Tuesday 27 October 2020

Keeping the snow goggles on

I’ve made a start on my next Austrian unit and guess what? Yes, they’re uniformed in white! They are Dragoons of the Erbgross Herzog Von Toscana Regiment painted as per the Hinton Hunt painting instruction sheet. The castings are vintage ones that I’ve had in my possession for quite a few years now so good to finally get some paint on them.

Both of these figures are AN.77 Austrian Dragoon (mounted) charging, but the one on the right has been converted as a bugler.

The bugler is converted with a brass rod and Magic Sculp bugle and I even carefully carved away his carbine, however I forgot to add a sword hilt but hey ho. I was spared the guilt of removing the sword from a healthy casting for the conversion when one conveniently broke off in the bleach bath.

This is a scan of an original Hinton Hunt painting instruction sheet for AN.77. It is printed on very thin duplicating paper as used in pre-photocopier days.
 
The table has been cleared of Boer War clutter (take a look here if you missed my Elandslagaate game) to be set up ready for a Napoleonic game. This gave me the chance to parade my Austrian infantry for the camera.




There will be more on the forthcoming game in my next post.

19 comments:

James Fisher said...

Beautiful brigade Ian. I enjoyed the trumpeter and trooper doing the hokey-pokey too; you put the left foot in...!
Regards, James

Wellington Man said...

Nothing short of totally fabulous! I love the red facings on the dragoons.
All the best
WM

Wargamer Stu said...

I must admit I've dodged painting Austrians above 15mm for years as its so hard to get white looking good and I dislike the effect of modern dip shading on pure white.

'Lee. said...

Well, those two popped up on my screen at about 75mm scale Ian! Had to remind myself just how small the HH's actually are, the paint job is so sharp and precise even when viewed at that size :) Going to be another impressive unit. The infantry look great, especially flying their repainted colours

KEV. Robertson. said...

Super painting of the Austrians IAN- well done indeed. There is a battle on it's way. Regards. KEV.

Stryker said...

James, glad you like them, I guess that's what its all about!

Stryker said...

WM, yes red facings on white certainly pops!

Stryker said...

Stu, you can get away with pure white for old school Austrians which is far easier than painting in shades of grey.

Stryker said...

Lee, you shouldn't look too closely - these are best viewed at a distance of about 3 foot!

Stryker said...

Cheers Kev, I can hear the drums beating...

Rob said...

They're great - nice paint job and I particularly like the picket stake on the dragoon - it's touches like this that lift a figure. So you have kept you're snow goggles on anyway? Just as well as looking at that marvellous array of Kaiserliks I note some grenadiers who have not been stripped out for grenadier battalions. I think you'll have to paint some more for a complete grenadier unit and then backfill the line... ;o)

Eagerly awaiting the Napoleonic game.

Stryker said...

Rob, this has crossed my mind but I am a bit lacking in Grenadier figures. Also, the Grenadiers were brigaded together as Hungarians or Austrians so I would really need a whole unit of Hungarians!

Matt said...

A lovely spectacle. I do have a soft spot for the Austrian armies in their white uniforms.

Difficult to get right but when you do they are well worth the effort.

Stryker said...

Cheers Matt, I have been fascinated by Napoleonic Austrians since my youth so am very pleased to have these figures now!

Rob said...

I have to admit I wasn't aware that Austrians kept their 'German' and Hungarian grenadiers separate but it makes sense from language-based command and control viewpoint. Having that German-Hungarian split is nice for a bit of variety, although I've always appreciated the way they had just a few basic troop types and eschewed guards and other exotica and their uniforms are also delightfully free of frippery.

Stryker said...

Rob, I've been told that there is one example of a combined Grenadier battalion that mixed the two types so I could get away with it!

Rob said...

It’s your army, you can get away with anything you want... :o)

the Archduke said...

I was so busy enjoying the battle I nearly missed this piece of joy. You've been keeping quiet about these chaps, Ian. One of my most coveted figures and you have rendered them brilliantly. and you haven't fallen for the predictable green coats "just for a break from the white". Glorious parade. Well done, Sir. Can you share any more about the combined grenadier unit? This is news to me.

Stryker said...

Nigel, I'm lacking the figures to make up a full unit of Grenadiers so am looking for a way around it - one solution may be to stick some DK heads on some HH reproductions but it seems a drastic move!