The Army of Frederick the Great (1 Viewer)

[theBaron]

Hi, everyone! I'm cleaning off my bench, working through my backlog, and here are a couple of figures I've finished recently.

These are hussars of Warnery's regiment (Nr. 3). The first hussar is in what could be called winter gear, with his Pelz worn buttoned closed:



The figure was sold originally through the German publishing house Archiv-Verlag, but it may have come from another maker's catalog. Archiv-Verlag included it in their series on the Army of Frederick the Great, as an officer of Ziethen's regiment. But since this figure wears a cartridge box, he cannot be an officer. The cavalry officers didn't carry carbines, so they didn't wear a cartridge box. Since the regimental details were otherwise similar, I painted him for Warnery's regiment.

The other hussar is in fatigue or camp dress:



He wears a fatigue cap, which would have been made from the material of worn-out jackets. The fur trim is something that I can find in no reference, but it looks pretty cool, so I didn't change it. This figure is by Rylit.

And here he is in a quick vignette, with another figure from my collection and also from Rylit:



Eventually I will get around to making a camp diorama, and these two will be placed together.

Hopefully, more will follow over the next couple of weeks as I get them off the bench.

As always, thanks for looking, prosit!
Brad

 

[Hazebrouck]

Nice work Brad. Those Rylit figures have character.

Scott

 

[Wolfgang_UK]

Sehr schön Herr Baron,
at least somebody gets some painting done. I got two Rylit and one Puchala Hussar (lucky on EBAY D) on my workbench but don't get around painting these wonderful castings.
Happy to notice that you did not forget those two littel hearts.

Very well done, very nice figures.... - is there more??????^&grin
Kind Regards
Der neidische Wolfgang{sm4}

 

[theBaron]

Na also, Wolfgang, bittschön, da ist die nächste Figur, die ich fertigbemalt habe…

Hi, everyone, here's the next one off my bench, a Fähnrich from the regiment of Markgraf Carl (IR 19):



The regiment was raised by Frederick's grandfather, Frederick I, for his step-brother, the Margrave (Markgraf) of Brandenburg-Schwedt. As the master of the Order of the Knights of St. John, the Margrave displayed the Maltese cross of the order on his regiment's flags and livery. In Frederick's reign, the Margrave's son (Fredercick's uncle) was the colonel-in-chief; he was also followed his father as Master of the Johanniter, and the cross was maintained as the regiment's insignia.

This is another figure from Rylit. Sculpting is very well-done, and the flag's details are sculpted on, which made it relatively easier to paint. The flag is well done, but it's also solid white metal, and as you may imagine, it tended to fall over. I added a 2"x2" base of copper flashing, to provide stability.

As always, thanks for looking!

Prost!
Brad

 

[Obee]

Nice flag, Brad.

Yes, heavy flags do pose a problem, and like you, I have had to add a bigger base on some figures.

Many times makes will make the flag furled, an so you unfortunately don't see it all, but it doesn't bend the flagpole, if that's part of the casting.

I prefer to use a metal rod, and then pant the details onto foil sheeting, and so enable me to bend it as I wish, like this one

Tradition of London, Gros Grenadier Flag. 1st Guards Battalion (No 15)

or even other times I 'cheat' and print out one on paper

Prince August Cuirassiers



John

 

[theBaron]

Nice flag, Brad.

Yes, heavy flags do pose a problem, and like you, I have had to add a bigger base on some figures.

Many times makes will make the flag furled, an so you unfortunately don't see it all, but it doesn't bend the flagpole, if that's part of the casting.

I prefer to use a metal rod, and then pant the details onto foil sheeting, and so enable me to bend it as I wish, like this one...or even other times I 'cheat' and print out one on paper

John

Thanks for the kind words, John!

Yes, ordinarily, I'd use my laminated foil method. But I couldn't pass this figure up, when it came up for auction.

You may recall the King-White/Reeves Prussian Napoleonic flag-bearer, too. That one also has a solid sculpted and cast flag. I have one, for which I drilled a hole in the base to accept the tip of the staff. Fortunately, the figure's center of gravity isn't too far back of the figure's shoulders, but it would benefit from a larger base.

Old Stadden flag-bearers are a little more stabile; the tin bases are a little bigger, and the tin sheet he used for the cloth isn't nearly as heavy as an equivalently sized piece of white metal.

I hope to have a couple more figures up in the next day or so. Thanks for looking and for your kind comments, everyone! Prosit!
Brad

 

[theBaron]

Evening, everybody! Here's the next one off the bench, a grenadier from the regiment of Generalmajor Finck (IR 12):



The grenadier caps of this regiment were embellished by a large, black enameled eagle painted on the cap fronts, a rare decoration among caps with plain brass or tin fronts.

This is another Stadden casting, and he did a very good job depicting some of the gear a Prussian soldier carried on the march:



Along with his knapsack, bread bag and cartridge pouch, our grenadier has tent pegs and a spade with its leather boot, suspended from the cartridge pouch belt. In camp, the Prussians were organized into Kameradschaften of 5 to 6 men sharing a tent, and each member of the tent group carried a bit of the communal gear. Besides the tent pegs which our friend here carries, that included a cooking pot, with a leather cover, a large water flask and additional tools such as an axe. Larger bits of gear, such as the tents, were carried on pack horses.

As always, thanks for looking!

Prost!
Brad

 

[Wolfgang_UK]

Hi Brad,
as usual nice painting. Now you got a great figure of my favourite frederickian IR in your collection. I like those eyecatching grenadier caps as well. ^&grin
BTW I allways ment to ask ..... - you are useing a very nice shade of green for the bases. Is it an available ready mixed paint or do you mix it yourself?? I tried to replicate just that hue of green with acrylics but did not quite get it right.
Thank you very much for shareing and if you happened to come accross any Prussian Dragoon or even mounted Freikorp´s in your collection I would not object to it in case you are planning to put it up here .................. {sm4}
Ganz großes Tennis!!!
Kind regards
Wolfgang

 

[theBaron]

Danke sehr, Wolfgang! Groβes Tennis, doch! Ich freue mich, daβ diese jüngste Figur Dir so gut gefällt. Iatz auf englisch, die andern miteinzubeziehen in das Gespräch…

Regarding the 12th, or Finck's regiment, the grenadiers were at Hochkirch and fought fiercely in that savage action, acquitting themselves well in the street fighting. It was said that their caps made it easier to recognize them in the darkness and smoke. The rest of the regiment was caught in the capitulation at Maxen but was raised anew--unusual, since Frederick carried a grudge against Finck and his command, for the disaster. A hundred and ninety years later, another German commander-in-chief would blame his generals for his own poor decisions...

Thank you for noticing the bases; I use green, to evoke the classic toy soldier makers. I don’t use any special mix, but whatever green I have on hand. Right now, it’s Tamiya’s acrylic Flat Green, XF-5. I’ve also used Tamiya’s acrylic Park Green, X-28, which is a lighter shade, tending to the the yellowish. I also use that for Kleist Hussar’s Pelze. For years, I used an old jar of Pactra Green enamel, which was also just right for the color of the Jäger’s Joppen, but I used it all up.

The next figure nearing completion is a mounted figure, which I hope everyone will enjoy....

 

[theBaron]

And here is the latest figure off my bench, the great Seydlitz himself, as he appeared at the Battle of Rossbach (5. November 1757):



Seydlitz is said to have given the signal for the Prussian cavalry to charge the French and Reichsarmee, by tossing his pipe into the air.



This casting is from Peipp, and it's massive, with the horse cast solid. It's quality is a little disappointing, compared to other offerings from Peipp. The surface was pebbled and bumpy, and there really was no way to clean all of it. Also, some of the detail is a little soft, such as the crests on his shabraque and holster covers. I would rather have just had those details left off, and I'd have painted them from scratch. But I couldn't pass it up, and I also got Peipp's Ziethen figure, which is much better.

Of the man himself, contemporaries wrote of him that he embodied martial virtues and conduct, and his talents as a commander of men and as a tactician were such that he was promoted from captain to colonel, to major general then lieutenant general, in the space of 5 years. Seydlitz deserves most of the credit for developing the Prussian line cavalry into a fine fighting force, whose pride it was to charge and attack first, never to be attacked, with a high standard of performance. Seydlitz himself was a excellent rider. He was also a notorious womanizer, and eventually succumbed to venereal disease, passing at the relatively young age of 52.

Now I just need to get some cuirassiers to go with him....

 

[Obee]

Nice work Brad....

I can see where they got the pose from :

but on Berlin Zinnfiguren website they have this image of the same figure, so maybe yours was a bad casting, as this horse is much smoother???

John

 

[Wolfgang_UK]

Now I just need to get some cuirassiers to go with him....[/QUOTE]
Yes please ...{sm4}


Hi Brad,
very nice figurine and again a very nice paint finish. Bad news about the quality of the casting. Actually Peipp
is usually very concerned about the quality of his castings being a "Zinngießer" by trade. Anyway you have
turned the casting into a wonderfull figurine.
Expecting the arrival of the cuirassier´s patrol now .... {sm3}
Great fun following this thread
Kind Regards
Wolfgang

 

[theBaron]

Thank you both, John, and Wolfgang!

Yes, the photo at BZ is what caught my eye, and I ordered the figure right away. I agree on Peipp's quality; I have other Peipp figures in the stash, plus a number of them on my wish list at BZ. This one was a rare exception.

Looking at that photo again, I think I should have used NATO black for the horse--for those of you who don't paint, it's a charcoal black, a very dark or blackish grey. I use it to paint rubber, for example, because it looks better in scale. In this case, it would have made it easier to see the tack, the reins, etc, which were of black leather.

As for some troopers, it'll likely be Tradition figures. No one else ever made kit figures of mounted Prussian cuirassiers from the Seven Years War, that I know of. Rose made dragoons, and there's the Prins August mold to make the Gardes du Corps standard bearer, but no other figure. But I'll think of something.

Prost!
Brad

 

[Wolfgang_UK]

As for some troopers, it'll likely be Tradition figures. No one else ever made kit figures of mounted Prussian cuirassiers from the Seven Years War, that I know of. Rose made dragoons, and there's the Prins August mold to make the Gardes du Corps standard bearer, but no other figure. But I'll think of something.

Prost!
Brad[/QUOTE]

Good morning Brad,
did you try "Berliner Zinnfiguren" lately? They stock "Miniwelt" figurines who portrait each and every Prussian 7YW Regiment as well as all of the period prussian cavalary units.
Kind regards
Wolfgang

 

[theBaron]

As for some troopers, it'll likely be Tradition figures. No one else ever made kit figures of mounted Prussian cuirassiers from the Seven Years War, that I know of. Rose made dragoons, and there's the Prins August mold to make the Gardes du Corps standard bearer, but no other figure. But I'll think of something.

Prost!
Brad

Good morning Brad,
did you try "Berliner Zinnfiguren" lately? They stock "Miniwelt" figurines who portrait each and every Prussian 7YW Regiment as well as all of the period prussian cavalary units.
Kind regards
Wolfgang

Servus, Wolfgang! Ja, bei Miniwelt gibt's welche, die san aba a bisserl zu groβ, i bleib bei 54mm-56mm (mei Leibgröβe )

For our English-speaking friends, Miniwelt has some figures, but they're a little too large for me, I stick with my favorite size, 54mm-56mm (or so).

Prost!
Brad

 

[Oberstinhaber]

As for some troopers, it'll likely be Tradition figures. No one else ever made kit figures of mounted Prussian cuirassiers from the Seven Years War, that I know of. Rose made dragoons, and there's the Prins August mold to make the Gardes du Corps standard bearer, but no other figure. But I'll think of something.

Prost!
Brad

Good morning Brad,
did you try "Berliner Zinnfiguren" lately? They stock "Miniwelt" figurines who portrait each and every Prussian 7YW Regiment as well as all of the period prussian cavalary units.
Kind regards
Wolfgang[/QUOTE]

Hi Wolfgang and Brad,

There is not much around in the way of 7 Years War cavalry, which is a great pity.

Besides Tradition and Miniwelt (and I agree about the size) there is the vignette by Ulrich Puchala of the Prussian Cuirassier and Austrian Dragoon at Leuthen (which I think is available from BZ, in the "new" Puchala listing) and there is also a quite good Prussian Cuirassier from Leuthen in the Del Prado "Cavalry through the Ages" series.

Also, if one looks elsewhere on this forum, and ebay, one can find some very nice 7YW stuff from First Legion, Kronprinz and John Jenkins, and occasionally one sees some of the Frontline 7YW stuff.

However, in the good old days, one could have had a choice from 10 Prussian, and 10 Austrian Cavalry (all in fantastic "action" poses) from "PZ Miniatures" from Crackow in Poland.

Alas, as far as I can tell, PZ is no more. Very occasionally, their product comes up on ebay.

I have just tried to attach 3 pages reconstructed from their 1997 Catalogue. But the "system" wants me to "resize" the files. Sorry, I don't know how to do that. If you would like to see the 3 pages (A4 size) please PM me. [Mirof has some PZ catalogue material on his website, but not these figures, as I recall]

I have all the Austrians and one Prussian sitting in the box waiting to move up onto the bench (I hope), so I can attest to the quality of the sculpting and poses which are nothing short of excellent. The poses of the horses which you will see in the attachments are not(R) exaggerated. And they are solid white metal horses.

The story I heard from my friends in Vienna, when they first put me on to PZ (many years ago), was that the sculptors were all associated with the Fine Arts faculty of the Crackow Polytechnic.

The contact details from the 1997 Catalogue are:

Piotr Gorkiewicz,
ul. J. Lea 53/62
30-052 Krakow
POLAND

tel: 0048 (12) 637 10 35

I would be delighted if someone contacted PZ and extablished the current situation, the obvious privso being that whoever does must post the results on this forum. 7YW cavalry are a long way down on my List which is why I have never followed through with Piotr.

Enjoy the extracts from the catalogue, and good hunting,

Regards,

Bob

 

[Obee]

Hi Brad,

I've just checked Berlin Zinnfiguren and found these under the Ulrich Puchala

Trooper (8th Cuirassiers)

and mine with 'Fred' which I painted

Officer and Trooper (13th Guard Cuirassiers)

Fighting Prussian Cuirassier and Austrian Dragoon at Leuthen

All are 'Out of Stock' but when I dealt with them a few months back the goods came through and I got regular emails as to the progress of my Hecker & Goros figures.

The only others from this period were Tradition of London.

John

 

[Gebhard]

Hi Guys,
Not to hijack your thread but isn't miniwelt out of business ? I was told this when last in Berlin at the shop. I thought they were just selling out their old stock. Thanks for any information you guys might have. Great thread by the way, while I only own a few Glossy figures I always stop by to enjoy. regards Gebhard

 

[Wolfgang_UK]

Hello Gentlemen,
if you all like what the Baron does like than try this ^&grin:
http://www.mueritz-miniaturen.de/sh...mm_figuren_europa_xviii._jhd._preussen_10.htm
As far as I have gathered all the Ex-Puchala molds of 7YW have become his property. Furthermore he does stock
Miniwelt figurines as well - if he is doing the casting for Miniwelt I do not know (yet). It would not be suprised since his actual
buisness is spin-casting white metal.
I have not checked on the availability of all figures but at first glance it seems as everything is in stock.
As far as I can remember he is a very nice guy to deal with.
Kind Regards
Wolfgang

 

[Gebhard]

Wolfgang,
Thank you for the information and link :salute::. best Gebhard