French Husssars of 1845 - 45mm Flats

Here's another set of antique Heinrichsen flats, # 6023 which was first issued in 1845.  They're from the 60mm range but as all the horse I've gotten in this size are undersized relative to the foot (which are true 60mm, I think that's good thing because they match other figures I already have.

The castings were clean but the detail was a bit understated, so care had to be taken not to put down the paint too thick.

Researching the uniform colors was fun.  I relied heavily on Lienhart & Humbert but as mostly the saddles are depicted as the sheepskins, it took some digging to find the shabraque. I eventually found an image for the 7th, so that's how I painted them.

With plenty of detail to paint, they took me several weeks to complete.

Wooden Flats - Part 2

In the previous post I shared with you my discovery of wooden flats from Russia.  Now we can look at cavalry and artillery as well as further evolution of the designs to include outlining.

These lancers are quite nicely animated.  However, the targeted scale of 45mm to the eyes was overshot as the calculation for the cavalry didn't take into account that a charging rider wouldn't be standing straight in the saddle.  The figures are closer to 1/35 and wouldn't look out of place in a 54mm army.  So I just test painted a figure as the 17th Lancers.

As with the French infantry, the figures are blanks and thus also where and how to paint the details is up to the painter.  In this case I chose to rotate the rider's torso somewhat.

For the next order, I asked Yevgeny if he could add plumes to the lancers for a bit more of a Napoleonic look. He obliged by not only doing that but adding outlines to the figures as well as posing them differently.  And we downsized everything to 42mm in order to match up better with the Nowikoff home casts.

  

The rider has been reduced in size but to my eyes the horse came out a bit elongated. Or perhaps it's the shabraque, or both ?   Regardless, it's still a vigorously posed and pleasing figure.  The outlines definitely simplified the painting (or would have had I not chosen the gaudy Red Lancers) although how much or little detail to give the horse is still up to the painter.

And lastly, Russian styled artillery for the Kingdom of Novgorod.

I quite like the design of this cannon as the three part assembly of gun barrel and wheels adds a surprisingly good illusion of depth relative to a completely flat gun.

Hope you enjoyed viewing these.  The painting has been challenging but quite rewarding.

Wooden Flats - Part 1

Here's a unit I recently finished.  These wooden flats are from Russia, 45mm to the eyes.  They're for my imagi-nations war of ca. 1820: Celtican infantry, le 7eme de Ligne.

The figures start like this.  Wooden blanks without detail.  Thickness is 4mm at this scale.  Definitely a painting challenge as where to place the details is a matter of estimation.

And painted.

I did a bit of shading but not at the edges.  As the thickness means they're almost semi-round when viewed at an angle, edge shading does not work as it does on a conventional flat.  And I gave them toy soldier faces from the front.

Next up, cavalry and artillery.

Heinrichsen Infantry - 45mm Flats

Finished painting this unit last week. Antique Heinrichsen flats, 45mm to the eyes. This is kind of a one-off set, purchased when Heinrichsen was cleaning out old inventory mid-2017. First issued 1840, they represent French troops ca. 1830.

For my 1820's imagi-nation of Celtica, I took a few liberties such as the ficticious grenadier flag. But they are plausibly French enough to sell as such when the day comes. 24 soldiers came in the box, I did not paint the extra sapper and trumpeter.

As you can see from the command figure grouping, I almost completely dispensed with the shading. Started out that way, but they are so slender that shading only accentuated it in a bad way, so I painted them more in straight toy soldier fashion.

And in closing, a rather comical stylistic mismatch with some wooden flats which I am currently working on. More about this latter to follow soon.

Heinrichsen Flat Cavalry - 45mm

Here's a squadron of cavalry I just completed, 45mm flats. Heinrichsen set # 6017, Pruess. Reitende Artillerie 1830. The designs date to 1845. Nominally they are supposed to be 60mm. But with these old figures, the cavalry are smaller than the foot. Suits me fine because they fit my ca.1830 project perfectly.  Stylistically, as you would expect from their antique nature, they are somewhat toylike. But to my eyes all the better for it.

It's interesting that they're sold as horse artillery, but as there's a corresponding set with caisson & gun, perhaps they are meant to be outriders ? Practically speaking they work fine as any light cavalry, and the painting guide also shows them as Englische Dragoner. I painted them as Prussians, but they'll serve quite well for the bellicose army of der Grolshken Reich.

The command.

Sample troopers.

And a parting shot.

There's also another trumpeter which I did not paint.  I'm saving him for conversion to a standard bearer, although soldering will be required.  Something I have no experience with, but then how hard can it be ?  😉