Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad

As the photos show, the second squadron of Hohenzollern Cuirassiers is, at last, complete.  The time taken to complete a squadron is not down to the painting required: as with any low-detail figure, painting is actually relatively quick and easy.  The problem lies with the preparation: each figure has three cast components and another seven items made out of wire, milliput and paper.  Added to that, there's the need to fix any casting flaws with more milliput.  I am reminded of the Douglas DC3, an aircraft that was described as a "a collection of parts flying in loose formation."

Wire, Milliput and Paper in Line

The third squadron is already cast and is now undergoing assembly.  With the completion of the rank and file now plainly on the horizon, I need to decide what to do about the regiment's officers.  I'd prefer to complete the regiment using all my own figures: my first attempt to do so will be by converting the trooper figure by cutting off straps and modelling coats without turnbacks using milliput.

Meanwhile, my attempts at sculpting some new figures is going badly.  I have an acceptable dolly now, but building up the uniform on top of it is proving a frustrating task.  It seems that whenever I add milliput to the dolly, the stuff is determined to adhere to anything else.  However, I shall persevere: the only way to succeed at something like this is to work at it and learn from each failure.

Mangling The Milliput

My experiment with creating sculpting dollies is progressing slowly. The first problem was deciding what gauge wire to use. 1/32" brass rod would seem to offer the right degree of stiffness, but might be a bit thick compared to the limbs of the dolly I am trying to create. I have some garden wire that's thinner, so I'll try making a dollies using both types of wire.

The Milliput Production Line

The photo shows the two dollies in progress. One is still attached to the paper template, the second has been detached from the paper so that its back can start being rounded out. As can be seen, I haven't followed the shape of the template as well as I might. But I am not sure how much effort I should put into that kind of detail yet: if I acheived decent proportions at this stage, all that might be wasted if it doesn't look right once the dolly is bent into the required pose. This is something I'll appreciate better once I've gotten to the later stages on this, my first attempt.
I have also shown the production line for my cuirassier's muskets. I use a single template with eight muskets so I can create multiple muskets per session: I chose eight because this quantity doesn't get too boring to do all at once. Brass rod bent to shape, rods with milliput (crudely) applied still glued to the template, some muskets needing more milliput where I've accidentally broken it off, and the finished article, is shown. I have found it easier to shape the milliput after it has set rather than be too particular when applying it: the muskets are so thin that the milliput can be filed to the correct shape very quickly.

Limits And Renewals

There's only a few figures left in my metal molehill (as opposed to the normal wargamer's metal mountain). I won't be ordering any new material until the new year, so it's time to reflect on what I'm going to do next.

The first decision is that my Croat infantryman isn't up to the standard I want. Rather than waste time on creating a battalion from a figure I'm not happy with, I'm going to try working on the milliput master a bit more to see if I can improve it. The cuirassier, on the other hand, is good enough. I've just used the last of my small pile of unwanted figures (including the Croat rejects) to cast another four cuirassiers: with these painted the regiment will be at half strength. So I'll order some white metal to cast more from, along with silicone rubber for new moulds in the new year.

I really like the idea of building units using my own figures, and it's hard to restrain myself from grandiose ideas about sculpting all the figures for my Reichsarmee. I have learnt a few things from my first attempts and from the mistakes made so far - both on the techniques of sculpting and when making moulds. So it's worth taking time to explore further what I can acheive. This is where working on a solo project is advantageous: I have no schedules to keep to, there's no battle marked on the calendar that I must be ready for. So even if my experiment does not produce anything usuable, there's no harm done and I can enjoy the journey.

If I'm looking at creating multiple figures then I need to use a process that ensures some uniformity in scale and proportions. I shouldn't be trying to sculpt each individual figure totally from scratch. So my next step is to make some dollies - basic human forms without any detail - that can be used to simplify the process that has to be gone through each time I want to create a new figure.

Not Quite Vitruvian Man

As usual with my sculpting efforts, I will cheat like an Member of Parliament filling out his expenses. The trick, I think, is to replace art with a more methodical approach that can be used without any great skill. So this time I will use a 2D template (hence the image, not quite Vitruvian Man), as I did previously with the horse, to improve my chances of creating a figure with acceptable shape and form. I'm going to experiment with laying a wire skeleton on the template and then filling in the figure with milliput. If I leave the areas around the joints bare, the figure can be bent at the joints to pose it.

In my teenage years the only Charge! style units I possessed that were at full strength were artillery batteries and light infantry. The Airfix French Napoleonic Artillery set probably dominated the battlefield wherever Airfix models could be bought by teenagers (their Royal Horse Artillery set was ignored by aspiring European dictators for providing fewer cannon per box). Building a light infantry battalion took a little more effort, but with a single box of Waterloo British Infantry, painted as 95th rifles, you had figures to spare.

Innkeepers Eye View Of Freikorps Le Noble. Stadden Grenadiers With Milliput Hats

So it is something of a surprise to find it has taken me two years in my project before the first unit of light infantry is fully mustered. But, finally, the full complement of officers and musicians has now been added to Freikorps Le Noble. I have to say I do have some qualms about how those drummer boys are going to fare mixed up with such a desperate crew.

More Of The Same

Using the Stadden grenadier for the rand and file does cause some difficulties of scale. Stadden seems to have sized them to fit the Potsdam giants of Frederick the 1st and so they tower over their officers. That reminds me again of the old Airfix days where Highlanders and the Old Guard were both surprisingly puny compared to other troops.

A Swirling Mass Of cavalry?

"Now the whole area forward of the Sittangwald was filled by a swirling mass of struggling cavalrymen". This is the description to be found in Charge!, in the opening stages of the Battle of Sittangbad. I will be guilty of hyperbole if I ever use anything like it myself. A more truthful description will be that large numbers of cavalrymen sat on their horses looking at each other. There is a downside to the sedate, parade ground poses that I prefer for my figures.

Cavalry Yes, Swirling No

As the photos show, the first squadron of my Hohenzollern Kurassiere is complete. It's slightly late, as I can happily state is only appropriate for a unit of the Reichsarmee: the only wonder is that they mustered with such useful accessories as a horse for every man.

Not Really A Mass Either

Painting up that squadron was great fun, and I shall use the enthusiasm generated to see me through a few less enjoyable tasks. I have a fair few figures - all in the eye-candy class - that have been waiting to be painted while I got ready the figures that were absolutely necessary for my refight of Action. So while the rank of file of all the units involved were present and correct on the field of battle, a fair number of their officers and drummers (gaudy fellows with overly complex uniforms that I hate painting) remained in barracks.

The first unit to turn to is my battalion of light infantry. I have just one officer to look after 24 men of Le Noble's Freicorps. That's not enough command and control to get a rabble like that out of the nearest Bierkeller, let alone keep them in line when the bullets start flying.

The Return of the Prodigal Dilettante

I'd gotten past the hurdle of sculpting the figures. I'd made the moulds. I'd even cast some figures. But there it all stopped, while the sun beckoned and it was good to be outside. But now it's the annoying cold part of the year when the more naive type of goose is getting fat, and there's nothing to be done in the garden except shiver and bolt back inside the house as quickly as possible. All very depressing, but it does at least persuade me to get back to the various modelling projects that have lain unattended for so very long.

The priority job (that's common wargamer parlance for the most enjoyable bit) is to work on the first squadron of my Reichsarmee Cuirassiers. I'd cast a full squadron's worth of these gentlemen before breaking off for the summer. The next task, cleaning up what can fairly be described as very bad castings is quite a lengthy one. But, with commercial cavalry figures, I always had to cut off reins and saddle blankets, so the amount of time involved isn't so very different and there's less damage done to fingers by my clumsy knifework.

One unresolved problem from last winter was what musket to equip the cuirassiers with. I started by looking at the sensible suggestion that has been made of simply buying some muskets. But looking at those available, I can't find any that suit my tastes. Separate muskets by Stadden or Suren - in the slender style I prefer - aren't available, those muskets that I have seen are typical examples of 'cartoon fodder'.

The temptation at this stage was to avoid the problem by not issuing the cuirassiers with any muskets at all. There's some justification for doing this: in the Reichsarmee, where a fair proportion of the infantry would be lacking a properly functioning musket, the cuirassiers would very probably be the last to receive them. But I decided against this easy solution on the non-historical grounds that the more clutter I can add to the figures the less obvious the flaws in the castings are.

So my plan is to make my own. This shouldn't be too difficult: after all, most of an 18th Century musket is the barrel. I can model that in about 5 seconds flat by cutting a length of brass rod. As usual, my intention is to cheat as much as possible and use a paper template as a guide: no relying on that artist's sense of scale and proportion that I don't possess. The Wikipedia article on 'musket' includes a lovely jpeg of the article: this can be suitably scaled and then printed out. As an aside, I'd suggest doing this as a useful exercise for anyone who doesn't understand my criticism of commercial castings: the real thing is very elegant and slender compared to what is on offer from figure manufacturers. But be warned: the revelation may be an uncomfortable one.

The production process is very simple and surprisingly quick: a paper template with lots of muskets on it is printed out. 1/32" brass rod is cut to the length of the barrel with about 7mm extra to be incorporated into the stock (actually as these are for cavalry I have chosen to shorten the barrel considerably). The brass rod is bent where the stock meets the barrel. It is then lain on the template and milliput is used to form the stock. Subsequent applications of milliput can be used to add as much detail as wanted; but the thing to note here is that the need for most detail is illusory because properly scaled it's too thin to be visible. If detail has to be horribly overscale, I'd prefer it to be left out.

Good Cop, Bad Cop

The photo shows the completed figure with a Suren cavalryman on Stadden horse for comparison on the left. My brass rod/milliput musket is clearly visible and is, I think, pretty successful. The figure as a whole is shown to disadvantage when placed next to what I still consider to be a first rate commercial figure. I hope to complete the full squadron within a week and this will show better whether it works as a wargames figure.

'The Emperor thought the moment propitious to settle accounts with the arrogant and overbearing Petrus, and despatched an Army under the Archduke Guitar to seize and sack the Electoral captital'.

It is in small pieces of narrative such as this that I find a great deal of the charm in Charge! that has kept me interested in wargaming the past forty years. The image of a crumbling empire with its well-connected generals of doubtful talent leading their long-suffering troops to war somehow has great appeal. It is difficult to know exactly why - perhaps it resonates with real life experience and can be fun when the only lives at risk are little metal ones.

Oddly enough, I have never in the past attempted to build an Imperial Army. Perhaps I have been deterred by the reputation of an Army remembered for its routs rather than for its victories. So it is the blue-coated opponents of the Emperor to whom I have been drawn in the past. It is time to make amends for this shameful adherence to what, from my newly adopted viewpoint, can be considered as a rebel cause.

Figure manufacturers seem to view the ReichsArmee with the same amount of enthusiasm as the average wargamer. We can't really blame them for this: a manufacturer who devoted much of their time to such an army would starve due to lack of demand for their figures. So it is especially important to check that all the troop types I want are available.

The infantry of the line will use the Stadden Prussian musketeer figure: so long as I choose regiments whose uniform had a 'Prussian cut' this should not be too inaccurate. Casting my own figures would be very economical, but would be too time consuming given the number required. Light infantry will be provided by an Austrian contingent in the form of home-sculpted and cast Croats. No Imperial general left home without some of these gentlemen.

Uhlan - From Remarks on Cavalry, by Warnery

For heavy cavalry it was an easy decision to raise two regiments of cuirassiers, again using my own castings. Light cavalry are a more vexing problem. The armies in Charge! had a regiment of lancers on each side. This does not appeal to me as lancers are an unusual troop type in the Seven Years war, receiving little more notice in the histories than a few unkind remarks about Frederick's Bosniaks. Also, the dress of these lancers tends to be far too exotic for my taste. Hussars and Chevaulegers are more representative of the army and the period, but I have decided to evade the issue entirely by not raising any light cavalry regiments at all. My excuse for the omission is that, while light cavalry are unmatched for utility on campaign, they appear on the battlefield as inferior to their heavier brethren in what is only their secondary role. As I only intend to fight battles and not campaigns I feel it is best to field additional heavy cavalry in their place.

The gunners will almost certainly be Stadden AWI British manning an Elite Miniatures 6pdr as suggested by Der Alte Fritz. This option combines elegant figures with an elegant gun.

One disappointment in basing an army on the Reichsarmee is the lack of references for it. Project SYW does have some uniform information, and the detail it gives on its recruitment are fascinating. The thought of the single cavalryman owed by the Abbess of Gutenzell turning up for duty conjures up quite a picture.