Saxon Niesemeuchel Battalion Finished

I managed to finish off my 2nd battalion of Niesemeuchel for the 1812-13 period!

I really enjoyed painting these guys and have moved onto a combined grenadier battalion for 1813.

I thought the pics came out a lot better than they appear so will probably swap new ones in at a later date.

Figures are from AB with a couple of conversions.

The flag is from fighting 15's and is very nice, finishing off the battalion well.

I've added in my usual summer mix static grass plus flowers and tufts from Silfor.

I have the artillery bases finished off but I will show them when the guns are finished.

So onto the next battalion . . .

happy wargaming!!!

Saxon Infantry WIP2

I completed my Saxon artillery crews recently and only have the guns to finish however I didn't want to break my painting buzz for the moment so I've continued on painting my Saxon infantry. When I started the infantry again I just cracked on and didn't check my references properly and went for an attractive red faced battalion Niesemeuchel. As soon as I painted my 1st few up I realised they didn't see much action as part of the Saxon brigades in either 1812 or 1813. What can you do? Ah well they look pretty and a Saxon is a Saxon as I always say!!!

Anyway I've continued on with them . . .

The figures as usual for AB are lovely sculpts however I have to say I had a terrible time cleaning them up, there seemed to be little pieces of tough excess metal all over them, in the gaps between the bedrolls, in the undercuts of ammo box, around the gaiters and worst of all around the front and rear of arms and under hands badly obscuring detail. I let fighting15's know about a number of the problems when I got my last order of Saxons and I chose to keep them as I didn't want to send the problem figures back in case I lost the variety of poses. Ian said he would have a look at the moulds the next time he casts them. However I didn't realise there was so many problems thoughtout the other figures I had purchased previously until I started cleaning them up, it's a shame as the AB Saxons are lovely figures.

Anyway, I've pushed ahead and have really enjoyed painting them adding grey overalls to some and I also tried to create a yellowish tint to the uniform of many, similar to what is shown on reenactors uniforms.

So with the grey overalls and the variation of yellowed whites the battalion is starting to take shape and all the troopers are now finished.

So all I need to do now are the command figures.

I hope everyone is getting plenty figures painted And or the odd Wargame in?

Happy Wargaming!

Saxon Foot Artillery 1812-13 WIP

I've decided to ditch my Prussians for the moment as I've been getting an itch to work on another project, it's only temporary as I always come back to my Prussian in the end however for the moment I'm all prussian'd out! Anyway for a good while I've felt a pull to do work on my late Saxons. So 1st up is the artillery. I did a little video of the progress:

And as usual some pics of the battery below

1st I'm going to paint a 4 gun battery, they may well have been 3 gun so I'll just drop 1 if the OOB demands. The uniform is lovely a dark to mid green coat with red facings. Who says green and red don't go! This pic was taken a few days ago so I've made further progress on the troops.

My test figures 90% finished. Unfortunately the figures required a lot of clean up with scalpel and files however the figures themself are lovely.

I decided to do a little bit of converting on the artillery pieces using Stephen Summerfield's book on Saxon artillery as well as the Calpe and Westfalia guns as a reference. They won't be perfect but in 15mm who will care!

The gun tubes are progressing well, the smooth tube and stylish rim around the muzzle are very characteristic of the Saxon M1810 6pdr (and 12pdr). A little more work and they will be ready to paint.

Hope everyone is enjoying our little hobby and happy wargaming!!!

Russian Guard Cossacks Finished!

Ahhh so that's them done, I've uploaded a wee video of the finished unit on YouTube:

And belove are a few pics of them

So 24 finished in total and I'm really happy how they came out, Sho Boki has done a fine job of sculpting this interesting little unit. You can find a link to Sho's website on the bottom left of this page.

The command figures were the most fun to paint however I did enjoy adding and detailing the lances before I started painting.

I added a few AB casualties for a little bit of interest.

I put together a pretty simple 2nd sotnia guidon from the illustration shown in Stephen Summerfields book on the Leib Garde Cossacks (brilliant book!)

So I can now say goodbye to them till I add the 6 figures for the Black Sea sotnia. it's great to see them finished and thanks for all yer encouraging comments while Ive been putting them together!!!

So onto the next project . . .

Happy Wargaming!

Russian LG Cossacks WIP4

Well I'm glad to say all the Russian Guard Cossacks are now painted as well as 3 casualty figures that will be keeping them company! I've made a wee video for the YouTube painting Challenge:

as well as a few pictures below:

The yellow comes out a wee bit strong in the pictures and the shading are kinda burnt out however you should be able to get an idea of the finished regiment.

I enjoyed painting the trumpeters, I added a thin piece of cord made from green stuff around the body to finish them off. I made the mistake of giving them silver trumpets before I found out that they were awarded after Leipzig, Doh!

Also the casualties were fun to do and I feel they add a little to the finished regiment.

Poor we French men must have been caught out in the open before they had the chance to form square?

I've thoroughly enjoyed painting up Sho's Leib Garde Cossacks and they are definitely nice enough figures when painted to sit alongside my OG and AB Russians.

I have already added the sand and sealed it with PVA so the next time you will see these little chaps I'll have the bases all finished. Thanks for taking the time to check out my progress and I hope you have enjoyed my little adventure with Sho Boki's Russian LG Cossacks!

Happy Wargaming!

Russian LG Cossacks WIP3

A good bit progress on my Sho Boki LG Cossacks 17 down 7 to go!

3 more troopers then onto trumpeters and officers

Starting to look like a unit now

Can't see the shading on the trousers, coat or horse in the pic but it's there. Really enjoying these guys now.

That's me for the moment, awe ra best and happy wargaming!

Russian LG Cossack WIP2

A wee bit of progress on my Sho Boki Leib Garde Cossacks . . .

That's 9 done and 15 to go although I'm just putting the finishing highlights on another 2 at the moment.

Lovely little figures with very colourful uniforms on AB horses. I'm look forward to having these guys finished off!

I broke my own rule by starting a command figure before the troopers are finished. However it was nice to be distracted by this wee guy. The guidon isn't perfect but will do fine!

Happy Wargaming!

West Highland Way

A few pics and a wee video from our mini adventure:

We set off from just outside Glasgow

My 2 brothers David and Jim

After a steady days walking we hit Conic Hill on the way to Balmaha

Coming down the other side was pretty rough in the rain however we managed it

Loch Lomond side was tough but lovely

Ever onwards

Rannoch Moor

Buachaille Etive Mor

The Kingshouse Hotel

Through the hills to Kinlochleven

Leaving Kinlochleven 

Almost finished, Ben Nevis in the background

All finished in the town centre 

BP Challenge WIP1

So the Black Powder Challenge has started over on YouTube and I've made a slow but steady start however I'm away for around 2 weeks in total so will fall behind with my goals. The challenge is over almost 3 months so I should have time to catch up?

 This is the 1st batch I'm working on, a wee commands for Russian and Prussia.

2 Russian command bases, 1 figure and all horses from AB and 3 Sho Boki Russian command figures. I've made a few small errors on the uniforms so please don't use them as a reference.

Lovely face sculpted by Sho Boki from his generals set.

A start on crazy Platen's trumpeter

And crazy Platen with his base coats done.

And the poor Polish uhlan smashed over the head.

That's me for the moment, happy wargaming!

BP Challenge Prep

Been missing for a while tinkering with Uboats and tanks however for the next 3 months I'll be taking part in another YouTube challenge. A few of the guys will be putting together a Black Powder Painting Challenge to try and get a few things ticked off before the end of the year.

I'm sure my figures will be used for Black Powder at some point so I think it's fine for them to be added into the challenge.

I'll be hoping to get my East Prussian National Kavalry finished as they have sat around for far to long since I converted them, 24 to do. Winters on its way as my black undercoat didn't cover the metal so well?

Also a few Russian command bases using Sho Boki's range with the odd AB thrown in. I added a little green stuff in areas to the ADC's to give them a little more body.

And another command base to be finished off although Prussian this time.

This one is crazy Platen's trumpeter bashing a polish uhlan over the head at the battle of Mockern 1813.

That's all from me at the moment, hope everyone is getting into their painting and enjoying the rugby World Cup!