Scratch Built Prussian Artillery (3 Viewers)

[Scott]

Until AIP or somebody makes a plastic 19th Century Breechloader and crew, I'll have to make do scratch building these two 1870-1 Prussian Guns and crews. Dulcop Civil War cannons and AIP Egyptians with AIP German WWI heads. I wish I could have done the details on the helmet other than the rounded artillery spikes.

Some details of the cannon are simplified too.

 

[mikemiller1955]

That's some nice work Scott.

 

[theBaron]

Very nice scratching!

The only thing I would change would be to fix the rear peaks on the Pickelhauben to shorten them and square them off a little more. It looks like Armies in Plastic has made the same mistake that Pickelhaube Miniatures from Australia makes, and that is to shape the Helm more like the British pith helmet than the German helmet. The front and rear peaks were of roughly the same depth (from the seam at the base of the helmet's shell, to the edge of the peak), while the front peak on the British helmet was shorter than the rear peak.

Great job on the cannons, too!

Prost!
Brad

 

[Scott]

That would help. Thanks. I'd have to do that to the 60 or so AIP WW I Infantry in blue plastic too. You have to squint at them to see 1870-1 as well. F/P War is colorful in the first months and very business-like toward the winter months with troops in overcoats and the glittery French units out of the war.

 

[Scott]

I just trimmed the helmets and threw the figures into my Lestoil and water bucket to get the paint off. I'll post the results of the changes. Thanks for the input.

 

[1879fanatic]

Man, some good stuff on scratchbuilding, maybe some more tips on merging the pieces together? Great guns!
Mike

 

[Scott]

I'll take some shots of the Gunners when I re-do them. I NEVER want to do any more of those guns.

 

[theBaron]

Really? I think you did a good job on them, they turned out nice. Was it tedious to make them, or did you encounter problems with the materials?

Maybe you could make molds for some of the parts, like the barrel, and cast them in resin.

Prost!
Brad

 

[Scott]

I'm really hoping some maker does a breech loader. I had to split the CW carriage and fill the spaces with Milliput then sand it down to look like cast metal. I was hoping a friendly machinist would make me some barrels on his lathe but that didn't work out. The resin casting of barrels is an option with possibilities of more breech details.

Doing the French is easier as the 1870s guns were still muzzle-loaders. The AIP Royal Horse Artillery makes "close enough" Imperial Guard horse artillery with a few tweaks to the uniforms.

 

[Scott]

THis was M-1 Prussian Artillery.....M-3 will be "closer."

 

[Leadmen]

Nice conversions on the guns and gunners. I enjoy viewing the work.

 

[9thHussar]

Hi Scott
superb conversion work - much neglected period by manufacturers. Both the Franco-Prussian and the Crimea are short on figures in 54mm plastic. Maybe AIP will produce some soon

Regards,
Dave
9thHussar

 

[Scott]

The Crimea!!! That would be "neat!" I'd rather buy troops right out of the box but one could take the AIP Iron Brigade and the Zouave Heads and make Turks.

 

[Scott]

I went back and tweeked the figures per Baron's suggestions.

 

[9thHussar]

Hi

the Crimean War and the Franco -Prussian were both relatively short wars in comparison to the Napoleonic and ACW, but they were both pivotal in history and the array of uniforms were quite spectacular especially Napoleon III's Imperial Guard or the British Guards and Highland Brigades storming the Alma heights.

I reckon AIP must be at least looking at expanding the Crimean sets to include British Guards/Infantry plus some Russian Artillery and riflemen.

heres in hope

Regards,
9thHussar

 

[Scott]

If AIP issues a set of WW I French in kepis, greatcoats, and full packs, the conversion to 1854 and 1870 would be easy. I've tried AIP's foriegn legion as Franco-Prussians but removing the kepi blanche neck cover is too much.

 

[9thHussar]

Hi Scott

you are quite correct - I have some of the WW1 Foreign Legion on my workdesk in front of me and the neck havelock covers are diifficult to eradicate.

Do you have any ideas using AIP figures to depict as British Indian Mutiny figures. I have used Britains Deetail ACW figures and some Imex ACW which I once converted to the British 97th Foot by building up a shako shape/size in miliput and adding suncurtains. The 97th were the only Inf Regt with Irish blue facings. I also made some 56th who were also unique with purple facings.

The Crimean War is starting to fascinate me and moreso since I recently visited the home of Roger Fenton the war photographer which is now the Crimble restaurant in Heywood, Lancashire which is where I live.


Regards,
9thHussar