The latest batch on the work / painting table is a unit's worth of 20mm Hinton Hunt (HH, but most are probably copies) Napoleonic French infantry in greatcoats, all recently emerged from the bleach bath to remove their old paint jobs.
There's enough here for a 24-man unit (battalion) and a 6-figure skirmish unit, and rising above it all (on a cocktail stick up his fundament) is an HH personality figure of Dorsenne.
There's a fair bit of figure bashing happening. The advancing figures used for the battalion (FN12) are all grenadiers. This means all the figures in the fusilier companies need their epaulettes, sabre-briquets, and the shoulder-belt it is suspended from, removed. All the figures are also getting their shakos changed to covered shakos courtesy of some thick coats of white paint.
The biggest job was to create an officer standard bearer from a firing figure, the arms requiring a lot of repositioning. There's still more work to do on these can be seen below, but this is a WiP.
This figure still needs the shoulder belt for the 'holster' for the flag pole, an eagle for the standard (to be taken from another figure) and a head swap for one more appropriate for an officer.
The drummer's greatcoat will also get more folds sculpted into it to look more like the HH figures in the rest of the unit.
Then it will be on to painting them, I want to paint the skirmish unit to look like this, for me iconic, illustration ...
For the larger unit (battalion) I shall base them on this illustration except with a grey shako cover to tie them in with the skirmish unit.



That’s a great idea putting the HH head on a Newline drummer. I’m looking forward to seeing how this unit progresses!
ReplyDeleteThanks, using my trusty Dremel to make the Newline more slimline has also made him a better match for the 'HH' figs.
DeleteCan't wait to see these! Looking forward to the occasional painting update along the way too.
ReplyDeleteKind Regards,
Stokes (Michigan, USA)
Thanks, but be careful what you wish for - you may get more than you want.
DeleteSplendid work Rob…
ReplyDeleteI like the painted on shako covers…
All the best. Aly
It's the cheats' way of doing it, but when you've got a pot of white going to sludge it sort of makes sense.
DeleteThat's a terrific amount of work you've given yourself. I hope a successful completion will maintain your enthusiasm for this project. The addition of inspiration illustration is a nice touch to the post.
ReplyDeleteStephen
I'm pretty sure I will slog through to the end, but then I'll do something for one of my other projects - variety keeps it fresh.
DeleteA fair bit or work to clean and convert these figures. Bet you cannot wait until they are ready for painting.
ReplyDeleteGot there in the end but the painting's been put on hold while a friend pops over to play test some Nap rules and of course a pub session.
DeleteAnother labour of love I see. I have no doubt they will be worth it in the end. I didn't even realize Marcus sculpted French in greatcoats. That should be a nice and somewhat unusual battalion.
ReplyDeleteYep, he did. But for some reason only elite companies ...
Deletego figure ...
A very interesting project to follow Rob. Clayton produced a line fusilier in great coat firing (FN13) but I think they just filed off the epaulettes, as remnants were still visible when I painted mine.
ReplyDeleteI expect remnants will still be visible on mine if you look hard enough.
DeleteLamming also did some greatcoated French infantry, but these were also only elite figures. I guess they thought people would simply convert them, but what chore! Turning that firing figure into an eagle bearer, however, is a step beyond what I would ever have have attempted. I'm very keen to see what you do with these.
ReplyDeleteThey've been on hold a bit lately with a spurt of gaming (incl. some more NTNWR) and prep for the games, but should get back to them this week.
Delete