Refreshing Old 15mm Napoleonic Armies

Giving old figures new life... 

After posting my March Attack battle report, I received a few comments and messages about the figures that were in the photos.

They are mostly old Minifigs and Heritage 15s. Perhaps other makes that I don't recognise have found a place in the ranks. It is interesting to think about how many battles these veterans have fought.

This post is to show what goes into getting these pre-owned figures some love and making them table-ready for the modern gaming table. Nothing new or skilled about this - just a process. 

Getting the basing looking 'right' is always subjective. In smaller scales the basing is at least as important as the painting. It's a bit "meh" when I see people paint beautiful armies and base them using one type of static grass. It takes something away from the whole effect...just my opinion, of course.

I have been collecting these for a few years but acquired the bulk of the armies from eBay as large lots. It is more cost efficient to buy armies in lots rather than individual units or unpainted bits and pieces. I went for painted armies because the time and effort refreshing existing paint jobs is reduced compared to starting from scratch. Many were painted in the 1980's, some even earlier, so I wanted to include that legacy while making them more suitable for my gaming aesthetic.

I will go through the steps to get 18 small battalions (of 18 figures each) of French infantry completed.

After many hours of organising the various figures into units, removing them from bases and gluing onto new bases, I can now inspect them for painting.

Based on clear acrylic bases and organised into battalions. Sitting on their movement trays made of flexible plastic and matchsticks they seem a long way off being battle ready. A mix of uniforms and painting style make this challenging, but not difficult. Any broken bayonets, long lost, were replaced with little strips of plastic card.

The bases get some modelling paste, then dipped in sand left to dry overnight.

Next the bases get painted a dark brown using craft paints.

Once dry, the base brown gets a very rough dry brush with a tan colour.

A selection of 6 battalions just before painting begins. 

Hmmm... a bit to do.

Base colours added or touched up. Washes applied to blend the existing paint and add some depth. Looking a bit better now.

Highlights done and little touches added. These are not super neat, but it gives the effect I want.

First batch done - 12 more units to go...

All painted and outside for the first varnish spray.

The movement trays have had modelling paste thinly applied to hide the matchsticks and add strength. Then spray-painted a leather brown colour, only because that was what I had at hand.

Starting to look decent. Ready for flocking.

I always use three types of flocking to make them look more realistic and so they can blend with different wargame mats.

This is what I used. Two types of fine turf by Woodland Scenics and Noch Summer Grass. The latter is to blend in with my wargaming mats.

I recommend using at least one type of flock or static grass that matches your table.

First turf added with PVA glue. Random patches to begin with.

I am doing the movement trays at the same time.

Next, a green-er turf layer. Filling in most of the gaps. Looks OK at this point, but still not quite there.

I managed to knock the box everything was sitting on while doing the static grass stage and it got messed up...Fun times.

A furry creature came to inspect the damage, but was no help at all.

Next morning, everything has dried.

Flags added, unit labels added under the bases. I do this to keep them organised and, frankly, because I am bound to forget what each regiment is supposed to be.

Varnish spray once again to protect the paint, flags and seal in the flocking, at least a little bit.

You may notice almost none of the original brown of the bases is visible. This is because I fully expect the flock to wear off over the years and a bit of brown poking through will still look ok.

324 figures repainted, based and ready to go.

326 really - 2 Prussian Jaeger skirmishers were hanging around and joined the fun.

So that is the process. 

It takes time, but the result is a heap of units that I can proudly plonk on the table. Average paint job, average basing, but a pleasing and achievable affect that anyone can do.

Even if you don't like the end result, you may see things that are useful or kick start your own project!

Cheers,

Mick

28mm Napoleonic Bavarian Cavalry

Hi All,
Long time between posts.
I finished a 2nd Dragoon unit recently and thought it would be good to photograph all four units at once. All Foundry figures.

1st and 2nd Dragoons and 1st and 2nd Chevaulegers.

Hope you like the photos.

Cheers,
Mick

 All the cavalry

 Dragoons

 Chevaulegers

Some different angles 

 

 More angles...

 

The unit labels, in case I mix them up.

10mm Napoleonic Peninsula French

Here are the French forces to battle against the British from the previous post.

 

They are mostly Pendraken figures from the "old" range. Whatever that means. The only slight negative is that all the mounted command figures have the same pose.

 

Like the British they are based 6 figures to a 20mm square base, but the French only have 6 stands per battalion. So far I've painted 4 regiments, each with 3 battalions.

 

Mick



 The French array.

 A brigade of 2 regiments with an artillery battery.

A second brigade of 2 regiments. Leger battalions up front. 

 Chasseurs, Hussars in the first line followed by 3 regiments of cuirassiers.

Army command stand with the Emperor himself. 

 Out of focus look at a foot battery.

 Another angle of the cavalry.

Another angle of the infantry.

10mm Napoleonic British Peninsula





To begin the year with something a bit different I've decided to post some pics of the 10mm Napoleonics I was working on last year. (It's 2017 already here).

Space has become an issue at home and I wanted the challenge of painting figures of this size. I also wanted to play larger games with more units on the table.

Quite a while ago I got Andy Mac to paint a large number of British artillery and crews to kick-start the project. Andy has painted a large number of samples for both Pendraken and Blaze Away. The artillery are from the Bend Sinister (Redline) 10mm range. Half of the infantry are also Bend Sinister and the other half are Old Glory. They don't mix in the same unit but work well enough in the same army.

The biggest cheat was the flags. They were taken from Warflag and reduced to fit. Each side of the flag had to be cut out and glued. It was a bit fiddly but there was no way I could paint anything as well as that. Terribly painted flags would have dragged down the look, even at 10mm. 

Happy new year.
Mick

 Everything so far. Enough to play games with.

 A couple of Brigades of KGL. Bend Sinister figures with Old Glory skirmishers and officers.

 Two Guards Battalions and two line battalions plus a couple of companies of the 60th rifles. All Old Glory.

 Two Regiments of Old Glory Light Dragoons. Really pleased with the OG cavalry. Some of the Andy Mac artillery in view.

 The 'Army' Command stand with Wellington pointing at something.

 A divisional command stand.

 Another angle of the Guards infantry.

 The artillery reserve.

 RHA reserve.

Another angle of the group.

More French Revolution Infantry

Skirmishers - the latest addition to the collection. The skirmishers are from Eureka Miniatures.

28mm Napoleonic Russian Kuirassiers

Here are the first two of my 28mm Russian Kuirassiers. I have painted the Lifeguard Rgt ca.1812. These were the fellows who captured a French Eagle at Austerlitz. The minis are Front Rank Miniatures. I have about twenty more of them waiting for the paint brush.

28mm French Revolutionary Infantry

My latest French Revolutionary infantry, 

The minis are Front Rank Miniatures

28mm Young Cossack

Here is a young Cossack charging into battle. The mini is Foundry (I think) and the horse is from Mark Fenlon.

28mm Napoleonic Wurttemberg Army - Completed!

Greetings again.

 
I've been working on this army for the last 6-7 months and finally finished. Very satisfying project to do. I'm a bit over Napoleonics for while, though.

This really first started several years ago when I picked up a couple of Wurttemberg units from Newline Designs. Then they got rid of the range and I couldn't add to it. Then Front Rank came out with their range a couple of years ago. I bought enough for 4 more battalions and finished two (yellow facings) then lost interest. I revived it once I saw that Front Rank had finished the range.
 
The idea was to have enough for a stand alone force with enough variety to keep it interesting.
 
Totals are:
8 Battalions of Line infantry
2 Light battalions
2 Jaeger battalions
2 Chevauxleger regiments
2 Horse Jaeger regiments
1 Hussar regiment
2 6lb foot batteries (2 guns each)
1 12lb foot battery
1 6lb horse battery
includes all skirmishers and command
 
Flags are mostly Flags of War. A couple of Maverick Models flags as well.
Bases are 'magbases' from Shogun Miniatures.
 
Hope you like them.

Happy to answer any questions.
 
Cheers,
Mick
 

 These are the first ones I painted. I forgot to include the 8 skirmishers - oh well.

 

This was actually the last line unit I painted. I was relieved when I finished them

 

 Bit of detail on the flags.

 This regiment has the ex-Newline figures in the 2nd battalion. They are pretty good. I used Front Rank standard bearers though.

 Probably my favourite set of flags on these guys.

The pink was probably the most 'fun' to paint.

 

Nice close look at the flags

 Probably my favourite units. The lights. 4 ex-Newline skirmishers on the right.

 Some sources have red plumes and some show green. So I split the difference..!

Nice detail on the FR figures.

 I like the Jaegers. Based in 3s to give some spacing and because they rank up better.

 

Command groups look good.

 

A couple of command stands with the mounted commanders all together

 Close up of the officers

 

Horse Jaegers - pink facings

 

Horse Jaegers - Yellow facings

 1st Chevauxlegers

Close up of the rear rank.

2nd Chevaulegers. Ex-Newline.

 

Only had 10 figures so I've snuck in a FR figure and an ex-newline trumpeter to make up numbers.

Hiding in that 2nd rank,,,

Dragoons (regt #5) These were fun to paint.

 

The foot artillery in their cornflower blue coats.

 12lb guns are on the right. They are typical big gun models from FR.

Carriage colour is supposed to be 'stained wood'. So I used a wood colour.

 Nice angle, I think.

Horse artillery - one of the elite units of the army. Looks nice too.

 Some more detail shots.

Metal work is supposed to be yellow, but it looked terrible so I defaulted to black metal work.