Sunday 16 November 2014

Naumarkisches Dragoons

Here they are varnished and based the latest addition to the Prussian order of battle, a six figure squadron of the 6th Naumarkisches Dragoons. The figure used is PN.81 Prussian Dragoon (mounted) charging.

I had to paint approximately 125 white buttons in total on these lads and it nearly drove me crazy in the process. However, I seem to have survived it and I must say I’m pretty pleased with the result.


The bases are painted with Humbrol Matt 80 Grass Green. I’ve had a lot of trouble of late with this paint as it was drying streaky with yellow patches so I bought some new pots direct from Humbrol because various bloggers had mentioned that they are now produced in the UK to a new formula. The new paint does dry to a consistent colour which is good but the coverage is poor (requiring 4 coats) and the paint dried to a satin finish not matt! A coat of Testors Dullcote eventually did the trick.


I’ll be leaving the Prussians for a while now to start work on the Black Watch. I’m expecting the Highlanders to be a bit tricky to paint so we’ll have to see just how quickly I can get them done – by the anniversary of Waterloo I hope.

10 comments:

Matt said...

Fantastic!

Stryker said...

Cheers Matt!

the Archduke said...

They are splendid. And what's the problem with being slightly wahnsinnig, anyway.......

Anonymous said...

Beautifully done, a lovely unit that will support your Prussian all arms brigade.

Paul

lewisgunner said...

Lovely stuff.
We tend to make a big thing of the buttons, but mostly in real life they are either bone or covered in cloth and so invisible in our scale. Its a bit like muskets where we nearly all paint brass bands that hold the barrel and stock together. Actually nearly all such band were steel because brass was expensive.
Still the buttons look great!
Roy

Stryker said...

Roy - for some reason I've never painted brass rings on the muskets of my troops so glad to know steel is more authentic!

Unknown said...

Beautiful figures as always Ian. Roy is right about the buttons, but we all like to see them, I blame the maestro himself, Peter Gilder. He is also right about the barrel bands. Strictly speaking, the Guard were to have brass and the line steel, however from 1812 onwards standards decreased and by 1815 anything went. As to your highlanders, remember that the scale dictates that these represent real figures viewed at a particular distance, and therefore the details should be muted. The Black Watch tartan is in reality quite muted even close up, and you can get away with using a single dark bluish green if you add extra details to the rest of the uniform to draw your eye away from it. However I know you won't take the easy road, so good luck. As to the Humbrol paint, I am saddened to learn they are still giving problems. The British made batches are clearly marked with made in the UK and have a small Union Flag motif, but unfortunately Hornby have decided to run down their existing stocks before issuing the new batches but I would have considered grass green as one of the heavier used examples, so I don't know what is happening.

Stryker said...

Michael - yes I had high hopes of the 'new' Humbrol, on the positive side though the satincote I bought does seem to work much better.

I've done my tester figure for the Black Watch and he'll be appearing here soon - actually the tartan was not the ordeal that I had expected!

'Lee. said...

Another beautful addition to your collection Ian, well worth the button painting.

Stryker said...

Thanks Lee!