Bavarian Foot Artillery

I know I said I would be doing a Bavarian light infantry battalion next but these little guys have been glaring at me from their little take-away box desperate to be finished so I dug them out, cleaned them up and got stuck into them.

So 3 guns and crew, no problem they should be easy to do I hear you say? well no these guys have actually been a little bit more complicated than they look! 1st off I bought them as part of an already painted job lot on ebay from a very helpful guy from Germany (who very kindly threw in some extra Bavarian casualties). For speed I planned on repainting them to my own style without stripping them so I cleaned them up based them on 40mm x 40mm bases and applied the sand around them (I always mount my artillery before painting as it helps me get started seeing them in position).

Anyway I blocked in the black to cover the areas I felt needed touched up and painted 1 figure to test out the colours (it was a bit difficult as they were painted pretty thick but it seemed ok so far). However when I tried painting more they just started to irritate me as the finish just was not what I was looking for as the paint was far to thick and obscuring the detail so frustration got the better of me and I tossed them in the "simple green" to strip them down (bases and all!).

So they lay there for a few days before I fetched them out and cleaned them off and remounted them on new bases ready to paint. I bought the Austrian guns separately unpainted and I had undercoated them a few weeks back so all I had to do was paint the crews.

I wanted a rich looking blue similar to the many pictures I have seen of the Bavarian artillery uniform and decided on using the Foundry French paints but with a little alteration. The figures were undercoated in black and then I blocked in a mix of Prussian blue and French blue. I then used the French blue as a highlight and then to finish off I used French blue light on the raised area. The colour is very effective to my own eyes and much richer than the test figure I did. The only problem I can see is it's not so easy to see the difference in shades from a distance so I may skip a stage when it comes to doing my Bavarian position battery?

When it came to reds again I wanted to produce something close to the colours I had seen so I went for Formula P3 skorne red for the collar, cuffs, etc but it was a little dark and flat so I highlighted them with a lighter red and then a very soft highlight of Vallejo vermillion (I feel this worked much better).

The AB figures are great as usual with so much fine detail to paint (although you will see I have added a couple of bandages across eyes that had a little flash and I also decided to add trousers to the crew who had gaiters). The little buttons on the lapels are especially superb! To be honest I wasn't sure how these guys were going to turn out right until the very end. I felt the same when painting the Bavarian infantry too. I believe it is because of the Raupenhelm as I leave its metal work, plume and national symbol to last and it is only when this is done that you see the complete figure.

So in the end I am pleased with these guys. The blue looks pretty good and the figures are neat and tidy. And at last my Bavarian limber has a reason to exist!!!!

I also learned some good lessons for the future about buying job lots that are already painted. So next up it should be my Bavarian light infantry battalion . . . Famous last words!!!