A Jamaican parade Napoleonic 71

 Here , along the lines of what I did on my holidays post is a round up of what I have painted while working in Jamaica :

Four units of French line infantry 

One unit of French dragoons 

One unit of confederation of the Rhine Reuss infantry 

Two units of Hungarian infantry

Three units of Austrian infantry

One unit of Austrian cuirassiers 

All together now 

Boxed and ready for a trip across the Atlantic! Looks like two of Norms pocket armies with the addition of command and artillery, I'll flock and flag them when I'm home.

Pretty happy with what I've got done in three months away, it brings my Napoleonic year total up to 312 which I'm happy with I've got another French line unit almost completed at home and a unit of hussars that are half done so I think I'll make my 400 Napoleonic figures target this year at least!

All made it across the pond in one piece, although the black and white spilled it didn't get on the boxer shorts or the flag bearers of the two cavalry units it was travelling with, I'll tape them up with masking tape for long journeys in the future! 

All the best

 Iain 

Austrian Cuirassiers regiment no 4 Kronprinz Ferdinand Napoleonic 70

 These are Perry plastic Austrian Cuirassiers regiment no 4 Kronprinz Ferdinand lovely figures, the Perry plastic horses have so much more animation than their warlord counterparts , there's so much more variety, the musculature is  much more defined, they're just better sculptures, the figures are as good as always, in this set you get torso's for cuirassiers and dragoon/ chevaulegers and a variety of helmets and sword arms, so the left overs, so to speak, have been combined with hussar overall legs and spare Perry  British light dragoon horses to give me some Austrian dragoon regiments, I really like all the spare parts you get with the plastic sets, especially the Perry ones , as I enjoy trying to find other uses or fill gaps in ranges with them!

 Originally I  bought two Perry plastic British light dragoon sets so that I could add spare French carabiner helmets to the later tunic wearing bodies with overalls to give me two units of dragoons and convert the earlier uniform into hussars, which added to two units of Foundry chevaulegers and one of Foundry cuirassier would give me a neat little Austrian cavalry force, along the lines of Norms pocket armies and sufficient to give a game if not able to cover battles with the right proportion of units. Once I'd procured these figures Perry released their plastic Austrian cavalry and my British light dragoons in their borrowed helmets began to look shabby and , let's face it , somewhat obsolete? Plus I'd planned to carve off their Bardin style tunic,quite a lot of work. Suffice to say after a certain amount of procrastinating I bought three sets of the Austrian cavalry which with an additional command sprue gives me four units of Austrian cuirassiers plus the makings of four Austrian dragoons and I had to get a box of the Austrian hussars, I'm going to end up with five units of cuirassiers, two chevaulegers, three dragoons, four units of hussars and two units of uhlans made out of the redundant British light dragoons. Of course the French have increased in proportion and so has the infantry! In spite of sticking a spanner in the works I don't mind as I am happy painting and they're really lovely sculpts! This unit is the fourth unit of plastic cuirassiers and as such it shares with my earlier French dragoons painted in Jamaica in  that it's been put together with left overs, although not to the extent the dragoons were, you have two spare horses and troopers ( as you get fourteen figures in a box and my units are twelve strong) combined with a command sprue which gave me an officer and trumpeter gets me eight, plus two spare horses from my Austrian hussars box and the spare troopers horse from the Austrian hussars command sprue I got takes us up to eleven, I think there's a British light dragoon horse in one of the other units as there's twelve kosher Austrian cavalry horses in this unit! The other troopers are made up of hussar overall legs with the spare cuirassier wearing torsos you end up with if you use the flag bearer as he is mounted on a troopers legs. Didn't quite have enough heads so one of the troopers is wearing the earlier helmet ( sans que) and two of them are wearing British household cavalry helmets from a pair of figures I got free with Wargames Illustrated! Three of them are missing cartridge cases and I've just done a bit of tromp loi, I just painted a black rectangle where the case is meant to be and that works surprisingly well! Last unit painted in Jamaica,I think I'll do a Jamaican parade next!

All the best 

Iain 

Austrian infantry regiment no 44 Bellegarde Napoleonic 69

 White primed Perry plastic unit, regiment no 44 Bellegarde GW apothecary white wash , liquatex black and brown ink and agrax earthshade under the flesh, even after all the kaiserlicks I've painted I'm still not sure which is the best method! I can't remember if I have anymore white primed Austrians still to do, if so I will try ogryn flesh wash on the faces as the agrax/ flesh highlight turned into a lot more work than I usually do with black and left me with something not as good which is disappointing. 

Usual colourful flagpole and facing colour 

Just finished Swords around a throne, I thought it was an excellent and very readable book, thorough and accessible, admittedly a bit dated when it comes to race etc but I guess that's to be expected in someone born in 1911 but overall a really good read.

So I've painted three units of Austrians in Jamaica, primed black, white and grey, here is a sample of each I wonder which one you prefer? I know which I do, but answers on a postcard or you can leave a comment! Next up some Austrian cuirassiers to try and even up the arms race!

All the best

 Iain 

Hungarian infantry regiment no 31 Napoleonic 68

 Here's the other Victrix Hungarian infantry regiment no 31 or it could be IR 2 as the facing colours are identical, same conversion deal as before and primed in grey as before, agrax earthshade, liquatex black and brown ink and then some freehand knotwork and light blue, steel gold and yellow facing colour plus flagpole of course,not the best unit but they fill a gap! 

Not the best photos I'll admit but there is at least a banana tree in the background to prove I'm in Jamaica for Keith! 

All the flagpoles are taking a bit of a battering, having to travel between hotels etc, I had to glue this one together as it snapped, I've left the masking tape that was holding it while it glued as a bit of extra long term support as it will be under the flag when I get home and no one will know, well you will but I have full confidence in your discretion! 

Still on the Austrian production line!

All the best, 

Iain 

Austrian infantry regiment no 17 Reuss-Plauen Napoleonic 67

 Here is a Victrix Austrian infantry unit, nice figures, slightly longer coat than Perry so good for the earlier period, same body as the grenadiers so could work for you Richard? Primed a long time ago in Halfords grey spray primer , I gave everything except the backpacks helmets and gaiters a wash of agrax earthshade, then black liquatex ink for boots and helmets, brown liquatex ink for backpacks, flesh, steel ,gold and facings which I've taken from the useful Perry pamphlet you get with their set giving me infantry regiment no 17 Reuss-Plauen. It is, I find , slightly confusing that because of Austrias historical ties to the states in what became the confederation of the Rhine you end up with the Reuss regiment in Austrian service opposing the Reuss regiment in confederation service, I think there was one occasion when a Saxon unit and Austrian unit had to fight it out in spite of having the same colonel!  There's also various German princes in command roles on the allies side while states with the same name are on Napoleon's!

I thought with the agrax earthshade they looked a little like French colonial Poilous from ww1?

Nice figures, compatible with Perry plastics and interchangeable, heads and arms fit in the same way which is helpful as you have to carve the neck off wargames Atlantic bodies to add Perry or Victrix heads, although like the Perry helmeted Austrian heads, the way they're cast the mould line runs down the face which I always struggle with, the Victrix Austrian shako heads by contrast the mould line goes down the side, giving you a much easier clean up! I have just noticed one of them needs a touch up on his arm, oh well with this many Austrians on the go I'm bound to have some white on the go at some point! 

Fort Charles Port Royal, it's a particularly hot place, hotter than Kingstown, maybe because it's so exposed? There's also fort Rocky down the road which I can best describe as a 20th century vauban style fort in concrete with some additional positions for coastal defence guns it's a bit odd! 

Photos just to keep Keith happy you understand !

Anyway, more Austrians on the way soon!

All the best 

Iain