British Napoleonic Artillery Comparison and Works in Progress

To kick off the new year I thought I would do a long promised comparison of artillery models.  Thanks to fellow enthusiast "Goya" for providing the scaled down measurements of actual British artillery pieces.  If you have other metal 1/72 scale makes and feel inclined to measure them, send me the measurements and I will add them to the file for reference.  Below is a sampling of artillery pieces in my collection that shows the wide variety of what is interpreted as 1/72 scale. 

From left to right: Der Kriegspieler, Hinchliffe 20mm, SHQ (all 6 pdrs), Hinchliffe 20mm, Hagen, Der Kriegspieler (all 9 pdrs) - of note is that Hagen guns come with both barrel sizes, and as they are heroically scaled, the 9 pounder I have shown here is actually the smaller 6 pounder barrel, so I have taken some license to make a reasonably scaled Hagen artillery piece.

 

A comparison shot for axle width and wheel height.  Note the absence of ammunition chests on the DK gun carriages.

 

As can be seen from the chart, none of the pieces is spot on for 1/72 scale.  The Hagen is by far the cleanest casting and is currently available.  SHQ is also currently available, but the mold is aging and getting the artillery piece into reasonable condition took some work.

 

A New Colonel for the Legione Hanovrienne

 

Colonel Louis-Cyriac Striffler resplendent in his new cutting edge style uniform.

SHQ makes this lovely little model.  The shako cords are a custom addition however.

Leading his battalion

 

Works in Progress

I have spent over a month prepping these Der Kriegspieler figures of the 3rd Dutch Grenadiers of the French Imperial Guard for painting.  Wellington Man provided the initial 24 figures and command which were in great shape, but the core of these were actually from an eBay find and required a great deal of TLC.  I plan on modelling both battalions so am hopeful that getting the figures from Wellington man ready for painting will not be nearly as painful!  Most challenging is that I have re-positioned the figure, turning the head sideways and clipping off the front foot and turning it 90 degrees.  This put a lot of stress on the metal at the ankles and knees, so all of those areas have been strengthened with super glue.

I just wanted an excuse to try out my new light box so this Dapol model of a windmill gets to make a second appearance on my blog.

Apparently you could rotate the whole upper portion of the windmill using the lever positioned next to the stairs.

The Von Kinkel Regiment of Bavarians will be complete once the second battalion is done.  Last night they got their jackets painted so they are coming along nicely.

I forgot I had purchased a couple of Hagen Bavarian Colonels as part of my artillery order.  I prefer the Franznap mounted Colonels below.  Franznap figures are a little more slender and realistically proportioned than the Der Kriegspieler/Hinton Hunt figures, and the Hagen models are much thicker and heroically proportioned.  Both would work, but given the choice I prefer the Franznap's realistic style.

You can see the Franznap Colonels here, with some infantry from the first battalion on deck to serve as a color reference.

Putting the finishing touches on a Royal Horse Artillery battery from the Tennant collection. 

Lastly I have a shot of the new light box that was my Xmas present next to my home-made one.  The extra space and collapsible design are appreciated!