First Class Fusiliers

I've got a bit more to show off than I expected this week. I think it must be the novelty of working with proper Hinton Hunts. I can actually see what I'm doing for a change.

First up is the command group, which features an absolutely cracking Hinton Hunt FN 251: French Infantry of the Line 1807-12, Voltigeur Officer charging. Next to him is a recast David Clayton FN 4a: French Colour Bearer without sword. Considering that he's effectively a recast of a Clayton copy of a Der Kriegspielers conversion of a Hinton Hunt, he's not come out too badly.

Behind them are nine newly completed vintage Hinton Hunt FN 244: French Infantry of the Line 1807-12, Fuslier charging. I think these are gorgeous figures, although having said that I've modified them slightly by turning their heads to the left. The originals were sort of vaguely staring off to the right rather than looking where they were going, no doubt as an aid to casting. Marcus obviously expected his customers to reposition the heads, or that's my story, anyway.

I've even managed to finish another general for them, but as he's yet to dry I'm saving him for next week. If nothing else he'll help to fill the gap while the next two companies are in production.

That's it for now,
WM

A Different Drum

Fans of Stryker's brilliant blog will recognise this chappie. I suppose it was only a matter of time before we ended up working on the same figure simultaneously. I guess all I can say is: "Snap!"

He is the advance guard of a new French infantry regiment. I'm under a lot of work stress at the moment, and it's the only cure. The other reason I've started this regiment is that it's high time I did something about the fact that my vintage French army has hardly h'any Hinton Hunts h'innit.

We'll see how I do. I'm off on my travels again in less than a month.

Best regards,

WM

Guns Fever

I managed to get my second gun battery finished today.

The figures are:

from the Der Kriegspielers set # 70: Russian Line Artillery 1812: Gunner with rammer and Gunner with port fire;

Hinton Hunt:
RN 73: Gunner holding cannon ball;
RN 74: Gunner holding hand spike for traversing; and
A 6: Russian Field Gun

The DKs were very kindly donated by Mark S, who also supplied the RGL infantry. The HHs came as part of a small mixed lot of HH odds and ends that I bought a couple of years ago without any real idea what I was going to do with them. I think I just wanted to know what they looked like up close.

They're painted to represent a foot battery of the Russo-German Legion. They really ought to be horse gunners, but Hinton Hunt never produced Russian horse artillery and I have the excuse that there really was a very short-lived RGL foot battery. It was armed with very poor quality British iron guns, apparently, which was why it didn't last very long. My battery, I'm very glad to say, has a splendid Hinton Hunt Russian gun, which was given to me ages ago by Roy B. I hope you approve of what I've done with it, Roy.

The completion of this battery is a bit of a milestone as it means I've finally reached the half-way point in Wallmoden's army. To celebrate, here's a picture of them:

My thanks, as always, to everyone who helped me to put all this together and encouraged me to keep painting.

Have a great weekend,
WM

Ultima Ratio

As promised, I have a new set of gunners to display. First off, however, is the gun, which is a rather rickety Der Kriegspielers French howitzer. This ranked as possibly the worst gun model I'd ever encountered when I saw it in the raw, but I think it's painted up reasonably well.

To man it I have four more Der Kriegspielers French gunners, from set #22: French Line Artillery, 1809.

Well, they're mostly DK 22s. The chap holding the ramrod is actually a combination of a DK gunner holding handspikes and a Prince August figure. I didn't have a DK rammer so I decided to have a go at another conversion. He's not my greatest effort, but he'll do.

The base is a standard Muskets and Marshals 6cm x 6cm artillery base, made from 2mm plasticard and, as I explained last week, painted with a green emulsion that was the closest match I could get to Humbrol 80: Grass Green. I'm really pleased with the effect.

The last couple of shots are of them lined up with my other two French batteries. The French artillery is really starting to look quite formidable.

They're not the only gunners I've been working on, however. All will be revealed next week...

WM

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