French Napoleonics, 1809

[Leon026]

Fairly significant update.... I've been painting quite a bit (mostly Austrians though!), but my French army is almost done. I still have another 2 more line battalions to paint (and an line combined grenadier battalion), but not sure whether to make those 2 line battalions regular line infantry, or Swiss (or something else). I was tempted with 1 line, 1 Joseph Napoleon battalion, but since I'm using a mixture of regular line infantry and line infantry with greatcoats (for added "realism"), I wasnt sure about the Joseph Napoleon battalion. Suggestions welcome!


Shot of the entire army:




From left to right,

1st Infantry Brigade (3 Ligne battalions, 3 Leger battalions. Still missing some skirmisher models that I need to do)


Cavalry Brigade (2 hussar regiments, 2 chasseurs regiments, and a lone non-pendraken lancer regiment. Eventually I'll get 2 more lancer regiments and make a seperate lancer brigade). Also division general staff with a Dragoon and Eclaireurs de la Garde as "escorts".


2nd Infantry Brigade (4 Ligne battalions, and 1 Leger battalion



What I might do is paint up another brigade general and equalize the brigade more and have around 4-5 battalions per brigade, as once those remaining infantry battalions are painted, I'll have 4 leger battalions, 1 combined grenadier battalion, and 9 Ligne battalions.

[Techno]

Very impressive ! 
Cheers - Phil

[Norm]

very nice - I like the way you do your artillery bases.

[paulr]

 

[bigjackmac]

Simply awesome!  Napoleonics kill me due to the sheer amount of basing and painting; good job sticking with i and turning out a fantastic army, very inspiring.

V/R,
Jack

[Leon026]

Its true, there's a lot of work to get to this point. I never imagined I'd end up doing Napoleonics of all things when I started painting Flames of War. Napoleonics always felt like one of those things "old people do" and play, because they werent cool enough to do WH40K! Truth is, I'm 30, and started painting napoleonics in various scales when I was 26.... so its hardly an old person thing. I think what got me into Napoleonics, is that I simply got bored painting WWII german camouflage all the time - and Napoleonics are so vibrant in their color that it was a welcome change.

[Techno]

Truth is, I'm 30, and started painting napoleonics in various scales when I was 26....

30 ?

You won't be struggling with your eyes playing silly B's yet, then......
Cheers - Phil

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Great work fella!

[Leon026]

No photo update, but I have decided on the next big project to work on....

Polish Vistula Legion in open/firing order (like my Legere, 6 figures to a base, as opposed to 8 figures in "closed order").

But I think I'm insane though, because....

- I plan on adding shako cords using string and super glue...

- I plan on having several of them be kneeling

- I plan to convert the shakos into czapkas with green stuff....


Who knows if I'll be successful or not, as this unit is going to be using figures I've put aside and were not originally planned to be part of my army, if things go horribly wrong, I can live with it.

I *should* be working on my Austrians and Bavarians but... something insane seems to intrigue me. Yea, once again, the Oooo Shiney syndrome.

[Leon026]

Hmm, it seems I'm not able to edit my post above. Oh well.

Made an interesting discovery... added shako cords to a test figure, painted it a little and used some shading, and the form is obscured enough that with some clever painting and shading you can make it resemble a czapka....





Bad contrast, bad lighting, but hopefully you can see the shako cords and such. Super quick paint job while wearing my contacts (I usually paint with glasses, as I can see better detail at that scale). Miniature used is a standard French line infantry figure.

[Techno]

That is definitely looking rather spiffy, Leon ! 

Regarding not being able to edit your post....There's a time limit of (I believe) half an hour to edit or delete your own posts. Though you can always ask one of the 'Mods' to do this for you after that period has elapsed.

Cheers - Phil

[Leon026]

It's been a very slow going due to my business trip, but here are some updates! It's actually taking quite a bit of work/time to get this far, but I think its worth it!


The work in progress using small string to make the shako cords....
...and then a little piece of paper to give the top of the shako to give it a 'square' look, and thus slowly making that into a czapka with a little painting to fool the eye. Only the grenadier and the mounted officer will wear czapkas (also because its too time consuming...)



And the test base for the unit, I started with the grenadier section just to see if it was worth pursuing the project. So far I'm happy with how it's turned out








As usual, for a unit in loose formation, I added kneeling units and to break the monotony, I added some winter clothing just to give it some more color.

[Westmarcher]

Good work, Leon. When you say you used 'small string' for the cords, what kind / make of 'string' are you using for this scale? I'm wondering if the same stuff can be used for drum cords and zouave turbans.

[Leon026]

sowing kit string - according to the roll (?) it says 60 (3-cord) 200m. I'm not much of a sowing person....

[Westmarcher]

Thanks, Leon.  First stop, Mrs Westie's sewing box ........