The rear view of the French Lancer:

There is still quite a bit to do yet. Supplied with the kit is a wooden bucket. This needs holes drilling through what are meant to be wooden lugs to lift it up with. Then very fine twisted wire will be made into a handle, painted and secured in the drilled holes to make a ‘rope’ handle.
Also the Lancer’s saddle roll (rolled up greatcoat) needs to be painted and affixed to his saddle. Then he will be finished.

I have two projects in the pipeline and am not sure which of them I will do next. Both projects are in different scales. One will be of around 45 to 50 figures in total (1/32 scale). The other project is a WWII diorama (a complete change for me). But watch this space …

All my previous models tended to have greenish bases so I decided that this time I would make the base stonier and earthier in colour.
The Lancer’s base was given an initial grey wash made up of 50% black and 50% white. Then dry brushed coats of Burnt Umber followed by Vallejo Deep Green were applied in random areas.

To finish off, more light grey was dry brushed onto the base, but this time it was concentrated in rocky areas. As a finishing touch some static green grass was applied to the area where the pole uprights met the ground.

Now the Lancer’s saddle was glued in its final position on the pole, and the French Lancer was put on the base for the photograph.

The stirrups were then painted silver, the stirrup straps and the straps around the saddle were done in brown.
Finally a thin strip of lead was painted brown, glued to the right hand side of the saddle and then bent over the top of the saddle to represent the girth.

Now the saddle is resting on the pole. For reference, the undercoated French Lancer has been temporarily placed next to it.

The uniform colours of each option in the kit are quite different, but the version I have chosen will have grey trousers with leather reinforcement, green jacket, red front and facings.

To start the model I washed all the parts in hot water, dried and undercoated them in white primer, and then carried out a ‘dry fit’ to see how well everything fitted together.

As can be seen from the picture above, the central join of the saddle is very uneven and will need a lot of filling to hide it.

Using ‘Miliput’ I filled the joint line and then, before the putty had set, carved some details into the Milliput in order to blend in the repair with the rest of the saddle.
Once the Miliput was dry the saddle was then sprayed with undercoat.

This picture above shows the saddle resting on the pole and ready for painting.

I made the base out of plaster and whilst the surface was still wet a knife was used to form ruts from a passing gun or ammunition wagon into the ground. The plaster was pushed around to leave a slightly uneaven and raised surface randomly on the base. These raised parts were to become rocks.
And, just as the diorama base was setting, I inserted some dyed sisal string to suggest grasses.
A minute amount of plaster was put on the boot of the Spanish Grenadier to suggest a clod of mud.

The diorama base was given a thin wash of PVA glue and then sawdust, which had been dyed a variety of greens and browns, was scattered onto the surface. Where rocks and stones were to protrude from the soil (the raised sections of the plaster mentioned earlier) I did not put any PVA. These areas were given a number of different dry brushes in tones of grey to suggest rocks.

Just past the end of the Spanish Grenadier’s sword scabbard you will see a spent cannon ball sunk into the earth.

To add further interest and variations to the diorama ground I added a number of scale leaves from oaks, maples, cherry trees etc to the ground.

In fact, if you look at the foot of the French Grenadier you can see an oak leaf stuck to the sole of his right boot!

The leaves, the rocks, wheel ruts, grasses and the cannon ball all add interest to the diorama and are well worth the small effort needed to produce them.

Both the Spanish Grenadier and the French Grenadier were drybrushed with ochre, green and brown to simulate dirt on their boots, trousers and the French Greatcoat.

At the moment I have not decided on what scenery is to be added to the base. I can’t have too much on the base as the figures are meant to be moving towards each other and cannot do so if there is too much scenery in the way. So I have to keep the scenery at a minimum, but I want to try to make it interesting as there is quite a lot of the base to cover.

To simulate a battle scene I have added ‘interest’ by making a Spanish Grenadier’s Bearskin cap and embroidered bag out of modelling clay. This will be painted and then arranged on the base close to the Spanish Grenadier. It was not difficult to sculpt and it makes a change from the French Shakos or broken swords or muskets that are normally seen in model diorama scenes.

The figure of the French Grenadier still has casting marks which are just visible in places. Therefore these will be hidden by making the back and hem of his greatcoat dirty, which means that the base should show the ground being wet or muddy. I had an idea to make a rain puddle on the base with some muddy grass and the ground cut up by wheel tracks and foot prints. But first of all I will sketch out some ideas.

You can see my work area too in this picture. Light is supplied from the window overlooking the garden supplemented by a ‘daylight’ bulb in an angle poise lamp. The French Grenadier is progressing quite well.

In the next picture the greatcoat and everything above his greatcoat is being painted. Leaving the trousers and boots to last allows me to handle the figure without damage as I paint the upper portions. The shako still needs the tricolour painted on the front, just above its brass eagle.

Although I still have quite a bit of work to do on this figure I am starting to think about the base, its size and its layout.

When undercoating the previous 54mm figure (of the Spanish Grenadier) I also undercoated the main parts of the French Grenadier. What I had not noticed at the time was the fact that surface of the casting was not good, especially on his greatcoat.

As can be seen from the picture below, once examined closely, pits and holes can be seen on the surface of the greatcoat.

Using “Milliput” I have managed to fill the bulk of the defects on the French Grenadier’s greatcoat.

But now I have come to do the detailed painting of the rest of the figure, I have found other minor defects on the casting. So I have stopped the project to consider the various options open to me.

The options are:

Carry on painting and then ‘hide’ defects under a layer of ‘mud’ or ‘dirt’.
Replace the figure (long wait for postage etc).
Paint the figure and then seek to hide the most visible defects behind scenery etc.
Spend a long time filling, filing and repairing the casting.

So, with the help of a coffee, I am off to consider the benefits of these options.
(To be honest, this is the first time since my last post in January that I have had a day to do some painting and modelling. To find out that the figure is not good and that I will have to stop to repair or return it, is a bitter dissapointment).

It is nice to start this new year with a new project, and one that is a little different from the others I have created in the past.

This military miniature diorama will be of two Grenadiers, one French and one Spanish. It is set ’somewhere in Spain’ during the peninsular war around about 1808.

The two 54mm figures are both from El Viejo Dragon. One figure is his Spanish Grenadier Officer (C1F12), the other figure is one from the Jose Napoleon Regiment (C1F14).

Both figures’ facings will be changed so that they are both grenadiers and other minor uniform alterations will made so that they will become combatants.

Our Spanish Grenadier Officer is attacking with his sword, the French Grenadier is attacking with his musket and bayonet.

I won’t use the bases that the figures came with, instead I will scratch build a suitable base to hold both figures.

Starting with the Spanish Grenadier Officer:
The original lead figure came with a very thin and flat epaullette on his right shoulder. This was carefully bent upwards (to emphasise the movement of his arm as he brings his sword over his shoulder ready to strike).

Using “green stuff” I built up a larger epaulette and with a sharp knife scored the tassles hanging down to make it look more realistic.

The result can be seen in this view of the partially painted figure:

The yellow facings and turnbacks as well as the modified epaulette can be seen in both pictures.

His face is complete and all that is left is to find out what design would have been on the yellow bag attached to his bearskin.

There are a number of drawings of the various designs embroidered onto the bag, but as is usual with this period, I have also found conflicting details of the actual colours and designs.
One book states that the regiment I have chosen (Regt Irlandes) did not have any embroidery at all. Another shows a simple silver design - which is what I shall paint, once the yellow bag has dried.

Next, the French Grenadier, but that will be the subject of another posting as all I have done is clean up the casting and undercoat it.

I decided that the serving lady would be a Cantinière. (Wives of French soldiers who followed them on campaign and who have also been known to follow them into battle with life sustaining brandy).
In Napoleonic times the brandy barrel she is carrying (known as a tonnelet) should be in the patriotic colours of red, white and blue. But maybe hers was damaged in a recent battle and this one is a local replacement awaiting painting.

Maybe that is why she is offering the French Dragoon Officer a cup of her brandy - to arrange for the painting of her new barrel.

There is an excellent description of the life of a Cantinière at the following website “Following the Drum“.

The serving boy is also complete and I have represented his sleeveless jerkin as one that could have originated from an infantryman - with the sleeves and tails cut off and buttons removed - all that remains ‘French’ is the colour. And in Napoleonic times many clothes were unobtainable on campaigns.

Ignore the shine on some of the paint on the boy - this photo was taken before the paint was dry.

Now the boy is in deep conversation with the dragoon office whilst he sits at his table in the French Cafe.

It seems that the Dragoon is in deeper discussion with the boy now. Maybe the boy, whom we can assume is the son of the Cantinière, has just asked the Dragoon if he can join up?

As the Cantinière is still holding onto the cup in her hand, and from the attitude of the boy’s shoulders, it would seem that the Dragoon is telling him he is too young for the Dragoons.
What do you think?

So, this 54mm military modelling diorama is completed and just awaits fitting to a wooden base, varnishing in matt varnish and the placing of a knife and fork onto the table as the Dragoon could not be expected to eat with his fingers.

Work on planning the next diorama has already begun………