Bavarian Work In Progress #2

I finished the bugler and standard bearer a few days ago but the officer figure is yet to be started. He is not a major conversion, in fact all I need to do is make a saddle cloth look like black lambswool and use a standard trooper model.

I ended up using the Perry plastic ACW cavalry arms for both the bugler and standard bearer-which worked well I think. The flag itself is from the "Flags For The Lads" range which were originally produced for the B&B 20mm FPW range-they are oversize and fit even Foundry figures perfectly.

I see from the Helion site that the next 1866 figures are in stock...but they do not appear in the "Click to Buy" section...no doubt that will change in the next few days and I will have to explain away another small parcel!

Bavarian Cuirassiers-Work In Progress

The first base of Wargames Foundry 28mm Bavarian Cuirassiers is now complete. Again I am aiming initially for a 6 figure unit for the Salute display. For wargames purposes the "full" Regiment (in this case the 1st Cuirassier, Prinz Karl von Bayern, Regiment) at 1:40 would be represented by 12-14 figures. If I get time before April to go back and finish the full unit I will.

So far so good. The basic trooper is made up of a single casting and a choice of two arms (below left). A little bending can produce some head variation and the sword angles can be varied as well. So what about the command figures? Disappointingly there are none. This is not a rant against Foundry but potential buyers should be aware that even though the range is extensive (and expensive!) there are some big, annoying gaps that have never been filled over the intervening years. This is NOT the Helion range.

My solution is to find a donor figure (the squeamish among you should stop reading now) and some major sawing. I am going to use the ACW trooper (below right) for the bugler and standard bearer. The buglers did not wear the cuirass just the single breasted tunic, which makes the torso on this figure ideal. They are roughly the same size and so should be compatible-a Perry buglers arm from their plastic ACW range should finish the figure. The right arm will be used on the standard bearer. The sleeves are a lot fuller on the ACW figure so I will have to shave off a few millimetres of folds. Well, that's the plan anyway!

French Cuirassiers #2

Well 2010 has got off to a reasonably good painting start. One of the things about the end of 2009 was that a lot of promises started to catch up on me, which seriously detracted from "me time".

The family have now been paid in full (it is amazing that being over 6 foot tall means I am very useful around other peoples houses!) and all of my "off blog" painting has been started at the very least. This includes painting some figures for the son of a good friend and figures for the Salute display game.

These figures are for my seperate Salute FPW display (a representative regiment at a 1:40 ratio would be 12-14 figures or so, but as a display I think 6 figures looks about right).

The figures are, clearly, from the Wargames Foundry range. For the French cavalry, at least, command figures are available. The only anomaly being the bugler (also intended to serve in the Dragoons) whose horsehair mane does not suit a charging figure (below left). Easily fixed with greenstuff (below right).

I like these figures, possibly because they remind me of one of my all time favourite units, Mr Gilders Hinchliffe Napoleonics which I painted and stupidly sold off last year (bottom right).

My next unit does not have the advantage of any command figures (why did Foundry never complete this range?). So next up, Bavarian Cuirassiers!

I Have Eaten Far Too Much!

Well that is Christmas over with for another 12 months, which should give me just enough time to shed those few extra ounces before we start all over again!

Hope everyone had an enjoyable time and my best wishes for the New Year.

Here is a quick shot of one of the few figure bases I have managed to complete recently (does he remind anyone else of the old Airfix 54mm British Lifeguard model?).