Erbprinz Karl Friedrich von Hesse Seewald

Karl Friedrich (left) and his ADC, Captain Jakob Berkebeil (right). Both are Minden Miniatures figures. Click picture to enlarge the view.

I have finished several painting projects for other people and now that everything is packed and mailed, I have a little time on my hands to paint whatever I please. The sensible part of my brain told me to keep knocking out AWI British regiments, what with Historicon coming up so soon. The spontaneous side of my brain told me to do whatever will bring me the most fun and joy.

Spontinaity won out, so I pushed the 32 AWI British, destined to become the 4th Regiment of Foot, and pitch into some Minden Miniatures SYW figures. With that in mind, I dug out a couple of mounted officers so that I could paint a couple of on-off "onesies" and get creative. I chose a Hanoverian mounted officer to play the role of the Erbprinz Karl Friedrich von Hesse Seewald and a Prussian mounted colonel to star in the role of the Erbprinz's ADC, confidant, and minder: Captain Jakob Berkebeil of the Von Glasenap Musketeer Regiment in the Hesse Seewald army.

The picture above depicts a portion of my Saturday painting production: I finished both mounted officers and seven light infantry figures (out of an eventual 29 figures for a light regiment as prescribed in "The Wargame" rules by Charles Grant). I chose the green uniform coat of the Hesse Seewald army for both officers. Each army regiment has a different facing color or small clothes in either buff or white. The green coat, red facings and white small clothes are those used in IR1 von Glasenap, the oldest regiment in the Herzog von Hesse Seewald's army.

Now before some of you get too excited, this does not mean that I am about to drop everything and start painting imaginations armies in the blink of an eye. On the contrary, this batch of figures are destined to fight in another war gamer's campaigns, so I will be packing them up shortly and sending them on their way to new adventures. On the other hand, I rather like the few sample figures that I painted for several of the regiments, so it is very likely that from time to time I will paint a regiment here and there until I build up the first brigade of four 30 figure battalions.

Making Artillery Tool

I was working on the creation of some longer artillery tools to go with the mammoth sized French artillery barrels on the Valliere 8-pound and 12- pound cannon.

I simply cut a piece of brass wire to the length of the 12- pounder barrel and then made the ram and sponge ends from green epoxy putty. I rolled out a small sausage of putty and stuck it to the end of the wire. Then, with the wire embedded in the putty, I rolled out the putty to reduce the thickness and then trimmed the sponge to the desired length. Then using an Exacto blade, I scored some lines into the putty to give the sponge some texture.

You can see the finished result in the picture and compare it to the original rammer casting and the French 12-pound barrel.

New Artillery Equipment - Painted Pix!

French 12-pounder with limber; Minden Miniatures French crew. Click to enlarge.

I have been busy painting one of each of the new French and Prussian SYW/AWI era cannon, limbers and wagons over the weekend and finally have them ready to post on the blog. I like all of the new model, but I think that the French cannon are the most spectacular looking because they are just so HUGE! I am tempted to add the 24-pounder to the French range in the future. I want to thank Christian Rogge for his epic work in compiling the information on the French and Prussian cannon and then creating the scale drawings that our sculptor was able to use to render the final models. Future additions to the range will likely include a Prussian 7-pd howitzer, British 12-pdr, and a complete line of Austrian cannon and equipment.

To order, click on the link below to the Fife & Drum web page for further ordering information:

Fife & Drum Miniatures

French cannon (L-R): Swedish 4-pdr, Valliere 4-pdr, Valliere 8-pdr and Valliere 12-pdr.

Prussian cannon (L-R) 12-pdr, 10-pdr howitzer, 6-pdr, and 3-pdr.

Prussian 12-pdr (left) and 10-pd howitzer (right)

Prussian 6-pdr (left), light limber with ammo box (center) and 3-pdr (right)

Prussian 12-pdr, Minden artillery crew, and heavy limber.

Munitions wagon (left) and Pontoon wagon with pontoon (right)

I like the way that these two wagons turned out. I painted them Prussian blue, but they could be used for any European army during the SYW or for AWI forces. For the British, paint the carriage grey and the canvas top crimson. The pontoon wagon will come in very handy for some of those Charles Grant scenarios that I have been meaning to try. You can also buy a pack of two pontoons separately.

British 3-pounder with American crew firing.

I also include a picture of the 3-pdr Galloper gun that already exists in the AWI equipment range; however, many people are not aware that it exists, so I thought that I would post a picture of just the cannon with the crew (available as British or American, loading and firing poses).

The initial response to these new releases has been very good, and in fact I have already placed a restocking order so that we can keep the products in the shipping room, ready to fill your orders. I will be at Historicon July 18-21, 2013 with a booth at the Age of Glory booth. I hope to see you there.

British Ammo Wagon

I found this interesting picture of a British munitions wagon at Fort Ligonier in Pennsylvania. This looks very much like the Fife & Drum wagon, other than it has a pair do doors at the rear.

New Fife & Drum SYW Artillery Equipment Is Now In Stock!

French Valliere System Artillery (L-R): 4-pdr, 8-pdr, and 12-pdr all shown with Minden Miniatures SYW artillery crew figures. Click pix to enlarge the view.

Close-up view of the new French 8-pdr (left) and 12-pdr (right).

I have spent the evening unpacking a huge box of castings received today from Griffin Moulds Ltd, containing all of the new SYW artillery equipement that we have just added to the Fife & Drum Miniatures range. The equipment is made to 1/56 scale so that they are fully compatible with either the Minden Miniatures SYW range or the Fife & Drum AWI range.

Check out the Fife & Drum blog for more information, including prices and product codes to assist you in ordering these fine new artillery castings.  Fife & Drum Artillery Equipment

The new Prussian artillery (L-R) 12-pdr; 10-pd Howitzer; 6-pdr; and 3-pdr.

Ammunition wagon, wicker-sided with canvas top. Shown with set of limber horses and driver and Minden Prussian artillery crewman.

Pontoon wagon with pontoon (horse team sold separately).

Close-up of the Prussian 12-pdr (left) and 10-pdr Howitzer (right)

Close-up of the Prussian 6-pdr (left) and 3-pdr regimental gun (right).

v

Minden Miniatures SYW French artillery crew manning a Valliere 4-pounder, from Fife & Drum Miniatures

Given that I have a shipment of all the new French and Prussian SYW/AWI artillery arriving tomorrow (Yesssss!!!!!!!), I thought that it would be a good idea to paint a Minden Miniatures French artillery crew to go with my new gun models so that I could take pictures of the French with the French guns. Makes sense, doesn't it?

The point is to remind those of you collecting Minden SYW armies that the Fife & Drum cannon are made specifically with you in mind. Since Richard Ansell sculpts both the Minden and the Fife & Drum ranges, the figures and the cannon models are all done to the same 1/56 scale. Thus, instant compatibility.

Those Frenchies look awfully damn nice, I must say. I am sorely tempted to start collecting and painting a French SYW army with the Minden Miniatures. Oh dear, don't I have enough projects already? However, this is one idea that just won't go away.:)

AWI Artillery

British 6-pounder battery with 3-pound galloper gun in the rear. Click picture to enlarge.

I have been working on some painting commissions for Fife & Drum Miniatures British and American artillery batteries. I'm in the process of painting ten sets (includes one cannon and four crew) and finished the first six this morning.

American artillery battery (left to right) French light "Swedish" 4-pounder, French 4-pound Valliere System cannon, and 3-pound Galloper gun (actually a British Verbruggen cannon mounted on a Patteson carriage).

Speaking of artillery, the new additions to the Fife & Drum artillery park are scheduled to arrive from the caster on Monday June 3rd and I'm really looking forward to seeing these in the flesh. The new pieces include Prussian 3/6/12 pounders and a 10-pound howitzer; French 8 and 12-pounders; a pontoon wagon and pontoons; a wicker sided munitions wagon; and Prussian and French artillery limbers.

Please note that the majority of the Fife & Drum artillery equipment can be used from the War of the Austrian Succession through the end of the American War of Independence.

Finally, we have some special promotional figures that Richard Ansell recently sculpted to give away at the Fife & Drum booth at Historicon. I'm not going to reveal what they are just yet, other to say that they are part of a unique vignette. I'm really excited about these new figures and I think that you will be too.