Pretty in Pink

The Command Group for my Prussian 18th Infantry Regiment is finally complete. I'd have done more, but after returning from my travels (to Australia, this time) I was kidnapped by a deckchair on a sunny porch that refused to release me. I put my captivity to good use by reading up a bit more on the Prussian army.

The command figures are:

Hinton Hunt (David Clayton) PN 20: Prussian Landwehr Officer, marching;
Hinton Hunt PN 5: Prussian Infantry of the Line 1810-15, Private advancing (Separate Musket); and
Der Kriegspielers Napoleoniques # 120: Prussian Infantry 1813-15 Command, Drummer.

They were all donated by Don in the US a little over two years ago (sorry, Don).

The officer has had his rather chunky Clayton base cut down and reshaped a bit to reduce his height and help him fit in a little better with his men (the original version can be seen here). The drummer, believe it or not, is the first proper Prussian line infantry drummer I've painted.

The pink colour on the facings is my own creation as the pot of Humbrol pink I had in hand was an absolutely ghastly colour that was also so watery that it was almost impossible to paint with.

Spring in Wellington tends to be a rather wet and miserable season, so the chances are that next weekend I'll be able to get stuck into the rest of the battalion without too many other temptations.

WM

Prussian Special Reserve 3

The 21st march out...

The 2nd/21st are ready to take the field.

They took three weeks to complete from start to finish and so have taken my speed-painting record.

I think they have to be my favourite battalion to date, even if they do look a bit like Trumptonshire Fencibles!

...if a little  self-consciously!

Ready for all eventualities...

...with God for King and Country!

The Prussian Army is beginning to take shape!

 Happy Easter!

WM

Prussian Special Reserve 2

The 2nd/21st, trying not to look embarrassed!

The first two companies of the 21st Infantry Regiment/9th Reserve Infantry Regiment are finished.

I've painted them to represent the second battalion of the regiment, who were dressed in blue, British-made uniforms with white lace and red facings.

The new British uniforms issued to many of the reserve regiments attracted public ridicule and so there were efforts to "Prussianise" them by removing the lace. The 21st made themselves even more sombre-looking by blackening their belts. However, when I painted a test figure with white tunic lace and cross belts to see what this would look like, I thought the effect was so striking that I decided to paint all of them this way!

The rank and file figures are DK 243: Portuguese Line Infantry, charging. They were beautiful, crisp castings in mint condition and in their original packaging when I found them. I like their poses too, which are quite far down the "air guitar" end of the spectrum!

The officer is another of Don's Prussian command figures, Hinton Hunt PN 1: Prussian Line Infantry Officer, charging. I think he looks quite dashing with his red facings.

Last is the drummer, which is from the DK 154: British Light Infantry Command set. He's clearly a conversion from a Hinton Hunt BN 12: British Line Infantry Drummer.

With rain forecast over Easter, I'm hoping to get the other half of the battalion completed over the long weekend. I'll keep you posted!

WM

Prussian Special Reserve

Cokecan aluminium is surprisingly flexible!

I'm ashamed to admit that it's now over a year since Don sent me this and several other Prussian command figures as a gift. You can find my post about it here. I hope Don will forgive me for the inordinate length of time it's taken me to get round to him.

The figure, of course, is Hinton Hunt PN 5: Prussian Line Infantry (separate musket), one of three that Don very generously donated.

He's painted to represent the standard bearer of the 21st Infantry Regiment, formerly the 9th Reserve Infantry Regiment. When the Prussian reserve infantry regiments were raised in 1813, they were each provided with a small cadre of regular officers and NCOs to lead them. As a senior NCO, my standard bearer is thus correctly dressed in his regular line infantry uniform, which will not be the case for most of his comrades.

It also provides a beautifully smooth
painting surface

As no-one really knows what, if any, pattern of flag was carried by the reserve infantry battalions, I've given him what Nash considers to be one of the more common types of unofficial flag carried by at least some of the Prussian reserve and landwehr regiments. I've had another go at coke-can metal for this, with the edges blunted by a bit of filing and varnish.

Surprisingly, perhaps, this flag was much harder to do than the Garde du Corps guidon. It's very difficult to get anything like symmetrical cross when painting freehand. This particular example is my third attempt!

WM

EDIT: With special thanks to Steve C, who gave me the idea for coke-can flags in the first place and told me how to do them.

Prussian Presents!

I arrived home from work yesterday to find the most delightful surprise - a small parcel of Prussian command figures from Don in the USA. Readers of Ian's amazing Hinton Hunt Vintage Wargame Figures blog will recognise Don as Ian's friend and correspondent on all things related to Hinton Hunt, David Clayton and Der Kriegspielers. Don had enquired about my Prussian progress and has, at a stroke, completely solved my command crisis!

The commanders arrive!

The figures (I believe) are (from left to right):

PN 20:Prussian Landwehr Officer, Marching;

PN 23: Prussian Landwehr Colour Bearer;

PN 22: Prussian Landwehr Drummer;

3 x PN 5: Prussian Line Infantry (separate musket);

PN 1: Prussian Line Infantry Officier, Charging; and

PN 6 (although probably actually DK 120): Prussian Line Infantry Drummer.

The three landwehr figures are all David Clayton figures, judging by their rather thick bases, while the line infantry all look like they could be original Hinton Hunts, with the exception of the line infantry drummer, who bears all the signs of being a Der Kriegspieler

They have arrived in the nick of time. The landwehr drummer and colour bearer will be drafted straight into my 2nd Neumark Landwehr Infantry Regiment. As for the others...well they will require more Prussian line and reserve infantry battalions of course!

More posts to follow as the 2nd Neumarks develop. The flag will be a particular challenge: with edges varying from 18 to 20mm, it's quite a bit smaller than my other flags, which are 23mm square. I also have to decide how to paint it. There seem to be any number of highly speculative examples in other people's Prussian Landwehr units. If anyone has any particular suggestions, please let me know.

Thanks Don

Linesmen 2

PN 5 leading the charge....

...and the retreat!

The view from the front....

Well, I'm back from my holidays and straight back into the line infantry. At the front of the queue had to be the colour bearer. Another reason I chose to paint the 10th (1st Silesian) Infantry was because of their stunning red, white, gold and black standard. I couldn't wait to have a crack at this.

Once again, a trusty PN 5 (Prussian Line Infantry advancing, separate musket) proved ideal for the task of bearing the colour. A bit of NCO's gold lace around his collar and cuffs gave him the necessary rank and authority.

...and from the rear. Not what the French are supposed to see!

I love this figure. He really looks like he's about to break into a run: just the thing for a battalion preparing to charge. I've tried to accentuate this by angling the staff forward and putting some sharper folds into the flag.

The rest of his comrades have all been painted and only require varnishing and basing, so the next post featuring the whole battalion shouldn't be too far in the future.

WM

Guards! Guards!

Next up are the Prussian Foot Guards.

Before repainting. A sturdy looking set of PN 13: Prussian Guard Grenadiers, Charging.

PN 13 from the rear

Stripping off the paint revealed that all was not quite as it seemed! About half a dozen of them were clearly not original Hinton Hunts.

Mystery figure on the left, Hinton Hunt on the right. The mystery figure has slightly less detail and is made of a darker, less dense alloy. His stance is also slightly set back, as if balancing on his right foot.

HH on the right. Definitely a bit beefier.

There are also slight differences in the thickness of the bases and the mold lines. The mold line variation is clearest on the boots.

I'm almost certain that the mystery figures were made by Der Kriegspielers (DK), an American company that produced a range of 25mm Napoleonics in the early 1970s. Marketed as "Napoleoniques", the DK range closely resembles those made by Hinton Hunt. According to the DK 1970 and 1973 catalogues (here), the DK equivalent to my HH Prussian guardsmen are "Napoleoniques" set 121: Prussian Guard Battalion 1812 Advancing.

(Many thanks to Chuck for the catalogue information).

Another discovery was that the drummer I had selected  was a conversion. So much became clear when his head fell off as I was cleaning him! However, a pin and a bit of superglue soon put him right again. I suspect he is a PN 6 (Prussian Line Infantry Drummer), with a Guardsman's head.

PN 6 with a new head. Not an easy figure to paint. Much of the detail is paint rather than sculpting, and the drum was anything but symmetrical.

Side view, looking very spiffy with his poppy red facings and plume.

To finish the battalion I made another conversion to make the standard bearer: PN 5 Private, Prussian Line Infantry, advancing (Separate Musket), but with another Guardsman's head. I thought it would also be fun to have a go at hand-painting the flag. The final result, representing the First Battalion/First Garde-Regiment zu Fuss, is shown below.

PN 13; PN 10: Guard Officer Charging; converted PN 6: Line Drummer; and converted PN 5: Line Infantryman.

I've yet to decide whether or not to stick with this basing scheme, but we'll see how it goes. It certainly makes it a lot easier to pick them up and move them around.

WM