A New Pirch

My new gunners are complete, but as I haven't finished their guns yet I've used an existing gun detachment to illustrate the spiffy new plasticard gun bases I've made for them. The prospect of painting this (in fact I needed to do six) with my increasingly dodgy supply of Humbrol 80: Grass Green was so daunting that I finally bestirred myself to head down to the local DIY warehouse and get a 250ml pot of matched emulsion.

It wasn't an exact match, but this was by no means a bad thing. I rather like the daring two-tone effect it produces with the original Humbrol colour on the figure bases. I think I'm going to all my plasticard bases like this from now on.

Pictured with the gunners is my newly completed Der Kriegspieler Prussian General. He is to be Generalleutnant Georg Dubislav Ludwig von Pirch (or Pirch I as he's generally known, to distinguish him from his brother). Pirch I was the commander of the Prussian II Corps in 1815, a gig that was awarded to him because the previous incumbent, Ludwig von Borstell, had refused to execute a group of mutinous Saxon soldiery who were less then keen to join the Prussian army.

He's not the most spectacular figure in the world, but he'll do for me.

Brand new gunners to follow, I promise.

WM

Von Lützow at Last

Colonel Von Lützow has arrived at last to lead his famous Schwarzen Jäger.

And very dapper he looks too in his black duds, which match his black heart!

How I made him

As explained in the last post, von Lützow is actually a converted Hinton Hunt PN 10: Prussian Foot Guards Officer, charging. The tools I used for this conversion are pictured below.

The first job was to cut him off his base and then bend, cut and file his legs until he could sit  comfortably on his horse. Greatly aiding this process was the 'D'-section shaped microfile, which was just the thing for hollowing out his...er...undercarriage.

To make his litewka I tried out something new which was to create a very basic frame for it using 5-amp fuse wire. This was bent into shape with pliers and then glued into place. I hoped it would give a well-defined edge to the litewka once I started smearing solder around, and it worked a treat. The only major thing needed after that was to drill off any excess solder with my rotary tool.

I also repositioned his sword arm and added a couple of epaulettes. The latter were made by attaching small blobs of solder onto his shoulders, filing them flat and then shaping them with a small hand drill.

The final touch was achieved using the tool shown below. It's known as a "Diamond Poger", apparently, and is normally used for setting gemstones in jewelry. The little concave cups at the end of each point, each of a slightly different size, also happen to be excellent for making buttons!

My sincere thanks to Lewis Gunner for sending me this device when I couldn't find one in New Zealand.

Should be gunners next.

WM