I hope everyone has emjoyed the holiday season, now winding down towards New Years Day. For myself, it was great to see the family together again. I also received something ordered from Berliner Zinnfiguren. Two sets of 40mm figures: some antique Ramm flat castings (started painting these, more about which in a subsequent post) and the set of (pre-painted !) Wollner Austrian artillery shown here. It's obvious to anyone following this blog that it's all about painting them myself, but I did think this was a charming set in the old semi-round toy soldier style.
The figures are nominally 40mm but very much on the smallish side of that rather elastic scale.
I also painted the last of the Sichart (except for the bandsmen) Austrian infantry. I turned back the clock on these to ca. 1860 by cutting off the buttons, converting the tunic to the old double-breasted style and painted on the cross-belts. Here's an example of one of the figures contrasted with the 1890's style which the figures were intended to be.
The flag is just okay, the raised detail of the Imperial eagle on the casting would have been more worthy of Josef Wagner composing a march "Under the Double Tarantula" as the resemblance to an eagle is approximate at best. I would probably have been better off just filing it off and painting from scratch but it's at least serviceable.
At any rate, this is all I have so any reinforcements will have to be via the mold-making process and I did save one casting for this purpose. No rush about it though, the figures on parade with their slung rifles are a bit lacking in martial vigor so I think I can do better by the Austrian infantry from some other source. Nice to have these as a fall-back though.
Next up, Spenkuchs.
Superb figures beautifully painted and interesting to be able to contrast them with the factory painted chaps.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes for a toy soldier filled New Year, Brian
Thanks, Brian. And the same to you.
DeleteRegards,
Steve
Brilliant painting as always.I look forward to seeing more of these chaps appear in the coming year,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words, Springinsfeld. Making more of these is somewhere back in the queue but I'm excited about the prospect of other, complimentary figures.
DeleteRegards,
Steve
Delightful! I've had a Colour Treasury of Model Soldiers for decades and have always been attracted to a picture of a small diorama using these Wollner gunners.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI completely agree on the Wollners, Ross ! I have the book, Wollner: Gesischte & Katalog, showing all of their figures and sets: http://www.wollner-zinnfiguren.com.
DeleteVery tempting and then disappointment, as aside from suffering the dubious pricing of Berliner Zinnfiguren and the whims of eBay, there's apparently no other internet outlet for getting the figures. If I ever make it to Vienna, a trip to the Kober toy store will be a must.
Regards,
Steve
After this post, I had to whip myself to keep my Wollner lust in check. Geesh, I like this guys. They are, as you say Steve, very high priced and not easily obtainable. The range of what once was available has been reduced as well. I have a set of Prussian infantry I bought at Kober. I have thought many times of sculpting a complementary range many times. Your post has inspired me to put down the paint brush and fiddle around with the green stuff. Beautiful work.
ReplyDeleteJohn
Thanks very much, John. Yes, I'd be excited to see what you could do working in the Wollner style.
DeleteRegards,
Steve