Airfix 54mm Napoleonic French Line Infantry

[Waspie]

Not my genre, (if that's the right word), but you have to admire talent when it's in front of you. Cracking work Neil.

[Jim R]

Brilliant. The quality of the painting and the detailing is superb. The straps etc and the poses are just so natural.

[tr1ckey66]

Hi Neil
I simply love the work you’ve done on these figures. The detail work (both with putty and other materials) is sublime. The composition is well thought through and the resulting vignette will be breathtaking. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the figures painted and seeing the resulting scene.
All the best
Paul

[Mickc1440]

Fantastic work Neil

[rtfoe]

Beautifully done Neil.

Cheers,
Wabble

[Steve Brodie]

Superb animation

[Neil Merryweather]

Paul, Tim, Doug, Jim, Paul, Mick, Wabble and Steve - many thanks indeed for your lovely comments.

BUT

I just can’t help myself.

Having FINALLY finished the positively last two figures I started working on the composition, and no matter what I did I just couldn’t make the Deuxieme Porte-Aigle guy work.

This was my original idea.


He was supposed to be stepping over the downed officer - it kind of works for a stand-alone vignette but I want a really tight and crowded composition and this just needs too much space around it

I decided that really only his legs were wrong, so I looked out a new pair of gaitered legs, which meant I had some serious butchery to do, and to an already painted figure. I hated the idea of it but it was driving me mad, so I bit the bullet and broke out the Dremel. Luckily I had stuck his equipment with pva so that all came off without damaging itself or the paint underneath (not that that mattered in the end).
This is what I got



In the process though I broke one of the arm joints and the coat tails had to come off and rather than do some crappy re-touching I realised I would rather completely repaint the whole figure. So into the Dettol bath he went - gutted!

So far so good, but wait- the new legs are Airfix and they’re annoyingly too small for his Historex torso…
So I set about altering the original legs to the same position


That’s much better.



But I don’t want to commit to this pose without checking it with the rest of the composition. I did that and it STILL didn’t do it for me, so I changed the legs a bit more and this is where he has ended up.



So it’s out with the Milliput again, and another Navy blue jacket to paint! But I’ve come this far and even though I really just want it finished I don’t want something that will niggle at me for ever more.
Sorry!

[JR]

Well he certainly look better following major surgery Neil.
Agree with you on the niggling part, there are times when you just have to re do it.

[rtfoe]

The French Army must be paying a heavy cost on hospitalisation and surgery but well done Dr Neil on this last procedure...didn't even need a new donor for the limbs. Best corrected than having post trauma.

Cheers,
Wabble

[Neil Merryweather]

Right then, Porte-Aigle is ready for paint.
I have used white Milliput for the alterations up to now but I dug out some old Magic Sculpt for this and I much prefer it



So on with the base. As I said before I want a very tight composition and I also want to have a dust cover so I have bought this



The wooden base is horrible so I have 3D printed a more elegant one in black plastic



I have been through many variations and arrangements with this and indeed a larger base size but this is where I have landed.


I don’t mind that the figures are in some cases right up against the glass, as if it ever goes on any kind of display the cover will be off.



I used a foamboard plate for flexibility whilst experimenting, and I am going to use Sculptamold (which is also a bit too soft) for the terrain itself, so I need something solid to peg the figures into for the final base.



So I have trimmed down the original wooden base and set it into a 3D printed circular tray. I traced the holes and transferred them to the wood and marked them with numbered pins.



All the standing figures have a single peg and the lying down ones no peg at all, but I soon found that even having many photos it was impossible to remember precisely which way each figure was oriented. With them being so closely packed together the positioning is vital, so I had to add a second peg to the standing figures and two new pegs to the casualties.



This is to enable me to find the right holes when the landscaping is applied, but I am going to paint the Porte-Aigle first.

[rtfoe]

The base looks like the back of a hedgehog now but the pegs will help enormously once the groundwork is applied. Good planning Neil.

Cheers,
Wabble

[Tim Marlow]

Nice work Neil. This is going to be a real showstopper when it’s done.

[Neil Merryweather]

The base looks like the back of a hedgehog now but the pegs will help enormously once the groundwork is applied. Good planning Neil.

Cheers,
Wabble

Thanks Wabble, I wish I had planned it a bit better from the start. One thing I am disappointed about is the lack of interaction between any of the guys- it would have been good to have one guy helping another or one falling directly on to another. But it's too late now, that's for next time.
And I still don't know if the pins idea will work as intended...

[Neil Merryweather]

Nice work Neil. This is going to be a real showstopper when it’s done.

Thanks Tim, I hope so . It's interesting to see them all together for the first time

[Airborne01]

Coming on a storm Neil!
Steve