Baby Boomer

It's New Year's Day, 2021, here in the Land of the Small Flightless Bird, and so I've decided to start the year with a bang.

It is New Year's Day, 1813, and
the Emperor is reviewing his Guard

The newly-raised Horse Artillery are ordered
to demonstrate their remarkable manoeuvrability.

The Battery Captain shows off his stuff  by advancing...

.....deploying and pivoting with speed and precision.

The Emperor is really quite chuffed.

My new battery looks ever-so-slightly ridiculous with its tiny wee Hinton Hunt gun, so perhaps it's less of a bang and more of a pop and and puff. Nevertheless, I'm delighted to have finally got my hands on one.

Happy New Year, everyone

WM

Edit: The gun, of course, is a vintage Hinton Hunt A3: French Field Gun. It's missing its little ammunition chest, unfortunately, but I have another gun which still has this which will be making an appearance eventually.

Horse Artillery Captain: What are you looking at, old boy?
Foot Artillery Captain: I'm trying to see what he's going to paint next.

Guard Horse Gunners

I ran out of time over the weekend to post these, so I'm doing it on a Monday night instead.

If there's the one thing I've learned from playing Muskets & Marshals, it's that it's very important to have a strong gun line. My latest effort in this direction is pictured below.

They're all beautifully crisp examples of vintage Hinton Hunt French Horse Artillery of the Guard, being codes:

FN 180: Officer pointing;
FN 181: Gunner with porte-fire;
FN 182: Gunner ramming home; and
FN 183: Gunner carrying cannon ball.

I even have a little Hinton Hunt gun to go with them that ought to be ready by next weekend.

Best regards

WM

Guns Fever

I managed to get my second gun battery finished today.

The figures are:

from the Der Kriegspielers set # 70: Russian Line Artillery 1812: Gunner with rammer and Gunner with port fire;

Hinton Hunt:
RN 73: Gunner holding cannon ball;
RN 74: Gunner holding hand spike for traversing; and
A 6: Russian Field Gun

The DKs were very kindly donated by Mark S, who also supplied the RGL infantry. The HHs came as part of a small mixed lot of HH odds and ends that I bought a couple of years ago without any real idea what I was going to do with them. I think I just wanted to know what they looked like up close.

They're painted to represent a foot battery of the Russo-German Legion. They really ought to be horse gunners, but Hinton Hunt never produced Russian horse artillery and I have the excuse that there really was a very short-lived RGL foot battery. It was armed with very poor quality British iron guns, apparently, which was why it didn't last very long. My battery, I'm very glad to say, has a splendid Hinton Hunt Russian gun, which was given to me ages ago by Roy B. I hope you approve of what I've done with it, Roy.

The completion of this battery is a bit of a milestone as it means I've finally reached the half-way point in Wallmoden's army. To celebrate, here's a picture of them:

My thanks, as always, to everyone who helped me to put all this together and encouraged me to keep painting.

Have a great weekend,
WM

Ultima Ratio

As promised, I have a new set of gunners to display. First off, however, is the gun, which is a rather rickety Der Kriegspielers French howitzer. This ranked as possibly the worst gun model I'd ever encountered when I saw it in the raw, but I think it's painted up reasonably well.

To man it I have four more Der Kriegspielers French gunners, from set #22: French Line Artillery, 1809.

Well, they're mostly DK 22s. The chap holding the ramrod is actually a combination of a DK gunner holding handspikes and a Prince August figure. I didn't have a DK rammer so I decided to have a go at another conversion. He's not my greatest effort, but he'll do.

The base is a standard Muskets and Marshals 6cm x 6cm artillery base, made from 2mm plasticard and, as I explained last week, painted with a green emulsion that was the closest match I could get to Humbrol 80: Grass Green. I'm really pleased with the effect.

The last couple of shots are of them lined up with my other two French batteries. The French artillery is really starting to look quite formidable.

They're not the only gunners I've been working on, however. All will be revealed next week...

WM

Limber Labour of Love

The first of Rob's magnificent Guard Artillery gun teams is ready at last. It all took a bit longer than I expected, but they were very complex to paint and assemble and it took me a while to figure it all out.

The figures are:

Hinton Hunt:

FN 188 French Horse Artillery Of the Guard Artillery Drivers Corps driver x2

H 3: French (nearside) Gun Horse x 2

H4: French (offside) Gun Horse x 2

Der Kriegspielers Napoleoniques:

French Limber from the # 32: French 6" Howitzer, limber and four-horse team set.

Warrior:

FA1: French 8lb Field Gun

Getting everything to fit together  required quite a bit of planning. The DK limber came complete with swingletrees, but to attach these to the horses I first had to cut them off the limber and then wrap lengths of fuse wire around them. The fuse wires were then soldered to the horses to create the traces. The trick here was then to attach a short nib of solder on the rear of each swingletree, and then paint each horse assembly while leaving these nibs unpainted.

The limber also needed a bit of cutting back and rearranging so that everything would fit back together again neatly. Again, I attached small nibs of solder on to the points on the limber where the swingletrees would reattach. These nibs were also left unpainted.

The final stage was then to glue everything in place on the base with the nibs on the swingletrees and limber just touching. My hope was it would take just a quick application of heat with the soldering iron for them to melt together and form a single string, and much to my relief this is exactly what happened. It was then just a quick dab of black paint and varnish and the job was done.

The Warrior guns have also been given a repaint, although its hard to tell the difference. The only real change here was to add some bent steel pins to create the tool brackets on either side of the trails.

And that, I'm very pleased to say, is the end of Phase One.

WM

Guard Gunners

Gunmen on the grassy knoll

War is about to break out chez Wellington Man and so I have been rushing to finish my last phase-one French battery. They will be receiving a newly painted gun in due course and a gun team and limber, which are all sitting on the painting table but couldn't be completed in time. What has been achieved, on the other hand, is a basic war games table and terrain. All will be revealed in the next post.

For the record, the figures are all vintage Hinton Hunts, and are described in the Hinton Hunt catalogue as follows:

Hinton Hunt, French Foot Artillery of the Guard 1808-15:

FN 172: Gunner ramming home
FN 173: Gunner holding cannon ball
FN 175: Gunner - ammunition carrier, running
FN 170: Officer looking through telescope.

The enemy is in sight....

The last has got to qualify as one the most attractive HH figures of all time. What a magnificent and really rather sinister looking uniform!

à bientôt

WM

If the CàP fits....

How does one say thank you? You know, properly, in a sincere and manly way, without sounding like a gushing nitwit?

In New Zealand, the land of stunning understatement, the approved method is to stare at your feet, take a deep breath, and then very rapidly mutter "aaaawww, cheers mate" in a deep, gravelly and barely audible manner, followed by coughing.

It's a massive problem for me. I'm continually being humbled by the industrial-strength generosity of complete strangers who read my blog and then send me treasures beyond all imagining. The torture is refined when they absolutely refuse to take anything in return.

The latest Wellington Man-humbler is Rob. Rob doesn't collect Hinton Hunts, so when he acquired some when he was really after something else, he sent his unwanted surplus to me. Here's a picture of them.

The figures are Hinton Hunt:

FN 36: French Artillery Driver x 9
H 3: French (nearside) Gun Horse x 9
H4: French (offside) Gun Horse x 9

There's enough there for four gun teams, with a pair to spare. Rob also threw in spare muskets sufficient to equip a battalion and a couple of SHQ French 12 pdrs (not pictured) for good measure.

Not only did Rob fill a gap, but he also solved a problem, which was how to finish off the Phase One French. I was dithering about this something terrible the whole time I was painting the 7th Lancers.

Once I was able to get up close and personal  with the FN 36s, I could see that they are actually guard artillery drivers! Their tall plumes, fancy waistcoats and dainty little hussar boots leave no room for doubt. Now, it just so happen that I have a Hinton Hunt Foot Artillery of the Guard set to go with them, and some infantry that I've been dying to paint up as guardsmen for ages.

My guard infantry are Der Kriegslpielers 220: Dutch Grenadier Battalion, Defending. As soon as I saw these I knew they'd do very well as Old Guard Chasseurs à Pied. All they needed was a little paint conversion on the cuffs. Readers may remember that I also used a few of these for my Swiss battalion.

Progress to date is pictured below, with the Swiss grenadier versions included by way of comparison.

Commanding them will be three really splendid examples from the Der Kriegspielers set number 20: French Guard Infantry Command. This set included both Chasseur and Grenadier variants. Pictured below are the Chasseur marching officer, standard bearer and drummer. Their bases are marked: "CHASS 20", which is rather helpful.

Yes, I know, it's not exactly "painting them as intended", which I've been a bit pious about in the past. However, I have another battalion, and they really are going to be Dutch Grenadiers!

The last three shots were supplied by Rob. They show his breathtakingly magnificent Spencer Smiths, complete with his superb hand-made buildings and terrain. Rob even supplied some of the plans. The bridges explode, and the buildings lift up to reveal ruins beneath! Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.

 Aaaww, cheers mate. *cough*

WM

EDIT: As LewisGunner reveals in his comments below, the Artillery Drivers are actually Hinton Hunt FN 188 rather than FN 36 as I originally assumed.

Bigguns and Not So Big Guns

The Guard Artillery coming into action.

My second Prussian foot battery has taken a bit more time to complete than I intended, but this is not altogether surprising given that I decided to make things rather complicated for myself. My idea was to finish off the first part of the Prussian army with something a bit special.

The battery was simple enough. It was all the extra bits that took all the time.

The figures on the battery are (from left to right) Hinton Hunt Prussian Field Artillery:

PN 32: Gunner with rammer;
PN 34: Gunner, with hand spike;

Another view of the diminutive field piece.

PN 31: Gunner with porte-fire; and
PN 35: Gunner, ammunition runner.

The gunners are painted as Guard artillery. If you click to embiggen you may just be able to make out the yellow litzen on their collars and cuffs and the red shoulder straps marking them out as Guardsmen.

The gun is a Hinton Hunt A4 Prussian Field Gun with its little 6-pounder barrel. I wouldn't be the first to point out that field guns were not Marcus Hinton's greatest strength as a designer, but it's nice to have at least one for the collection!

The Silesian Battery gallops into action.

Completing my Phase-One Prussian artillery are Hinton Hunt:

2 x PN 38: Artillery driver, positioned for riding horse;
2 x  H 1: British nearside draught horse; and
2 x H 2: British offside draught horse.

The limber traces are made with 15-amp fuse wire soldered on to the rather prominent lugs cast onto each side of the horses. They are attached to swingletrees made out of 2 mm plasticard. It took me a whole day to do this, but I thought it was worth having a go if only to create something for the limber pole to rest on.

Riding on the limber is what I think is the Der Kriegspieler version of Hinton Hunt PN 36: Gunner, riding on limber, right side.

A close up of the limber rider. I think  he's meant to be on the right side!

The limber, like the gun it is pulling, is a little mysterious but I think it may be from the Minifig S-Range. If anyone is able to confirm this, please let me know! The only identifiable mark on the underside is "NFA", which I assume stands for Napoleonic Field Artillery.

Only two more command figures need to be completed and the Prussian Army will be ready for the Grand Manoeuvres!


WM

A Prussian Grand Battery

Prussian 10-Mile Snipers

My DK  French gunners positively demanded a Prussian response, and so here it is.

The figures are Hinton Hunt Prussian field artillery:

PN 33: Gunner, holding cannon ball;

PN 32: Gunner with rammer;
PN 31: Gunner with porte-fire; and
PN 30: Officer, looking through spy-glass. 

Having said that, I have a vague suspicion that the officer may actually be a Der Kriegspieler. Whatever the case, he's an absolutely corking figure. He really looks as if he's spotted something interesting!

The gun is completely mysterious, being devoid of markings and assembled from a box of various artillery bits that may or may not have originally belonged together. Although the barrel and the carriage appear to go together, I'm not at all sure about the wheels. Nevertheless, the final assemblage seems to work together quite well.

It's rather heftier than the French Warrior guns, so could possibly be fielded as a 12-pounder!

WM

A Whiff of Grapeshot

The small commission I'm working on is not quite ready to put on show, but all is not lost as the French artillery detachment I've been working on alongside it is almost complete. I decided to have a go at these as something was clearly required to deal with all those pesky Prussian cavalry

Three of the figures are Der Kriegspielers DK 22: French Line Artillery, 1809. The fourth man holding the rammer, however, is rather more unique, being a conversion of the Hinton Hunt figure FN 254: French Line Infantry Voltigeur 1807-1812, charging. Roy very kindly supplied this man as part of a swap for the Young Guard Voltiguers I painted for him earlier this year

The gun they are serving is a French 8 pounder which the chaps over at Warrior confirm was manufactured by them. I'm undecided about whether or not to repaint it, but may leave it as it is as the paint job is not too bad. I'm also not at all sure about what I would use for French Artillery Green as Humbrol doesn't seem to make this colour any more!

WM

The Eagles Have Landed

Chuck's very generous donation

My cunning plan of starting whichever project turned up first has been completely derailed by the arrival of numerous fabulous things simultaneously!

4 Eagles.

Chuck Gibke in the USA, gentleman, scholar, DK connoisseur and all-round smashing bloke, has donated a fantastic collection of DK French command figures, and much else besides.

Perhaps most treasured of all are these four French line infantry eagle-bearers. My complete lack of eagles was the main reason I haven't made a start on the small army of DK Frenchmen I've been collecting to fight my HH Prussians.

Most of the figures are from the DK 13 set: French Line Infantry Command 1812: 4 drummers, 3 eagle bearers, and 5 marching and 3 charging officers. The final eagle bearer looks like he might be from the DK 7 set: French Line Infantry Command 1809.

Chuck also very generously sent me 8 x DK 121: Prussian Guard Infantry advancing, which is what I need to complete the 2nd East Prussian Grenadiers.

Officers and Drummers

Rounding it off were 12 Jack Scruby French and British standard bearers. Although very simple sculpts they are very well proportioned and I think they'll paint up very nicely. I certainly intend to use them if I can find a way to reposition their flags. This won't be easy as they've been very solidly cast.

DK 121: Prussian Foot Guards Advancing

Needless to say, I am heavily indebted to Chuck for his fantastic generosity. I'll just have to make sure that my painting efforts do them justice..

Scruby Standard Bearers

Suspected Hinchliffes!

In an entirely separate package were what I'm almost sure are a set of 6 Hinchliffe 20mm-scale French field guns.  I bought these from my good friend Richard in New Zealand. I'm not completely certain what they are but they certainly look very Hinchliffe-y - to me. The inward-sloping camber of the wheels may be a bit of a clue. I have the feeling that only Frank Hinchliffe  would have bothered with a detail like this at 20mm scale!

French Gribeauval 6 pdr?

They look to me as if they might be French Gribeauval pattern 6 pounders, but they would do very well as Prussian 6 pounders as well, in my opinion. Whatever they are, I'm completely delighted with them.

So the big decision is: will it be Prussian artillery or French infantry on the painting table this weekend? I'll keep you posted!

WM