A Bit Of Help Please

Does anybody know the Airfix Magazine numbers to the original articles on converting HO/OO figures for:

Napoleonic French artillery limbers/caissons

Napoleonic Prussian Army

Napoleonic Austrian Army

I was provided with scans of these articles many years ago but lost them when my old computer died.

Regards,

Matt

Hurrah, Boys, Hurrah

At last something new to post! I have been very busy at work lately plus I have been painting a lot of plastic Napoleonic figures for a friend so my own personal figure output has dropped massively. I could have finished some more Airfix Waterloo figures but decided a short break from all those shakos and plumes was in order. What could be more suitable than some boys in blue?

Newline Designs 20mm ACW

 I must admit to having taken advantage of the recent Newline Designs sale and bagged myself a few hundred figures from their various 20mm ranges. All things considered the excellent quality of the sculpting vs the very reasonable pricing (even without the sales discount!) makes Newline a very attractive proposition. Plus they are in "Gods Own Scale".

Flags are GMB from their 15mm range.

I have some Rebs up next with some Zulu's after that; until then I hope you like my latest output which I think is best appreciated while humming "The Battle Cry of Freedom".

A Couple of Old Pictures

It has been a little quiet on the painting front but I did manage to retrieve some old pictures from (more than a few) years back:

Newline French Infantry in Greatcoat FR23 Refs

All figures from the excellent Newline Designs 20mm Napoleonic range. All figures now in the collections of other wargamers!

Newline French Dragoons FR11 Refs

I have started some more Newline Designs 20mm ACW figures which are coming on quite nicely. They will be my next proper post next week but for now please settle for a little nostalgia from the days when my figure output was much, much higher!

Proof of Life

It has been a little busy round here of late but I did manage to finish a few French Infantry for the Airfix Battle of Waterloo Project.

2 Infantry bases for "Age of Eagles" Rules

These are all "vintage" yellow figures so they do not suffer from the excessive flash that I encountered on the artillery. 

Hopefully I can get the remaining bases complete in the next week or so.

2nd Hussars Update

 I am continuing to reduce the horde of figures in the painting queue in order to get to grips with the larger formations required for the "Airfix Battle of Waterloo Project". Some figures have been simply put away: but others actually are getting finished, like these RSM95/Pax Britannica 20mm French Hussars.

2nd Hussars standing in reserve....and looking just dandy!

I have re-based them to a more generic standard as these fellows will not just be fighting the British in Spain and added a further two figures. The standard bearer is a simple enough conversion - a standard trooper with sword removed and given a flag pole instead. The Eagle is fashioned from Greenstuff - as is the busby. Flag from the AB Miniatures 18mm range.

Perhaps I need to add an Elite Company stand as well? The busby does look better than I hoped for.

I have to admit to being a huge admirer of these old figures. "Back in the day" I had a fairly sizeable Austrian/French collection which I used to buy mail order from the UK importer "Vandrad". The paint job back then really did not do the delicate detail justice, so hopefully these fellows start to make amends. 

I am now working through the first Airfix French infantry brigade and the 15mm FPW artillery. Not sure which will be finished first.

Airfix Waterloo French Foot Artillery

Finally the Airfix Battle of Waterloo Project has started. Here are the 3 guns and crew supplied in the big "new" Airfix Waterloo Farmhouse set. Moulded in a white plastic there was an awful lot of flash to try and remove showing the age of the moulds.

Nostalgia in a box.

However I have been blitzing ebay lately and have more than enough yellow plastic "originals" to make life easier next time round.

I have a lot of half finished figures in the painting queue so the next few posts will appear to be a little random - starting with those 15mm French artillery pieces for the Franco-Prussian War that I promised months ago.

Hinton Hunt Wargame 11th June 2016

Yesterday morning I made an early dash to Bath (lovely part of the country) to play a thoroughly enjoyable Napoleonic wargame using vintage Hinton Hunt from the collections of Ian and Roy.

I played the part of Wellington and had to settle to leading my side to second place. Your intrepid War Correspondent did not make extensive notes so I can only leave you with snapshots of the action from the Allied side of the table!

The Left Flank (Picton)

The serried ranks of Picton's Division in the early morning haze.

The French advance against Picton

The Swiss enter the Church yard...

...and get mauled horribly!

They didn't stay around much longer.

 The Centre (Wellington)

The source of much hilarity throughout the day and the only troops responsible for inflicting casualties on every nationality on the table-The Rocket Troop. Hurrah!

Napoleons Old Guard advance - which was to be my undoing.

With support from the combined Grenadiers and the guys with sky blue pompoms!!!

Despite the excellent musketry of the Silesian Landwehr (my Death Star unit on the table as it turned out!) the Old Guard contact the Allied line. The writing was on the wall for yours truly.

The British Naval Contingent's last stand in the Centre.

 The Right Flank (Blucher)

Over on the right flank the largest collection of A class cavalry ever assembled. The horse artillery piece would have been REALLY useful had it not been destroyed so quickly!

The whole right turned into a cavalry mincer for the Allied cavalry. Blucher's mid afternoon quote"Sorry I appear to have lost the cavalry" was a masterclass in understatement!

Blucher's infantry denying the French the 1VP for undisputed ownership of the "rock" - despite the constant threat from the remaining French cavalry.

 Games end!

The Centre has collapsed, the left flank is definitely ours and the right is holding on. Unfortunately the number of Allied routing/destroyed units tipped the balance against us!

All that remains is to say a huge thank you to Ian, Roy, Tony, Clive and Nigel for a thoroughly enjoyable game. Plus thanks to Mrs S for having us and the delicious food!

The Airfix Battle of Waterloo Project

I have recently made a very important purchase. Inspired by the work on my favourite vintage wargames blogs I have decided to try once more at a major Airfix project, this time to recreate the Battle of Waterloo using nothing but Airfix HO/OO soldiers.

Its a BIG box!

 The box contains the equivalent of one box of each of the figures in the Waterloo range together with the farmhouse, a base, some rather useful carts plus glue, paints and brushes. 

The fact that such a project can be done is beyond argument, however the question is how good can the models look? Unlike the "Airfix ACW Project" which I started and then (foolishly) abandoned all those years ago these figures will be getting the "full beauty treatment". 

The French artillery have been started. The rule have been decided-"Age of Eagles" the Napoleonic variant of  "Fire and Fury".

The first figures will be up for show after a small family break in the South of France.

The Franco Prussian War in 15mm

It has been a long while since my last post. Lots of stuff too boring to tell but I have decided to give it another go and so I present you with my most recent work, the Franco Prussian War in 15mm.

 

The figures are Essex Miniatures which I find are very cleanly cast and easy to paint. The basing system is intended for the next member of the Fire and Fury rules family - the "Age of Valor" which covers 19th century European warfare, hopefully to be released in 2017.

 

The units are the second battalions of the 45th & 71st Line regiments. The flags are from Flags for the Lads 20mm range (sadly no more) scanned and reduced to fit the smaller scale.

I am currently working on some supporting French infantry and a sprinkling of artillery. Oh, and a big tank kit!