Saturday 20 March 2010

Austrians going great guns

I'm making decent progress with the Austrians, even if I do say so myself. I've now finished 5 48 man btns, 12 skirmish figures plus this battery pictured. I've also done the guns and half the crew for a second battery.
On top of this I'm 2/3rds of the way through a sixth 48, which I'm hoping to complete this week/end, though it might be tight as I'm away for work for 3 days tomorrow.
Anyway,its decent progress given my 2 year timeframe for finishing this stage (this stage? Gulp!) of the Austrian army, puts me about a quarter of the way through the infantry which I reckon is pretty damm good.  
Most importantly, the psychological aspect is fine too, I'm not remotely bored with painting white infantry, quite the opposite, and on the whole my technique is improving both in terms of quality and speed which is really encouraging. I even now look foward to starting yet another 48.
However, I'm not going to do that, once these 6 btns are complete (tonight!) I will start on some cavalry,probably a dragoon regt in white. I expect this to take a little while, I will replace the swords with pins and have to convert a standard bearer as Elite don't make one (havn't worked that one out yet, but it can't be too tricky). I'll also do a "how to" on the horses as I go.
These guns are straightforwards to do. I went for a speed paint on the gunners which were a doddle. An evening's work for 8 (no muskets, no backpacks!).
I sprayed them with a desert tan primer, then painted the black plus grey highlights, washed the tan coats in burnt umber oils, did the flesh, washed and highlighted, facings in sienna finished in red. Grey/white belts and breeches which are then gone over in white. A few yellow and gold touches, and they are done.
The figures are half and half Elite and Connoissuer. I had about 30 gunners from Connoissuer sitting in "the Box" so I've just added extra Elite figures to bulk them out. I would have done seperate batteries but the pose mix of the Connoissuer stuff I had was a bit uneven so I decided to mix them. I think they look just fine with a mix any way. I have enough figures for about 4 x 4 gun batteries so they will become the 6Lber crews then the 12lbers will get all Elite crews. That is a little down the line though, I'll get these 6lb units done before worrying about that.

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8 comments:

john de terre neuve said...

Very nice work Chris, I am looking forward to seeing a photo of your complete massed Austrian division. I suspect it is going to look quite impressive. I like the look of Elite figures in mass, I presume the cavalry will be the same.

John

Galpy said...

Yes therse are really looking nice love the way you've don e the wood on the guns, nice job
Kent

Chris Cornwell said...

Kent,
The guns are the easiest part- spray in pale tan, pick out all the metal in black, apply a thin wash of burnt umber oils, then dry brush the barrel in brass and a little dry brush on the black in steel.

jmilesr said...

Amazing progress to paint that fast and keep the quality at an exceptional level. I'll second John's comment about looking forward seeing the whole army together.

I look forward to the horse painting tutorial you mentioned in the post

Doc Smith said...

We do like the Elite guns - they're so... substantial! Big and solid, with heaps of detail. Elite Austrian artillery were amongst the first 25mm figures I ever collected - always have a soft spot for 'em - died by their guns very well too!

Great guns Chris!

Cheers,
Doc

Chris Cornwell said...

Sorry Doc,the gun models are actually Connoissuer! I already had them (and about 20 of their mates) in the box of left over bits although I was short of a few barrels. To be honest, although I like the Elite guns (particularly the Russians), sometimes I find them a little too chunky. Most (all?) of my gun models are Connoisuer

BFG said...

These look fab Chris! That is some going on the totals as well!
I am inspired to try some Italians again, do you think the Army painter will work on these?

Chris Cornwell said...

Not sure what figures you mean for Italians?...but white coats with a bit of the softest AP and then a white highlight will be fine have a look here:

http://saxondog.blogspot.com/