Brisbane Napoleonic modelling: December 2022

Friday 30 December 2022

25 January 2023

I have finally finished the figure. I do my painting in the garage and this time of year it is HOT and humid. I have an overhead fan but the sweat still runs into my eyes while I am concentrating, not good while doing fine detail. I thought I would mention this for my northern hemisphere modellers who are struggling with the cold. At least I can jump in the pool when I get overheated 🥵

How the grenadiers managed to cope with a bearskin in battle amazes me.

Three headgear options, bearskin, bicorne and field cap

30 December 2022

Next Project

Is a 75mm Hinchliffe French line grenadier 1807 (thanks to Tradition of London/Sweden for continuing to stock these figures). It will be a nice break from wargame sized figures.

Thursday 29 December 2022

29 December 2022

Airfix figures

Nearly another year gone, doesn't time speed up as you age? I went on a trip down memory lane, mostly because I found the Airfix figures in the bottom of a box. I am sure that most people who wargame of my generation started out with Airfix figures. They were cheap, adaptable and could hold Humbrol enamels to a certain degree. In fact the soft plastic was awful but I digress. I gave myself a challenge to paint what I had found with Vallejo Acrylics and see how I went. I have to be extra careful handling the figures even with a coat of 'Dullcote' lacquer as the paint easily comes off.

British Royal horse artillery in movement

Royal Horse Artillery in position

French line infantry

Tuesday 27 December 2022

12 August

Perry's plastics

Well, I am breaking with years of tradition and have been drawn to the 'dark side'. I love the Perry brothers metal figures so I have been tempted to try my hand at their hard plastic range. I have not decided on how I shall paint them but they won't be French. I guess it will be Swiss or Italian, I can't make my mind up but there is no rush.

13 September 2020

FINALLY finished the assembly and priming of the figures and what a rigmarole it is. I understand why people prefer plastics, the ability to pose the figures as you want etc but is it worth the hours of trimming, filing, finding parts (dropping them and struggling to find them again) and then using filler for the joints that don't quite fit? Not for me but I am glad I have experienced the process, now comes the hard bit, the painting!

I must congratulate the Perry brothers for the excellent molds and options provided in the box, I now have a box of plastic 'spare parts' from the sprues. If I wasn't so used to metals and had better eyesight then maybe I would fully embrace plastics.

10 October

Finished my first two Perry's Swiss grenadiers, after doing the initial painting on the whole box, I have decided to do the figures two at a time so as to ease pressure to complete one painting job through all the figures. So I will do two at a time and accept that theses figures won't be completed this year! I settled on the Swiss for no other reason than whim.

31 October

Due to other commitments, I have not had the time to concentrate on the figures. Plus, I paint in my garage (sadly not air-conditioned) so it is so hot to pain this time of year in Brisbane. Also the paint dries so quickly even with a wet palette. I have also purchased these figures: https://www.perry-miniatures.com/product/fn4-mounted-infantry-colonels/ to add a mounted colonel to the regiment. I will admit to getting impatient to see the finished regiment on the table. I am sure all painters have the conundrum between the sense of achievement of a finished figure that they are happy with and the desire to see them all finished.

27 December

Well it has taken ages but the Swiss 1st Regiment is completed. I have added a couple of metal figures into the mix along with a 'general' which is actually a Perry's metal French cavalry marshal figure but I try not to be too dogmatic over historical details.