Austrians!

[jdp]

So here is my zimmerman to go with IR13. All the English speakers in the audience will know this guy as a sapper or an engineer. He has his trusty axe on his shoulder and the leather apron that all the sappers seemed to wear in the Napoleonic wars. In Lasalle he is used to represent engineering activity going on.



Two things completed in one week, a record! I received a large number of Litko bases today and slapped my unit of hussars down while I watched Return of the Jedi with my son. Hopefully weather will be nice and I can prime them this week. My unit of Jaegers is basecaoted, next up wash and highlights. Probably pics of that next week.

[emperorpenguin]

They're looking really good jdp

White is really difficult to do well, but you managed it. I wish Victrix would get a move on with their plastic austrians!

[jdp]

They're looking really good jdp

White is really difficult to do well, but you managed it. I wish Victrix would get a move on with their plastic austrians!

Thanks! I was a little worried about all the white, but with the dip it isn't too bad so far!
I am with you on the plastic Austrians. I have been chomping at the bit since they were anounced last year! Hopefully we will see some test shots at Salute this(sic next) weekend. Then end of May if they keep their timetable.

[DeadInTheHead]

Hi jdp, love the look of your Austrians. It's great to see another Napoleonics painter on the forum.

I really need to pull my finger out and start painting my French...

[sigur]

I like those very much, especially the banner.

The Zimmermann is a very cool little detail. The only criticism I can think of is the way the static grass is applied looks a little bit off because it's concentrated in the middle of all the bases and there's none on the outsides of the bases. Not a thing you'd really notice but after the third look or so, I started to notice. Maybe applying the grass right to the borders and leaving out a few spots more in the middle would make the bases look more natural. By the way, love those little patches of flowers. did you buy them like that?

[jdp]

@DeadInTheHead: Thanks! I think there are a decent amount of us Napoleomnic types on the 'seer, it's just not the first place a lot of us think to post these guys. Hopefully we can change that and ramp up the historical forums some!

@Sigur: Thank you, I nabbed the banner from warflag.com in the napflag section. Its paper wrapped around a core of aluminum foil for strength. I know what you mean with the grass, I had a little trouble applying it to bases this size with so many men on them. I'm shooting for more the effect you mentioned on my next unit. the flowers are from Silflor. They are similar to their tufts of grass with thick paint on the end for the flowers. I think it lends an extra something to the guys. Pre-herbicide Europe was well known for its fields of wildflowers. A nice change from the dingy grey of 40k!

[jdp]

So I have almost completed two gun crews, two six pounders and one howitzer. Need to hit a little detail but these are fieldable.
Another guncrew will follow to give me a full battery.









C&C is always welcome guys!

[sigur]

Thanks for the info on the basing. Where have all the flowers gone indeed. ( )

Ad artillery: Sweet. The artillery looks very nice. I know next to nothing about napoelonic era formations but the distribution of work in these units looks a bit like the loader (designated by blue details) has to do all the work while four more guys stand around, chat and tell the blue guy how it's done right.

Maybe it's just the angle or something but somehow the calibre of the guns looks way bigger in pictures #1 and #3 than in the other pictures. Do you have different artillery pieces for switching or are they all the same and my eyes just play tricks on me?

Anyway, always nice to see updates. Keep it up!

[jdp]

@Sigur:Thanks! 1 and 3 are a howitzer while the others are six pound cannon.
I am leaving the artillery loose at the moment because depending on what units the guns are supporting different weight cannon can be fielded from light 2 pound guns up to the big twelve pounders. There is usually a howitzer thrown in on the battery as well, but not always.
I am working on a unit of Uhlans and a unit of Jaegers currently, but my new job has radically decreased my painting time. I used to come home and paint at lunch, but no more unfortunately.

[Meraklis]

they are looking really really nice! how big are you planning to make your collection? The good thing is that Victrix and Perry have announce plastic Austrians. The problem is when will they release them!

Looking forward to seeing your Uhlans and Jaegers!

[jdp]

Howdy folks! It's a new year and thus time for resolutions. I hereby vow to work on my Napoleonics and polish off my Avante Garde division this year! To that end my loving wife and children gave me two boxes of Victrix Austrian Grenadiers for Christmas last year. I have finished building two 24 man battalions and am in the middle of basing them to begin painting shortly. The downside is I realize I blundered last year when I purchased all of my Sash and Sabre figures. tey are very much true 25mm figs. I am sure they match well with Foundry's old Austrians but scale creep means that my new plastics are a full head taller than them. I can accept variations in size from unit to unit but these guys look like sixth graders next to my grenadiers. So It looks like I will be rebuying the infantry for this force from Victrix and Perry. I'll stick with Front Rank for my Cavalry at the moment because I have quite a bit and it looks fine next to the plastics I have at the moment. So there is your text update hopefully pictures will follow, I have a tentative game scheduled for summer this year so I have about 6-7 months to get the lion's share of this done. We shall see how things turn out!

[kublai]

Im always delighted to see napoleonic on here !

Where do you get your bases from ?

[jdp]

Im always delighted to see napoleonic on here !

Where do you get your bases from ?

I am using a mix of Gale force Nine and Litko bases that I have picked up at conventions and custom ordered. GF9s convention deal where you fill up a pint or quart container with any hardboard bases you can fit in the container is a great deal that I highly recomend to anyone.

[jdp]

So here is my first stand of skirmishers. These are the Victrix plastix and I assembled these two from the leftovers of my Grenadiers that I built. They assemble nicely and have great detail. They also paint up nicely and will look good on the tabletop IMO. The problem is their size look at them compared to my Sash and Sabre stand and you'll see what I mean. Both of these companies advertise their figs as 28s but they have radically different ideas of what this scale should be!





So there you go sports fans the first pics of the new year! Was it worth the wait? Probably not, but I am back and painting on my boys in white with my first unit of grenadiers under the brush PIP pics for them coming soon!

[jdp]

So this is my first unit of grenadiers, they are from IR13 just like my other unit I have posted. Austrian Grenadiers were fielded in detached units from their parents and folded together to make independent batalions. Typically their would be two different regiments worth of grenadiers folded together to make this unit but for esthetics I am keeping one facing color per unit.
Here is the start of the basecoating.



I'll be taking pics of this unit step by step so stay tuned for updates!

[emperorpenguin]

The problem is their size look at them compared to my Sash and Sabre stand and you'll see what I mean. Both of these companies advertise their figs as 28s but they have radically different ideas of what this scale should be!!

They look great.

I take it the smaller guys on the right are Sash & sabre? I have the same problem with my ACW figures, Perry minis look like that next to my Redoubt and Renegade figs

[jdp]

They look great.

I take it the smaller guys on the right are Sash & sabre? I have the same problem with my ACW figures, Perry minis look like that next to my Redoubt and Renegade figs

@EP: Thanks, and exactly right. I really like Sash and Sabre but they look like an army of twelve year olds next to Perry Victrix and Front Rank. A small difference would be one thing but it's a stretch putting these guys out on the same table.

[tundra]

I'll be taking pics of this unit step by step so stay tuned for updates!

That's a greadt idea!
Do you use inks or dipping?

[Easy E]

Wow. Thanks for the scale shot. The difference is amazing.

[jdp]

@Tundra: The first unit and the cannon were all dipped using Army Painter strong tone. I did not enjoy the results and am now using GW washes on the rest of the army. The stand of skirmishers were based then washed with a 2-1 mix of devlan mud and badab black, I was much happier with the results. Almost done with the grenadiers I got distracted with some other stuff but they should be ready for the wash soon.

@Easy E: Happy to share things like that! I love both lines of figs but Sash and Sabre just doesn't measure up against the new figs height wise. From what I understand the Foundry Austrians are pretty short and they would probably blend ok there but I am not positive on that.

I just finished two stands of Front Rank Grenz skirmishing. I plan on taking some pics this weekend...