French Artillery Limber

Hello everyone!

Tonight I finished up the limber for my Artillierie a Pied battery (remember to click on the pictures for bigger versions).

The gun, limber, horses and outrider are all from the Italeri #6018 French Line/Guard Artillery and are thus 1/72 scale. This is a lot bigger than the figures that make up the rest of the battery (save for the commander), but it's the only French artillery limber that I have. Unfortunately, that Italeri set is of Horse Artillery (Artillerie a Cheval) not Foot Artillery, so the limber is not really correct for this battery; in fact, from my research the limber shown wasn't even used by the Horse Artillery all that much. But it was what I had and that's that.

The equipment is standard olive green with black hardware, and the horses are harnessed just like the baggage wagon I painted earlier. The outrider is wearing the uniform of the Train d'Artillerie--slate gray jacket and trousers faced in dark blue, with silver buttons and white cross belts. Since these Italeri figures are supposed to be Imperial Guard, the driver has epauelettes, tall shako plume and cord, which I've painted red like the uniform of the Guard, even though this is a line battery. A bit of artistic liscense on my part. Please forgive me, button-counters. :)

Coming Soon: Well, this was the biggest thing for my French battery, and now that it's knocked out it won't take me long to finish the other two guns and see this unit completed. I'll finish up the guns tonight and see if I can knock the crews out tomorrow after church.

Also, I did a little ebay cruising yesterday and found a mixed lot of painted and unpainted 15mm figures that I bought for cheap and I'll review when they arrive. I've also got a bid on a lot of 15mm Gribeauval cannons that will end tomorrow, and hopefully I can snag those as well. I'm cannon poor, and this is enough for another full battery.

Questions, comments and criticisms are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

-Chuck

Artillerie a Pied 12 Pounder

Hello everyone!

Well, I got a gun done today after all. Here is a French 12 pounder gun of the Artillerie a Pied.

(Remember to click on the pictuers for bigger versions.)

These are the same Heritage 15mm miniatures that I used in the howitzer I painted 2+ years ago. The gun is a slightly modified Russian gun from the Hat #8010 Napoleonic Russian Artillery set; namely, the gun's long trail was cut short to match the overall length of the AB gun carriages that make up the rest of the battery. (When I put together my Spanish artillery limber, I used a "spare" AB French gun and carriage; unfortunately for me, that gun should have been saved for this French battery. Oh well. Live and learn.) The "coffer" (the small box that holds ready ammunition and sits between the cheeks of the gun's trail) comes from the Italeri #6018 French Line/Guard Artillery, the same set that this battery's limber is from. The gun and coffer sort of dwarf the already-tiny Heritage minis, but I had to work with what I have to hand. So all in all this stand is a bit of a hodge-podge; the other two guns will return to being AB guns crewed by Heritage crew.

Painting is in conformation to Napoleon's regulations: olive green carriage and coffer, with black hardware and brass tube. The gunner's uniforms are regulation as well: dark blue trousers and jackets piped red, with red turnbacks, epaulettes, cuffs and shako plumes. Buttons and shako plates are brass, and leather is whitened.

Coming soon: More French artillery.

Questions, comments and criticisms are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

-Chuck

French Foot Artillery Battery Commander

Hello everyone!

A bit of a cheat today, but a completed stand is a completed stand. Here is a French Capitan d'Artillerie a Pied (Remember to click on the pictures for bigger versions).

This is a 1/72 officer taken from the ever-useful Italeri #6016 French Imperial General Staff. This is the standing aide-de-camp figure third from the left in the first row, with a few minor modifications, notably the removal of spurs, boot tassels and aide-de-camp armband. He is glued to a standard 3cm x 3cm base that I use for battery commanders. Even though the crews for all of the guns are 15mm figures (and short ones at that, being old Heritage minis), this 1/72 figure got shanghai-ed because I don't have any 15mm officers to spare, as well as the fact that I needed to bridge the gap between the short gun crews and guns and the massive 1/72 limber that represents them. When the whole unit is done, there'll be a weird mix of scales going on.

As the commander of a Foot Artillery battery, this captain is not mounted. Foot Artillery officers were expected to march with their men alongside their guns; only artillery officers over the age of 50 were entitled to horses. So no need for spurs!

The captain is wearing the standard uniform of the Artillerie a Pied, dark blue trousers and jacket, piped in red, with red cuffs and gold buttons. As an officer he has a sword, telescope and is holding orders in his hand, and he wears tall boots and gold accents on his shako.

Print of a Artillerie a Pied officer that inspired my battery commander.

I also painted on a tiny Légion d'honneur on his chest, making him a seasoned and highly decorated officer. An old artilleryman himself, Napoleon was fond of his gunners, and revolutionized the use of artillery on the battlefield in the course of the Napoleonic wars.

Légion d'honneur

Coming soon: More French Foot Artillery. I may be able to get a gun and crew painted up today, but I may not. I'll try though.

Questions, comments and criticisms are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

-Chuck

19e Regiment d'Infanterie de Ligne

Hello everyone!

Well, I can't say that being unemployed doesn't have its perks. Sitting around the house with nothing to do as you wait for prospective employers to call you back gives you quite a bit of time to do other things... namely, paint! Today I was able to pull my thumb out and finish up the last three stands for a unit that has long been languishing away half done. Here in their completely-painted, white-uniformed French magesty is the 19e Regiment d'Infanterie de Ligne.

(Remember to click on the pictures for bigger versions.)

First up, the three stands I finished today. From l to r: Grenadier Company, Fusilier Company, Fusilier Company. 

The whole of the 19e, drawn up into line.

The 19e in march attack column.

The 19e in square. The kneeling front rank really sells the "in square" look.

 

The 19e in column of march.

As I explained when I first started painting the 19e a long time ago (has it really been over a year? Wow... time sure flies), these figures are a mix of old Heritage 15mm French (the standing figures) and RISK game pieces (the kneeling figures). They are all painted to represent the quickly-discontinued white uniforms that Napoleon re-introduced to the French Army in 1806. The 19e had red cuffs, facings, collars and turnbacks. They also got an 1804 pattern Eagle; a bit more on that here.

So, that's one more French unit done! Enough for a small brigade now; I'm hoping that with a little elbow grease I'll be able to play a game utilizing nothing but my own figures within the next month or so. That's probably wishful thinking, but I can dream, can't I?

Coming soon: Not the 3e Hussars (damn them!) nor Sergeant Masterson. Tonight I went through my lead pile and pulled out the all the figures I needed to finish up my battery of French Foot Artillery, including guns, battery captain and limber. I've already stuck them to their painting bases, so I'll prime them up tonight and get started on them soon.

As always, questions, comments and criticisms are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

-Chuck

French Baggage Wagon

Hello everyone!

I finished up the French baggage wagon that I started working on a couple of months ago. Since I discussed the origins of the figures themselves in that post, I'll focus on the painting here.

(Remember to click on the pictures for bigger versions.)

Like other French equipment, the wagon itself is painted green, with black fittings. I made a mistake when painting the fittings, but as Bob Ross says we don't make mistakes, we make happy accidents: I grabbed my gloss black instead of my matte black, which is especially apparent on the hubcaps in the above pictures. I didn't realize this until I had already painted everything (I thought that the paint was still wet and shining), and since I'm loathe to go back over everything and repaint it I justified the mistake by calling it gloss painted iron, something that I've seen on actual wagon fittings. That's my story anyway, and I'm sticking to it. The cover is painted to look like canvas, and the brigade designation painted on was inspired by a contemporary drawing over a French baggage wagon that I had saved on my computer but is now, alas, lost due to cyber-criminals. At the back of the wagon, riding on the stowed ladder, is a bundle of fodder for the horses made from some Woodland Scenics grass that I had laying around, tacked in place with super glue.

On the wagon seat sits a female camp follower; I described how I converted her in my earlier post. She has a blue skirt, beige apron, buckled shoes, and I attempted to make it look like she is wearing her man's white fatigue blouse, with its' red collars turned down. I think the effect worked okay. The way her hand was positioned sort of looked like she was holding a tobacco pipe in her hand, so I painted her to look like she was. I'm pretty sure that this is the first female figure I've ever painted.

Up front, the horses are painted my standard horse-colors. The tack is black leather with silver hardware, the horse collars are the same green as the wagon, and the rear leads are supposed to look like rope. The front leads attached to the wagon tounge are painted to look like chains, though I'm not entirely satisfied with the effect.

 

The above print is of the uniforms of the French Train des Equipages, or the Baggage Train. It basically consists of a slate grey (a blueish-grey which I've also heard called "cadet gray") tunic faced and piped in brown, with silver buttons, and slate grey trousers. The uniform is very similar to the uniforms of the Artillery Train, the only real difference being the facing colors, dark blue instead of brown. I've tried to replicate that uniform with the outrider, and I think it worked overall.

 

Coming soon: My Sergeant Masterson mini-project. Since it's only one big figure it shouldn't take too long to make some progress.

 

Questions, comments and criticims are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

 

-Chuck

New Year's Give Away at Napoleonics In Miniature

Hello all,

A quick plug for Paul over at Napoleonics In Miniature, who is going to be giving away some of his lead mountain to a few lucky winners on January 2nd, 2015! Paul does lovely work in 15/18mm and is clearing out some minis that he will probably never paint. The intention, of course, is to get those figs to people who can use them. Most generous, sir!

Pop on over to Paul's Blog, NAPOLEONICS IN MINIATURE, for more details and how to enter.

-Chuck

We Are Experiencing Technical Difficulties

Hello everyone!

I want to apologize for not getting more done on my blog, and it's not for want of more hobby time. Unfortunately, my computer was hacked a couple of weeks ago, deleting all of my photographs of my completed minis as well as my really big file of reference pictures that I've been collecting for literally years. They got all of my computer documents and my music collection too. Since I like to listen to music while I paint, this has really put a damper on things. Then the criminals have the audacity to demand ransom on my files! HA! They sure picked a good victim: an unemployed college grad. I don't have any money to spare, and even if I did it'll be a cold day in He... but I digress.

The good news is that it hasn't got me completely down. I'm slowly finishing the French baggage waggon and my home sculpt of Sergeant Masterston is staring at me expectantly from my workbench. So I should be able to finish up a few things in the near future, especially with Thanksgiving at the end of the week.

Thanks for sticking with me and again I'm sorry for not getting more done. Blame the cyber-criminals.

-Chuck