Minifigs - 18th Century 2

A couple more custom figures have been completed.  Here's the grenadier:

For my not-quite-French Celtican army.  The cap and bayonet are from Woody's Minifig Customs shop on Shapeways. I like the bayonet, it attaches directly to the musket as opposed to the extra clip needed for the Brick Arms bayonet.  I thought a smoldering fuse on the grenade would be a good  touch but didn't come up with anything yet when making the figure.  I can always retrofit something later.  In illustrations for the period one generally sees the musket slung diagonally across the back but it interfered with the grenade throwing arm so I compromised on that.

And the cavalry trooper:

He was actually a bit easier to make as no work is needed on the coat, due to the Lego design where the figure stands inserted in his saddle.  I did cut down the legs a bit as to my eyes one of the flaws of the Lego horsemen is they stand a bit tall in the saddle.  Lego actually makes a short leg piece, will have to try some.

And of course, the fact that the figures stand in the saddle as opposed to straddling it was an understandable design choice even if it looks goofy until you get accustomed to it.  But I wonder how it would have sold had Lego chosen to sell an optional saddle piece with legs on it which you just plug the torso into ?  The sword is also from Woody's, oddly cast with the flat of the blade perpendicular to the hilt. The blade is also huge, wound up cutting it nearly in half for the length shown here. The tricorne and blunderbuss are from BrickWarriors, the rest (including Green Stuff hair) was up to me.

I'm satisfied with both of these as prototypes for future units.  Lego also makes a stocking cap so dragoons are a possibility as well.  Also artillery, I have a gun but the carriage needs some modification.  

Brandenburg,1690-1700: 30mm Flats

For a change of pace from the Lego figures, here's a few flats for the Nine Years War period.  These I painted recently.

First up, infantry.  Pikemen and musketeers from Kieler, brilliant figures engraved by a master, Ludwig Frank.

You may have noticed the musketeers are not as crisply cast as the pikemen. I got the latter on eBay years ago and I've often wondered if they were pirated castings. Not Spencer-Smith caliber vague surely, but they do call for some estimation of  how to execute the details once the paint goes on and further obscures what lies beneath.

And as painted. As always, with acrylics.

And a couple of mounted figures.  Left casting is Scholtz, the in-house line sold by Berliner Zinnfiguren,  On the right, a Kieler dragoon.  An Austrian judging by the canteen on the other side, I like him better but I have only this one.  The dual tail on the Scholtz horse is a nice touch, adding a little variety to your formation depending upon which way you cut. I wish they'd done likewise with the hat brim.

And the Scholtz figure as painted.  These actually belong to a set, The Great Elector Landing on Rugen Island, 1678.  Which, as usual for Berliner Zinnfiguren is pricey.  I don't have it, bought enough at a reasonable cost from Alexander Wilken to paint a smallish squadron.  In the military fashion sense they bridge the gap between the 30 Years War and the War of the Spanish Succession but can pass for 1690-1700.

Not my best painting with all these, but certainly adequate for standing in a battalion or squadron.  Next up, I have finished the Lego minifig grenadier and cavalry trooper.  These turned out nicely and I'll post them shortly.

Minifigs - 18th Century

 Here's a few of the 18th Century "Lego" minifigs which I've done.  I put Lego in quotation marks because a true Lego Pirate range Imperial faction soldier for the period looks like this:

A tricorne, stock torso with lapels & crossbelts, add a musket or sword and call it a day.  My approach is different.  And a lot more time consuming, I must admit.  In fact, the prep work takes darned near as long as the paint job. The figures start with these materials:

To my eyes, a stock Lego minifig comes up lacking in 18th Century style.  The bulky coats and cuffs of the early 1700's are more the look that I wanted.  The cones are used to create the cuffs.  Drilled these out with a Dremel tool and bisected.  The Indiana Jones messenger pouch when cut down works quite nicely for the cartridge box.  Waist belt front and back is styrene.  From the waist down the coat is made of cardstock.

The stock Lego musket is toylike but scales out better than the more realistic BrickWarriors or BrickArms replicas. Also, the curve of the stock allows it be grasped by a minifig's inflexible hands.  Added a bayonet, cut the sword length down and re-attached to the hilt.  There you have it.

And several as completed, above and below.

Having run short of the messenger pouches, I used the downtime to create an officer.  Lego has a lot of women's hair accessories, this curly one makes a serviceable periwig. For the rank & file, I used ponytail parts combined with green stuff.

Coming soon, flats !

Going Medieval

Here's more Lego minifigs I've worked on of late.  The Middle Ages is one of the best periods for these with plenty of equipment, stock Lego minifigs and affordable Chinese clones, and of course castle sets for the builders.  

I'm still working on this and that, the longer term idea is two warring armies, one high Middle Ages and the other Renaissance.  Naturally firearms and artillery say advantage Renaissance but a wizard or two helping out the knights should balance things nicely.

Unless otherwise indicated, these are my own painted MOC's.  First up, some archers.  The initial impulse was to go with BrickWarrior longbows but the stock Lego bows (frowning figure in the green tunic) are about as good and a lot cheaper.  Spotting with a Sharpie pen for the chainmail look was tedious but worth it.

And some traditional knights at the top and below, sporting Brickwarriors arms and bascinets. I modded the horse with some barding.  Doing things like this probably doesn't endear me to Lego purists but where's the fun in just buying stock figures ?   Well, to each his own.  One nod to tradition here is the yellow skin although my preference is for "fleshies" which I use for everything else.  

Moving on to the Renaissance guys, here's a hand painted officer, reviewing the Imperial crossbowmen at the bottom. The crossbow figures are a good example of the stock minifigs, in this case the Chinese Enlighten brand.   The small buckler held by the formation leader is from BrickWarriors.

And a man at arms. He also sports BrickWarriors arms and armor. I was shooting for the look of the knights in the Triumph of Maximilian engravings.  I'm not sure adding the legs was worth the effort but he did turn out fairly well I think.

I've also completed some 18th Century figures, photographed and ready to post but saving for the next one.  And I'm cleaning up some unfinished business with the flats as well, more about that before long.