Here is a light infantry voltigeur just waiting for the last of his comrades to be varnished so that the entire company can be based.
click on image to enlargeNot the best of photos as they were taken in poor light, and I had to wring them through some severe Photoshopping for them to come out reasonably clearly. Still, good enough for work in (eternal!) progress shots.
It's of course a Front Rank miniature wearing the 1812 habit-veste and campaign trousers. He is also festooned with various equipment making him a right royal pain in la derrière to paint. The easiest ones to paint are- rather surprisingly- the ones in the full dress Bardin 1812 uniform. Less straps to worry about, although the ones in overcoat and covered shakos are also a lot easier on both eyes and blood pressure.
In a moment of madness I decided to give him non-regulation yellow piping down the campaign trousers, based on an illustration I cam across in my copy of Elting/Knotel's Napoleonic Uniforms.
Note to self; never- ever- decide to put together a wargaming army where all the uniforms have yellow piping running down the sides of dark-coloured trousers. Therein lies the way of Madness.
In a moment of madness I decided to give him non-regulation yellow piping down the campaign trousers, based on an illustration I cam across in my copy of Elting/Knotel's Napoleonic Uniforms.
Note to self; never- ever- decide to put together a wargaming army where all the uniforms have yellow piping running down the sides of dark-coloured trousers. Therein lies the way of Madness.
*****
Painting is made much more pleasant with appropriate "mood music". There are a lot of videos on YouTube featuring that stirring French march La Victoire est a Nous, famous amongst fellow Grognards from the movie Waterloo in 1970. Here is one of the better versions out there.
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3 comments:
Nice painting, keep it up! It's long but always worth it in the end.
- Note to self; never- ever- decide to put together a wargaming army where all the uniforms have yellow piping running down the sides of dark-coloured trousers. Therein lies the way of Madness. -
Avoid Austria, then! You won't enjoy the Hungarians and the Grenz, methink!
Thanks for the encouragement, Iannick!
Actually the Grenzers and Hungarians wouldn't be too bad; a line of small yellow dots down a black stripe is easier than trying to paint a long, unbroken stripe over cast folds in the trousers.
Got a few more hours of painting in yesterday. Mounted officers and cavalry, and more tidying up of crossbelts, piping and straps.
Confession time; I was trying to be less of a perfectionist, and just leave any slopped-over paint be in the interests of getting the unit completed quickly. But in the end I couldn't stand it, and decided to go back and tidy them up.
Idiotic maybe, but I wont regret it when they're done.
I've also learnt the value of a black undercoat and investing in a goodly number of high-quality brushes. The latter have really made a difference, as I find I'm getting more productive l as I get it right the first effort.
Robert - I admire your painting and some of the results you've gotten particularly with your Legere. Its them fiddley bits that does yer eyes in tho! I've had to give it a rest for a while after finishing some of those Perry's French. I recall doing loads the dot-dash striping for various Austrians - therein madness does lie. Trouble is - no sooner done one lot then you're base-coating for the next!
If you've no objection I've put in a link to your excellent site on my own. The idea is reference points for other quality blogs with great eye-candy and plenty of 'how-to' in order to spread the knowledge and link up with fellow addicts! Please feel free to check mine out and leave a comment if you like:
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Keep up the great work - I hear a drop of red or a cleansing ale can help tired eyes if stripe painting on Austrians becomes too tiresome!
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