An ADC for Browne

Today I had some spare time and painted up my Austrian ADC. Pleased with the result, and the photograph does not do him justice.

The Austrian command sends the ADC north towards Torgau with a message to the Saxons, that an Austrian support force are on their way

Meanwhile IR8 Hildburghausen take the road northwards.

ADC's have been very topical of late, so yesterday, I decided to covert a 40mm figure to create my own version. Still a bit of work to do, but he will be painted as an Austrian with red facings as an officer of IR8 Hildburghausen. I have tried to give the figure a sense of urgency with coat tails flapping, and the rider leaning forward holding his tricorne.
It will be early next week before this chap gets painted. I am looking forward to another visit from Stuart tomorrow... The table needs cleared and some scenery set up

Naval Matters

Today I visited a local shop to check out some wooden ships they have for sale. Now these are not cheap, but given the quality and work involved they are something of a bargain.

Dilema:

Do I need them     No
Do I want them     Yes
Will I regret not buying them  Probably

Each model is fully rigged, about 1 metre/36 inches in length and almost the same in mast height.
These would make superb centre pieces in a display game, would be ideal for 28mm and may even work for 40mm.  The downside is that the wooden hull would need to be cut to the waterline for effective display. This would greatly reduce any resale value.

I have some serious thinking to do. Any thoughts ? Help me with my dilema please !

What is the correct criteria for scale ? or Is a 40mm figure truly 40mm in scale

Below is a photograph of Graham C's latest 40mm Prussian, compared to a 40mm Sash and Sabre and two 40mm Front Rank figurines.
If you measure from the top of the base to the front tip of the tricorne, the sizes are actually as follows:

Graham C's Prussian.       38mm
Sash and Sabre Austrian   42mm
Front Rank AWI soldier   44mm

A total difference of only 6mm, but to the naked eye, a world of difference in scale.

                                                 FRONT RANK       S&S    GRAHAM C

                                          Comparison between a S & S and the GC Prussian.

This example shows clearly how figures which are "bulked out" and made chunkier, can appear a completely different scale to the human eye, when in fact the difference in height is minimal.
I would argue that all three of these figures look good in their own right, but they just do not work together. Front Rank looks bigger than S & S which looks bigger than the GC Prussian.
Scale should be a careful consideration rather than height when trying to mix figure ranges of any size.

I have added a comparison of one of Graham's larger Prussians against a Front Rank 40mm
Graham's figure is just wonderfully proportioned, scaling just right

Six is better than four ?

Today as an experiment, I painted up a unit of 6 of Graham C's computer generated 40mm figures.
I went for IR1 von Winterfeldt as I do not have this regiment in my collection. The main purpose was to compare the visual effect of having six 40mm figures on a 50x45mm base, instead of my usual 4 figures, The result is below

I feel that most 15mm and 28mm collections have the figures spaced too widely apart, probably bcause of the smaller scale of the figures. I think that this looks just about right, and gives the feel of "tight ranked" troops, shoulder to shoulder.  I would welcome readers comments.

Anyway, in due course I plan to finish a full regiment, to see the end result.

This gives a comparison between S & S and the six figure base. To be fair, I never felt that the S & S Prussians were among the best of their range.

A hobby day

Bit of a wet day in the north of Scotland, after a glorious week of sunshine. So today has been spent indoors concentrating on hobby matters... More of this later.

Spent a bit of time flicking through the two books which have influenced me most in the hobby.
"A Military Gentleman" is well known to most of us, and its purchase re-focused me on the hobby and steered my collection in a more disciplined way, backed by some fantastic advice from the author, John Ray.

I purchased "Collecting Model Soldiers" in the early 1970's and it proved to be the influence behind my collecting and inspired me for years.

To my regret, I never met Henry Harris, although I did talk with Roy Dilley, (who helped build the collection), several times. Harris was a model soldier collector, not a wargamer, but we are all collectors to a certain extent. There is nothing more satisfying than completing a regiment or building an army,then seeing it on the table.
Henry Harris took a disciplined approach to the hobby, as John Ray has done. Harris's speciality was the British army circa 1900, and this was what he concentrated on. He drew up an "Orbat" and split it into a Court and GHQ section, a full dress corps, and an expeditionary corps. These were divided into divisions, brigades and regiments with supporting arms, staff officers etc.

I read and re-read this section over the years, and to me this is the most interesting section of the book. By creating a "plan" it gave him an objective to aim for in his collecting and created a disciplined approach.. With so many "goodies" available on the current market, and new releases constantly appearing, it is very easy for we wargamers to become distracted and use a "butterfly" approach to our collection, starting periods and armies which never get completed.
 Henry Harris built his 54mm army using lead Britains conversions, purchased during the 1950's and 60's. I missed out on this, playing with plastics in the 1960's and later Airfix 20mm. By the late 1970's Britains were becoming harder to acquire, and out of my price league. Hence the appeal of wargame figures. Willie figures and Gilders fantastic collections attracted me to smaller scales and I gradually built a number of collections over the next 30 years or so. But it was only when I read AMG that I decided to concentrate on one scale and one period, and the rest as they say is history .....

Bits and Bobs

Not much to report this week really. Progress has been a bit patchy with reality getting in the way of hobby stuff.  I have been working on IR8 Hildburghausen, the colour party is below. Still a couple of bases to complete yet, and not sure if I will do grenadier bases to go with the regiment.
For a change, I downloaded the flags from Kronoscaf, cropped them to scale, stuck them on a strip of tin then painted over them. Quite pleased, but not in the same league as MA's flags.

I also cast up some samples of Graham's new secret weapon, computer generated Prussians.
They are fabulous, great detail and I am looking forward to painting them up. The castings below are scaled to 40mm. I plan to paint up IR1 Winterfeldt using these troops. They actually fit 6 to a 45x50mm base and look quite fantastic. The spacings between figures looks very realistic.
Smaller scale figures can often look too far apart on a base.
So a 54 man regiment, including grenadiers, with additional NCO, and officers is the plan.

Carronade 2019

Another trip to Falkirk and another great show at Carronade. This is one of my favourite regional shows. Easy to get to, good facilities, a good selection of traders and some nice games.
This year was no different. The only disappointment was the late cancellation of Caliver books due to health reasons. The show lacked a good book seller and I am sure that other traders should consider coming in the future.
My two favourites were a large scale pirate game, full of fantastic models and scenery which must have taken years to produce. My favourite was a 28mm colonial game with some great figures, scenery and an amazing Vauban style fort. This is supplied from Germany, in sections and fully painted. It is very well done and I am very tempted to order one.

Purchase wise, some more Vallejo paints, a few bases, 5 large scale trees, (Ideal for 40mm), and from the bring and buy, the latest version of "The War of theThree kings" and Duffy's "The 45" for £3 !!

As usual, the best part of the day was meeting up with old friends, including an unofficial gathering of "the old guard", AMG members Graham C, Dave J, Charles C and Stuart I at lunch time.
Some great chat, and hopefully a meet up with Charles soon to discuss my forthcoming visit to western Germany and review his maps and itinerary. He has already advised me to skip Minden which was high up my visit list ! Meets like this make me realise how good the old AMG forum was, and how much we got from it. Thanks to John R for his efforts.
Graham C has given me some new masters to cast .... More later
All in all a great weekend.

NEW TECHNOLOGY

These could be fun !  I hope to try these resin prints in a mould for metal casts later today.
Scales 40mm and 50mm from top of mitre to feet. Graham C has also produced in 25mm, which just look wonderful !

A Colonel for Regiment Hildburghausen

IR8 Hildburghhausen is one of my favourite Austrian regiments. They were involved in many major actions during the Seven years war, and saw action at Lobositz in 1756, where they attempted to reoccupy Lobosch hill, and defended the town. They lost 16 officers and 250 men in the action.
Meet Kaspar Reinhard von Trais, Colonel of the regiment.  Pleased with the result, a Sash and Sabre 40mm conversion.

He will look splendid leading the full regiment when I have completed it.

Off to Falkirk today, for the show tomorrow. Looking forward to meeting some familiar faces and having a natter. No major purchases planned, but I am on the lookout for some more large trees and landscape features that will work for 40 mm.
Following the show, we are off for a couple of days to Fife, staying at Anstruther and St Andrews.
So probably no more posts until next week. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Time for some Austrian reinforcements

I managed to complete my Royal Ecosse regiment ahead of time. For some reason I find French regiments quicker to paint up. Maybe there is less equipment detail, or possibly they are just tidier sculpts.

Today I have been doing some work on Austrian IR8 Hildburghausen. As a general in the Reicharmee in 1757, he is a must make figure for me, so why not give him a regiment to lead.
David J had already painted up some master Austrian figures for me, which I have been trying to emulate, to the best of my ability. Four stands are painted up so far. The metal figures in the picture will complete another two stands, an NCO and a mounted colonel.I have added reigns and extended the horses mane, but still a bit to do.
This will probably be the final Austrian infantry regiment in my army. (I currently have 7 Austrian and 4 Hungarian regiments and a couple of Croat units). My Saxon and Reicharmee units can make up numbers for any bigger actions.  One more cuirassier, dragoon and hussar regiment will see the Austrians complete. They were the first 7YW army I started, so it will be nice to see them completed.

An Inspirational Military Gentleman, part 2

I do like minor conversions to break up the "number crunching" of painting regimental figures.
I came to the AMG party too late to get a certain fantastic 30mm sculpt from John Ray, but I have always admired that particular vignette, so I decided to attempt a 40mm conversion to go along with the "Suren style" figure that I converted last week. This will be a new addition to my French courtiers.

I must admit, that from certain angles, this vignette could represent the British officers in the river in that famous scene from Barry Lyndon, when Barry assumed their identity. (oops)

An inspirational Military Gentleman

Most people will know that my 40mm collection has been inspired by the wonderful armies of John Ray. When I purchased his book, A Military Gentleman, and the forum which followed it, my whole approach to wargaming/collecting changed. What had been a passing interest in the 18th century, inspired by "The Wargame" and other publications, and novels such as "Kidnapped" by RS Stevenson, became an all encompassing focus. My discipline to building armies improved, sticking to one period and one army rather than the "butterfly effect". The results were quick to see. Units were built quicker, and completed, and the standard of finish improved. This in no small part, was helped by master painter Dave Jarvis, who painted me samples of each regiment, which I could then reproduce to the best of my ability. I purchased flags in advance, from master flagsmith Mark Allan.
This allows me to have a stock of flags in advance and prevents me from diversifying too much or  from losing focus. Most of this advice came from the godfather of 18th century collecting, John.
So my next couple of posts pay homage to John, to his style of photography and to some of his sculpts which I have long admired. (Royalty cheque is in the post!)

The Royal Ecosse now have 5 bases completed, including a grenadier company. Very pleased with Mark's flags which have come out well. For the first time, I have placed the standard bearers at the rear of the base, which I think looks better, and I will continue to do this.
I will add another 2 bases of 4 figures, and a btn gun, with 2 figures, to bring the regiment up to 32 men. The regiment was only single btn, but I like the unit, so what the heck ! My target is to get this complete before Falkirk next Saturday, as I am sure that distractions will await, particularly on the Crann Tara stand !

The early morning mist and smoke of battle can clearly be seen in these shots !

I have always loved the long line shots in AMG

A front shot of Mark's wonderful flags in the morning mist

TORGAU PART 2

Prince Henry makes a triumphant entrance into Torgau, greeted by his jubilant officers.

His baggage train follows behind