Monday, October 26, 2009

Old Elite French - 1806 Project


Original Elite Miniatures French in bicornes, circa 1805-1807. This is the first battalion of the 25e Regiment de Ligne. (click the pictures to enlarge the view). Painted by Der Alte Fritz.

I have been slogging away at the painting of my French infantry for the 1806 Project at a 1:10 ratio of figures to actual men. As of today I have 5 battalions at 72 figures each completed. A sixth battalion has five of the six companies finished, needing only the voltigeur company to complete the unit. And yes, I know that the French had 9 companies per battalion during this period, only changing over to six companies in 1808.

I am painting Gudin's 3rd Division in Marshal Davout's III Corps circa 1806. The division will eventually have two infantry brigades of four battalions. The first brigade will have the 12e and 21e regiments de ligne and will consist of figures from the current range of Elite Miniatures French in bicorne chapeaux. These figures were redesigned by Peter Morbey some years ago, I don't know when. The 12e de Ligne are all "advancing" poses while the 21e de Ligne are all in the "at the ready" pose. I liked painting the advancing pose, but for some reason, I really dislike painting the "at the ready pose" for some reason. I guess that the figures don't inspire me, and when you are painting 72 figure battalions, you need to be inspired to paint that lot!


The 1/25e de Ligne in line formation. Old Elite Miniatures.

The second brigade of infantry will consist of the 25e de Ligne using the original old Elite Miniatures figures, which are shown in these pictures. The second battalion will consist of either more old Elite French, if I can find another 144 of the figures, or more likely, the new Eureka Miniatures French infantry from their French Revolution range. I really like the original Elite figures and wish that Peter Morbey hadn't redesigned the range to make them taller and a bit more cartoonish. Even more troubling is that the old figures are not easy to find. I think that I have about tapped out my source for these figures.

So if anyone has any of the old Elite French infantry in bicornes, and you are interested in selling them, then give old Fritz a call and he would be most happy to take them off of your hands at a really nifty markup to what you paid for them. I will take them painted in any condition or unpainted (preferred).

My next post will discuss the Russian part of the project. Here is a taster picture of one of the units that I have painted so far (on temporary bases until I figure out how to base them).


Old Glory Russians designed by the late Dave Alsop. These figures were never released to the public for sale, but I bought approximately 900 of them. This might be my main project for 2010. Who knows? Find out tomorrow.

8 comments:

  1. 900 Russians??!! You don't do things by halves!!! They look superb.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fritz
    I ought to mail you some 1806 Prussians from Haggerty's line...
    if you want
    send a message via TMP :)
    the outlander

    ReplyDelete
  3. Awesome, just Awesome.
    I am simply going to have to give up trying to match what you turn out. Inspiring, but just no way I can keep up, so as much as I love the Napoleonic era, I will stay focused on your namesake and try to catch up.
    Chris

    ReplyDelete
  4. Fritz,
    I saw your message on the TMP board.
    It's a very interesting project that you have here.
    Just a quick question : did you check the color of the uniform for the 25th regiment. I am sure that this regiment was designated to wear the white uniform. I'll check if i have any source indicating that they actually wore it.

    Good luck with your project and regards from a fellow "minis" painter

    ReplyDelete
  5. they certainly look handsome in a 72 man unit

    ReplyDelete
  6. Going from tricornes to bicornes? Are you cutting corners?

    Excellent work anyway! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Fritz -

    Found your blog through the google machine and I hope you can help me. I`m looking for information on the Dave Alsop French Napoleonics castings. I understand that there were two limited edition sets available (infantry and cavalry)? What were the contents (type and number) and how much did they cost at the time? And how do the sculpts compare to the figures available nowadays?

    Thanks in advance - info seems to be scarce on these rare figures. Hope you can help!

    ReplyDelete