Monday 5 May 2008

Fusiliers

Given the title of this blog, it's about time I added some of these gentlemen. As usual (when the range includes them) the figures I have chosen to use are Staddens. The first company, of twelve men, is done and shown in the photo below.



I've painted these figures to represent Fusilier Regiment 41. Bleckwenn shows the coat for this regiment being of a slightly lighter shade of blue than the norm: I've tried to indicate this by using a heavier highlight than usual. Bleckwenn does show some variety of shades of blue amongst the many regiments of the Prussian Army, but as I cannot read the german text of his books I'm not sure why this is. Duffy says that FR41 was transferred from Wurttemburg, so I wonder if the difference in shade in this case reflects the unit's origins.


I did paint these a little hastily. Sometimes I find the urge to get a unit finished is overwhelming, particularly when its a new figure. As a result, I've missed off some detail on the cuffs, and I am still wondering about whether to fix that or not.

10 comments:

Bluebear Jeff said...

I think that they look pretty darn good.


-- Jeff

johnpreece said...

So begins the road to Sittangbad.

Those look very nice figures, I don't have any of that casting, are they in good condition or was there much work to do in order to prepare them?

Andy Mitchell said...

They were in good condition: I suspect fusiliers aren't very popular compared with grenadiers or musketeers.

Der Alte Fritz said...

Interestingly enough, the figures are also a little bit smaller than the musketeer and grenadier figures that Stadden made. I have always wondered if this was done on purpose, or maybe it was a different sculptor.

I've been using the Stadden fusilier drummers with my two RSM fusilier units, because they are the correct size (i.e they do not look like drummer boys as the RSM drummers do).

They look good - keep at it and before you know it, you will have a whole regiment, and then an army, and then two armies... :)

Steve-the-Wargamer said...

...they sure do look good - I like the blue of the coat - it looks very effective!

...what paints do you use - acylics?

Andy Mitchell said...

I use acrylics for convenience. Coats are Games Workshop 'Midnight Blue' highlighted with Coat d'Arms 'Dark Blue'. Undercoating method is black undercoat with light-grey dry brushing to pick out detail before starting to colour in.

andygamer said...

I don't know if Stadden was doing it on purpose or not, but Prussian fusiliers were recruited from regions with shorter people. They were given their unique mitres to make them look larger than if they were wearing a tricorne. IIRC they also had shorter muskets than those used by the musketeers and grenadiers.

johnpreece said...

The cuffs look fine to me, but if you are wondering about them I would say ad the extra detail. It is maybe an hour or two's apinting versus twenty years or more of being uneasy every time you put them on the table.

PS. This is of course 'do as I say not as I do'.

old-tidders said...

looking good

-- Allan

MurdocK said...

NOT.

Unless there is damage, I advise starting on more troops rather than 'touching up' older ones.

Each has their own taste obviously, but the time used for such repairs will generally not give the same satisfaction as you get with another unit.

The best effect, on the table, comes with masses of troops. So perhaps once you have the two full armies that you plan to own finished, and have not made plans for the next two, then it might be time for such 'touch ups'.

I think that these troops look excellent as is by the way...