Two Armies in Two Days

     In my last posting, I mentioned that I was going to use Peter Laing WSS figures for my SYW project. The figures are painted simply, Prussians with blue coats and Austrians with white and brown. I did no detailing besides black hats, brown muskets and flesh faces and hands.  For cavalry I did paint Prussian dragoons with light blue coats and yellow pants, the Prussian cuirassiers were already painted. For the Austrian cavalry I had some cavalry already painted white (these will be cuirassiers) and for Austrian dragoons I painted them with green coats with red pants. A note on the cavalry. For several years these cavalry figures have been sitting unused. I could never decide how to paint them. With the limited number of figures and wanting to do both the WSS and Great Northern War, I could never commit to painting these figures. These particular cavalry figures are my favorites. I decided that they deserved to be used. I reasoned that if I painted the Austrian dragoons with green coats, they could do double duty as Russian cavalry. And the Prussian dragoons could pass as Swedish cavalry with faded uniforms.

     These figures have been painted with hobby acrylics. I have no plans to put the usual gloss lacquer coat on them at this time. If I do decide that I want to repaint them, the paint will come off easily enough. It is just as easy to put the lacquer coat on if I want to save them. Plus, I can add more details to the uniforms at a later date if I choose to.

    And so painting these armies took two days of spare time to paint. Last year I wanted to make it a goal to start using figures that I have collected for the mere fact that they are Peter Laing. To use this simple painting technique I might be able to field armies quickly.

The completed Prussian Army.

The horsemen in front represent generals. I painted the horses different colors to distinguish  the generals; I always put the commanding general on a white horse (unless it's an army of evil, then of course it's black.)

The Austrian Army completed.

When I took these photos, I had just completed painting the generals. The bases have since been painted green.

The two armies. Many of the Austrian infantry were already painted from another project. I do not believe painting them would have added more than half an hours' extra work.

New Figures and Old Friends

    While going through some of my older figures, I came across some of my first metal soldiers, 15 mm Editions Brokaw SWY and WSS figures. When I started wargaming again, after using my 1st generation Minifigs and Heritage Napoleonettes, these are the figures I got hooked on. They can be hard to come by. They were produced by Pat Condray. I bought a large lot of them a couple of years ago. The only way to contact Pat was by regular mail. He doesn't have a website to order through. And as he splits his year between two addresses, it was tricky to get an order in. For me, the extra effort was worth it.

     I also bought a couple of lots of 1st generation Napoleonics, including some Prussian General figures. There is something about the Minifigs general figures that every time I see them, I have to bid on them.

Editions Brokaw Prussian grenadiers

Editions Brokaw grenadier

More Editions Brokaw figures, painted as French infantry and Guards.

Editions Brokaw figures compared to a Peter Laing figure.

Minifigs 1st Generation Prussian Generals

New Home Made Mold & Casting

Several years ago I found a nice set of molds by a company caller Creartec on the website of Berliner Zinnfiguren. The molds were a series of Frederick the Great's grenadiers, generals, and cavalry. They are great figures, however, there is no musketeer figures. I did a head swap and finally made a mold of the figure. It might not be a perfect figure but definitely as useable figure.

The female turkey hanging around our house has found a new perch on our roof.