Sunday 13 February 2011

Bavarian Workbench 4

I have been putting together and painting my 1st Bavarian light infantry battalion for the 1812-13 period (5th Butler) and although it has been a good bit of work I have been really enjoying doing them and wanted to share how they are coming together.

There are a good selection of figures from the AB Bavarian skirmishers but I wanted to add in some different figures to make the unit look unique.



In all there are 8 head swaps and some other fine details like trousers added to the figures who come with gaiters.

The additional figures I have added come from the Bavarian casualty set a sapper from the fantassin range and also some figures from the AB Austrian and Saxon range (some are very close to the Bavarian uniform).

I have been thinking of the best way to make a hornist for my lights. I had converted a fantassin Bavarian flag man but when I picked up some Saxon casualty figures this guy stood out. A simple head swap and his musket removed and his horn added with some fuse wire with a finer wire twisted to form the cord. I still have to finish of the tassels and tidy the main horn part.


I enjoy doing these little conversions as much as painting the figures. I'm not 100% sure if this is the best way to make the horn but until I bump into someone who can point me to a better way this will have to do. It also gives me a good bit of practice as I would really like to try my hand at sculpting my own 28mm figures on day.

21 comments:

Ken said...

Hi Paul,

These look good, even for fantassin - whats the size of the MDF for light inf that you will be using?

Thanks for the advice on the prussian flags by the way.

Cheers

Ken

Paulalba said...

Hi Ken,
Glad I could help.

These guys are AB with only the 1 Fantassin thrown in. The MDF is 30mmx30mm six figures for to a base and six bases. Same structure as my Frech will be.

Cheers
Paul

davetaylor said...

Paul, these look great! If your hands weren't in the shots I'd have thought they were well-painted 28mm models.

Cheers
Dave

Ben Gilmour said...

Wow! I love your conversions! I've said it before, and I'll say it again; if you hadn't pointed the fact out, there's no way of telling that your finished figures weren't off the shelf numbers.

Great work, again, Paul!

MiniMike said...

Paul, very inspiring to see what you did with these. Not a 15mm nap man myself but i bought some 15 (ugly) painted french batallions once and considering now to start a bit of repainting. Thanks for that :-)
Cheers,
Michael

Giles said...

Paul, those are very special - excellent work.

Best wishes

Giles

Robert said...

Excellent work, Paul. Great conversions, but really crisp painting as well, especially on the piping and buttons.

Sgt Steiner said...

Superb stuff as always.
And conversions too !!

It's offical I now hate you :-)

Cheers

Achilles said...

Amazing work Paul! I really believe that you are wasting your abilities with 15mm !! Considering the amount of detail that you have painted in 15mm one can only imagine what you could do in 28mm :)

Looking forward to seeing more of your work!

Stryker said...

Hi Paul - I can't believe the level of detail you achieve on these figures, truly superb. If you ever do get around to sculpting some figures I'll be first in lien to buy some!

Ian

Paulalba said...

Thanks very much for all the kind words of encouragemnt guys. It's great to be able to share with people who have the same interests.

Just got back from nightshift and seeing all your comments gave me a very pleasant surprise.

Many, many thanks.
Awe ra Best
Paul

Captain Richard's miniature Civil War said...

15mm???...Great painting and detail

Scotsgrey said...

your painting Paul is such a compliment to the sculpting, These Bavarians will get a much better commander than me. they deserve the Emperor!

Steve-the-Wargamer said...

That hornist is good! well done..

Paulalba said...

Thanks very much guys,
Been over doing it a bit with work so a little slower progress than I hoped with the lights. They should be finished now.
Good news is the loft is going along, the floor is about finished. Hopefully nin the next couple of months I will have a proper place to paint!.
Cheers
Paul

ljr70 said...

Paul, I really love your work, its so clean and sharpe! Outstanding, thanks for sharing.

Mr. Bigglesworth said...

OK - I'm a huge fan now. Thanks for joining the Bigglesworth blog and I'm excited to see your future projects.

Paulalba said...

Hi ljr7,
Likewise really impressed with your figures. Great inspiration.

Hi Mr B,
Looking forward to see how your figures come along. I am going to wait unit my own little working space is finished before I start trying out sculpting. For the moment I'll jus thave a good look at what you guys are doing.

Thanks for the kind comment guys.
Cheers
Paul

The Angry Lurker said...

These are damn nice and wonderfully painted.

CarloAntonio said...

Compliment !! Great work !!

Paulalba said...

Thanks Angry L, been burning the candle at both ends this past week or 2 and have been able to do next to no painting.

Hi Carlo Grazie mille! Been checking out you site for a while. inspiring 1/72 scale Napoleonic painting, magnifico!

Regards Paul