Despite the turmoil associated with the new recruit, I've managed to get another base finished for my first unit of Lasalle Penninsular French.
They've still got their shine on from their topcoat, and I'm leery of dulling them down unitl I get my hands on some brush-on matt. The spray stuff I've been using is dusting like mad, and I'm not going to bugger these up. Might have to wait a bit on that however, as I suspect it'll be a few weeks before I can get down to the game shop.
I'm re-encountering the cardinal rule of mass armies in larger scales, i.e., they take time. I'm not as happy with this base as I was with the first, I think because I rushed them a little bit to get them finished. There's always a push for me to get things on the table, that sometimes leads to cutting corners in painting. Not sure why, as I won't be able to play with these until I get both a French AND English force finished. Must remember to slow down. Here's the new guys ranked up with the first base:
The flag should really have lettering on it. I didn't attempt it as I figured it would be a guaranteed way to muck things up - I'd take a stab at lettering on a smooth surface, but making it look like more than splodges on a folded fabric like that is, I think, beyond me. It looks, however, like there's a bit of texture in the sculpt that I missed with eyeballs, but shows up in photos. Maybe I'll get brave and try to pick it out later.
Waiting in the wings are these guys:
Theyr'e French Hussars from the Italeri 6008 / Revel 2586 pack. These really are lovely sculpts, with some delicate detailing. The plan is to do a peninsular army with light cavalry suppport. That translates to 6 infantry units, 5 cavalry (2 Hussar, 2 Chasseur, 1 Dragoon), an extra 2 units of foot if attacking, plus one unit of foot artillery, and one unit of horse guns. Each unit has four bases, so that works out to a total of 254 infantry, 60 cavalry, and 8 guns with crew. Just for the French. This is going to be a larger project than I first envisioned. Must remember to slow down and enjoy the process.
In a final note, just to complicate things, look what arrived in the mail the other day:
Those look great! I also seem to be having a slight problem with dusting of late.
ReplyDeleteChristopher
Lovely work! This infantry set was my first wargaming unit, too. I have only one brigade of these as I have since concentrated on the 1807-1812 uniform produced by HaT in the line and light styles. I am also painting another unit of Italeri hussars in the colours of the 2nd. Which hussar regt.s will you be painting?
ReplyDeleteI had a couple of dragoon figures that looked like they were on the retreat from Moscow the powdering of the matt spray was so bad! GRRR! I feel your pain!
Great work FMB! Note the Horse Guns may only be 3-bases depending on period (but I'm sure you have covered that). I assume the flags are moulded plastic part of the figures? Otherwise you might like to check the "Rick The Flag Dude's" website (see http://wp.me/p1tQoa-1G)...
ReplyDeleteRegarding the dusting 'issue' with spray varnish - it's usually caused by the temperature (too hot or cold) at the time you sprayed. Check my http://wargaming.info blog for a link to an article on rectifying it with vegetable/olive oil if you haven't seen it already...?
@ Chris, Rosbif, and Mycenius: Thanks!
ReplyDelete@ Rosbif: I'm thinking about doing the Hussars as the 10th, though I'll like do the second unit as the 2nd.
@ Mycenius: Oddly enough, I did come across your article, and have been on the lookout for the spray oil you mention.
Marvellous looking fellows. I can only imagine the amount of work you put into these.
ReplyDelete