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Saturday, September 16, 2023

French Infantry circa 1799

Despite a steady stream of 18mm SYW/WAS figures slowly shuffling through the painting queue, I interrupted the normal process flow to toss in something new.  Well, not new, actually.  These figures have been sitting in the Ready to Paint box for nigh-on two years.  Possibly even longer.  Looking into this holding box, there are a handful of units for my yet to see the table 1799 Suvorov in Italy project.  Now, some of the French and Austrians have seen action in 1800 campaigns and even at Rivoli many years ago.  The Russians, however, have yet to see a die rolled in anger.
Anyway, sorting through boxes and packs of figures strewn about seemingly everywhere, I committed to working some of these already black undercoated figures into the painting line.  I needed to turn over some of this old inventory before the fall undercoating season begins with the arrival of shortened days and falling temperatures.  Besides, these figures have been curing long enough!
Opening up the Painting Log, I see the last time any new units were added to this project was nearly three years ago.  Three years?  My, how time flies!  To correct for this long hiatus, off the workbench today are 39 figures spread across three French battalions.  All figures are AB miniatures.  I will try to push some more of these units into the painting queue before three years have passed.

What is on the painting desk now?  Hanoverian cavalry and Spanish foreign infantry regiments and cavalry for the SYW/WAS projects.  

51 comments:

  1. Oh, beautiful looking unit sir!
    Excellent uniforms in that minis.

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  2. Jonathan - your lead mountain of itself is an interesting part of your collection. Nice unit and as always the whites are perfect (I sound like a TV soap powder advert!).

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    1. Norm, like an iceberg, only a small portion of the inherent danger in my Lead Pile is visible to readers of the blog.

      Glad you like the whitework. As you know very well by now, I like my armies to have that "lived-in" look.

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  3. Wonderful figures turned out there Jonathan your to do queue appears endless, but don't we all have room for more?🙂

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  4. Great work on those AB sculpts, which as always are wonderful figures. You've really given them quite a nice worn look, or so it seems to my tired eyes this early morn, with the great coats having a lived in look:).

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    1. Thank you, Steve! Yes, as mentioned to Norm, above, my figures have that look of hard campaigning look.

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  5. These are great looking figures. Great casts and your painting foes, as Steve said, give them that worn look. Can imagine them sing the Marseillaise as they trudge down a muddy road.
    Reminds me I haven’t finished Eagles Over the Alps.
    Chris/Nundanket

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    1. AB figures are really first rate sculpts. Raely is there ever any flash and clean-up is a snap. Eagles Over the Alps is good inspiration for the period. It certainly was for me.

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  6. Greta stuff Jon - this is an era I have considered more that once, but have so far managed to resist!

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  7. Very nice. Interesting to see the worn and faded white colour. I’ve often wondered how long the fancy uniform lasted in real campaign conditions.

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    1. Thanks! Most of my armies have the same general look and feel. Some approve of this approach; others do not. I reckon uniforms did not look pristine for long out on campaign.

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  8. They look great Jonathan. I fondly remember Rivoli. A fun battle and very tense.

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    1. Thank you! The Rivoli game was great fun. Perhaps I should tackle something similar again? I wonder if there would be interest in another PBeM battle?

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  9. Very nice job on those lovely AB sculpts.
    I prefer to think of stuff sitting around waiting painting as "maturing" ......
    Judging by your paint job on those, I think they have "matured" nicely!
    Neil

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    1. Much appreciated! Yes, these are "mature" figures. I used the term "curing" to describe their long gestation period but I like maturing too.

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  10. Jonathan, they look lovely. Obviously more to do!

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  11. They probably deserved to wait 3 years to be painted. They know what they did. 😁

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    1. Well, it they were not painted as punishment for disciplinary reasons, I have forgotten the infraction.

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  12. The AB miniatures are outstanding and you have done justice to them. Outstanding looking regiment. This is a period I am very tempted by.

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    1. Thanks, Mark! This is an interesting period for 1797-1800. Well worth consideration.

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  13. Excellent. I hope to see Suvorov's troops on the table soon.

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    1. Thanks! That would be a welcome to surprise to this collection out on the table.

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  14. Good looking units. The mix of greatcoats and uniforms give an on campaign look to them.

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  15. Splendid looking French line! Excellent chaps!
    Best Iain

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  16. Lovely new additions to your French collection Jonathan.

    All the best. Aly

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  17. I love French infantry of that period. Excellent unit.

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    1. Thanks, André! This period is a favorite of mine too although I don't get the figures out too often.

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    2. Do you plan Hohenlinden or Salzburg for more interesting battles or even Meßkirch?

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    3. My next WAS battle is likely to reproduce your scenario for Madonna dell’Olmo.

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  18. AB figures are nice looking, but you have really brought them to life with your excellent brushwork.

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  19. Some very nice sculpts in there. Nice addition to an older project... How many projects on the go do you have now?

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  20. Very cool sculpts on the figures, and the painting is your usual superb!

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  21. Very very nice JF. Gotta love Bicornes.

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    1. Thanks! Yes, bicornes are good especially those not requiring white or yellow hat trim.

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  22. Lovely paint job

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  23. Very nice stuff. I was just starting to look into painting my Boki Suvarov Russians and found your 2014 post translating regimental names. I really appreciate your leg work there.
    Phil

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    1. You’re welcome, Phil! There will be more to come and I may actually get this collection into battle one day.

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