Entry #12 to AHPC VIII: 1870s era Prussians in Demi Ronde

This week I decided to tap into my inner child and try my hand with some classic toy soldiers.

These 40mm beauties were sculpted, cast and cleaned (!) by my good friend John Bertolini. I always tease John, telling him that he's a Renaissance Man. Mr. Bertolini is a master timber-frame carpenter, enjoys the simplicity of manual labour, but also shares a  passion for food (his wife is a culinary writer), travel and history. He also has a great love of classic toy soldiers, especially those from late 19th and early 20th century Germany and Austria.  John participated in a past Challenge and you can see some of his wonderful work here.

As Greg has been entranced with all things Franco-Prussian lately so I decided to ask John if he could provide me with some suitable figures so I could riff on Greg's excellent work.

In toy soldier speak these figures are sculpted in the demi ronde style, meaning that they share elements of both classic two-dimensional figures and modern 'fully round', or three dimensional designs. I really find the style charming and always find myself smiling when I was working on them. When I was building-up the units I discovered that I needed some standard bearers and drummers. John, being his usual accommodating self, simply got out the greenstuff and balsa and made me a few on the fly - wonderful!  

A French drummer.

French standard bearer.

As to painting, I tried to go with the classic toy soldier style. So while there were areas where I couldn't resist to applying a modest highlight, I endeavoured to honour the figures and kept things fairly clean and minimalist. 

Same with the bases. No groundwork here, just a mottled effect with green paint to keep it nice, simple and toy soldier-like. The banner is from Warflag, with a bit of paint touchup.

The wonderful thing about working on these figures is how nicely they come together once they're all ranked up. I also love the sheer physical heft of them - with all this lead the bases have a substantial weight that just feels so wonderful in your hand. I don't know what it is, but the 'solidness' of the based elements really taps into my lizard brain - something that you can't find an equivalent with plastic figures.

As previously mentioned, John also provided me with a French battalion which I might take a whack at later. To be honest, what I'd really like to do is 1759 Plains of Abraham in this style as I think that it could be quite spectacular. John? Can you whip something up for me? C'mon, pretty please!

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Thanks for dropping in folks. Have a great week!

From Millsy: Franco-Prussian War Prussians, Clerics and Billman (80 points)

From Millsy:

This is my last batch. I really can’t fit anything else within the time remaining despite what I might wish. I’ve not quite reached my revised target but I’ve more than doubled my original one and painted just shy of 400 miniatures of various scales. Plus there was The Samurai Project. Not too shabby.

First up is 13 x Eureka Miniatures Prussians in 28mm from their Franco-Prussian War range. I’ve had these undercoated for so long I can’t put a date on when I bought them or why, which is both laughable and a sad indictment of the depths of my addiction. 

These are really quite lovely miniatures to paint, full of character and nice definition. The swords and flag pole are *very* thin and whilst they are correctly proportioned I fully expect there to be tears and super glue in their future somewhere. 

The paint job is sketchy in terms of historical accuracy, mainly because I don’t actually intend to use them for their what they represent. Instead, they will do stout service in games of pulp adventures or VBCW representing all sorts of weird and wonderful troops. Armed firemen springs to mind for starters. 

Finally and very last of all are three random 28mm miniatures from the lead pile which have been orphaned from their projects. I always seem to end up with a couple of these where painter’s block kicks in and they get put aside to await inspiration. The two clerics are Gripping Beast dark ages figs. 

The chap with the crazy assortment of weapons is a high medieval or early renaissance mercenary of some description. I think he might be Essex but can’t be sure. I do know I’ve had him as long as I can remember and this is his third time on the painting desk. 

That’s it! Hope you’ve enjoyed my offerings and thanks for the many positive comments. Til next year…

 We certainly have enjoyed your work, Millsy. The moustache on the fellow next to the standard bearer is awe inspiring. Very cool.

These lads of Millsy's rearguard will give him 80 points as a final volley. Well done! It has been a pleasure.