Prussian Special Reserve 3

The 21st march out...

The 2nd/21st are ready to take the field.

They took three weeks to complete from start to finish and so have taken my speed-painting record.

I think they have to be my favourite battalion to date, even if they do look a bit like Trumptonshire Fencibles!

...if a little  self-consciously!

Ready for all eventualities...

...with God for King and Country!

The Prussian Army is beginning to take shape!

 Happy Easter!

WM

Prussian Special Reserve 2

The 2nd/21st, trying not to look embarrassed!

The first two companies of the 21st Infantry Regiment/9th Reserve Infantry Regiment are finished.

I've painted them to represent the second battalion of the regiment, who were dressed in blue, British-made uniforms with white lace and red facings.

The new British uniforms issued to many of the reserve regiments attracted public ridicule and so there were efforts to "Prussianise" them by removing the lace. The 21st made themselves even more sombre-looking by blackening their belts. However, when I painted a test figure with white tunic lace and cross belts to see what this would look like, I thought the effect was so striking that I decided to paint all of them this way!

The rank and file figures are DK 243: Portuguese Line Infantry, charging. They were beautiful, crisp castings in mint condition and in their original packaging when I found them. I like their poses too, which are quite far down the "air guitar" end of the spectrum!

The officer is another of Don's Prussian command figures, Hinton Hunt PN 1: Prussian Line Infantry Officer, charging. I think he looks quite dashing with his red facings.

Last is the drummer, which is from the DK 154: British Light Infantry Command set. He's clearly a conversion from a Hinton Hunt BN 12: British Line Infantry Drummer.

With rain forecast over Easter, I'm hoping to get the other half of the battalion completed over the long weekend. I'll keep you posted!

WM

Prussian Presents!

I arrived home from work yesterday to find the most delightful surprise - a small parcel of Prussian command figures from Don in the USA. Readers of Ian's amazing Hinton Hunt Vintage Wargame Figures blog will recognise Don as Ian's friend and correspondent on all things related to Hinton Hunt, David Clayton and Der Kriegspielers. Don had enquired about my Prussian progress and has, at a stroke, completely solved my command crisis!

The commanders arrive!

The figures (I believe) are (from left to right):

PN 20:Prussian Landwehr Officer, Marching;

PN 23: Prussian Landwehr Colour Bearer;

PN 22: Prussian Landwehr Drummer;

3 x PN 5: Prussian Line Infantry (separate musket);

PN 1: Prussian Line Infantry Officier, Charging; and

PN 6 (although probably actually DK 120): Prussian Line Infantry Drummer.

The three landwehr figures are all David Clayton figures, judging by their rather thick bases, while the line infantry all look like they could be original Hinton Hunts, with the exception of the line infantry drummer, who bears all the signs of being a Der Kriegspieler

They have arrived in the nick of time. The landwehr drummer and colour bearer will be drafted straight into my 2nd Neumark Landwehr Infantry Regiment. As for the others...well they will require more Prussian line and reserve infantry battalions of course!

More posts to follow as the 2nd Neumarks develop. The flag will be a particular challenge: with edges varying from 18 to 20mm, it's quite a bit smaller than my other flags, which are 23mm square. I also have to decide how to paint it. There seem to be any number of highly speculative examples in other people's Prussian Landwehr units. If anyone has any particular suggestions, please let me know.

Thanks Don

Linesmen

My Prussians are starting to look a bit elitist, so it's time to do a few line infantry.

I read somewhere that the way to do armies is to paint them in small batches, so I've decided to try painting 12 figures at a time. This fits in well with the 24-figure battalions that I've opted for. Getting half a battalion done looks like progress, so it keeps me motivated to get on and complete the other half. I also find that 12 figures is just about the maximum it's possible to do before each particular blob of enamel colour I'm working with dries out.

The main drawback with Prussians, they say, is their rather sombre uniforms. However, I couldn't help noticing that the 10th (1st Silesian) Infantry Regiment had rather fetching yellow facings....

The first batch of twelve are shown below. The figures are Hinton Hunt PN 3: Prussian Line Infantry Private, Charging; and PN 1: Prussian Line Infantry Officer, Charging.

Taxi!

Who says Prussians aren't pretty?

Nach Paris!

OK, so maybe the red turnbacks and yellow collars clash a bit, but you can't have everything.