15mm AB French Imperial Guard Grenadiers Cmd Stand, first Inf stand and Skirmishers update #2

well here is the latest, I have just about finished these guys and got tired of waiting for the flocking materials I ordered and just used static grass.  I also painted up the Drummer, Eagle bearer and 1 Infantry stand plus the skirmishers. I got the flag from warflags I think it was, but when resized down they got very pixelated!  I have no solution for that, if you guys have tips on using photoshop CS2 and fixing that, I am all ears.  So anyway here they are, let me know what you think... cheers...

15mm AB French Imperial Guard Grenadiers Officer and Skirmishers update #1

Ok so time permitting I have been working on my AB French Imperial Guard Grenadiers.  Here are the mounted officer and the Skirmisher stands that I have been working on.  They are not done yet but are getting close, the one problem I had was I could not find what color to paint the officers sash, so I painted it red, is this correct post 1807?  Please let me know what you think, I think I went a little heavy on the blue light coat, not allowing much of the darker blue underneath from showing, I may redo that part depending on what I hear from everyone.  Cheers...

15mm Old Glory 4th and 5th French Hussars final

I just finished these minus the flocking as I am still waiting on the materials, anyway I was NOT happy with these castings at all! They were very, very rough almost like they were pulled out of the mold before they had cured after pouring. They actually wore out a new fine brush when painting them!  I know that is hard to believe but I got a new brush for these on Wednesday and it is already tip curled and the bristles will no longer come to a point.  Yes I clean my brush's thoroughly and am very careful to draw tips out on a piece of paper towel pulling away from the base of the brush when doing this.  Point is I have never worn a brush out in 4 days on  24 figures!  So either the brush was defective or the mini's are as I said and just poor castings.  Either way here they are, I really do like the color scheme of the 4th Hussars but am not sure of the final look of the 5th.  Anyway here they are, I will have to get some AB French Hussars to see the difference between them...

The French 4th Hussars-above

The French 5th Hussars.  I hope you like them... I do not but oh well...

0ver 1000 unique visitors in the first 3 months since the hit counter was put up.

While I started this blog last yr I never published it until after April of 2010.  I put the hit counters up at that time and pushed it out to google.  Since then I have had over 1000 unique visitors in the first 3 months of "operation".  I think that is pretty good and while my content is not the best yet, I do appreciate you guys all coming over and leaving comments.  I need to get a better camera with a really good macro feature, I am looking at the Olympus Pen, and the Canon EOS Rebel digital.  I have looked at them extensively and funds being available I will purchase one soon.  It will probably be the Olympus Pen, I just love the features and look of that camera, it kind of reminds me of the old Leica film camera's which I have always liked.  Anyway I wanted to thank you all for making this blog what it is and I hope that it only gets better...

Cheers...

15mm OG French 4th Hussars Update #1

Well I had forgotten that I had these guys mounted, primed and ready to paint, but I found them yesterday in my pre-painting storage area I have for mini's that have been cleaned up, mounted, primed and ready for paint.  Anyway I decided to paint these guys up as the 4th French Hussars as I really like that color scheme.  I also have some other French Hussars that are Essex I believe and with the later style cylindrical shako's that  I will be painting up as well. I have not figured out which unit I will make them but I am thinking either the 2nd, the 3rd or the 6th Hussars. They just have their base colors on them with no details so far.  Anyway here are the 4th...

15mm OG French 5th Hussars Update #2

Ok so I have been only able to work on these guys just a little bit, but here they are so far.  I am not sure if this blue is the correct blue for the French 5th Hussars but from what I can tell it looks close.  perhaps one of you chaps know and could tell me if this blue I am using on them is right?  You may notice some other hussars to the left, well they are the 4th and I will post some images of them shortly, I had forgotten that I had mounted them and they were in my storage area for figures ready to prime or paint, anyway that is who the dark blue and red are.

AB order hopefully at the beginning of July...

If everything goes as planned I will be ordering some more AB french Lasalle units at the beginning of July. For those of you that have never seen or painted AB miniatures, they are the creme de la creme of 15mm Napoleonics in my opinion and while they are a bit more expensive than OG they are well worth it!  I hope to be ordering the following units:

2 More French Dragoon units
2 French Chausser units
2 More French Cuirassiers units
2 More French Hussar units
Some French Marshall's and General's
1 Reserve Foot Artillery battery
1 French foot battery
1 French Horse Battery

God willing I will be able to order them next week and they will get here soon.  I want to have them all painted up before the beginning of August when I start working on my 1806 Prussians.

Start of 1806 Prussian Army

Ok so am am getting close to where I want to be with my French and wanted to start working on my 1806 15mm Prussian Army probably in August, anyway I got a wild hair and decided to mount up several of the units on sticks to get them ready for priming. They are Essex figures, I wish they were AB but this many figs from AB would be a small fortune. Given that I will probably will not start them for about 40 days or so I thought perhaps priming them early and letting them sit and cure would be good. So here is what you see so far

5 Musketeer units 32 ea.
1 Grenadier unit 32 figs.
1 Fusilier unit with 32 figs
1 Jaeger unit to be mounted as an irregular unit of 20 figures.

I still have 1 more fusilier unit, 1-2 more Jaeger units, 4-5 more Grenadier units and some cav plus artillery to mount for painting.  I will also be ordering some more Musketeers from AB along with some more cav and artillery if everything works out around the beginning of August.  Anyway here are the "lads" mounted up ready for priming.

15mm Essex French 20th Dragoons Update #2

Ok so these guys are almost there, I have done some of the uniform details but they still need some touch ups here and there, also the helmets need to be finished. I should have these guys done today and will post more pics of them when completed.  I am still waiting on my flocking material to come in so that will not be done on any of my units until then.

15mm Old Glory French 5th Hussars Update #1

Ok so I am trying to paint up all of the units I can as I may be playing Lasalle with my friend that owns our local FLGS.  Anyway I had this unit of Old Glory French Hussars that I had ordered a while ago and decided to paint these up as well as another unit of Hussars this time Essex(unit not figured out yet)(nor pictured). I will post these up again when finished along with the other Hussar unit when I decide what unit to make them.  This is not much to look at yet, but here they are...

15mm/18mm AB French Dragoons finished

Okay so my mate Galpy gave me some tips on finishing these guys up, so I have just completed them. I only need to finish the basing but I do not have the the stuff I want to use to base them so that may be a bit before that is done, but at least they are playable.  My friend the local FLGS owner is coming over next weekend to play Lasalle, I got General d' Brigade as well but he wanted to try Lasalle as he sells it in his store, I will post pics and descriptions of what happens in the game after wards. I hope they turn up in the photos, The macro on this cheapy Nikon L10 just is not that good, so here goes...

15mm Essex Dragoons Update #1

Well as I stated earlier I had these laying around and thought I would do them up as a comparison to the AB's.  Well there is none, enough said on that!  I question the accuracy of these Essex Dragoon's specifically the Saddles and the mounting for the carbine's.  These are painted up to represent the 20th French Dragoons.  They are not done by any means so this is the first update for these guys. I do have to say it is going to take a lot of work to get them up to the AB standard.  The AB's just paint as if it is a natural act and well the Essex... I will leave that to your imagination.

15mm AB French 15th Dragoons update #2

Ok so here are the AB 15mm/18mm French Dragoons.  I ended up going with the 15th for them as I wanted some color other than red, white and blue on my side of the table.  They have Green and Pink colorings which you can find a complete list of French Dragoon colors at this website.

http://www.napoleonguide.com/cavalry_frcoldra.htm

So here they are, I still have to paint on buttons but they are mounted on there bases now.  So here they are, again please comment if you have constructive criticism, I can use all the help I can get.  In my next post I will post the Essex Dragoons that I had laying around, and I have to say that they are like melted hunks of metal when compared with the AB's.  The one BIG criticism I have for the AB Lasalle units packs is that the flippin' Eagle bearer does not COME WITH THE UNIT!  What was the Eagle optional? LOL  So now I have to spend $2.00 for an eagle bearer and horse and that will give me one extra Dragoon as the units of French Dragoons in Lasalle are 12 to a unit and I will have 13!  Anyway enough O' that...

AB Ney 15mm/18mm Update #2

Damn this camera, no matter how I try to do the lighting I just can not get them to come out right!  Anyway I hope these pictures turned out okay??? I still have some final touch up's to do but they are almost finished.
Let me know what you think... I shamelessly copied what the owner of Napoleonic Adventures did as far as lay out as it just looked "right"...  The center mini is the same but the rest are different, just painted somewhat alike...  Anyway is the lighting okay on this?

Update #1 AB Marshall Ney

I still have some highlights to do, but here is my first AB mini.  I am going to use this Ney mini and 2 others, 1 as Neys' ADC and another Cavalry officer to make up the command stand.  Anyway let me know what you think so far, please.  I have posted a bunch of pictures and had no one but my mate Galpy has bothered to really respond to any of my posts, so please if you have constructive criticism's please add them... I will never get better if you do not.  I have no real historical painters local to get idea's from...so anyway.

Cheers...

15mm AB French 15th Dragoons update #1

Well I thought I would make these the 15th Dragoons, no reason really other than some color variation on the battlefield.  I have not checked yet but I kinda hope that they were at Waterloo.  I guess I should of thought of that before painting facings... LOL oh well.

Update: I just checked an the the planned 15th and 20th that I have were at Waterloo and in the same division!!!  Too bad I did not plan it that way but I guess the result is the same...

Cheers...

15mm Old Glory Suisse Infantry Update #1

well these guys have been knocking about for a bit so I thought I had better start finishing them.  In case you are wondering why there are NO 28mm ECW mini's here yet, well I can blame that on my mate Galpy in NZ.  He is the one that convinced me to get the new AB's I have but I told my self to finish this suisse unit first.  So anyway here is the first update on them.

Cheers...

Desperate: Jena Prussian Info on the web

 Sorry to post on my blog asking but I have really found nothing of note, especially painted miniature wise on Jena Prussians from the 1805-1806 era. Anyway I have looked all over for Jena Prussian info both historical and miniature wise and have found NO real good resources.  I have tried posting on TMP and I have just discovered to never, ever ask questions on there. So do any of you fine ladies and gents have any website info that you would like to share?  If so please just comment on this message.

Thanks and cheers...

Painting helper? Well maybe not but...

This is my 1 to 1 scale four legged FURRY helper!

Does anyone have one of these?  maybe not this particular type but generally with 4 legs but usually never less than 3?  Well this one is mine or actually I may be hers! but thats here nor there.  :)  The biggest draw back to this particular "helper" is the prodigious amounts of LONG fur seems to leap off of said helpers body and ALWAYS seems to deposit itself, either on my miniatures or DIRECTLY all over the ENTIRE painting are!  Every thing else about her is great, she sleeps mostly, so I can usually paint without interuptions, but when she does want to "help", she is very persistent and she seems to think that I must be the best painter in the world as she seems to think that I am SOOOOO good that I can either use one hand or non and paint with a brush in my mouth! as she requires said hands to rub MORE FUR OFF OF HER to deposit it on my miniatures and painting area!  Anyway life would not be the same without her, but I do wish they would invent a fur-less one of these that looked good like this one does...

Cheers.

Short book review: Ospreys Armies of the Napoleonic Wars

Ospreys Armies of the Napoleonic Wars: I ordered this book some time ago(like 4 months), but did not get it until the other day.  This book would appear to be as rare as unubtanioum! I have to say that this book is incredible, it is a whooping 432 pages and about 180 or so of the pages are color plates from all major and some minor combatants of the Napoleonic wars!  I have been reading the French portion first and specifically about the French artillery of the period today and in reading these 6 pages or so I have learned more about French artillery then I had ever known before!  I found out for example the predominant artillery pieces used by the French for this period were the 6pdr horse and the 4 and 8pdr foot along with 6inch howitzers. These were Gribeauval AN XI system guns, that right there dispels some of my beliefs on French artillery.  Unfortunately the one army this text does not cover are the Jena Prussians. Anyway this is a great if not hard to find book from Osprey and I highly recommend it! It cost me $40.00 USD fyi...

Cheers...

Current Ranges of ECW mini's and other things.

Well I have just started painting some Warlord Games PLASTIC pike and shotte infantry and will have pictures to post later, but I have some comments to make on them.  Firstly that they are overall very nice models with nice clothing and weapon details, secondly that they were a pain in the a** to build, thirdly I feel that the hands of the models are way too small, consistently too small and lastly I do not know if it is the TV shows or the historical pictures I have seen but I feel that the facial hair on these models to be not entirely consistent with the time period.  Most of the models from the detail that I have painted in the first box of infantry is not pronounced enough when compared to Renegade or Wargames Foundry models or Old Glory.  I thought they would be a good buy for what I can get here in the states with Renegade mini's non existent, same with most other brands that are common in the UK.
     From what I have found the only brands available here in the states are Old Glory, Warlord games and Wargames Foundry, the later while being brilliant models are most outrageously priced here, in which they would seem to put the price at what the MAX currency exchange would be, say $1.80-$1.90 or more per British pound making them close to twice the price of what they would cost in the UK.  So with that said, I may look at getting some more Old Glory as there detail is ok, the price is ok and they are readily available, I wish I could get more Foundry mini's but not at the current pricing of them.  I did not intend this piece to be a pricing criticism of any manufacturer just overall comments on the quality and pricing of several manufacturers. On one final note on pricing, I did purchase a couple of Warlord games saker cannons and while the detail is nice they are God awfully expensive as well at $28.00 per gun and crew! Getting to be a very expensive "amusement"...

Cheers...

Warlord Games Prince Rupert

Here is a few pictures of Warlord Games Price Rupert figure from their ECW Pike and Shotte line. I was not sure on coloring for him so went with some colors I had gotten with my Foundry paint order.  I think he turned out ok, but I will redo his face as a I tried a wash scheme that I normally do not do and do not like how it turned out.  I usually use a 3 color paint scheme for flesh but saw this washing technique in a mag and thought I would give it a go.  So that will be redone...  let me know what you think...  Cheers...

AB Miniature order has arrived!

Well after having a bout of illness I have finally gotten to posting some pictures of my new AB miniatures.  I took some pictures of the French Imperial Guard that I got from AB along with some Essex French IG I already had painted up to show the huge difference in size between the two. The AB's are some brilliant kit I do have to say!  As stated earlier in the blog I ordered 3 Lasalle packs from AB which included 1 French Dragoon unit, 1 French Imperial Guard unit and 1 British Hussar unit.  They took a long time to deliver and I think for taking so long the included 1 Dragoon casualty, 1 walking wounded causality and here is the best part, 1 Marshall Ney mounted figure.  The French IG unit was complete with 32 figures, with command and 4 skirmishers! :)  Big bonus in my book!  Anyway here is a picture of the Essex/AB IG comparison for you to look at... After looking at the pictures you can not really see the size difference but it is pronounced!  The painted essex figures are based with metal bases and strip magnets so that should help you see the size difference.  Cheers...

Been kinda busy, but...

Ok so before I show you guys some of my new stuff I have painted, let me assure you that I have not lost the "historical" faith so to speak and will also be doing that as well as some Warmachine stuff.  So I have started collecting Khador and Cygnar forces and here is one of my first Cygnar pieces I have done, this is a Warjack called a Cyclone.  It took a little bit to blend the colors but I think it turned out ok.  Let me know what you think...

So there is is, I will post more later but I wanted to get this up so that you knew that I was still alive...

Cheers...