These have taken a bit longer than I'd hoped, 48 28mm Perry plastic Austrians, although as you only get one command in a box and I like to field units of 24, I've suplemented them with 2 Victrix plastic figures converted into a flag bearer and the other into a drummer with surplus Victrix French drum arms and drum,the officer is a rather more heavily converted Perry plastic dismounted French dragoon with Victrix arms,he is alright but for the additional six boxes I'm going to use the Perry plastic Confederate command sprue as you get an officer in a long coat, a flag bearers arms and pole and a drum with arms ,perfect for £1.00!
I still haven't got the white right, the red faced regiment ,IR 10, has had another process (a top highlight of white) whereas the green faced regiment IR 15 I've only used white on the straps and I kind of think that might work better with the off white uniform? I also was wondering if I should have primed them black like the casualty figures I've done,they're converted from British casualties that you get with Perry's French heavy cavalry and as I have no intention of doing British (my nephew is and you've got to draw a line somewhere!) so hacked them about a bit, I think they're good enough. I've been thinking about my approach to painting white and I might be onto something, let's hope so as I have literally hundreds of the blighters to do!
All the best
Iain
The prospect of having to paint 100’s of similar uniforms curdles my guts lol
ReplyDeleteA very smart unit, I especially like those helmets. Not seen the style outside of cavalry dragoons wearing similar ones?
Thanks Dai, I'm alright trundling along when I'm in a groove, might just do a bit of Romano Brits just to keep me honest! From 1798 the Austrians went for neoclassical helmets for infantry and most of the cavalry, the Hungarians went into shakos (due to cost) first and the Austrians followed after 1809.
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Excellent Austrians Iain!
ReplyDeleteThanks very much Cyrus!
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48 is an impressive number. They look very good all formed up for battle like that. 😀
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot Stew,it's a nice look I think!
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Great looking! Austrians en mass always are impressive.
ReplyDeleteThanks, always helps to have a lot,makes the enemy snowblind!
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very nice Iain, especially your work on conversions.
ReplyDelete48 is a goodly number and my only criticism of the Victrix box is that that a second command is not included to allow for two smaller units, though your Perry solution is ideal. I have painted the Perry command and the officer's face is quite distinctive, so some head swaps might help with a bit of variety.
Thanks Norm, I think you mean the Perry box, then I am in total agreement!
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sorry, yes, I do mean the Perry box.
DeleteGreat looking unit sir!
ReplyDeleteThanks Michal!
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Sounds like you are where I was about five years ago Iain and my mate Chris has just emerged from - months of painting all white Austrian uniforms! The bulk of mine were Sash and Sabre as Old Glory had some huge discount on them to celebrate ten years of selling the range or something - I got shedloads - I think in total I now have 18 or 20 x 18 man battalions. The S&S were supplemented with a few OG 2nd Edition - then Jaegers, Grenzer and the militia were from the original OG ranges, as was most of the cav - a few units were S&S. Chris's collection is all Perry plastic and he has oodles of them, in 36 man units as he likes that Big Base American style ( he saw it at an American convention years ago, so thats how we think of it here in the antipodes!) I did all my white by under coating in black first then trying to drybrush on the uniform to leave some shading behind, then highlighting the straps etc and giving them black lining - I had certainly had enough of it by the time I was finished. The Austrians do have exceedingly good flags though :)
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm exploring white uniforms and will be for some time, I'm savingup the hussars as a treat as even thecavalryare in white!
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Two very good looking units and I wolldn;t worry too much about the slight diffrences in their white uniforms.
ReplyDeleteThanks Joe, no all good, just working through the options!
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Good to see your Napoleonics work, Iain. I am firmly in the black primer camp but whatever for you is best way forward.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jonathan, still undecided but it's all fun!
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Lovely work Iain and great job on the conversions. The flagpole is very nicely done as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lawrence,the conversions work I think and I'm getting used to the flagpoles!
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Most impressive. I think you got quite a nice white, don't be so hard on yourself, these look really fantastic!
ReplyDeleteThanks very much Suber, I will try and be more relaxed about it!
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Fine looking Kaiserlicks, Iain. I have both of these regiments in my own Austrian army.
ReplyDeleteMy own technique for Austrians is:
paint the coats and pants white
Stain with Delta CC Wedgewood Grey (I decidedly bluish light grey)
Paint the rest as usual.
Highlight the crossbelts with pure white.
Black Magic Wash.
Really quite quick. I rather like painting the Austrians; the wide3 variety of facing colors is very fun to me!
Thanks Peter and thanks for your formula as well, very useful!
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Great work Iain , you think white would be simple but it isn’t. I’m not an expert so can’t really help, but where I have done lots of white I prime in white , stain but then highlight with off white. White on black feels tough ?
ReplyDeleteThanks Matt,so these are primed in halfords grey primer,wash wet brush off white, highlight belts white, I struggle with white primer to be honest, I do know what you mean about white on black though!
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Great work on these figures Iain.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ray!
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Very nice Iain…
ReplyDeleteI have always gone for Off White for White uniforms… it means you can paint the belts in Pure White and they stand out nicely…
All the best. Aly
Thanks Aly, yes the uniforms are off white and the belts are pure white,ongoing experiments!
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Cracking paint jobs, but I would want a white or possibly yellow die to record hits just for the aesthetic.
ReplyDeleteI have found Humbrol's duck egg blue (Matt 23) an excellent base colour for painting white uniforms. It is not at all blue but is a pale, warm, off-grey which is a lot more attractive than the hard grey you get from mixing black and white.
Thanks Rob, I've primed with halfords grey to try and give me a softer mid shadow once I've done the wash,thanks for your input,I feel I will sort it at some point!
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Oh and I think you're right on the white dice, when I get to a show it will be remedied!
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Great work on the unit's Iain, and the conversions fit in seamlessly with the rest of the models, the wound counters are a great addition, and add to the atmosphere.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dave, glad you like them!
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You're a braver man than I am - that much white would drive me nuts, as I would never, ever be happy with the result ;) I'll be curious to see how your confederate conversion works out.
ReplyDeleteYou could be right but I'm going to persevere anyway!
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Great looking, Austrians, Iain. The Perry and Victrix mix well - although the Victrix heads/headgear a bit larger - but not by much. The Victrix sets are really cool with multiple command figures - and two mounted officer as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dean,I like both sets, thwy complement each other well I think
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