of details on the backs of these figures with all of the straps, coat tails and backpacks to paint!
Colonel Louis Vaserot is a vintage Scruby figure and I was tickled pink with how well he turned out, for such a rudimentary casting.
Finally for those interested in a little history of the 17th, the Napoleon series has a very nice summary of the French line units serving in the Napoleonic wars: http://www.napoleon-series.org/military/organization/c_frenchinf2.html#17th
That Scruby is a gem, although all your brushwork is superb!
ReplyDeleteThanks Stryker. I really was astonished he came out that well. The only other Scrubys I have are half a battalion of Nassauers (I think). I might just have to see what I can do with them...
ReplyDeleteDave, those are brilliant! I'm particularly impressed by the buttons - my nerve failed at that point when I was painting the 45th.
ReplyDeleteHonestly the buttons were pretty simple, just a horizontal stroke with a black ink micron pen, and then a dot of old gold paint in the middle. Any praise from you is of course high praise indeed. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI knew you couldn't have gone that long without cooking up something worth seeing. they are a joy to behold and I agree with you about the Scruby Colonel; full of life - what a character - although I suspect he has a touch of the Flashman about him so will need to be closely watched when he ventures onto the table.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rob! It has been a while and I actually have several updates to post for other projects as well, so stay tuned. I'm trying to finish up a few projects that have been occupying space on my desk, but not to worry, there are plenty of old school Napoleonics ready for painting. Next up will be a battalion of the middle Guard, but whether fusilier-grenadiers or voltigeurs, I have not decided.
ReplyDeleteI gather from comments you've posted elsewhere that one of your projects might be a Hinchliffe ECW army?
DeleteA splendid looking unit David...
ReplyDeleteI too rather like the Scruby Colonel... I have one just like him waiting for the brush... I love the fact that after all these years Scruby figures are still available...
All the best. Aly
I would love to find someone with a shoebox full of them, sitting around unwanted, but essentially that what started me on this road to madness; I found a collector who was getting rid of the Russians, and a few French, at a price that I just couldn't refuse! I would be tempted to get a few of the scrubies, but have only seen this Colonel and a few Nassauers, so really don't know what they look like.
Delete15mm ECW armies, one of which I just revamped, which may be to what you are referring. No pictures for that one since it was really just taking someone else's figures, shading and highlighting them and then re-basing. Coming up I have a 40mm fantasy dungeon crawl, 15mm Gallic auxillieries, and some lovely 25mm Ral Partha renaissance figures.
ReplyDeleteI have not seen this Scruby figure before. It us full of gallic charm.
ReplyDeleteGood to see you have some Frenchies done to face your Russians.
The first of many I hope!
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