The Emperor's Beautiful Daughters. (1 Viewer)

[johnnybach]

The Emperor's Beautiful Daughters, was the nickname given to Artillery pieces of Napoleon's Army. They were 12pounder"Gribeauval" guns - and each piece had a nominal gun-crew of around fifteen men. Many of these were to provide the extra muscle involved for moving and providing the ammunition for each gun. The name given to a group of such guns - is a Battery ( for those who don't know). I have long wanted a Napoleonic Battery of my own - especially after looking longingly at some of the many made by John O'Brien (Obee). I especially liked this one, that John made. (reproduced by kind permission of John).

"It is with guns, that war is made", once said Napoleon. And it is with castings that Toy Soldier versions can be made - say I.

You may note that five crew are involved with the actual firing of the piece. The moulds for all of these figures come from Prince August. John casts his own, but the ones I will be making up and painting came as kit parts from another good friend of mine, John Parslow , a casting hobbyist, who lives and casts in Cornwall. (www.whitemetalmail.com) - and as casting is his hobby - sells pieces at a very reasonable cost. My chance to own a Battery came, when John Parslow asked me if I fancied one - as he was proposing to buy some moulds. I regret that on strict orders from "La Commandante" - I am forbidden to cast myself ( I'm happy to comply - as I have never fancied handling molten metal!), so my answer was a swift "Yes please".

Do have a look at Obee's Artillery pages however - as you will see that John has made imaginative use of both Cannon and the figures, to produce other sets - by changing figures - or changing heads and uniform details - which just shows what can be done with castings like these.

Fo me - however - it's these 1805 Foot Artillery Gunners that I want - and will be attempting to show how I paint in this thread. My soldiers will be like Obee's above, who will be wearing this uniform (Osprey picture).

In due course I collected my castings of six cannon, five crew per gun, and three Officers - as not every gun has an officer - the crew commander is a corporal (just as Napoleon's nickname "The little Corporal" implies - given that he loved to get involved with aiming some guns, sometimes). So, I will have 33 figures to paint, in all. My guns currently look like this.

Parts are easily assembled and glued together. You may also see the progression of assembly and painting each piece from this picture. I have also included a couple of pictures here of the gunner holding the "portfire" with which the cannon is fired. The figure will look like this when completed,(which is taken from the Prince August web-site painting guide).

Note that I start with the white painted parts of cross-belt and work out. Next comes the blue of the tunic - then the red of the facings. There are not too many colours involved with these figures - so not too complex to paint.

Anyway - we are off and painting with this project, so hope that like Jeff, who talked me into showing you how I am going to tackle this one, you will follow along from time to time. I am aware that it could get a bit repetitious however, as I will be painting six of each figure ( except for the three Officers), so will try NOT to repeat the same thing six times. I think I will be able to use the figures to show the order of painting that I use.

See you later? johnnybach

 

[GICOP]

Thank you jb, this will be another very interesting thread to follow :salute::

Cheers

Martyn

 

[johnnybach]

You're very welcome Martyn.

Below find another illustration from that marvelous Osprey series "Napoleon at War" - which shows part of a Battery at work at Austerlitz in 1805. This is the illustration that decided me to paint my guns dark green (this time I'm using Revell Matt 48, as I think it's a thicker mix and just the shade I'm after). Note that Osprey have chosen to depict some gunners carrying muskets, haversacks and other bags - as well as plumes to the cockades in their caps. I think that they would have dispensed with such things for action - but they just wanted to show off the uniform detail.

Below, I'm getting on with some cannon to begin with. Very easy to paint - as you just need to apply the green all-over. I usually begin with the wheels and work them over with a largish brush. just make sure plenty gets on - as I have seen some of these cannon in reality - up close - and delicately painted - they ain't! I usually work them down to the point shown on the central cannon below - then stop. After the paint has dried, I can then hold the painted part and finish off the unpainted portion. Next day - just go over the bits you missed (wheel parts and spokes are always favourite for this). Barrels can be cleaned up to remove cast marks and "flash" - and then painted. Note that I have fitted the pair of "dolphins" ( two handles on top for lifting off the barrel) - which are tiny castings - though it is possible to use fabricated ones from wire - if you like - before painting. Note the rear view of the gunner - showing the turnbacks on his coat and red piping. His sword/bayonet frog is a separate casting - not added yet.

 

[aujj65]

Hi Johnny,

Well I'm glad I managed to talk you into a step-by-step thread, that took a lot of arm twisting didn't it! :rolleyes2::wink2:^&grin^&grin

I must say that for home castings these are very smooth looking and well finished, the paint should just flow on a treat. I've been looking forward to this one, so....

{bravo}}{bravo}}.....for starters.

Jeff :smile2:

 

[johnnybach]

Hi Jeff - well - no - my arm is easily twisted when it comes to doing things I like doing. Actually - posting DOES helps me to focus on what I need to do next.

As to the castings - well Prince August castings are relatively simple ones - and my friend John Parslow is a VERY meticulous home-caster, though he has a small Smithy - and does a lot of metalwork as a hobby, so maybe not quite fair to class him as that. Because of him treating it as a hobby though, they are VERY reasonably priced - and any profit he makes goes straight back into buying more moulds anyway. So, it's win-win for me, as he often asks me what I fancy doing next, like with these!^&grin Means, I get to choose - not bad eh?^&cool!

I'm off and running, anyway. Cheers chum.............johnnybach

 

[Obee]

Johnny,

I'm looking forward to seeing your Battery gain thier 'lick of paint' and then see them 'in action' on the battlefield.

Just remeber not to have an officer on each gun.... the gun is commanded my a Sergenat, and the officer is only in charge of a section of 3 guns, so 2 section officers per battyery.

John

 

[Ragnar]

Nice start Johnny will keep checking in to se your progress {bravo}}

 

[wayne556517]

Hey JB wasn't the pictures i thought i was going to see.........................{sm2}

 

[johnnybach]

Ha-ha! - "Gotcha!" I'll bet you were thinking it was "that barmaid" again Wayne!

Cheers Ragnar - and Obee; - well John - as it was your version that started me off down this path - I'll take your advice on the number of Officers. I do have three of them - so will have one for each three guns - and the last will be the Commander of the battery. I'm not really a diorama maker though - but a Glossy Toy Soldier man through and through. Just making up for all of the ones I wanted as a kid - but couldn't afford way back then! WW2 was just finishing, rationing was still in force - and money was pretty tight when I was a lad. These so-called "austere times" make me smile a bit, as they are a doddle by comparison.

When my Battery is completed though, my next project is to find somewhere to put them! Until then - I'll Keeeeep Painting! jb
(and thanks for the help too John)

 

[johnnybach]

When assembling my last cannon - and fitting some "Fiddly-bits" i.e the little handles on the cannon - and the side hooks which hold ramrods, spikes and cleaning rods etcetera, which came with the kits, several of the soft metal pieces were broken or deformed, and I was running short. It was then I remembered a tip from Obee, who has of course, made these kits up before.

I used small pieces of wire to form both types of piece needed (from paper clips actually). Just bend and cut to size, drill out the holes - and they are far more robust when glued in place. I have rested a cocktail stick on one set - to show how they work. Cheers John! Wish I had done them all like that.

At the rear of the cannon, you can see the others progressing - and I have started off a Gunner/Loader by painting his cross-belt white first, then painting up to the raised belt with blue tunic.

 

[aujj65]

Johnny,

I can imagine that with all the painting you have done whilst on the forum space is going to be a problem, simple answer is to get another cabinet....:rolleyes2:^&grin

These are coming on a treat. :smile2:

Jeff

 

[johnnybach]

Okay Jeff - a simple answer - so that's solved that!^&cool
Next problem is - where am I going to put another cabinet in my room? That's the problem with that solution!^&grin

 

[johnnybach]

Some idea of what these are going to look like when finished, can be gained from a quick peep at my gun-park as it is now. First coated, with a few bits to add, like black rims to the wheels and some metalwork - but now the brass gun-barrels are fitted ( Humbrol 54 by the way) - they are starting to look menacing already.^&grin{sm5}

 

[aujj65]

Hi Johnny,

These look great en-masse don't they! ^&cool

Not wishing to hi-jack your thread but have you ever considered adding a little black to the brass, it gives a more of an old bronze feel to it.

Jeff

 

[johnnybach]

Always open to a positive suggestion Jeff. No - I've never tried that, as I've never heard of it. I WILL give it a go though - and see how it looks. Thanks for the idea. I'll try it on my old faithful "marge tub lid" (no expense spared!).^&grin

 

[johnnybach]

My latest pic. shows that the firer is now finished. As usual, I have learned a lot from completing one figure. Top down is best - as usual. White first - then blue - then red. Legs last - simple with this figure - black leggings with pewter buttons (mix of silver and black). Note that the curved sword has been drilled and pinned to the figure. This is one failing with Prince August figures, as they intend you to glue them on - and they always fall off. Drill and pin is the answer ( a tip from Brad that one).

The loader is progressing and is being painted in exactly the same way as the first figure.

Note also that trimmed cocktail sticks, lightly painted brown, make excellent "spikes" retained in the hooks along the gun's length. These were six foot long pieces of ash - used by the gunners as levers, to maneouvre the gun back in place after each shot. I will varnish these, along with the gun, before finishing.

Tried the black/brass mix Jeff - not bad - may use next time, as these barrels are epoxied on - and I don't want to spoil the smooth look now they are on. Good tip for sometime in the future - thanks. jb

I'm quite pleased with how these are coming along. jb

 

[johnnybach]

Quite a bit done today - though as usual, doesn't look like much. The front left figure with the portfire is now finished (base painted Brunswick Green) - and the loader is well on the way to completion. Behind, some more of the crew have been started. I would like to complete one crew - before showing how each individual is tackled - in more detail. I usually get a feeling about now, how these will turn out - and I like them - so - looking good. jb

 

[Obee]

Johnny,

they are looking good, epecailly the gun line...

By the way, you don't seem to undercoat the metal before applying paint.

I always apply primer or undercoat to raw metal and that way i find I get a better colour density, especailly with the lighter colours.

Keep up the good work,

John

 

[johnnybach]

Trouble is John - I learned how to paint without anyone teaching me, by trial and error - and it was about 11 years in before I realised that others were using a priming coat! Jeff keeps telling me off about not using any primer as well!

So anyway, - I bought some - and promptly sploshed too much on to an expensive casting - and swamped all of the fine detail! So- I spent the next couple of days trying to get it all off by using thinners and scraping - and consigned the primer to history. I therefore reverted to my bad old ways - and now, IF I use it at all - - it is used very sparingly. With dense colours (like the green of my cannon), I use two light coats, which have covered really well. Oxford blue is a similar colour that I use in two thin applications. Flesh is used under red - so I suppose I am using the first coat of colour rather like a priming coat anyway. Just takes me longer.

I must also mention that in my early painting days - when I first found out about the Internet (my daughter taught me how to use it) - I was very grateful indeed to your web-site, among others, as I then had a guide for the colours to use on some figures. "What colours?" was always my greatest problem then - rather than the use of primer - which I just didn't know about.

As even my oldest figures have still not deteriorated after about 15 years, I can only say - my method (such as it is) has stood the time test - and it seems to work. It may take me a bit longer per figure - and not give such dense coverage - but the old adage about an old dog learning new tricks applies, I'm afraid.

Here's my first completed figure - (I always do the first one right through - to learn how to do it). I think he's turned out okay. Thanks for the advice though John, I do appreciate any inputs - as I'm still learning.^&grin

 

[Hazebrouck]

Nicely done John!

I've always used a thin coat of primer, not for adhesion, but more to bring out the detail in castings. I agree if you use it too thick it can obscure the detail- automotive aerosol primers in particular need to be used lightly.

Now back to those castings. As a kid in the 80's I had one of those Prince August casting kits given to me as a present. Dad and I cast a few with the metal bars supplied till we ran out and started using wheel weights and sinkers. Now the moulds I had were a couple of Seven Years War flats and I can tell you they had nowhere near the detail or crispness of those castings. The bases in particular are well done.

So either the moulds have improved greatly or your man knows his stuff, or both.

What's happening with that mounted Canadian pipe band John?

Scott