Thursday, 19 June 2014

Von Lutzow Volunteer Jager

I manager to finish up the 1st small group for my Von Lutzow freicorp recently. I think everyone who does 1813 Prussian plan at some stage to add a battalion or 2 of these guys into their army? I love the AB range of figures however Mr Barton didn't add the VL into it so your only other option is Old Glory late landwehr with shako? However as I enjoy cutting the heads off figures I decided to convert mine from AB landwehr with some extra details added with pro-create and green stuff. Again my pics are a bit pish so sorry about that!!!
   
These guys have sat around a long, long time in my mind as I had actually labelled an old Military Modelling magazine with 54mm Brunswickers at Waterloo for ideas on painting black uniforms donkeys years ago. I managed to find it complete with post-it note a few weeks back and it was a great help!
  
I kept the way I paint straps, shako and flesh the same however I tried mixing brown, light green, light blue and flesh with black for the uniform instead of simple greys and I'm really happy how they came out.
Again very difficult to see in the pics.
  
I tried to shape the muskets into rifles again using illustrations from a book by Dr. Stephen Summerfield on freicorp and jager (another cracking book for Prussian fans) and I'm pretty chuffed how they came out in the end.
  
I picked up some flowers and tufts at the Falkirk show recently and they really bring your bases to life. If I had room on the infantry battalion bases they would be getting them to.
  
This little guy is my only concern as his head appears a little bit big for his body, however I try to think of him as a guy in his mid to late 40's who has kept reasonably fit yet likes the odd beer or 4 with the boys while watching the Bundesliga? I know I'm daft but try to run with it, I have these thoughts from time to time!

This back shot is to show my new shading for Prussian backpacks. I have a nice brown from Coat d' Arms and found a lovely highlight with Vallejo mahogany (great colour). Really pleased with the coverage of Vallejo and that a wee shop in Lanark now stocks them. The shako shading looks poor in this photo, I'll maybe alter it later? I'm slowly incorporating as many Vallejo paints as possible into my colour palette!

  Not sure if I will push on with the VL battalion I have converted or maybe something a little less Prussian? Hope everyone is enjoying the world cup . . . Happy painting and wargaming!!!

34 comments:

Jason Meyers said...

Again, excellent work Paul! Even in 18mm these guys are an inspiration for painting my 28's. :-)

Paulalba said...

Thanks Jason, that's really kind of you to say! Look forward to your 28's!

Ian said...

Fantastic work, you really bring them to life and your black work really works

Ian

Ken said...

Very nice Paul, I do also remember the OG sharpshooters you painted a while back. They were good too.

CAP said...

Superb figures, great painting! as usual. Regards, Carlos

Phil said...

Great looking troops!

Christopher(aka Axebreaker) said...

More very nice work Paul!

Christopher

Paulalba said...

Thanks Christopher, I really enjoyed doing the conversions for these guys.

Paulalba said...

Thanks Ian, I was a wee bit apprehensive with the black shades in 15mm so glad they turned out ok.

Paulalba said...

Cheers ken, man that was a long time ago now. We still use the OG jäger pretty regularly. Great wee figures once you get the bayonets off them.

Paulalba said...

Thanks Carlos, glad you like them. Fun little figures to convert.

Paulalba said...

Thanks Phil, was tempted to have a French voltigeur laying dead on 1 base, I resisted!

John (VonBlucher) said...

They came out great and I like the way you based them. Now you're making me rethink how I based my Prussian Jagers for 1806.

Paulalba said...

Thanks john, this is the usual basing for our volunteer jäger. The jäger battalions are based more in an infantry formation.

Rulane10@gmail.com said...

Fantastic, keep it up, morale for all of us!

Craig said...

Paul, again, these are exquisite. The faces are really brought to life with a delicate shading difficult to emulate, especially under the brim of the shako. I particularly like the effect you create for the black belts with the Cote d'arms grey. Interested to know why you base them in pairs for GdB rather than 3s or 4s. The longer flock for grass works very well with skirmishing figures.

Paulalba said...

Thanks Craig, I have no idea why 2's for volunteer jäger in GdB? It was a few buddies who have played the ruled a lot longer than me who suggested the basing for them. The base could have been wider to emphasis the light troop nature of the figures however this simply takes more space in the boxes.

I fancied mounting skirmishing voltigeurs in 3's so they are different from the allies however laziness set in and I have followed the same method as these guys!

Paulalba said...

Thanks Ru, glad you like them, how you getting on with your own troops?

GaryA said...

Cracking figures again Paul. I think the black looks very effective.

BTW I'm not sure I'm able to support England AND enjoy the World Cup . . . . :O(

Paulalba said...

Glad you like the troops Gary! Lol no comment on the World Cup I just enjoy a good game and there have been a plenty!

By the way, thanks for the nomination on the Leibster award! I haven't been online to carry it forward.

Rulane10@gmail.com said...

Life is conspiring against...! There'll be a brigade of KGL finished by the end of the summer...just on final battalion. Literally 1 hr every 2 wks, painful.

Paulalba said...

Don't worry about it Ru, we are all in the same boat. I went almost 2 years without touching a paint brush a few years back. At th moment I'm I'm 1 hour every few days then I get 3 or 4 and I'm not prepared for them!!!

Rodger said...

Fantastic work on these figures Paul!

Paulalba said...

Thanks Rodger your very kind!

Rulane10@gmail.com said...

P.s. Basing is awesome

Paulalba said...

Thanks Ru, the little flowers and tufts make a big difference on a base with space. Like have been super gluing them into position and leave to dry before adding the grass.

Sgt Steiner said...

Super super stuff and a very interesting unit

Paulalba said...

Thanks Sgt Steiner, yeah has to be close to no.1 for the most interesting in the Prussian army of the period.

Jonathan Freitag said...

Your Prussians are really first rate. Beautifully done!

Paulalba said...

Thanks Jonathan, however in my prussian collection they are not all painted to the same standard. I wish they were all painted to the same standard.

Anonymous said...

Great conversions to create a great unit.

"However as I enjoy cutting the heads off figures .."

This is a bit of a worry. Haver you considered creating a Tudor army?! Ha ha ha.

Salute
von Peter himself

Paulalba said...

Thanks a million, sorry I don't know how I missed your comment. That is really high praise. Thanks!!!

Paulalba said...

Hi Von P, thanks, sorry I missed your post earlier. Yeah I think there a lot of us who like cutting the heads off!!!

Rulane10@gmail.com said...

What 'bits' did you add with green stuff/pro create? Thanks