Sunday, December 11, 2011

Napoleonic Russians from the 'Riazan' Regiment - 28mm Foundry


This is an 1812 period Russian infantry battalion whose colours identify it has having been recruited from the Riazan area of Russia.


To be perfectly frank, I need to paint Russian Napoleonics like I need a hole in the head. I actually finished this unit as a 'poke in the eye' to Sylvain who is currently lazily sitting on a pile of unpainted Victrix early-period Russians that he acquired last winter. When I told him that I was going to work on all my other projects PLUS match his Russian 'commitment' battalion-for-battalion he responded with typical Gallic style by saying (in his charming French accent), "Ah, is zis another one of your charming, how you say, challenge 'Gauntlets', Cuurt?  Pff, add it to the pile..."

Yeah, yeah, yeah, laugh it up, Pepe le Pew. ;)

Anyway, perhaps the Painting Challenge will put a fire under his butt, we'll see.


I quite like these Perry-sculpted Foundry castings (I think they were created late in their association with WF). They have great proportions, deep folds for shading and a lot of variation to give units greater character. I started these last February to experiment with Army Painter Quickshade and thought I'd get the unit done and off the table.


I went a little overboard on the groundwork but I'm still happy with how they turned out on the whole. The flags are by the indispensable 'Flag Dude'.


I have enough castings in The Lead Reserves to do a good portion of the 17th Division of  Baggovut's 2nd Corps which saw heavy action at Borodino. Cripes, yet another project on the roster...

20 comments:

  1. Very nice work. The look great en masse. Best, ean

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  2. Thanks guys! I find that the 15mm frontage we're using works particularly well with these tucked-in poses.

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  3. Great looking unit, you did a fantastic job on these and the groundwork looks great.

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  4. Excellent paintjob and basing! I also love the Warlord Games mill in the background!

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  5. These look just great!! I haven't started Naps yet, but I'm looking forward to getting the chance and this quite motivational!

    Christopher

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  6. Very nice bit of Soviet manpower, lovely work.

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  7. Very nice as usual Curt. Did you actually use the AP?

    John

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  8. Thanks for the kind words, guys!

    @The Belgian: Good eye, that windmill was a good buy from Warlord.

    @John: Yes, I did use Army Painter (Dark Tone for the last batch) but I was cautious and only applied one thin coat. I may try two coats in the future, but that is starting to defeat the purpose of it if it needs to cure for a day between coats...

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  9. What a lovely bunch of painted minis. Great painted and based.

    Greetings
    Peter
    http://peterscave.blogspot.com/

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  10. Lovely painting, and I really like the basing, too.

    What are the bases made of, please? I love how thin they are at the edge, I've never much liked the "step" at the edge of a base (even though all mine have one). I like your 15mm frontage basing, too.

    Cheers, Simon

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  11. Thanks Peter & Simon!

    @Simon: The bases are thin steel which I source from here:

    http://www.wargameaccessories.com/

    (Though I'm sure there is a supplier of a similar product in the UK.)

    I too like the low profile that the thin steel affords. Its also good in that it gives a little added heft to plastic figures - and it works well with magnetic storage.

    Best,

    Curt

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  12. Thanks Curt, I shall have to try that, myself.

    Cheers, Simon

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  13. Great looking unit. Very nicely done sir!

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  14. Thanks Greg and Danke, Mein Herr.

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  15. Hi Curt, I finally got loose and found your blog. Wow, this is some really great stuff.
    Have you tried Sharp Practice yet? You got some great toys for it.

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  16. @LTL Dad: Thanks for dropping by! Yes, I really like Sharp Practice, though we haven't had a game for awhile. I'm liking that "It is Warm Work" naval game you've got going. I'm going to have to suggest it to a friend here for us to try out. I'm still in awe of your 1:1 scale Napoleonics - brilliant stuff.

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Thanks for your comment! As long as you're not a spam droid I'll have it up on the blog soon. :)