Riesling Regiment
The first regiment of MittelWeinPfalz is almost complete. The regiments of WeinPfalz will of course be either red or white with perhaps a Rose Hussars regiment. As you can see they are Revell plastic 1/72 (Austrian SYW). I pondered for a while as to what figures to use for this project. There are some absolutely splendid figures available to the wargamer now, Front Rank, Foundry, Minden etc. However I have always had a fear of beautiful figures because I am a dreadful painter. I can be neat (given time) but I do feel that these figures deserve better and occasionally I have been fortunate to get a friend to paint some 28mms for me. The ease with which Jim produces little masterpieces makes me despair of my own skills even more.
Of course I couldn’t ask him to paint up a couple of dozen regiments fit for Charge! which would be about 1200 figures. I looked at professional painters and at around £8 to £10 per figure I thought I might have better things to do with twelve grand, if I had it, which I don’t.
I used to have a lot of Spencer Smith plastic and had some fun with them and I bought a few of the new metal figures from SSM. They were okay and not too expensive, about £30 for a regiment. Garrison and RSM looked pretty good too. Coincidentally however I came across a couple of really nice blogs that were creating armies using plastic 1/72 and on the same day I was in my local model shop when the discussion came round to my choice of figures; he showed me a box of Revell Austrian Infantry at £3.50 a box. He had six left. I could buy 6 boxes of 48 men for £21.00 – nearly 300 men. Of course I bought the lot. On further examination I discovered that almost all were useable and would give me enough figures for 5 regiments. That’s most of one army’s foot.
They were nice figures, you could see what they were meant to be but there wasn’t too much detail to get bogged down on. I wouldn’t get hung up if I didn’t paint in the grenadiers earrings. I planned to adopt the three feet rule, ie what do you see when they are the table and get the damned things done as quickly as spare time allowed. Now the first unit is almost done I am not unpleased with the result and the next unit can only get better. Once a couple of small armies have been knocked out in plastic I intend to start filling in with some metal. Not sure what yet – any suggestions?
And while I’m at it does anyone recognise the figure on the left of photo one. It’s a true 25mm and thinner than the usual. It says RN7 on the base and I would guess that it’s a French Revolutionary figure of the 1790’s (but could be 1780’s). The middle figure is a Garrison and I think the other if minifigs.
The first regiment of MittelWeinPfalz is almost complete. The regiments of WeinPfalz will of course be either red or white with perhaps a Rose Hussars regiment. As you can see they are Revell plastic 1/72 (Austrian SYW). I pondered for a while as to what figures to use for this project. There are some absolutely splendid figures available to the wargamer now, Front Rank, Foundry, Minden etc. However I have always had a fear of beautiful figures because I am a dreadful painter. I can be neat (given time) but I do feel that these figures deserve better and occasionally I have been fortunate to get a friend to paint some 28mms for me. The ease with which Jim produces little masterpieces makes me despair of my own skills even more.
Of course I couldn’t ask him to paint up a couple of dozen regiments fit for Charge! which would be about 1200 figures. I looked at professional painters and at around £8 to £10 per figure I thought I might have better things to do with twelve grand, if I had it, which I don’t.
I used to have a lot of Spencer Smith plastic and had some fun with them and I bought a few of the new metal figures from SSM. They were okay and not too expensive, about £30 for a regiment. Garrison and RSM looked pretty good too. Coincidentally however I came across a couple of really nice blogs that were creating armies using plastic 1/72 and on the same day I was in my local model shop when the discussion came round to my choice of figures; he showed me a box of Revell Austrian Infantry at £3.50 a box. He had six left. I could buy 6 boxes of 48 men for £21.00 – nearly 300 men. Of course I bought the lot. On further examination I discovered that almost all were useable and would give me enough figures for 5 regiments. That’s most of one army’s foot.
They were nice figures, you could see what they were meant to be but there wasn’t too much detail to get bogged down on. I wouldn’t get hung up if I didn’t paint in the grenadiers earrings. I planned to adopt the three feet rule, ie what do you see when they are the table and get the damned things done as quickly as spare time allowed. Now the first unit is almost done I am not unpleased with the result and the next unit can only get better. Once a couple of small armies have been knocked out in plastic I intend to start filling in with some metal. Not sure what yet – any suggestions?
And while I’m at it does anyone recognise the figure on the left of photo one. It’s a true 25mm and thinner than the usual. It says RN7 on the base and I would guess that it’s a French Revolutionary figure of the 1790’s (but could be 1780’s). The middle figure is a Garrison and I think the other if minifigs.
Don't sell yourself cheap: the Riesling Regiment looks good and is certainly perfect on a tabletop!
ReplyDeleteI did far worse when I was painting ("like a color-blind parkinsonian" commented then my delicious daughter) my own minis, two decades and more ago, yet seen en masse they satisfied my taste [and the unnaturally bright red nipples of my bare-breasted amazons distracted the attention from other details, or lack of :)!].
Looking forward to discover other units and your OOB, then actions!
I think that you've made a good choice . . . and I very much approve of the "three foot rule" and use it myself.
ReplyDelete-- Jeff
Oh you were lucky to find Revell figures - I have a few that turned up in a job lot of "pre-1900" plastics from Ebay. The Prussians that I got are a bit sad but those Austrians are rather good! I'm very much a 20/25mm gamer (being of the older persuation) and find 28mm+ just too large.
ReplyDeleteI think the one on the far left is a Dixon figure. (Does Dixon do a French Revolution Range?) If it isn't, then by chance it looks alot like the Dixon SYW Prussian musketeeer at attention for the pose and the cut of the vest and how the equipment hangs. (Not that it *is* the Dixon Prussian figure, mind you, just that it looks alot like it so I'm assuming the maker is Dixon.)
ReplyDeleteThe other two, especially the far right musketeer, look really familiar too. I'll have to look around my misc. box.
I think the right-hand one is Front Rank:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.frontrank.com/big_pictures.asp?prod=813&pn=1
And the leftie might be someone's American Revolution French line infantry.
Well, about 35 years ago, my first figure were Aixfix Napoleonic. Great figures, but the range was very small. Today there is no shortage of figures. I always regretted that no one turned the soft plastic molds into hard plastic and expanded the ranges. I have always thought that 1/72nd figures are really better than 15mm or 28mm. Although I have large collections of figure from a wide range of manufacturers, I really like Mindens. Do not despair, you painting will improve with each unit and the 3 foot rule really is a good rule.
ReplyDeleteThe lefthand figure is from the Wargames Foundry French Revolution range
ReplyDeletehttp://wargamesfoundry.com/historical_ranges/collections/napoleonic/french/french_revolution_liberty_equality_fraternity_collection_bcmob001/
The middle one is Garrison Prussian Fusilier, I'm pretty sure. The righthand figure is a Front Rank Prussian.
John (Rohde)