Lurking somewhere within many vintage 20mm Napoleonics collections are examples of the Der Kriegspielers command set.
Der Kriegspielers sold their command figures as a single set, described as #50: Mounted Officers. There were supposedly eight of them to each pack, but I suspect the eight contained therein may well have varied a bit from pack to pack as there seem to have been more than eight variants produced.
Five of the command figure variants are in the Hinton Spieler collection and are illustrated below:
Three are clearly recognisable as close cousins of the Hinton Hunt Russian, British and French generic generals figures. The chaps on the far left and in the centre, however, look like conversions of the Russian figure.
As these are the only Russian command figures I have, it seemed sensible to choose one for my Russo-German Legion commander. The chap who won this gig was the one on the left, seen vaguely waving his sword around. I thought he'd need a bit of tidying up first, however.
The result is seen below. The new head is from a recast Hinton Hunt PN 5 Prussian line infantry figure. I used the body of this figure to make a Prussian Foot Guards standard bearer over two years ago and the head has been rolling around in my bits and bobs box ever since.
The main task was to transform his infantry shako into an officer's schmirtze. I did this by sawing off the top and then simply dripping a large blob of molten solder onto it. All it needed after that was a bit of filing and cutting.
He is to be Major General Wilhelm Daniel von Arentschildt, who commanded the infantry of the Legion in 1813 and 1814. Arentschildt was a Hanoverian soldier who had served in India fighting against Tipu Sultan, interestingly enough. He entered Russian service, however, after the French occupation of Hanover and was instrumental in the setting up of the Legion in 1812.
I haven't quite finished the rest of the battalion but they shouldn't be tooooo far off.
Ta ta for now
WM
Der Kriegspielers sold their command figures as a single set, described as #50: Mounted Officers. There were supposedly eight of them to each pack, but I suspect the eight contained therein may well have varied a bit from pack to pack as there seem to have been more than eight variants produced.
Five of the command figure variants are in the Hinton Spieler collection and are illustrated below:
As these are the only Russian command figures I have, it seemed sensible to choose one for my Russo-German Legion commander. The chap who won this gig was the one on the left, seen vaguely waving his sword around. I thought he'd need a bit of tidying up first, however.
The result is seen below. The new head is from a recast Hinton Hunt PN 5 Prussian line infantry figure. I used the body of this figure to make a Prussian Foot Guards standard bearer over two years ago and the head has been rolling around in my bits and bobs box ever since.
The main task was to transform his infantry shako into an officer's schmirtze. I did this by sawing off the top and then simply dripping a large blob of molten solder onto it. All it needed after that was a bit of filing and cutting.
I haven't quite finished the rest of the battalion but they shouldn't be tooooo far off.
Ta ta for now
WM
This time you have excelled yourself, sir. I was reading through the posting wondering how anyone could convert the thing on display into a worthy commander for a respectable unit. I should have remembered the Essex Hussar. Respect indeed. Arendschildt is a piece of genius. Thank you too for reminding me where I had heard his name.
ReplyDeleteOnce I'd chopped that hideous head off he didn't look too bad at all, Archduke. All he needed after that was a little reshaping of his sword arm and he came up champion.
DeleteI actually managed to solder on his new head. This was delicate operation which singed off his moustache!
Nicely done WM!
ReplyDeleteI thank you, sir. I'm not supposed to be doing Russians at all, Phil, so finding an excuse to use him was very satisfying!
DeleteHerr von Arenshildt is wonderful! Nice colors and gloss.
ReplyDeleteBest Regards,
Stokes
Cheers, HB. These Russian greens have been a bit of a challenge, truth be told. I've been using HUmbrol 76 "Uniform Green", which is a rather sickly colour, but found that a bit of drybrushing in pure yellow works wonders on it.
DeleteReally nice work there WM in bringing to life what was originally a pretty uninspiring figure.
ReplyDeleteTony S
It would have been more of a challenge to have painted him unaltered, Tony, which I very nearly did. I was feeling a bit bored on Saturday morning, however, and so decided to experiment a bit!
DeleteHe looks absolutely marvellous - building hats from solder is remarkable!
ReplyDeleteInterested in his little bio - I know there was a Friedrich von Arentschildt who was a Lt.Col in the 1st KGL Hussars, who later led a cavalry brigade in the 100 Days. Brothers?
My knowledge of DK castings is miniscule, but I have one or two - if the figure on the right hand end of your line is the one who is very like the HH OPC French general (FN224), then I have always been fascinated by the fact that I have one of these - he is identical in every way to the HH one, except the horse's head is turned the other way! How did they do that? What was the point?
The chap on the right is indeed the DK version of HH FN244, Foy, with his horse looking the other way. I think it was probababley done to avoid copyright issues. Mind you, if there's a difference between the DK British general and the HH original I've yet to spot it.
DeleteI haven't been able to unearth a huge amount of information about Wilhelm von Arentschildt. He applied for British service, apparently, but was turned down. He couldn't have been too popular with the Prussian court either as his main job from 1811 was to seduce Prussian officers over to Russia with promises that this would be their best chance to get another crack at Napoleon. This may have had something to do with the fact that that when the RDL was absorbed into the Prussian army, Arentschildt didn't go with it!
Ages ago Lewis Gunner challenged me to create a battalion of Prussian reserve infantry in soft caps, which got me thinking about how one might go about it. I don't think I'll be attempting this 24 times, however!
Very interesting to see the DK generals as I don't have any of them and a very clever conversion. The painting is sublime as always!
ReplyDeleteThey are definitely worth looking out for, Ian. There was in addition at least one Austrian general and I'm told there was a Napoleon and a Wellington too. They even did a slightly amended Poniatowski - I know, because I've seen a picture. They look simply awful when badly painted, but underneath there's generally a very serviceable if slightly anemic-looking figure.
DeleteI bought them as conversion fodder as I've yet to summon the courage to chop up vintage Hinton Hunts!
Sub Lime is cruel but accurate description of my Uniform Green, Ian!
Whoa! Remind me to double check my vocabulary for sub lime-inal witticism. How the Archduchess and I laughed.
ReplyDeleteIt is a shade greatly favoured by the North Korean Navy, Archduke.
DeleteAbsolutely lovely. I am more than imressed that you soldered the head on to the figure. That's risky, hence I drill, pin and glue, but the result of your work with the iron will always look the best.
ReplyDeleteMight I suggest that the answer on the rerve infantry is to see if the redoubtable John Cunningham would make a mould and then perhaps create a master with the perfect hat?? Alternatively keep them on the workbench and make up three or so in a session whilst concentrating mainly on another unit. That will have the great benefit of allowing the blisters to heal up on your fingertips between sessions.
You are so right about the slight inferiority of DKs. There are numerous annoyances, poor metal, weak muskets , thin ankles,mbut occassionally they produced a gem.
I've always thought that reserve infantrymen would be trickier than just the hat - one would really need to remodel them a bit more than that. Hmmmm....I'll think on't and see what John says!
DeleteVery nice! Spoke to Jack about using solder on figures and he said how tricky it could be. Makes this and your other work seem even better if that is possible.
ReplyDeleteThank you Alan. That is very high praise from such an accomplished converter as yourself!
DeleteLovely conversion. This may be heresy but SHQ do a nice range of Prussian Reserve Infantry. I don't have any (do have a photograph of them) but they are usually compatible with HH. Someday they may be as collectable as HH are today.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anon, for both your comment and your very helpful suggestion.
DeleteThe very few Kennington/SHQs I've seen pictures of look splendid and I've been tempted many times. The only thing really holding me back is that the lead pile of vintage figures is big enough as it is without adding any moderns. Besides, I like a challenge!