Figure Mods - a WiP Update

The last post which outlined some ambitious figure conversions to make a round-hatted unit of 20mil Napoleonic Spanish Fusiliers seemed to spark some interest.  So, while progress is slow, I thought I'd post an update, mainly to try and keep my conversion mojo ticking along.

First, the test figure, which has now been blocked in with the intended paint scheme.

Getting some paint on him has shown I need to be a little less generous with the 5SecondFix for the trousers and do a better job smoothing them off.  Also, I think a quick bit of greenstuff around the neck to make a more prominent collar will help.  That said, I'm pleased with the colours, the first blue (Humbrol 89) was too light so I gave it a wash of thinned down mid-blue (Humbrol 25) and got exactly the colour I was looking for to match based on an illustration in an Osprey[1].  I will probably highlight with the original light blue colour but I need to attend to the black lining first.

The rest of the figures, head donors and recipients, have all now been through the bleach-bath and had their paint cleaned off and the British revolutionary grenadiers (BRGs for short) have been cleaned up and had their 'wings' removed.  

Today has focussed on the command figures; officer, ensign and drummer.  These are all being worked up from HH (recasts?) BRG command figures.  

First the drummer.  I have no BRG drummer, so have used a sergeant figure and removed his head and arms, the latter in order to fit the arms and drum from a Napoleonic British fusilier drummer - see below.

You will notice his loins have been hollowed out to fit the drum which will be glued in once the greenstuff repairs to the drum and shoulder strap added to the figure (no photo) have cured.  The arms will them be soldered in place at the shoulders for a strong joint, he will also a round-hatted head like the rank and file.

The officers are BRG officer figures, one waving his sword being converted to a standard bearer and the other will be marching as is with his sword at the shoulder, as shown below.

The ensign has had a blob of solder added that will be filed down to create the 'bucket' that the flagstaff is placed in; the shoulder belt from which it is suspended will be added with greenstuff.

As officers I don't want these figures in round hats, so I took one of the spare BRG heads and cut the bearskin down before adding a cocked hat from solder - shown between the two figures in the photo above.  This took several attempts before I could get the solder blob to vaguely resemble the over-sized cocked hats favoured by the Spanish.  This was then followed by lots, and lots, of careful filing, a real chore but the end result is worth it (IMO).  I intend using this head for the commanding officer but haven't yet decided what to do for the ensign ...

... watch this space.

Notes:

[1.]  Man at Arms 332, Spanish Army of the Napoleonic Wars Part 2 1808-1812, Plate G1.  I would put in a picture but again I'm not about the copyright position for doing this. 

Figure Mods - Work in Progress

Having got seduced into the niche that is vintage 20mil Napoleonic's, I compounded my foolishness by opting to focus on the Peninsular War and in particular the Spanish Army.  The Spanish were never a popular choice so few come up on eBay and the choice is limited as back then figure companies didn't make many as the demand wasn't there.  

So, typically I have to modify figures, especially for some of the mid-period new, and volunteer, units in their round hats like that in the photo below - an Austrian fusilier in shako filed to look like a round hat.

Wanting another unit in round hat I started on some more Austrians, but having cherry-picked the best for the above unit the remaining figures were in very poor order and kept breaking.  After drilling into my thumb while trying to mend the latest breakage, I decided I needed to try something else.

Rummaging through my lead pile I decided it was time to make use of some figures actually wearing round hats; an eBay purchase of thirty figures, three of which are shown below.

These figures are almost certainly the same castings as those featured on the 'Hinton Hunter' blog site, which includes a suggestion about their about their origin - see composite screen-shot from the, now defunct, blog below.  Whatever these figures are, if anyone out there has more they are willing to part with do please get in touch.

As I didn't want the unit to be at the attack march, I decided I would swap the heads from these onto some DK(?) British Grenadiers in bearskin from the French Revolutionary period.  These figures are also a good choice for Spanish as they have a simple blanket roll and no back-pack; Spanish troops are rarely shown with back-packs as worn by most other armies.  Anyway, they were consigned to the bleach-bath to remove their paint-jobs and came out after just one night looking pretty clean after a quick scrub with an old toothbrush.

Not wanting to overcommit, I put just one of the round-hatted figures through the bleach-bath.  While he emerged from his bath with his paint job looking untouched, it peeled off with little effort and the stripped figure can be seen below posed next to the grenadier selected for a trial head-swap.

The next photo shows the grenadier after the head-swap and with his 'wings' filed off his shoulders and some 5secondFIX on his legs to make them resemble trousers rather than breeches and gaiters.  The head is secured by a length of steel rod inserted into holes drilled into the head and torso.  BTW don't feel sorry for the headless figure as he is being kept for another unit I have planned.

And, with a quick white undercoat to give a better idea of what I have to work with when it comes to the paint job.

Next time I should have the sample figure painted and progressed on modifying the rest of the figures for the unit.  Not sure if this is too much detail or whether more like this is of interest - if you have a preference do let me know in the comments.

A Cornucopia of Away Games and Mistakes

The cabin and painting desk have been deserted lately as I went to my friend Martin's place for a couple of day's gaming.  Well, perhaps 'mainly gaming' is a better description, as on the Tuesday evening we just went down the pub for a few pints of Harvey's Sussex Best.  Much like most of the later games I was too absorbed to take photos so this stock photo from the Interweb will have to suffice.

The following morning, when we got our act together, we had a game of 'Mortem et Gloriam', aka MeG, not something I had played before but I was keen to try it and Martin had played it several times as it's a popular rule-set at his local club and he wanted to get some more practise.

The game pitched my Normans as Sicilian Normans, with additional 'Sicilian' types being provided by Martin ... 

... against his Nikephorian Byzantines.

With a newbie (me), guided by an inexperienced player, unfamiliarity with rules saw this game run through to the early afternoon when, as the inevitability of a Norman win became apparent, we called the game.  The rules worked well in terms of outcomes and command structure, with commanders forced to prioritise their actions, but I didn't feel they offered anything new compared to existing rule-sets.  In particular I felt the focus on the files within units felt like a half-way house that was neither unit nor element focused and the separate charge and mêlée phases seemed to slow the game down.  However, these are just first impressions and I need to try them again sometime as I've often disliked rule-sets on first encountering them only to appreciate their virtues with more games.

The next game was a Thirty Years War clash using the 'Liber Militum Tercios' Rules, our favourite for this particular conflict.

These rules use order cards that are placed face down next to each unit with players alternately activating units to perform the order given them.

Looking to play something a little different we opted for an entirely mounted French force seeking to destroy a Spanish infantry force (plus one unit of horse); all troops being provided by Martin.

This proved a really interesting tactical conundrum with the more agile French horse looking for an opening that wouldn't involve frontally charging pike and the Spanish trying to deny them that opportunity.  In the end the French managed to charge a couple of the Spanish tercios in the flank (sorry, this is the only photo I have) ...

... but in both cases the Spanish, while taking many hits just survived being broken and with some French units refusing to charge managed to rally.  The French losses from these combats and Spanish musketry and cannon fire eventually saw several units break and the French conceded the field.  While a fun game with rules we've often played, we still made a number of mistakes that probably drove the outcome.  We also discovered we had always interpreted one rule incorrectly, luckily that error had no real impact on the game.  

So, onto a third game in the evening using Maurice; no picture of the rules so another image grabbed from the ubiquitous web-thingy.

This game used my 1745 armies (15mm Essex Miniatures) and some modifications to the rules to try and bring out a bit more conflict specific flavour.

No rule cock-ups this time, but I still haven't quite got the balance right between the two armies, and the Highlanders rolled over the Hanoverians without loss!

The following morning, we set up a DBM fight between the Rus (me) and the Bulgars (Martin), albeit the armies had to take some liberties with the Army Lists as we didn't have everything needed.

This game, like the earlier Tercios game, saw the Rus desperately trying to stop the Bulgar cavalry getting round their flanks, as they were fairly impervious to cavalry charging them frontally.  The Rus axemen ('Blades' in DBM-speak) were the least effective against cavalry so were held back as a reserve to plug any gaps that appeared as in the photo below - and contributed to the Rus' success in defeating the Bulgars.

The figures in this game were all Martin's beautifully painted 15mm Minifigs, so nice in fact that for once I took some decent photos, this time of his Byzantine Varangians being used to represent Rus Axemen.

Again we made a mistake!  This time over the PIP cost of moving irregulars but luckily corrected in Turn 2, so it had minimal impact on the game.  When this game ended it was lunchtime, after which I wended my way back home.  

So, four games in a day and half, lots of fun but lots of mistakes.  I'm not sure what the lesson here is, but I suspect I need to play more games with fewer rule-sets as it seems that, like so much in life, practise makes perfect, or at least less imperfect.