Friday 24 September 2010

Bavarian Workbench 1

Well I'm still waiting for my camera to return but I managed to get a loan of my wife's friends camera when she dropped by a week or so ago so I knocked off some quick pics. Just for fun my painting light, that I also use for taking pictures decided to die!!! (Unfortunately not just a bulb as I have tried 2 others but the light itself). It was a very old light that I was given by my friend Tom down at Milicast and it will be sadly missed. However another is on it's way from ebay! So to save my eyes from torture I have been sanding and slashing and preparing instead of painting.

I picked a load of Bavarians up on ebay a while back from Dirk in Germany. I already had a stack of unpainted figures and another wee load is on its way to me right now as I type (cheers Steve) As they already have a coat of paint I will be giving them a quick paint into my own style and they will form the rear ranks of my battalions and the unpainted figures I will be starting from scratch will be at the front.


I have always fancied a Bavarian brigade or 2. The flags are probably the nicest of the Napoleonic wars plus the light blue uniform and unusual hat help make them stand out on the battlefield. I have been having a good discussion about their uniform over on the GdeB forum and I believe these guys are too light, unfortunately I had almost finished the 1st battalion before finding out. So this is roughly how they will be looking when they are finished. I have been trying out the foundry paint system on these and they were done with the Bavarian cornflower blue and highlight so for the next battalion I will try with the shade and Bavarian cornflower and see how it looks.


I rebased the artillery I got (a 3 gun battery thank goodness!!!). the guns are Old Glory and will get cleaned up and punted I think? I have 2 more AB batteries on the way all with lovely AB Austrian guns!!!!!

This was my test figure to see what blues I will be using. Some of the reference material I have seen show the uniform in very vibrant shades of blue but I have went for a duller hue.







My Prussian Guard jagers: I took the opportunity to get some sand o their base so as I can get them finished off. I read somewhere that some of them wore Hungarian style breeches so I thought it would be a nice talking point. I don't know the reason behind it? Maybe supply problems or a recognition of their allie? If you know the story behind it I would be interested to hear it!


And my Russian horse artillery battery: it's all finished now with varnish and grass (I have been struggling with the Foundry paints as I find it hard to visualise how they will look when finished because the paint is so satin) I'll post some pics of it when my camera returns. The green is very nice when varnished, I used the Russian green light shade as I felt the shade and middle colour were just too dark for 15mm.


Boy this was a job and a half and more so because I am not keen on painting artillery (I have no idea why?). 24 figures and 6 guns, well at least it's done now!!!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cracking figures! I had a really useful lamp but the bulbs were impossible to find. (Its like losing your favourite blanket...or so I have been told because obviously I am far too old to have a "Blanky"!).

Particularly like the Bavarians-one of my favourite armies.

Matt

Ken said...

Good stuff there Paul - you must have quite a range of nationalities now.

Paulalba said...

Hi Matt,
Thanks very much, I know what you mean. If it wasn't for ebay I would have been screwed on where to get another without paying over £60.

Hi Ken,
At the moment I have Russians, Prussians and Austrians on the go (I like to jump between armies as it stops me gettin bored of the 1 colour scheme). I also have French and Austrian AB laying around and lots of different Minifigs I hope to finish off.
cheers for the kind words guys.

Peeler said...

They are really good figures, painting and basing there. I've come into some AB's myself recently, and am looking forward to getting them on the table.
Daft questions.. what type of sand did you use, and was it with pva glue? I like that look.. :-)
Regards,
Peeler

Paulalba said...

Hi Mr P,
Not a daft question at all.

The sand is a mix of fine sand from a golf course bunker and a slightly larger ballist from railway model shop from years and years ago just so it is irregular.

I put on PVA with an old brush and sprinkle on the sand, then when dry I tidy round the legs and feet with an old scalpel blade and then apply a very watered down PVA (like milk)and leave it to dry. I know a lot of people just paint and sprinkle but I am not keen on the sand falling of over the years.

Hope that helps. What nationality are your AB? Look forward to seeing them on your blog.
Regards
Paul

Fredloan1 said...

I am in the process of painting up a 15mm Bavarian division with AB figures. If you have any you want to get rid of let me know, glad to take them off your hands. :)

Your line figures look a little light in the coat but, the nice thing is no one really knows the accurate color. I matched mine to the BMW logo on my wife's auto.

Paulalba said...

LOL
Hi Fredloan,
Likewise if you have any spare AB Bavarians you don't need I would be happy to take them off your hands!

Yes I believe they are a little light but it was a 1st effort and when I started painting them I didn't have the references I have now. I would think the officer on foots uniform is closer to the real deal but who can say?
Best
Paul