Napoleonic command - 6mm - FR & UK

 Hi,

This week evenings I worked a bit on my french old guard but not only.
For monthes I had some painted command I did not based yet.
Mostly French and English.
So, I did it as it was not that long after all (spent less than 1.5 hour in three evenings)...

They are mixed minis from different providers in time, so I am not sure of whom they were from  (except for the Baccus english and some frenchies)

I took pictures yesterday evening and quickly post them to conlude my remotee lunch break.

Here they are for France...

... and for England

They are based on 1, 2 and 5 € cents coins.
Depending on rules, 1 mini means Brigade command, 2 minis Division command, 3 minis Army corp command, or respectively ADC, Brigadier, Division at lower gaming scale.

This week end I'll continue my old guard and prepare some prussian Uhlans.
I will see if I have something advanced enough to be shareable.

Now back to job.
See you later...

Victrix mod. - Brothers in arms / part IV & end.

Hi,

So, it's done ... This time, lot of pictures and few text. Being happy with the result I took the time to work a bit on the pictures. At time I took them flogking was not sealed yet, so there is few flocking on the minis, but the last 2 pictures (proof of size, this is VICTRIX's 28mm, not 54mm) were taken this morning, so they are clean. As well the last picture is a bit huge, as it is a big closeup (1674 x 1322 / 650Kb). Enjoy...

(fr) Voici le résultat... Cette fois ci, beaucoup d'images et peu de texte. Vu que je suis assez content du résultat, j'ai fait un petit effort de présentation. Au moment où j'ai pris les photos, le flocage n'était pas encore fixé. Il y en a donc quelques brins sur les minis, mais les 2 dernières photos ont été prises ce matin et donc sont OK (preuve de taille, ce sont bien les VICTRIX 28mm, pas les 54mm). Idem, la dernière image est un gros plan "costaud" non retravaillé (1674 x 1322 / 650Ko). Maintenant, assez parlé, voici les images....














The two following pictures intend to give an order of idea of the scale. The "diorama" is on the top of a french magazine (A4), and you can see a Euro cent, that is fairly the same size than US cents. The seconde picture is a closeup. Those two pictures have not been rectified except light balance (as I always shoot in RAW mode), and realignment for the second one.

(fr)Les deux images suivante donnent une idée de l'échelle. Le "diorama" est posé sur le dernier numéro de "gloire et empire" (excellentissime, dailleurs... Tout Austerlitz sur 92 pages...), un magazine au format A4, et le cent donne le la. La seconde photo est un (très) gros plan. Ces deux photos n'ont pas étés rectifiées excepté pour la balance des blancs (je prends toujours en RAW) et le recadrage de la seconde.


WARNING : The following picture have a size of 1674 x 1322 pixels for 650Kb.
(fr) ATTENTION : La prochaine image a une taille de 1674 par 1322 pixels pour 650Kb.



So, as a conclusion to that first real transformation, I didn't find it too difficult, learned a lot, and think I will make some more in the future... I have tons of ideas, and also need more practice before giving a go to Perry's Cuirassiers... :-)

(fr) En conclusion de cette première vraie transformation, je dirais ne pas l'avoir trouvée trop difficile, en ai appris beaucoup, et pense que d'autres suivront dans l'avenir... J'ai des tonnes d'idées mais ai besoin de pratiquer un peu avant de m'attaquer aux Cuirassiers de Perry... ;-)

Cheers,

(fr)A+,

Bruno.

Victrix mod. - Brothers in arms / part III

Hello,

Here are the first painted results (base is just a wargamming hill, not the dio yet). As said it was hard for me to evaluate the potential final result from the "greeny thing", so the reason why I decided to put the two grounded soldiers in paint. I am happy with the result, but I could see I also made lot of mistakes. However, the more it goes on, the more I enjoy that little project.
As a reminder, those are 28mm Victrix, not their new 54mm range.

(fr) Voici les premiers résultats peints (présentés sur une colline de wargame, la base définitive reste à faire). Comme dit précédemment, il m'était très difficile d'évaluer ce que donnera la partie "verdâtre" une fois peinte. Donc, j'ai décidé de peindre les deux soldats au sol, pour voir... Je suis content du résultat, ne serait-ce parce qu'il m'a permis de voir les erreurs que j'ai commis. Dans tous les cas, j'adore ce petit projet... que du bonheur.
Pour rappel, il s'agit ici d'une modification de figurines 28mm, pas des nouvelles 54mm que propose Victrix.

Here a first view from top. I'm really happy about how they look. It is exactly what I was searching for. Perhaps first timer luck (despite water gourd I could not put)...

(fr) Une vue de dessus. Je suis super content de ce que ça rend. Exactement ce que je voulais. Peut être la chance du débutant (malgrés la gourde d'eau que je n'ai pas pu mettre)...


This view shows the hand of the helper. I think it's either too low (could not put water gourd) or too high (should touch his comrade body to be better).

(fr) Sur cette vue on voit bien la main du soldat assistant son camarade. Je pense qu'elle est soit trop basse (pas pu mettre la gourde), soit trop haute (idéalement, elle devrait toucher la poitrine de son camarade).


Another view on which this is even more obvious. On the other hand ;-), I am happy with the hand sustaining the head and the arm I completely made. There are far too much "stripes(?)" but I'm on my first time building full members. I'll do best next time. (also, hand was a Victrix part)

(fr) Autre vue sur laquelle ce problème de main "lévitante" est encore plus évident. D'un autre côté, je suis très content de la main soutenant la tête. C'est la première fois que je réalise des membres en entier (sauf la main : pièce Victrix) et même s'il y a bien trop de boutonnières, je trouve ça pas trop mal.


Now from the rear. The arm junction is good, but it does not have natural proportions : the bend of the arm should have been more on the left, and the shoulder a bit higher.

(fr) Vue de l'arrière. La jonction du bras est bonne, mais ses proportions sont mauvaises : le coude aurait du être plus sur la gauche, et l'épaule un poil plus haute.



Last, the helper flank.

(fr) Enfin, une vue sur le flanc du soldat portant assistance.








As a conclusion, I realized I made a lot of mistake. My "sculpting" was far too heavy and I used too "hard" wire for members support that did not let me make hard angles I should have do (i.e. knees). That had an impact on proportions to which I did not paid enough attention. Green Stuff smoothing still is not easy for me. I use water, but will have to improve here, as GS can't be sanded. On the pros side, most important, I think I learned a lot, and also, the way this project is evolving despite my mistakes is a real motivation for me. I know experts will have a smile, but I really like the way it start to take shape...

(fr) En conclusion, cette mise en peinture m'a permis de voir les erreurs commises. Ma "sculpture" est bien trop lourde, et j'ai utilisé du fil de fer bien trop rigide pour obtenir les angles fermés qui m'auraient permis de mieux respecter les proportions anatomiques. Lisser le GS n'est vraiment pas trivial pour moi. Comme il ne se ponce pas, j'ai intérêt à m'améliorer sèrieusement sur ce coup là. Côté positif, le plus important, j'ai appris pas mal de choses, et la façon de ce projet évolue malgrès les bourdes est une réelle motivation. Bien sur, les pros en auront un sourire, mais j'aime vraiement la façon dont tout ça commence à prendre forme...

Cheers,

(fr) A+

Bruno.

Victrix mod. - Brothers in arms / part II

Here is a little update about the "brothers in arms" project, which first part can be read here.
So far, the wounded's modifications are complete. The helping comrade as well as the knelt one are 90% complete. Do not worry of the unevenness (?) on the green stuff. At time of picture it was drying a bit as I prefer to flaten it when it has start to dry.

(fr) Une petite mise à jour de mon projet "frères d'armes", dont la première partie peut être lue ici.
Actuellement, les modifications du blessé sont complètes. Ses deux camarades sont finis à 90%. Ne prétez pas attention à l'aspect "non lisse" du green stuff. Au moment de la photo il séchait car je préfère toujours lisser les surface lorsqu'il est un peu sec.

First, here is a global view of the idea. I made some modifications on the helping comrade as his left leg had not a natural position. I modified it so the foot lies naturally on its side to the ground, even if this is not obvious from the small size of this setup trying base.

(fr) Primo, une vue globale de l'idée. J'ai modifié la jambe gauche du camarade allongé, car je trouvais que sa position n'était pas naturelle. Même si ce n'est pas évident du fait de la petite taille du socle de test, le pied repose naturellement sur le sol via son coté interne.

Now a view from the rear. I decided to create the arm of the helping comrade on the wounded. As I want to paint them separately, adjustement was not so easy so to fit perfectly the helping comrade body, but I am somewhat happy with the result.

(fr) une vue de dos. J'ai décidé de créer le bras du camarade couché directement sur le blessé. L'ajustement n'a pas été évident, car les deux figurines seront peintes séparément, mais à priori, c'est pas trop mal...

On this view we see another change. Originately, the helping comrade was giving water to the wounded as the knelt one was worrying. Unhappily, by changing the foot position of the helper, the hand is now too close from the body of the wounded. So I decided that it would be the knelt one that would propose his water to them.

(fr) Ici une autre modif. A l'origine, le soldat tenant le blessé dans ses bras devait lui donner de l'eau. Malheureusement, en changeant la position de ses pieds et sa jambe gauche, sa main se retrouve bien trop prés du corps du blessé pour tenir une gourde. J'ai donc décidé que ce serait le soldat agenouillé qui tendrait la sienne.

Here is a close-up of the wounded, and especially the arm of his helping comrade to sustain his head.

(fr) Ici, une vue rapprochée du blessé, et plus particulièrement du bras de son camarade lui soutenant la tête.




Here, a close-up of the other side.
I especially like the Victrix faces that are so expressives...

(fr) Ici une vue rapprochée de l'autre côté.
J'aime tout particulièrement l'expression que Victrix donne à ses visages...




Here is the "helper". I have recreated his side bag, and will have to add a water can as well. Ignore the un-even looking of the green-stuff. From time the picture was taken, it have been corrected.

(fr) Ici, le camarade allongé. J'ai recréé sa besace, et devrait lui rajouter une gourde. Ignorez l'aspect non lisse du Green Stuff. Depuis les photos, cela a été corrigé.



A front view of the same.

(fr) le même vu de face...









This time from back. I tried recreating the uniform details, but am not so happy with the result. I will probably work on it a bit more.

(fr) Cette fois ci, de dos. J'ai essayé de recréer les détails de l'uniforme, mais je trouve pas le résultat franchement génial. J'aurais probablement à retravailler un peu ça.


So, here we are. Next step is to finish the green stuff experience, and go to painting. I always find it difficult to make it's mind on how the green stuff details will render while painted. Probably the lack of experience.

(fr) Et voilà. Prochaine étape, finir l'expérience "green stuff", et attaquer la peinture. J'ai toujours trouvé difficile de s'imaginer ce que donneront les détails réalisés au green stuff une fois la mini peinte. C'est très probablement dû à mon manque d'expérience.

Hope you enjoyed,

(fr) A+,

Bruno.

Mod. VICTRIX : Brothers in arms...

Hi,

Having completed my GHQ stuff this week-end, I've gone back to Napoleonics and 28mm.
I plan a little diorama, I will call "brothers in arms". I'm at the real begining of it, but as my green stuff has to dry, here is a short post about it. Perhaps will I post it in a step by step way...

(fr) En ayant terminé avec mes GHQs, me voici de retour dans le Napoléonien en 28mm.
Je compte faire un petit diorama, que j'appellerai "frères d'armes". J'en suis au tout début, mais comme le green stuff doit sécher, voici un premier post rapide sur le sujet. Peut être ferais-je un pas à pas...

Here are the minis I built from remains of Victrix center and flank british infantry parts and spares. (yep... one should always keep them...). The knelt one was obvious, but the other required some surgery...

(fr) Voici les minis construites à partir de restes de boites Victrix (Inf. anglaise 1815 comp. centre et élite). (eh, oui... toujours garder ce dont on ne sert pas ;) ). La figurine agenouillée était triviale, les deux autres ont requise un peu de chirurgie...


Here is an overview of what I intend to build. The wounded is given water from the soldier that took him in his arms, as the second is knelt, worrying about his status. Current green stuff is just to "fill te gaps". Once dried, I will try making details (clothes, water can in hand, etc...)

(fr) Ici un aperçu de la scénette que je vise. Le blessé reçoit de l'eau de son camarade qui le soutien dans ses bras, tandis que le second s'inquiète sur son sort. Aucun détail n'est encore fait. Le green stuff ne sert pour l'instant qu'à boucher les trous. Une fois sec, il me servira de support pour les details (uniformes, gourde dans la main, etc...).

This is an ambitious project for me as I am far being "green stuff guru", but having ever used it for smaller projects, I thought I had to try something more ambitious. As I had this diorama idea in mind, well... why not ?

(fr) C'est un projet ambitieux pour moi car je suis très loin d'être un champion du green stuff, et encore moins de la sculpture. J'ai déja pratiqué un peu sur des modifs mineures, mais rien de tel. Comme l'idée de ce diorama me trottait dans la tête depuis un petit bout de temps, je me suis dit... et pourquoi pas ?

See you,
A+,

Bruno.

Victrix plastics 28mm : English inf. 1815

Hi again,

Here are some pics of 28mm Victrix's plastics. Those are from their waterloo english infantery box, center comapnies. Those 52 miniatures boxes can be found at 25 Euros (in France)... no comment.
I have assembled and painted 40 of them, but only based 32 of them. Reason is I am waiting for their flank companies I ordered past week to complete the batallion.

Despite what can be read elsewhere I had no issue with assembly, and did not find it to long or fading. However I made a mistake. I make all the assembly wishing to have as much different positions as possible, but did not care about the foot print that the miniatures would have. At basing time, I thought "ooops...", because basing them on a 1.5 cms per mini. ratio was not that easy. As well, I did not pay attention to the companies homogeneity, so I know that for next boxes I will build miniatures by selecting companies global attitude, so per 4 minature rather than gluing anything at a time, doing positions experiments and all that stuff as a mad dog...


About painting I also made a lot of experiment, using a mix of plain painting, magic wash and block painting I am not very happy with, but well... I'm in the beginning of my 28mm fast paint area, so I will do better next time...


Obvious to say there will be other boxes. So far I am waiting for 5 of them : Flank companies, Higlanders ( centre + flank) and also some 1807-1812 frenchs... After those close to 300 miniatures, I hope I will have somewhat improve my techniques in 28mm...

(fr) Voici quelques images de l'infanterie anglaise - 1815 de Victrix en 28mm. Ce sont des figurines plastiques que l'on trouve à 25 Euros en France pour 52 figurines... no comment... J'ai assemblé toutes les figs, et en ai peint 40. Seules 32 sont soclées pour l'instant, vu que j'attends les compagnies de flanc pour compléter ce premier bataillon.

Contrairement à ce que l'on peut lire parfois, je n'ai eu aucun problème lors de l'assemblage, et irai même jusqu'à dire que ça a été un moment de détente, un peu long, mais agréable. Par contre, j'ai commis une erreur en assemblant toute les figs d'un seul coup. J'ai voulu obtenir atant de positions différentes que possible sans réfléchir à l'homogénéité de l'unité ni à l'occupation au sol des figurines.

Lorsque j'ai voulu socler le tout j'ai compris mon erreur. En plus de devoir couper les socles, j'ai du ruser pour faire tenir chaque figurine dans 1.5 cm de front, et l'ensemble n'est pas vraiement très homogène. Je le saurais pour la prochaine fois et assemblerais les figurines par compagnies (4 figs à la fois) plutot que de me jeter comme un chien fou sur les grappes, ma pince coupante dans une main et le tube de colle dans l'autre, cherchant à faire des pièces uniques aux positions parfois ubuesques lorsque soclées en unité...

Coté peinture, toujours des expérience. Cette fois ci, j'ai essayé un magic wash sur couleur de bases, puis un peu de block painting, mais je n'aime pas trop le résultat. Débutant en fastpaint 28mm normal d'avoir quelques désillusions, mais bon, je ferais mieux la prochaine fois.

En commande, j'attends 5 boites Victrix : 2 francais 1807-1812, 1 compagnie de flanc anglaise 1815, 2 Highlanders (1 comp. centre + 1 comp. flanc). Après ces presque 300 figurines, je devrais faire quelques progrès... Enfin, j'espère...

Review : Victrix 28mm british centre comp. Waterloo

Hi there,

Ok, it took some more time than planned as Christmas preparation took me some time yesterday, however, here it is.

Victrix is a brand new company based in the UK. Their first reference is a Waterloo Bristish infantry centre companies box. It contains 52 high quality hard plastic miniatures to assemble.

Packaging :

The box is big, full and heavy. On one side you find facing colours of all British regiments that fought at Waterloo, and behind the box a very nice drawing of a soldier, front and back that will be a very nice reference for painting.

As said, this box is really full. You have 8 plastic sprues of 2 different kind. One for the bodies, heads and backpack, the second one for arms, heads and weapons mostly.

Included as well is a 4 pages booklet containing a simple ruleset, building guide and flags for 4th king own and 35th rgt of foot (Sussex)

The sprues :

The first kind of sprue contains heads, arms and weapons, plus the body of the officer/standard bearer. You have four of them in a box. There are 14 different heads per sprue where only 12 of them will be used. Faces expression are really nice and dynamic, engraving is really beautifull, there is no flash and the mold line is quite inexistant.

The same notice applies to arms, weapons and obviously the officer body. A single xacto with a new blade and few minutes are enough to prepare the parts.

A single miniature is assembled with between 4 to 6 parts.There are the body, the head and the two arms. Most of them will also require a backpack, and few (2 on 13) will require a leg assembly.

A noticeable thing is that the officer body will be used for both the officer and the standard bearer. It means than on a set you can build 2 of each or 4 of one type, or any combination. Arms, flag poles, and officer sabers are given for 4 of each type. Also, you have two different arms and sword handling for officers, and a hand with a pistol is given so any arm can be converted for the officer to have a pistol rather than a sword.

The second kind of sprue contains the bodies, the flag pole, a drum in two parts, and the backpacks mainly. You have 4 of those sprues in the box.

As previously noticed, there is no flash and details are high.

On each sprue you will find 1 sergeant body, 1 drummer body and 10 troopers bodies within which you have 8 different positions.

The sergeant can be assembled with a spear or a rifle.

Backpacks are of 4 different kinds, 6 having items on the back (2 with shoes, 2 with "bottle", 2 with dishes).

Within those two sprues the number of assembly combinations is by default very important. With minimal customization, this set opens the door to quite unlimited combinations.

The booklet :

The little booklet contains the assembly guide for this set and also other sets that will be released soon. It gives only few informations and only for "default" suggested assembly, but despite this it is sufficient to build the miniatures without surprise. There are few mistakes on it (arms reference inversion for officer) but this is obvious to correct when you look at the parts. Also, Victrix is a brand new company and this is their first product, so this is far being dramatic. However, in addition of those little lacks the assembly guide is printed on the back of the flags page. That means that you will have to wait to have build all your troops before using the flags or copy the doc/flags in some way. In addition they give a simple rule to play.

Preparing and Assembling the troops :

Preparation is very easy. Parts are attached to the sprue in a clever way, so those points can be cleaned up easily without harming any details. The only exception is about backpacks, were some attention must be given as the attach point at the top is between the two top bucles.
As said, no flash, very discrete mold lines make this step fast and easy and. A simple X-acto with a new blade makes the thing in a few minutes.

Assembly is without any surprise as well. Thereafter are sample shots of one sprue assembly plus one officer and one standard bearer. No putty was used, this is just raw assembly and a priming layer of paint.




Last picture is size comparison vs. a Perry lead diorama at same scale. As you can see, those miniatures will perfectly mix with other 28mm miniatures.

On the picture it can seem a bit too big, but in fact isn't, the Napoleon miniature is at scale, and he was a bit small. Look at the hussard on the left to really make your mind about that point.


Conclusion :

Those miniatures are real gems, and are not expensive vs. lead miniatures. Victrix is a brand new company and this is their first release. Except few points on the documentation, I was impressed and hope they will meet the success they diserve as their future releases are very high on my wish list (i.e. French Cuirassiers).

Cheers,

Bruno.

Victrix 28mm : Waterloo english troops

Hi,

Yesterday, I finally decided to go at my miniature shop in Paris. They have only very few 15mm napoleonics but in case of... So, I had a discussion with the boss, and he explained me that they were definately stopping 15mm napoleonics as they could not be delivered correctly. Their last order make it's path to their shop in 4 monthes, and half the order was missing. It's more they can support in front of their customers. Same reason why they will stop making AB miniatures. Also, there is lower interest about 15mm napoleonics, so in our business only world, this is perhaps part of the core reason.

Too bad, but not their fault...

Anyway, he show me some new stuff he had, and I immediately go totally nuts about it.

I am speaking about VICTRIX 28mm hard plastic miniatures. Those are real gems, so I bought the last box he had in store (they were all gone in five days...). It is far being the 15mm austrians I was searching for, but for about the same price of an AB batallion I have 56 28mm miniature of wonderfull quality and dynamicity, with very natural march/attack poses and quite unlimited postures due to the clever part assembly. Today I plan to post a review of those and obviously to start working on them. In the meantime, feel free to dream by having a look at their masters on their website.

Stay tuned...

Cheers,

Bruno.