Prussian Horse Artillery with Howitzer - 7 Years War (1 Viewer)

[johnnybach]

My next little project - involves painting this rather nice little set - made by Golberg, which I purchased from Berliner Zinnfiguren by mail order. I've used their stock photo of the set - as they are better photographers than me.

As you can see - it has several small groupings of figures. Top row shows the team of six horses with three riders - then the limber, and then the Howitzer - which has been dismounted. The last two sets of figures - show unmounted horses - which are being held by two other mounted figures. These are the horses of other crew members (not with this set) who have dismounted to fire the weapon.

As I wanted to have my group portraying the Gun attached to the limber - I needed to do a bit of surgery first. I successfully parted the wheel of the gun from it's small base with a craft knife. I then cleaned it all up with a file - and rotated it until the trail met up with the limber attachment - then re-glued it back in it's slot, with the aid of a tiny piece of milliput. Job done - I then began to paint.

As I had no illustration of the finished piece - I needed to get some advice - so I contacted someone who I thought might know a bit about these. A quick PM to The Baron (Brad) - soon found some help with a description of the uniform - and a search of the web - soon confirmed a few more bits of detail - and I was ready to rock! Many thanks Brad.



I began with the groups of horses being held by the two riders - and the re-jigged gun and limber, which are nearing completion now, with just a few bits and bobs to touch in. Note the Gun which has it's trail now raised.



Here's a view of the other side:



I'm currently beginning to paint the remaining pieces - so will show developments later on. Here's progress on both sides - so far: jb

 

[theBaron]

Very nice finish, Johann! And you're very welcome, I'm glad to be of any assistance.

Prost!
Brad

 

[nmrocks]

Not sure this blog is specific to horse artillery, but it's flats, 7 yrs. war and artillery, the infantry stands are spectacular!:

http://crogges7ywarmies.blogspot.com/search/label/Prussian SYW Artillery

 

[johnnybach]

Not sure this blog is specific to horse artillery, but it's flats, 7 yrs. war and artillery, the infantry stands are spectacular!:

http://crogges7ywarmies.blogspot.com/search/label/Prussian SYW Artillery

Cheers Ray, thanks for that link. My Howitzer is portrayed amongst those excellent illustrations from Christian Rogge - towards the end of the blog. I was grateful to find one of those illustrations prior to painting - as it helped me with the colour - which I mixed from Oxford Blue - a touch of Sea Grey and Ivory. (I use Humbrol Enamels). The painting is also useful for some more of the uniform detail, though as mine are in profile - it makes things somewhat easier. I may yet return to Berliner - for a few more active artillery figures to join with this group. jb

 

[johnnybach]

Very nice finish, Johann! And you're very welcome, I'm glad to be of any assistance.

Prost!
Brad

Danke - Brad,

Johann Bach{sm4}

 

[Obee]

Another great project JB

Just what I love, ARTILLERY and 7YW

I've got a set of flats which depict Austrians firing a gun from this period, so that better be my next project?

Well Done

John

 

[johnnybach]

Another great project JB

Just what I love, ARTILLERY and 7YW

I've got a set of flats which depict Austrians firing a gun from this period, so that better be my next project?

Well Done

John

That will be a nice one to take a look at John. I hope to be able to take this set a bit further at some future point too. How are you with details for Prussian horse Artillery Uniforms - and horse furniture?????

I must admit - I don't know a lot about Prussian Artillery, or this period. I bought the set - because I enjoyed making up the Gun towed by the elephants - and this was in the Berlinner "Specials" - at a very cheap price - so I thought - what the heck - go for it!

I'm especially enjoying painting the horses - as it doesn't matter what time period they belong to!

Glad you like 'em too - how's the band coming along?

 

[johnnybach]

Here's an update on progress with this group of figures. I have completed the first pair of horses that tow the gun ( Wheelers). This is actually one piece - but engraved, as Flats sometimes are, to show both horses.

Here are two pice - showing each side of the new figures - with previously painted ones in the background.



Other side:



Lastly - this shows how the team of six horses - will eventually look together - and shows the current development of the single piece which contains the remaining four horses. Note how the limber draw bar connects to the remaining figures with a hook and eye. jb

 

[theBaron]

Nice, John! I like how you employ shading, so your finish is more sophisticated than the basic gloss toy soldier style.

Prost!
Brad

 

[johnnybach]

Nice, John! I like how you employ shading, so your finish is more sophisticated than the basic gloss toy soldier style.

Prost!
Brad

Hi Brad - Yes - that's where I find the biggest difference lies - with the shading, (other than the small size of many Flats). Glossy Toy Soldiers - have a charm of their own, for me, where very often, no shading is required - just the straight application of nice coats of gloss.

I do hope I'm getting a bit braver, with the shading of parts of my Flats - as it does sometimes take a leap of faith to apply highlights to a dark horse! I just tell myself, that if it looks Naff - I can always overpaint later! So far - so good. Glad you like them.

Thanks once again, for your earlier correspondence - a most interesting read. jb

 

[theBaron]

I've been trying to add some shading to mine, too. I'll use Testor's Wood, for example, as the shadow color against Buff, under a pocket flap, for example. My recent painting sessions are also making me think that I might abandon the gloss enamels for acrylics, because I sometimes lose a lot of fine surface detail under the enamels. Acrylics go on so much thinner, and I'll use a gloss varnish to seal everything, in any case.

Looking forward to seeing the rest of this project, prosit!
Brad

 

[nmrocks]

Looks good JB, stay Calm and push on!!!
Ray

 

[johnnybach]

I've been trying to add some shading to mine, too. I'll use Testor's Wood, for example, as the shadow color against Buff, under a pocket flap, for example. My recent painting sessions are also making me think that I might abandon the gloss enamels for acrylics, because I sometimes lose a lot of fine surface detail under the enamels. Acrylics go on so much thinner, and I'll use a gloss varnish to seal everything, in any case.

Looking forward to seeing the rest of this project, prosit!
Brad

As I have always used Humbrol (both Gloss and Matte) since I re-started painting TS - I use various combinations of small dabs of colour on my palette (Margarine tub lids) and mix to suit.

As an example - blue coats of the Prussians. I apply Oxford Blue as a wash all over the blue parts of the coat. Next to my dab of blue - I'll have a dab of white - and a dab of black on the other sides of my blue. For painting, I assume the sun is at 11 O'clock - and shining in the faces of my figures. So......the front of the arms will be picking up the sun - so a touch of white goes into the blue - for a slightly lighter shade - if it's too light - then add a dab of blue, continuing mixing until it's what I want. Clean the brush. The rear of the arms - and the shadow cast by the jacket - gets a touch of black into the blue - and I paint the rear - and under the folds of the cloth on the arms. This then exposes where I may need to add more lighter shades to the tops of the folds - so it's clean off the brush - and back to the lighter shade again. All of this is wet into wet. I touch in the more central parts of the arm with plain blue - then leave it all to dry - before looking again at the coat - and maybe re-touching parts where I'm not satisfied with the result.

And so on. I think that with these tiny figures - I use more brush cleaner/thinners than paint, and I may re-visit the blue part of the figure several times - before I'm satisfied. Other parts of the figure and colours get similar treatment - with different mixes for each part. I also use a mix of colours to achieve Payne's Grey - which I use as a shadow mixture. Applied thinly, for example under the leather harness of the horses - it really makes each leather strap "pop out" - to give that slight 3-D effect that I'm after.

The more you try things out - the better it seems to get - so I'm always experimenting with colours and techniques - so I'll be very interested in how you get on with your Acrylic trial Brad. Best of luck with them - I'll look forward to seeing how you get on. jb

 

[johnnybach]

Looks good JB, stay Calm and push on!!!
Ray

Hey Ray - I'm cool, man. ^&cool One thing I've found with these little beauties - is that you can't paint them UNLESS you are calm. At 30mm - they are so small, that even the slightest hand tremor - and you've had it!!{eek3}

I'm also currently alternating my painting of these - with some more of their bigger bretheren ( extra Army Air Corps bandsmen) - as I find a break from the extreme concentration required for flats is helpful for me.

I'm on the last of my pieces for this little project - which has been very enjoyable. I think that MY Flats appear to be a little different from the Matte versions that are more commonly seen, nowadays ( some of your latest are GREAT!) - but I like doing them my way - so I guess that's all that really matters. I'll definitely be increasing my 7YW collection with a few more Prussian gunners though - it's a most interesting subject - given that "Ault Fritz" is generally accepted as one of the founders of the use of Horse Artillery.

This has interest for me on a personal level - as my Paternal Grandfather was the lead driver of a Royal Horse Artillery piece - during WW1. Most unfortunately, he was severely wounded during that conflict - and never lived long enough for me to have ever seen him - though I well remember his sabre and spurs, hung up over the mantelpiece in my Granma's house - when I was a young lad!

All the best - jb

 

[Hazebrouck]

These are excellent John!

 

[theBaron]

Thanks for the encouragement, John! I've been using the finer acrylics with my scale models for a while, and it's that use that made me start to change my mind on my gloss method. They really are so easy to use, and the finish so smooth.

Prost!
Brad

 

[johnnybach]

Thanks for the encouragement, John! I've been using the finer acrylics with my scale models for a while, and it's that use that made me start to change my mind on my gloss method. They really are so easy to use, and the finish so smooth.

Prost!
Brad

Sounds good - and tempting. I'll hope to see how you get on.

 

[johnnybach]

Completed my set of Prussian Horse Artillery 30mm Flats( c.1756>), this afternoon,[Between Rugby matches!]. Here's a few pics of how they came out, below. A six horse team - with three driver/gunners and their Howitzer and limber - plus two mounted riders to the rear - holding the horses of other members of the gun team - who are currently "out of shot".

Given that these early horse artillery gunners had a somewhat alarming propensity to run away when danger threatened - we must hope that this is just a temporary situation!!! ( with thanks to Brad for this particular nugget of information - which came with a translation of a noteable expert on early Prussian Artillery practice).

Hope you like 'em as much as I do. :salute:: jb