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Tuesday, April 9, 2019

Adventures of MSFoy

In a recent post on the ever entertaining blog, Prometheus in Aspic, MSFoy recounted his trials and tribulations of refurbishing many an Old School French Napoleonic figure.  Highlighting his pain and suffering brought about by this endeavor and lamenting the size of his growing Lead Pile, he announced the enlistment of a painting service to aid in reducing his unease.

 MSFoy's predicament piqued my interest as I know well the burden shouldered when tending to The Lead Pile.  With a sense of obligation to complete this task, prepping and painting all of these figures may seem indistinguishable from work.  Recalling a lesson from Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, this monumental undertaking may, indeed, be work rather than play to MSFoy.   How to transform the painting effort into play?  To a curious onlooker from afar and under no such obligation to tackle this lead pile, completing this monster project tends to look more like play and adventure.  An opportunity to help a friend, I think. 

 "Say, Tony, let me paint a little!"

 I offered up my services to relieve a small piece of this burden.  After my offer to help, others stepped up to lend assistance too.  A great, communal, old-fashioned barn raising was beginning to take form.  

 After a few email exchanges, a package of two dozen, mostly Les Higgins' 20mm French Napoleonics were shipped out to the USA.  When the package arrived, I opened the well-wrapped container and surveyed its contents.  One mounted officer and twenty-two infantry were carefully lifted from their wrappings.

 In two long painting sessions, all of the figures were prepped and painted to (hopefully) meet Tony's specifications.  Below are samples of my works before they shipped out for active duty in foreign wars.

With the figures finished and safely packaged for the their return trip to the U.K., my work is done.

 Since I was not obliged to paint these figures, this was not work and quite an enjoyable task to help a friend.  Thanks for the opportunity.  Now, I need to clean up.  There are still some spots of whitewash on my face and hands.  Any other takers?  Here, hold my brush...
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45 comments:

  1. Biblicrafts MiniaturesApril 9, 2019 at 12:42 AM

    Wonderful job and kind action! This clear well painted white is great!Well done!

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    1. Jonathan FreitagApril 9, 2019 at 5:45 AM

      The white is bright is it not? Glad you like them!

      Delete
  2. rrossApril 9, 2019 at 2:12 AM

    Very nice gesture and they have come up looking very nice Jonathan - I am sure MSFoy/Tony appreciates your help!

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    1. Jonathan FreitagApril 9, 2019 at 5:47 AM

      Keith, these old, Les Higgins' sculpts are still quite good. They were fun to paint and a good diversion from my regular painting habits.

      Delete
  3. Mark StrachanApril 9, 2019 at 2:43 AM

    Wow there are classic figures there Jonathan. Great work.

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    1. Jonathan FreitagApril 9, 2019 at 5:48 AM

      Classic figures that were new to me! For figures from the early 70's, I was impressed.

      Delete
  4. MSFoyApril 9, 2019 at 2:48 AM

    Very appreciative indeed - thanks again, Jon. Very much looking forward to meeting up with these chaps again. The charitable effort has been a double bonus for me - I'm sure I'm sleeping better as a result! Now, if I can just arrange to do the sleeping during night time, I'll have cracked it.

    The Freitag Battalion will be a treasured reinforcement - you can be certain of that!

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    1. Jonathan FreitagApril 9, 2019 at 5:49 AM

      Glad to lend a hand, Tony!

      My hope is that they pass muster upon their debarkation and review in their new home.

      I hope they fight well and die hard.

      Delete
  5. PrufrockApril 9, 2019 at 3:15 AM

    You are a champion, Jon!

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  6. GonsalvoApril 9, 2019 at 4:06 AM

    The speedy brush paints, and having painted, moves on! I am just prepping my own battalion right now for painting, and it will take rather longer than yours did for me to complete them!

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    1. Jonathan FreitagApril 9, 2019 at 5:52 AM

      Best wishes in fielding a battalion in Tony's call to arms! I look forward to seeing your work. What are your impressions of the Les Higgins' sculpts?

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    2. GonsalvoApril 9, 2019 at 2:44 PM

      They are quite neat little sculpts. I have painted a few 15's in the past, and didn't enjoy that scale at all. The 20's remind me a bit of my original 25mm Scruby figures, but better detail and a definite notch smaller. Overall, I like them so far!

      Delete
    3. Jonathan FreitagApril 9, 2019 at 4:02 PM

      I thought they were neat sculpts too.

      Delete
  7. Ed MApril 9, 2019 at 5:00 AM

    You've described the balance between the "chore" and the "job" that painting figs can be--and what a novel idea this project was (most intriguing!).

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    1. Jonathan FreitagApril 9, 2019 at 5:53 AM

      Ed, I bet there is still room to throw your brush into the ring if you so desire.

      Delete
  8. Mike VellaApril 9, 2019 at 6:02 AM

    Well done Jonathan for a great paintjob and act of kindness. I'm pretty sure they will make the grade with anyone.

    Love the pose of that mounted officer!

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    1. Jonathan FreitagApril 9, 2019 at 6:20 AM

      Thanks! When I used to ride, a horse with head down and back leg in the air meant one thing: it was about to throw its rider! Perhaps the officer is bracing for this event?

      Delete
  9. Mad PadreApril 9, 2019 at 6:28 AM

    Well done Jonathan. They are lovely. I painted a Spanish battalion for Tony some years back, in return for some acts of kindness he lavished on me, so I like to think that your chaps and my chaps will meet together in battle some day. I am sure your figures will do well - for a while. :)

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    1. Jonathan FreitagApril 9, 2019 at 7:47 AM

      Thanks, Michael! If we cannot meet in person to do battle, perhaps, at least our miniature counterparts will.

      Delete
  10. NormApril 9, 2019 at 10:42 AM

    Lovely job and a step outside of your usual style. Out of interest, I have never been involved. In the mailing of painted figures, but I have moved house with my figures in what I thought was secure packing, but never-the-less got damage by the time I unpacked at the other end .... How do should painted figures be packaged for posting?

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    1. Jonathan FreitagApril 9, 2019 at 11:35 AM

      Thank you, Norm.

      For packing painted figures, my method depends whether the figures have been based or not. In this case, I used and recycled the method Tony used in shipping the unpainted figures to me. Tony placed the figures in two layers separated by small bubble wrap, put this package inside a small plastic Tupperware type container having a snap tight lid, taped and then wrapped this container in a layer of bubble wrap, and then placed into a padded envelope. The unpainted figures arrived without damage. The bayonets are brittle on the figures so I am surprised none were lost in transit.

      For the return trip back to UK, I did similar and reused Tony's plastic container. Rather than figures layered between bubble wrap, I sandwiched the figures between two pieces of soft, form padding before placing in container. With a bit of luck, these painted figures will arrive intact.

      Delete
  11. Christopher(aka Axebreaker)April 9, 2019 at 10:56 AM

    They look real nice Jonathan and very kind of you to help out a fellow wargamer I'm sure he will be quite pleased.

    Christopher

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    1. Jonathan FreitagApril 9, 2019 at 11:42 AM

      Thanks, Christopher! If Tony is unhappy, he can return them and I will refund his purchase price. ha ha.

      Delete
  12. The Angry LurkerApril 9, 2019 at 11:30 AM

    Good job that man!

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  13. DartfrogApril 9, 2019 at 12:53 PM

    Great looking unit, and a good opportunity to see some figures you would otherwise never paint. Plus your paying it forward, nice.

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    1. Jonathan FreitagApril 9, 2019 at 1:23 PM

      Thanks! Good point about seeing figures I would not otherwise see.

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  14. Lawrence HApril 9, 2019 at 4:33 PM

    Extremely generous of you Jonathan. I must admit I know how he feels when the lead pile ceases to be a source of pleasure and becomes one of stress instead.

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    1. Jonathan FreitagApril 9, 2019 at 7:31 PM

      Lawrence, it was fun to help out and I finished the battalion over one weekend. A lot of gain for not much pain.

      My own lead pile is sizable. I try not to think about it but try to simply whittle it away. What I need to do is STOP buying.

      Delete
  15. StewApril 9, 2019 at 8:00 PM

    A very nice helping hand to your friend and a good example of how this community of ours can come together. Well done my man, I tip my hat to you.
    😀

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    1. Jonathan FreitagApril 10, 2019 at 5:36 AM

      Thanks, Stew! I was not alone in answering the call to arms.

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  16. Michal DwarfCryptApril 9, 2019 at 8:27 PM

    Great work sir!

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  17. Matt CrumpApril 10, 2019 at 12:03 AM

    Nice work.......my painting is very much NOT work which I why some of my gaming buddies can’t believe when I say I am taking some figures with me on holiday 🙂

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    1. Jonathan FreitagApril 10, 2019 at 5:39 AM

      Thank you. Painting is an enjoyable activity for me too but I have never taken them on holiday!

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  18. Ray RousellApril 10, 2019 at 3:19 AM

    Great work Jonathan, I bet Tony will be very pleased when he gets hold of them.

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  19. caveadsum1471April 10, 2019 at 4:00 AM

    Nice act of kindness and a lovely unit!
    Best Iain

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  20. fireymonkeyboyApril 10, 2019 at 7:40 AM

    I'll have to check out his blog - I'm curious to see all the different elements gathered together!

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    1. Jonathan FreitagApril 10, 2019 at 7:53 AM

      I have not seen a parade review from Tony showing all of his collection painted from various hands. That would be a good thing to see.

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  21. Dmitry SvidloApril 12, 2019 at 1:54 AM

    Great work and kind act, Jonathan.
    Also it's a brilliant idea I should engage some friends of mine to crack down on my long term project:)

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    1. Jonathan FreitagApril 12, 2019 at 2:00 AM

      Thank you! I am sure many of us could use a helping hand to get our Lead Piles under temporary control. Which long term project of yours needs the most help?

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    2. Dmitry SvidloApril 12, 2019 at 8:39 AM

      Well, it's a sad story. I've been making a Byzantine army over ten years :) Besides other, I've run a blog to push myself and eventually finalize this project. I'm glad that I get support from hobby mates via the blog.

      Delete