Thursday 13 March 2014

Kutuzov 1812

So here he is at very long last my old buddy Kutuzov. His command stand is the 2nd of the big 3 I plan to paint, with Blucher already completed I aim to do Napoleon and then everything afterwards will be a bonus.
  
As you probably will have guessed the story of this scene is a type of Borodino 1 although not specifically the great redoubt. You'll have to give me a wee bit of breathing space here as there are a few mistakes such as the damage to the gun (how did it get in that state?). Also I would like to point out that I wouldn't myself cut up an AB gun at £3 a pop! I received the gun with figures from a friend in Germany and he had already done the damage for a command base.
  Obviously he's some sort of millionaire type? I myself would have hunted down an OG or Minifig gun. 

Overall I'm pretty pleased with how it has turned out. I have settled with my new greens for all future Russian troops (the Foundry French chasseur greens x3). I have found them to shade very well and have a nice depth to them. The Russian greens from the set appear far to dark to my eyes for 18mm.
  
I think Kutuzov came out well. The head swap looks a wee bit more like him than the original although his hair is a wee bit thicker than maybe a man of his age would have but who knows?
   
As I mentioned the sash bugged me but not that it was wrong, just that I didn't notice it until I had pinned the head and made the cap as if I had noticed I could have used the original figure I took the head from! Anyway I see that Sho (Boki) will be doing a Russian set similar to the Perry set sitting so will look forward to doing them when they are released.
   
These 2 are my favourites of the base as both are head swaps with the guard officer coming out the best.  
   
Maybe a wee bit crowded? Would they leave a wounded Frenchman so close to Kutuzov? I'm sure there are a few Opolchenie on the way to take care of him (Phil again sorry for yet another French casualty however I have balanced it up a wee bit with a few Russians to show the ferocity of the fighting).
  
My knowledge of French cuirassiers is lacking at the moment and I painted him with pink facings. I just hope they were around somewhere in Russian where Kutuzov was fighting?
    
The Russian casualties were good fun to do and I feel came out well and tell a story of their own.
   
Ok, so thankfully some more of the lead pile is finished and a main command stand for 1812 at that but still a lot more to do. Now that it's finished I'm pretty happy with the layout and I'm sure it will be used a good few times in games to come.

I now plan to do a Bavarian command for a friend and finish of the Von Lutzow conversions.
Happy wargamining and painting!

39 comments:

Anonymous said...

Splendid artwork, Paul!
Only Kutuzov's sash was not red, but silver with orange/black accents, as usual officer's sash.

Sho

Jonathan Freitag said...

Stunning vignette!

DeanM said...

Lovely vignette. I don't think it's crowded at all - another French casualty would be nice :) Best, Dean

Paulalba said...

Hi Sho, thanks and I know the sash should be orange/black. You must have forgotten our discussion with Bryce and others on GdB forum. Remember we decide that for the sash to be orange/black had to be on right shoulder and would be red on left only kutuzov had not been honoured with the red. And as both were wrong the red was bed as he may have been awarded it had he lived. Very confusing stuff. However thanks for pointing it out making clear why it bugged me ;-) perhaps you can pull your finger out and finish your own set for borodino!

Paulalba said...

Thanks Jonathan, I'm very happy with it now its done!

Paulalba said...

thanks dean, yeah maybe another french casualty would have been nice after all! ;-)

Phil said...

Hi Paul,
Congratultions for this splendid vignette, awesome work. I'm sure this French guy has done an excellent fight, eliminating many enemy gunners and opolchenies before falling...anyway, excellent looking vignette!

Paulalba said...

Thanks Phil, I'm sure he has and will make it back to Paris 1 day!

Anonymous said...

Yes, I forgot, but find this discussion again now. We all were wrong.

I studied this question closely before I sculpt my own Kutuzov..
this is not orden sash at all, but ordinary waist sash. Kutuzov was so fat, that if he wear his sash normally, he looks silly. Therefore he use old, abandoned way to wear his waist sash - over the shoulder.

Now I "pull my finger out" and hope, that you paint my sitting, drinking and chicken eating Kutuzov with silver sash.. ;-)

Sho

Paulalba said...

Wow sho, that is very interesting, are you saying this is actually his silver waist sash then?

Anonymous said...

Yes, as now I can see the backside of your Kutuzov.
It is clearly seen, that this is not orden sash, but definitely are sculpted as waist sash over the shoulder.

Sho

Anonymous said...

The paintjob is simply stunning for this scale and the scene is marvelous!

Paulalba said...

Thanks Sho, that is brilliant to know!!!

GaryA said...

Cracking!

Paulalba said...

Thanks Burkhard,
I'll glad you like them, not up to the standard of your big guys but will lead my armies to victory at some time hopefully!

Paulalba said...

thanks Gary, very much appreciated!!!

carojon said...

Excellent job Paul, well done

Ray Rousell said...

This is one of those Homer Simpson, pork chop moments!
Fantastic work Paul!!

John (VonBlucher) said...

Paul,
Good to see you painting again, and hopefully feeling better.

I swear I'm having deja view as I thought I had posted this to you the other day.

Paulalba said...

Hi John, feeling a bit better thanks. Yeah you commented already on the WIP post.

Paulalba said...

Thanks Jonathan, much appreciated!

Paulalba said...

Absolutely Ray! Glad you like him!

Gonsalvo said...

Marvelous figures and composition - very special, Paul. As three of the Cuirassier regiments had pink facings, I'm sure at least one of them was in Russia during 1812, and most likely all three (where else would they have been in 1812 anyway?)!

Christopher(aka Axebreaker) said...

A superb piece there Paul and a prefect stand to lead your Russians!

Christopher

Craig said...

Magnificent work Paul! The vignette works well, and does not look at all crowded. Indeed I reckon you could have squeezed more figures (foot) into it had you wished. I agree with your assessment of the greens, and think they do the job very well. I am yet to see the Russian green on 15mm figures look anything than a faded black. Great work, and a real inspiration.

Paulalba said...

thanks Peter, that sounds good to me, there must have been 1 pink around!

Thanks Peter, definitely growing on me now that it's done!

Thanks Craig, I had another casualty to add but felt it maybe pushing it. No matter now as it's done. Also sorted the sash to silver/orange.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful work as ever. Great to see you 'back in the saddle'. Ru

Ken said...

What a splendid command stand Paul! More of a diorama actually.

Paulalba said...

Thanks Ru,
How are you getting on with your own creations?

Cheers Ken,
It came out better than I hoped!

Anonymous said...

Great stuff Paul

John B

Paulalba said...

Cheers john,
Came out better than expected!

MiniMike said...

This is one of the better vignettes I've seen in a while. Great composition and painting.

Paulalba said...

Cheers mike, glad you like it!!!

Abel's Den said...

As usual a beautiful job, Paul! BTW who sells those gabion baskets? I've been looking for a set like those for a while. Thanks!

Paulalba said...

Thanks, glad you like them!
The gabions I can't remember where I picked these up? They were white metal. Possibly SHQ. I picked up a load of resin around the same scale from a friend in USA. I seen the same ones on eBay listed under gabions. They went for a very low price. I would keep an eye on eBay or ask on TMP.
Sorry I couldn't help more.

Unknown said...

Hi Paul
are those circular bases also from Warbases? I couldn't see any that size when I looked on their site?
Cheers
Jamie

Unknown said...

Hi Paul
Did you get the circular bases from Warbases? When I looked on their site I couldn't see any that size?
Cheers
Jamie

Paulalba said...

Hi Jamie,
Yeah you can get whatever size you want from warbases but you'll have to ask for them.
Cheers
Paul

Unknown said...

thanks Paul