discussion Airfix 54mm Napoleonic French Line Infantry

[Neil Merryweather]

Looking superb Neil. The animation on display is peerless. Looking forward to the final arrangement…..

that's very kind, Tim, Thank you

Really nice poses Neil...are they for hire...I need some reenactors. :smiling2:

Cheers,
Richard

Thanks Richard, I'll see if they are free to travel:thinking:

What a grouping, perfect in my eyes Neil .I know it's not the final scene but it has such action and movement.

Thank you John, I do enjoy the challenge of representing action convincingly. As I mentioned earlier in the the thread, I keep thinking back to the War Picture Library comics of my adolescence

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Right, let’s get cracking with the eagle guard, or Deuxieme Porte Aigle as we Frenchmen say…..

Here’s where we left him, rescuing the standard and firing his pistol over the heads of the busy fusiliers in front.


These guys carried a short pike or spontoon with a pennant attached and I was imagining that it would be lying on the ground where he dropped it. But it kept niggling at me that it would get lost in the melee and I wanted to make more of it. So I dumped the firing the pistol idea and came up with this



Which I was much happier with, until I realised I had made the arm too long....



B*gger!

Also niggling away is the fact that position of the flag is not really convincing for the hang of the beautifully painted one I have been given. So I bit the bullet, removed both arms and eventually arrived at this, which hopefully addresses both issues.



So hopefully now I can progress and get him finished.
Thanks for watching
Neil

 

[scottie3158]

Neil, I'm really jealous of your figure skills of the few I have tried to adapt they come out looking like they have been used for medical experiments.

 

[Allen Dewire]

My Gawd Mr. Merryweather,

Is there no end to your talents??? And I didn't know you were French either......I have cut off and repositioned a few hands and maybe a head, but what you have done on this bunch is pure magic Sir. You have nailed the action poses to a "T"!!! Your painting skills are also fantastic. Neil, the only advice I can offer you, is to hit the fridge and have yourself a cold one or two. You more than deserve it my friend...

Prost
Allen

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Oh dear, two months since my last post on this, but I have not been idle, just not typing.
I know I already have another 4 figures on the go for this epic, (and there IS progress being made with them ,which I shall report soon), but I really feel the need for a casualty or two in the front row.
I found this picture on tinternet and it brought home how many there would have been by this stage of the battle.

In the centre there’s one guy who seems to be calling on his mobile for air support….
Also of note is the raggedy angles of the muskets, which I shall bear in mind.
I’m not going down the full-on gory mutilation path as described in the Sharpe books-we’ll have to assume it’s grape shot and sharpshooters that’s responsible.
When I got the first e-bay batch I used a spare pair of gaitered legs with arms from the spares box to make this guy.



The torso is Milliput, but then I got a whole load more fusilier bits in the next evilBay batch so I’m planning some more casualties now. I have a few pairs of suitable legs in the spares box, so in the spirit of using up the stash I am going to see how many I can come up with.




I’m never going to get this finished, am I?
And then, looking through the spares box I found this guy, who dates from 1974 or 75, I presume.



I think he might have been intended as 17th Lancer casualty when I was doing Charge of the Light Brigade conversions – inspired by Sid Horton in Airfix Magazine. So, as I am using up the stash I thought I really should include him in my ‘butcher’s bill’.
Underneath the pink Plasticene (the remains of which I removed with white spirit) it turns out he’s mostly Multipose Eighth Army. Annoyingly there’s a lot of filling and sculpting going to be required, but I’m committed now.



I pinned the arms and legs together this time, and changed his hands and head, and his boots for gaitered ones



Duxieme Porte-Aigle is almost ready for paint and I will post pics of him soon. I have been working on the others and will post them when there is enough progress to show.
Thanks for watching
Neil

 

[Mickc1440]

Definitely not making it easy for yourself are you :smiling:

 

[Tim Marlow]

Nice to see this back on the bench Neil. Echo Mick though, not taking the easy road are you

 

[The Smythe Meister]

I'm another who's pleased to see this back on view,love all the work so far.... and awaiting the future updates with bated breath
Nice one Neil.

 

[scottie3158]

Neil,
Lovely work mate, definitely a skill I am jealous of.

 

[rtfoe]

I see the OR is fully booked and the Surgeon is in full steam Neil. Great to see this back and getting attention again.

Cheers,
Richard aka Wabble

 

[Lee Drennen]

Very nice surgery Neil. I agree with Scottie lovely talent.

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Thanks ,Gentlemen all for the kind responses, and I am happy to announce that Deuxieme Porte-Aigle is finally ready for paint!



As you will see, I have dumped the pike; much as I love it, it just wasn’t convincing that he would hang onto it AND pick up the standard. So at the moment the plan is that it has fallen on top of the downed officer-we’ll have to see how that shakes down.

But I don’t think I’m ready to start painting just yet, I’m still on bit of a roll with all of the other boys.

Thanks for watching

Neil

 

[Steve Brodie]

good to see more progress been made

 

[rtfoe]

Target man or Standard bearer...nice. Neil, you can choose the direction the flag is waving in the wind. :thumb2:

Cheers,
Richard aka Wabble

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Ok, do you remember way back in August when I put together a couple of new Fusiliers-7 & 8?

Well, they have been progressing ahead of the Officer for some reason and here is Fusilier 7 as WIP



And here he is with all his kit, separate but ready for painting


And here is Fusilier 8 as a WIP



That’s all for now but there’s more in pipeline.
Thanks for watching

Neil

 

[scottie3158]

Great work Neil as I have said before I am jealous of your skill with figures.

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Great work Neil as I have said before I am jealous of your skill with figures.

Cheers Paul, I'm having fun again (putting off the painting though )

 

[Neil Merryweather]

I am pleased to report that the wounded officer is ready for priming and painting, woo hoo!
I have struggled with this one, and I think it must have been because I didn’t really like the Historex head I was using.



Once I swapped it over (for one from the 1970’s vintage Airfix footballers set) it all started to gel together.
He’s got lots of unusual kit which I had to figure out from conflicting references, especially the Standard-Bearer’s pouch belt thingy- I was hoping Historex did one in their spares range, but I couldn’t find one so I had to cobble it together myself.
The N had me foxed for a while, then I thought I would see if I could 3D print something so small, and to my astonishment I got away with it.

For the pedants experts among you he does have epaulettes and chin scales for his shako, I just forgot to add them into the shot. It’s all separate for painting.





As you see, I have found a new place for the halberd, which I think brings it into focus a bit more than if it was just lying on the ground.
I’ve pushed the bounds of 3D printing again here. I’m not confident of painting the lettering freehand, and I knew I could create the lettering digitally so I experimented to see how thin I could print the pennant, and I got it down to 0.1mm.
I used a hairdryer to get it to drape. The halberd blade is from Historex.
So there’s only Fusilier no 8 to finish, and then I think I’ll start painting.

Thanks for looking

Neil

 

[wotan]

Neil

This is turning into a very impressive little group. each sculpt gets better and better. Looking forward to the final painting and posing. This officer is looking very nice however, if it's not too late, I think his legs look a little wooden. His pose is not far from the one shown below, so bending his knees a little would make a lot of difference. Ignore this completely if you wish, it is still a great job.



John

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Many thanks John for your interest and taking the time to comment. Funnily enough, that kind of pieta pose in that painting and others like it has always irritated me as being too contrived looking for the battlefield, and I actually gave thought to the issue you raise.
My thought was that he's in agony and so his legs are more in spasm than relaxed. I did point his toes a little ( although in those boots I'm not sure how plausible that actually is).
I think if he was front and centre of the scene I might have made him a little more dramatic, but he's going to be buried in the middle, and he's been such a hill to climb, so with all due respect ( and I do have great respect for your talent), I'm going to leave him as he is and press on to the finish.
All the best
Neil