Wednesday 9 October 2024

Painting Progress and Partizan Preparation

Real life got a bit busy last week and hobby time was reduced, but things are looking up a bit now, and I have made a little progress painting (very) little metal men.   Having acquired a few packs of Baccus 6mm figures for the Italian 'Risorgimento'  period at Salute back in April, I've now painted the two packs of infantry - Piedmontese and Austrians. 

The Baccus infantry packs comprise 96 figures each, and I have organised them into units of 24 figures, hence 4 units from each pack. I have based them as specified by Neil Thomas in his excellent Wargaming 19th Century Europe book - that is 4 bases per unit, each base 20mm by 30mm, with two bases representing the 'main body' of the unit and the other two bases the 'skirmish line' which would be out at the front doing the shooting.  

Four units 1859 Austrian Infantry
 

Painting was quite easy, more or less following the guide provided on the Baccus website - 'keep it simple, stupid' is definitely the way forward and suits me fine!  

Photographing them is a bit fiendish, though - being so small you have to get quite close, and then every tiny blemish shows up!  But but they will never be so closely scrutinised on the table, nor are they meant to be.. There is an interesting effect where the (still drying) PVA glue on the bases has picked-up the light, making it look like there are bits of white material scattered across them. Admittedly I was in a bit of a hurry to get on with this blog post!   

I've given them  my usual 'old school' plain green bases for now, keeping it simple again, though I admit I wonder if the small scale of the figures means that the thickness of the figure bases makes them look a bit pronounced - rather as if  each figure is  standing on a 12-inch high step!  Step forward Baccus again, with a basing guide on their website which I am giving some consideration to. So maybe these units are not quite finished yet..  Many thanks to Chris aka Nundanket of Horse and Musket Gaming fame for pointing me towards these useful guides, and you can see lots of his nicely-painted 6mm figures on his blog - albeit I think he prefers Heroics and Ros figures! 


and opposing Piedmontese ( 1 pack of 96 figures )

 

Another thing these troops still need is some nice flags - yet again Chris nudged me in the right direciton by pointing out that Baccus will happily sell me pre-printed flags. I wasn't looking forward to trying to paint flags in 6mm scale as yet, so that looks a good idea - they seem to be a bit over £2 for 24 flags, which is enough for an entire table-top army of infantry, I'm sure! So plenty of scope for expansion.. 

 Quite conveniently I see that I should be able to acquire some of those flags in only a few days time, as I am aiming to visit The Other Partizan  wargames show at Newark on Sunday -  and Baccus will be there, looking to sell stuff..  So hopefully that's a win-win, and a massive £4 sale for them..

I'm looking forward to the show, just having a quick scan of the promised games there are lots of interesting ones - Anschluss Wargames 'Small Town in Italy' WW2 in 10mm, for example;  The Bodkins  28mm Seven Years War game 'Prussian Glory' ; Chesterfield Old Boys   28mm War of Spanish Succession ;    The Hustle Club  20mm Italian/Greek war 1941;  League of Extraordinary Kriegspielers 28mm  Lutzen, 1632;   Northants Battlefields Society 'Edgecote Made Easy' ( billed as ECW, so a slight time-shift? ) ; and Simon 'To the Strongest' Miller's venture into the Spanish Succession aka Louis Quatorze's Warses.   Plus several  D-Day/Normandy  related games, and a Market Garden  one, all highly appropriate for this anniversary year.  'And many, many more..'  Plus  of course,  many traders - I may be in the market for some scenery to suit Italy, 1943/44,  some more 6mm 1859 figures,  and  Alexander and Darius for my somewhat neglected 20mm DBA Macedonians and  Persians, perhaps?  Plus the inevitable impulse buys - there's always a tempting book or two! 

Anyone else going? Or is that a daft question?!  I'd be happy to chat with anyone who reads/follows/comments on this blog. it would be great to  put some more faces to names..  I've borrowed the floorplan (above)  from the Partizan website (hopefully they won't mind as I am giving them a free plug!) - I reckon the space just inside and to the left of the main entrance might be a good spot. So I may just lurk about there, (sort of between Empress Miniatures and Colonel Bill's/Last Valley stands), at about 1pm, if you'd like to say hello ( and if  no-one  turns up  I will  look like a proper Charlie!).  

Finally a quick pic - one of the things that happened last week was a visit to that London for  HMS Belfast,  which was a bit of a bonus having become an IWM member for recent visits to Duxford. I last set foot aboard the Belfast as a kid in about 1973.. and it was rather good! Maybe I will devote a post to it sometime soon. Meanwhile a taster: 


Right, where's that Partizan shopping list? And have I got some flock for those 6mm bases? If you are going along on Sunday, it'd be great to chat, if not then I'll try to take a few photos and post here. In the meantime keep well, everyone.

16 comments:

  1. David,
    I may be going to Partizan - had arranged to go to meet up with a friend but they are now not going. I suspect some of the VWC may be going.
    If I do go, I will try and meet up with you - if only to stop you looking like a right charlie! ☺
    It sounds more reliable than accosting lookalikes at trade stands! ☺
    Neil

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Neil, if you make to the show, it would be really nice to meet you!

      Delete
    2. I notice Col Bills has a 20mm Newline Alexander.......no Darius though!
      Neil

      Delete
    3. Thanks Neil, I had noted that Newline did both Alexander and Darius, the latter with the full chariot setup - shame Col. Bill doesn't have both, but it's a start..

      Delete
  2. You have been busy! I liked those Neil Thomas rules. I borrowed a set years ago, but I don't want to get a copy as I'd disappear down another rabbit hole....I rather like the late century Ostriches!
    Re: the standing on steps effect with 6mm figures: that's one reason why I went down the textured base route. The fine sand helps build up the base surface and disguises the base a bit. Flock adds to the camouflage but if you don't want the mess (small amounts always come free) the sand alone might do enough to soften things. Flock is also difficult to get a colour to match your board/cloth too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Chris, I have hankered after doing mid-19th Century for a while. So many periods, so little time.. :)
      Thanks for all your advice, having painted up these figures and tried the simple basing, I think they would look better with a bit of texture to allow them to merge in. Your chinchilla dust looks a good idea! I just need to find a method that works for me and is simple..

      Delete
  3. I’m a fan of these Neil Thomas rules too. Your figures have turned out very nicely indeed. I look forward to developments. Enjoy the show.
    Alan Tradgardland

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Alan, glad you liked the figures, I am quite pleased with them, though as discussed above I think the bases need a bit more work. Neil Thomas is great, his book was the 'nudge' that got me thinking properly about this period. I'm sure the show will be good, as ever!

      Delete
  4. Nice work there David and the Baccus site does have lots of good info. Some simple grit or polyfilla to hide the step would be an easy fix. No show for me as I'll be off to the Cotswold Wargames Day the following weekend. Have fun (hard not to really!) and look forward to some pics from the show.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Steve, yes I think some fairly simple texturing should do the trick. Enjoy the Cotswold Day, it's obviously a really good event! I will indeed show my pictures, if you'll show yours... :)

      Delete
  5. Wish I could go but the trains are so bad on a Sunday. Enjoy yourselves.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Anonymous ( you're among friends, you can identify yourself... :) ) I can understand about the trains, I will be driving!
      I'm sure it will be a good show.

      Delete
  6. Great work on those units David.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Richard, glad you like them, just need to improve the basing. Your 6mm MDF Napoeonics/FRW have been quite an inspiration!

      Delete
  7. Your units marching out of barracks look good. I, too, like Thomas’ 19thC book. One of my favorites. Enjoy the show. If you come back without flags, I could sent the flags I created. Real Life has derailed all hobby plans of mine this week.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Jon, I am quite pleased with the figures, at least, and painting 'the unit not the figure' works pretty well for me. I have high hopes for Neil Thomas rules. Your kind offer re:flags is noted!
      Sorry your hobby time has been curtailed, hope you can get some spare time again soon! Richard's report of the Rejects' Shiloh game looked good.

      Delete