Three Rose Kürassiere (1 Viewer)

[theBaron]

Well, anticipating finishing my hussars, I thought I'd start another painting thread. This time, the subject is three Prussian Kürassiere, castings from Russell Gammage's Rose Miniatures line.

They're already a work in progress, but this one includes a flag, plus adding some pieces that were missing from each of these kits.

Here is a front view:

I got these one at a time, either on eBay or at toy soldier shows. The body and head are the same for all three, but the standard bearer has a different pair of arms.

Here is a rear view of the figures as they currently look:

The standard bearer was missing the flag and staff; a previous owner had painted him as a cuirassier from Wuerttemberg in the Napoleonic wars, and stuck him on an Airfix base, with some putty for groundwork. I think I got him in one of Ed Gries' 3-for-$10 boxes at Langhorne.

I added a piece of brass rod for the staff, with a flag made from candy wrapper foil, laminated with CA glue.

All three figures were missing their queues, and their Säbeltaschen. On the figures left and right, you can see replacement queues, which I made from a piece of aluminum wire, wrapped with a piece of fine copper wire for texture. And I've added a Säbeltasche for the one figure, from a piece of roof flashing sheet (scraps left over from a home improvement project). I have to repaint that, though, I think I was painting after too many beers and it looks a little sloppy.

You can also see in these pictures the typical Rose base, on two of the figures. Gammage included a thick base for his foot figures, shaped like a square with the corners knocked off. They were marked underneath, too, with his catalog numbers. So, this can help identify them. The third figure has a thin, flat base cast integrally. I thought, at first, that this was a copy of a Rose figure, but I've learned in the meantime that this was a variation that Rose used.

Lots of touching up to do-cleaning up some of the borders between colors, for example, and finishing the uniform details. And the flag.

Prost!
Brad

 

[aujj65]

Brad,

You don't see so many of these figures around today. Looking forward to see how you finish the flag.

Jeff

 

[theBaron]

OK, a quick update...

I had to prime the flag, and I had to do it without getting paint on the ensign himself. Normally I wouldn't be in this position; I normally make the flag separately, paint it, and attach it to the completed figure. But I changed my mind about how I was going to finish this figure after having started. Lesson-always plan ahead.

Anyway, I used a piece of newspaper-simple enough:

And here is the flag, primed and ready for the colors:

Next time, the base color laid in.

Prost!
Brad

 

[1879fanatic]

Brad,
Ah! The Prussian Kürassiere of the Creme de Menthe Battalion commanded by Herr Sweet. (Great tips for scratch building!)
Mike

 

[theBaron]

All right, I've finished my hussars and I'm turning back to these three Rose figures.

First, a look at my research material. Here's a page from Engelmann & Dorn's "The Cavalry of Frederick the Great", showing the regiment I'm painting, the Regiment Gens d'armes (Nr. 10):

I included this, so you can see what I'm working from, to paint the standard. The regimental standards were yellow, with a white center field and white fields in the corners, for the royal monogram. The Gens d'armes were one of the regiments that retained standards of the pattern laid down by Frederick's father. Frederick replaced these on his ascension, because the design was seen as a snub to France (the device was an eagle flying against the sun-Louis XIV, with the motto, "Non soli cedit"-"He doesn't yield to the Sun"). Some were retained, though, to honor the old king, and also, because some had been issued only recently.

So, there's the example I'm using. In the last post, we saw the standard with a coat of primer. Here are shots, front and back, with the field color laid in:

I used Tamiya's Flat Yellow (XF-3), which is a little darker shade, and happened to be the only yellow I had on hand excpet for a tube of Mussini cadmium yellow. I brushed it on, three or four coats, until it looked uniform to me. I've since replenished my stash with a little square bottle of Testor's gloss yellow enamel, but that's a little brighter shade.

Now, having painted the field color, I added the center field and the cartouches in the corners:

Now, mind you, this is all done by aligning using the Mk. 1 eyeball. What I do for my flags is to picture an X, to identify the center of the flag, and dress off that for the corners. So, I painted in the center, starting with a dot and just painting around that, kind like walking in an ever-expanding circle, until it looks big enough for the field. Then I add one of the corner cartouches, say, on the upper-left arm of my imaginary X. I add the next one in the opposite corner (lower right), then add the cartouches along the other imaginary axis. It usually works OK.

The white is an old bottle of Tamiya Gloss White (X-2), which has the consistency of toothpaste by this time, but it never quite dries out. I think it with isopropyl, and it seems to keep on going. I chose that color because it's, well, it's white Actually, I use that bottle pretty much just for toy soldiers, and the odd detail here and there in a cockpit. When it dries, it'll be nice and shiny.

I'm not too worried about getting nice clean edges on these fields, because eventually, each will get a laurel wreath painted around its edge, which will hide the odd nick here or there. In this regiment's case, those wreaths will be in gold, which is also their button color. That was a general rule for Prussian standards.

One last pic tonight, since my camera's battery has run down and needs a charge. I have to replace the Säbeltaschen for these figures; none of them were complete kits, when I bought them, and that piece is missing. A side note-Gammage, in his cataloge, lists these figures as "FG23-Officer, Garde du Corps". But the details are actually those of the rank and file. Officers didn't have the cartridge box and its belt, and had straps with gilded scales to hold the cuirass together. A rare error in Gammage's otherwise meticulous research.

Anyway, I've got some roof flashing material that I use for things like this, it's about 3mm plastic with a thin layer of copper over top. I've cut two pieces and shaped them (roughly) with a file, into the shape of the Prussian cuirassier's Säbeltasche:

I don't know if you can see them that well here; this is my usual method of holding small pieces for priming. I took a piece of masking tape and stuck it to a piece of corrugated stock (so says my buddy Wes, who works for a packaging company-"It's corrugated stock, not cardboard!"). A shot of primer, and then I'll paint these pieces.

So, that's what I've gotten done tonight, and we're actually not too far from complete on these figures, too. We're at the stage where the major things have been done, and now, it's all about filling out the little details, here and there.

Thanks for looking, and till the next time!

Prosit!
Brad

 

[theBaron]

I've started adding the details to the central device: the Prussian eagle, flying against the (French) sun. I've added the sun, the ribbon for the motto, and the earth:

I've been using the Optivisor I got myself at Cold Wars last week, and I wish I had gotten one sooner, it really helps restore the focus I've lost, close up.

Using some thick Gunze-Sangyo gold here-the thicker paint is actually a bonus in this kind of work, I've found. And a little bit of green, just for Jeff!

Here is a rear view of the figure:

Tomorrow, I'll add the eagle, and start adding the laurels.

 

[aujj65]

I've started adding the details to the central device: the Prussian eagle, flying against the (French) sun. I've added the sun, the ribbon for the motto, and the earth:

I've been using the Optivisor I got myself at Cold Wars last week, and I wish I had gotten one sooner, it really helps restore the focus I've lost, close up.

Using some thick Gunze-Sangyo gold here-the thicker paint is actually a bonus in this kind of work, I've found. And a little bit of green, just for Jeff!
Here is a rear view of the figure:

Tomorrow, I'll add the eagle, and start adding the laurels.

Brad, I feel honoured! thank you.

This is coming along nicely.

Jeff

 

[theBaron]

Wow, I've let this go for a month! Well, I haven't been completely idle, I finished some other figures that had been sitting on the bench, a Monogram/Merite Roger's Ranger, and a Stadden King's Dragoon officer; and made some progress on some others, a couple of Stadden French drummers from the Seven Year's War, though I may strip them and start over. I also finished one of a pair of TBF Avengers, and the other is almost done.

But this thread is about my cuirassiers, so here is a progress pic, sort of, of the standard bearer:

I finished the central device on both the obverse and reverse sides, with the wreath of laurels and crown surrounding. Then I painted the smaller royal ciphers or monograms in each of the corners. But after looking at them for a long time, I decided that I didn't like the way they turned out, too shaky in some spots, too much gold paint deposited in others. So, I've painted them out:

I'll take a second pass at painting them in, I can do a better job. I went too fast, the first time around.

And, here are the replacement Säbeltaschen for the other two Kürassiere. You may recall, these figures were missing those pieces, so I've cut some copper roof sheathing stock to shape. I've painted in the royal monogram and the lace trim:

They're stuck on a piece of masking tape, on a piece of cardboard, for ease of handling.

Not too far from the finish, just a lot of little details...

 

[thebritfarmer]

Great stuff Brad I am enjoying watching you bring your figures to life and also the "non" toy soldier pieces that you use to fix and customize your figures.

 

[PolarBear]

Brad

Your painting skills are at a professional level.
You should really have a website on the Prussian Army.

Randy