105e regiment d’infanterie – Sneak Preview

Well, the lads came back from Lee this week and I’m now in the process of basing them prior to a proper parade.

As you can see, Lee has done a superb job – I just love that drummer! Having a whole new unit completed so quickly has been a real shot in the arm to this project and I hope very soon to complete my Old Guard unit as well.

Perhaps then a full review of the French forces is in order.

Final Five

Just to prove that I am still beavering away at the unit of Old Guard here is a picture of the final five figures after they emerged this morning from their overnight bleach bath.

I find that stripping the old paint work from vintage figures is quite a therapeutic experience because (mostly) the existing paint work is pretty poor or half done (see here) and returning them to the state of a clean casting sits well with my OCD tendencies. This particular batch still have the odd bit of flash metal attached (I’m always amazed at how many previously painted figures have never had the flash removed) and one has had the corners of his base clipped, presumably to help him line up in the ranks. Close examination has revealed that only one of these figures has the Hinton Hunt code number stamped under its base the others being completely unmarked. This does not mean that the figures are not genuine vintage castings because I bought many figures direct from Hinton Hunt in the 70s that had no codes.

I have already lost the race with Lee to finish this unit before he completed and returned the unit of French Fusiliers to me (to see how he got on click here) but at least it has given me the prod I needed to get on towards the finishing line.

Going Dutch

Continuing with the series of archive photos (what a great way to disguise the fact that I’ve done precious little painting since the last post) here’s one of a Hinton Hunt Dutch artillery battery. The figures are:

DN55 gunner running with ammunition bag
DN53 gunner holding cannon ball
DN51 gunner with port fire
DN52 gunner with rammer
(cannon by Newline Designs)

I painted these a few years back as a thank you for a package of HH figures received from down under. By coincidence the figures I received included the same batch of French Fusiliers that Lee is currently painting up for me.

As far as I know these Dutch gunners are still living it up in the Australian sunshine - lucky them!

Carabiniers (2)

This is another photo I rediscovered while looking through an achive folder of photos. It was taken during The Battle of the Crossroads back in 2010 and shows my squadron of French Carabiniers in full charge.

Hinton Hunt produced two different Carabinier figures; a one-piece casting FN106 and a two-piece casting FN311. This unit utilises both figure types.

Regular followers of this blog will know that I have a bit of a soft spot for the older one-piece castings initially produced by Marcus Hinton. The two-piece models produced later are of course nicer sculpts but there's just something about the first issue figures that appeals to me.

Old Guard update (3)

This is FN/28. Grenadier Sergeant (marching) or to give him his full billing from my Hinton Hunt catalogue – FRENCH IMPERIAL GUARD, GRENADIERS OF THE OLD GUARD 1804/15 (in Guards Bearskins, long tailed coats, waistcoats, knee breeches and tall gaiters), FN/28. Grenadier Sergeant (marching).

It was descriptions like this in the HH catalogue that made me want to buy these figures as a kid even though I had no idea what it all meant. How could anyone resist?

I’m now well over halfway though painting my unit of Old Guard Grenadiers and my goal is to complete them before Lee completes and returns the unit of Line Fusiliers I just sent him. Let’s take bets on who will finish first.

Scotland Forever (2)

I finally got around to transferring my old photos onto my 'new' laptop this week and whilst perusing my Hinton Hunt folder I discovered this one.

The figures are Hinton Hunt BN49 one-piece casting of a charging Scots Greys trooper painted by me nearly six years ago (yikes!). Looking at them again I'm pretty impressed with the result and I doubt if I could turn out such nice looking figures now.

Here's a little quiz then - what old school wargaming book cover does this photo bear a passing resemblance to?

Old Guard update (2)

I’ll start by wishing a belated Happy New Year to all of you who still take the odd peek at this bog and especially to those who have left comments, emailed me or sent figures or photos during 2013. I’d also like to apologise for the lack of posts of late – it’s quite annoying when a blog you are following suddenly dries up but I will try to do better in 2014.

A quick count shows me that I painted 28 Hinton Hunt foot figures and 1 cavalry figure during the whole of last year – surely my lowest output since this project began. This is not because I have lost interest - far from it - but for a variety of other reasons including ‘real life’ and my other wargaming interests.

My modest aim for this year is to bring the French forces up to strength so that they are well placed to face Roy’s Russians should they venture south down the M5 again. I’m now over halfway through the Old Guard unit of firing figures and I’m hoping that Lee will help me out by painting up another unit of Line Fusiliers and some cavalry. This would give me a core of 7 French infantry units that could be expanded into a Grande Armee of 10 units if I add the Nassau, Austrian and Prussian contingents. It remains to be seen if this can be achieved before the snow melts and the Russian bear stirs.