As always seems to happen, whenever one project is nearing completion, I get sucked into another. The Der Kriegspieler French Napoleonic Fusilier Chasseurs of the Middle Guard are coming along nicely, so of course something had to come along and delay their final completion - namely an army of 15mm late Prussians for my DBN collection.
Well, this ship/camp scene has been coming along as well, but in all fairness, I think I started it before the Fusilier Chasseurs.
The Prussian army was a bargain find at the Siege of Augusta, and came with enough pre-painted figures for almost a complete army, and enough unpainted lead to fill in any blanks. Most are older Naismith figures.
As you can see the army contained not only a couple of elements worth of artillery, but also enough to make a camp scene with a limber and some destroyed artillery. Once I paint a few elements of cavalry the entire force will be ready for basing. Fortunately the purchase came with all of the figures necessary. Now I just have to decide which type of cavalry I want to paint.
Won't be much longer before these are done. Mostly just need buttons, lapel and cartridge box badges, as well as sword knots and they should be good to go. Well that and a little highlighting, especially on the coats.
Thanks to the generosity of one of our fellow enthusiasts, I received enough rifles to begin the upgrade of the Bavarians I mentioned in an earlier post, that turned out to be modified Airfix Old Guard Grenadiers. On the left is the original figure I received, now cleaned of all the old paint. You can see the rather clumsy attempt at a musket.
I've tried a couple of different positions for the replacement musket. The figure in the middle has the musket held in the extended left arm, which has the effect of minimizing the height of the musket above the head. The figure on the right, has the musket in the bent right arm, which masks the scar from where the old musket was removed.
The Perry brothers sculpted their Bavarians with the muskets held in the left arm, so I am inclined to think this is more correct, but I have not tried to research the military drill of Bavarian Napoleonic soldiers. I'm inclined to put the musket in the left hand, as I think that is a more normal placement and position of shouldered arms in this period, but would love to hear from any of my readers who might be more knowledgeable on the subject.
Those Prussians look fantastic. I like the color selection. They look properly battle-worn.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree. Very muted color palette which seems appropriate. My challenge will be to match that style when painting additions to the army. I hope to keep the basing a tad brighter than normal to help bounce a little light back up on those dark uniforms!
ReplyDeleteThe Fusilier Chasseurs are coming along nicely and that's one hell of a sapper they've got - what is he six foot six or what?
ReplyDeleteYou're brave taking on the Prussians as aligning someone else's army to your style preferences and matching their painting is not as quick as it looks as I'm finding out myself.
I wish you luck and a fair wind.
That's too funny Rob! He is a big fellow, but most of it is that Bearskin! I'll have to take another look and see if I can remove any of his neck. As I recall he was a head transplant and I may be able to shrink him a bit.
DeleteAs for the Prussians I hear you - really not eager to try to match the style of painting, but I will only have a limited number of elements to paint, so hopefully shouldn't be too bad.
Don't cut him down to size, the rest of the unit will love having a big man to follow (it's much safer in cover). You should celebrate diversity - if you had a huge guy in your regiment of course you'd select him to be a sapper who better to batter his way into a fortified position?
DeleteBeing 6'3" myself, I must admit to having a soft spot for the big guys.
DeleteGreat work, Dave. I'm also very impressed that you've got so much on the go at once.
ReplyDeleteGlad you're impressed WM, because to be honest it drives me a bit crazy. I keep trying to finish up projects so I'm only working on one or two at a time, but it never seems to happen.
ReplyDeleteBavarians are looking good! The Airfix pose is historically incorrect - left arm is good I think.
ReplyDeleteMatt,
DeleteGlad to know it, as I got the first company done (just five infantry and an officer) with muskets in the left hand. I make a slight cutaway of the strap so the muskets will lay more flush on the shoulder and trim the butt of the stock just a bit to help with height. I am very pleased with the end result and will post some pictures as soon as the weather clears and I can get some shots of the Fusiliers. Problem is now I'm going to have to decide whether my next unit to paint is the Bavarians or the Fusilier Grenadiers!