Getting Animated

It's been a bit nippy in the Hinton Hut this week but I've still managed to make progress with animating my PN5 Prussians. This has been a lot of work (but then I knew it would be) and is certainly a lot more time consuming than preparing normal castings.

This is how the casting was originally supplied with the arms lightly attached at the hips. The bases of the figures had already be filed and there was very little flash on them.

First step is to cut the arms free and gently bend them into position. The musket is then Super Glued in place. Trying to get all 20 musketeers in exactly the same position proved impossible but I'm hoping this won't be too noticeable when the unit is finished.

Step two is to add in the hands (I use Magic Sculpt). My sculpting skills are very basic and I noticed a tendancy to make the hands too big but this should not be so obvious once the figure is painted.

This is the last batch and includes the standard bearer completed in the same way.

I have the whole unit ready and primed so now it's time to get painting.

Brandenburg Uhlans - Updated

Ten years since their first appearance on this blog (here) the Brandenburg Uhlans have been updated to a full unit of Prussian PN.89 figures thanks to the recent donation by Ian.

The front rank are my additions and the rear rank are the originals painted by Matthew in 2015.

Trying to match Matthew's work has been tricky and not just his superb detailing but also getting a colour match with acrylics to his work with enamels.

The rear rank showing the very neat piping on their jackets.

If this year has been the year of the Austrians then next year is shaping up to be the year of the Prussians.

More Prussian Pondering

The observant amongst you will have noted that by breaking up my old Prussian Uhlan unit to produce the Landwehr Lancers it left me with six odd regular lancers. The remedy for this is of course to make up the numbers with some of the figures Ian sent me earlier this year.

My attempt at PN89 Prussian Uhlan Lancer (mounted) charging.

Once again I have had to try to match Matthew's painting style which is very tricky as his detailing on the original figures is superb with some incredibly fine lines on the jacket seams. In the end I've had to fudge it a bit but with luck the new troopers will blend in when viewed from playing distance on the table.

PN5 Private (with separate musket).

I've also painted the test figure for the next Prussian infantry unit using the casting with separate musket I posted about a couple of weeks back. I'm looking forward to starting on the whole unit of these as they are something a bit different and the quality of the castings is superb.