Tuesday 10 October 2017

New Model Army

Much to my surprise I was able to crack on with the first nine of my Der Kriegspielers conversion HSC PN 91: Prussian Reserve Infantry, charging, although only at the cost of shamefully neglecting the command group I was supposed to be painting at the same time.

As you can see, I opted for a regiment with yellow facings, which could represent any number of the Prussian reserve battalions between 1813 and 1815. Leading the pack at the moment, however, is the 2nd Battalion of the 18th Infantry Regiment (formerly the 6th Reserve Infantry Regiment), which was part of Bülow's IV Corps at Waterloo. If I stick with this the command group will get pink facings, which would be nice!





I'm really pleased with how they've turned out. Surprisingly they required quite a few colours - four different greys and the same number of browns on each figure.

This is very likely to be my last post for at least another fortnight. With luck I'll have a complete battalion to show not long after that.

Regards to all,

WM

22 comments :

  1. I admire the neatness of your painting sir !

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    1. Cheers, Tony. I had to try my best with these!

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  2. These are really pretty, in the best sense of the word. They ought to be dull and dreary being generally grey with a tiny splash of facing colour, but they're just so fresh. The multiple shades of grey are really worth the effort. The command group, with their pink facings, sound as though they'll be a bit more gaudy; will these chaps really want to follow such as them into the field?

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    1. They came out a lot brighter than I was expecting, Rob, but then I used a very pale grey for the tunics. As for the command group, we'll have to see. It may work, or it may just look awful!

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  3. Beautifully done Matt, the grey certainly works for me, and those caps, what is about those caps! Going to be another superb battalion.

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    1. These were not supposed to happen until Phase 3, 'Lee, but I was captivated by those caps.

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  4. Good choice! A unit I always had hoped to add to my 15mm Prussians once upon a time. Funny how some of these Prussian Napoleonic reserve uniforms almost resemble Germans in 1914-1915 a century of so later. They really were forward thinking!

    Best Regards,

    Stokes

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    1. As you say, Stokes, they have an astonishing modernity which is going to look even more striking when they're lined up with my other troops. They could, at a pinch, serve as 1914 Russians with a slightly different colour scheme.

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  5. They look very good. My Prussian army will need a unit of these chaps. I look forward to seeing the 'pretty in pink' command.

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  6. At the rate you're going, Mark, you'll have a division in action by the time I've finished this lot.

    It's surprising that Mr Hinton, or any other of the "Hintonesque" manufacturers, never produced a figure of this type. It was a very simple conversion.

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  7. Really smart, you painting style is great.

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    1. Cheers, ABC. I like the different textural effects one can get with Humbrols!

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  8. Lovely looking toy soldiers...
    I have always found the combination of grey and yellow very attractive...
    I don’t think you will have any trouble with pink and grey either...
    I will of course copy these shamelessly when I start my own Hinton Hunt project.

    All the best. Aly

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    1. They have shades of the confederacy, I thought while I was painting them Aly.

      The command group will be pink and blue on the grounds that every reserve battalion was supposed to have a regular cadre to command them.

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  9. I echo everyone's admiration. These are great figures in every sense. It is a mystery why Mr Hinton chose to model certain elite units while neglecting the real rank and file. Well, maybe it isn't. But you have achieved a great coup here by filling one of the most glaring gaps. Respect.

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    1. The recasting process has turned what was a fairly ungainly figure (a Prussian guardsman) into something rather svelte, Archduke!

      I'm seriously think about Hanoverian Landwehr now....

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  10. Very nice and yes a bit Confederate like - Virginia Military Institute perhaps? I am also looking forward to the pink!

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    1. I haven't tried out my Humbrol pink yet, Ian, so it will be an interesting experiment.

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    2. Its quite a modern desire to have armies that reflect the actual organisation of the forces of Napoleonic Wars. If we took this modern idea to its ultimate conclusion we would have ten french line battalions ( or three light, seven line , one cavalry unit , of chasseurs a cheval and one battery as the norm French force. People used to build forces that had the Red Lancers, a cuirassier regiment, a battalion of Old Guard grenadiers,two battalions of young guard, one guard, obe line battery, a battalion of Hessians and one of say Wurttemberg six French line battalions with Napoleon in command. OK in a really big bash they might get to something more accurate as an organisation, but most games were ten battalions, plus supports, on a 6x4 table. So Hinton was responding to demand when he made guard units and odd allied units, but not some of the very basics. Hence there are no classic light infantry for 1809 to 1812, His programme was not systematic, it was a mixture of response to his pals requests an typically Hintonian whimsy...after all, marins de la Garde ...Incroyable ....let alone guard sappers actually working with those helmets and packs on!

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    3. LG, once again, you have revealed my secret plans....

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