Another update to Prussian Resources Page

Standard bearer 2nd Silesian regiment (IR11)

Just a short note to say that I’ve started adding images of the Sturm cigarette cards created by Herbert Knötel and Martin Lezius. Last night I had initially thought it would be a relatively quick and simple job. That was before I realised just how many cards there were in the full set – 84 of them. And that’s just the Prussians! There are some Saxons too.

So I made a start by adding the ones for the line and reserve infantry regiments. Hopefully, I’ll gradually add all the rest over the next week or so.

New Prussian resources page

The eagle-eyed among you might notice that a new link has appeared in the menu above. Yep, I’ve finally got round to adding a Prussian Army Resources page to complement the Saxon one I’ve already done. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, it doesn’t make sense to have a Saxon one and not have a Prussian one; secondly, it’s easier to find and maintain if there’s one page; thirdly, the Saxon page has proved to be consistently one of the most viewed parts of the site, so a Prussian page seems as though it would be something popular.

But those reasons apply at almost any time. The spur for doing it now is that my Wargames Illustrated article will be published soon and it would be embarrassing if there wasn’t a Prussian resources page to accompany it on BfK. So I’ve decided to get started now to give me sufficient time to have it up to scratch. So far I’ve concentrated on adding the Knötel plates and that’s made me realise just how much material there is to get through. There were only 13 Knötel plates for the Saxons but I uploaded 49 for the Prussians this morning and I’ve a worrying feeling that I might have forgotten some!

Anyway, that was enough work for one go along with links to the Napoleonic Association’s pamphlet about the reserve infantry regiments. I’ll save adding further resources like the Knötel cigarette cards, the Jugel/Wolf plates and a list of books for future updates. If you can think of any other items that should be included, feel free to add a comment.

Saxon painting notes now available

Just a brief note to say that I’ve now updated the Calpe website to include details of the painting notes for Saxon musketeers and grenadiers. Peter F. has also got in new stock of the Peter Bunde Brigade plates I mentioned last time. The four plates effectively cover all eight line infantry regiments and the four converged grenadier battalions.

So nobody’s got any excuses not to paint their new Saxon accurately now, have they

Getting your whites right and other chores

The now-famous Andrea white paint set.

June is always a hectic month at BfK HQ but this year seems more frenzied than ever. On top of the usual family birthdays this week, I’ve been cracking on with the updates to the Calpe website, proof-reading Peter F’s painting guide for the Saxon musketeers and grenadiers, writing some more of my Wargames Illustrated article and trying to complete my paint trials in readiness for getting stuck into the job of painting up the first battalion.

The white palette trials seem as good a place to start as any. As you know, I’ve been introduced to the Andrea white paint set and I’ve now completed my experiments. It’s a dangerous temptation to have a set of six pre-mixed shades in front of you on the workbench (see photo above). After all, six colours means six layers, right? Well, I was able to resist that extreme option but I did initially go for using four out of the six colours on the trousers of a test figure. It was fun at the time but after a couple of days reflection I reached the conclusion that there wasn’t sufficient difference between each shade.

So that meant the poor test figure had to suffer the ignomy of having his trousers scrubbed clean with hot water and an old toothbrush! The second experiment was a more conventional three layer job. The base coat was the second shade colour from the set (i.e. the darkest of the six – leftmost in the photo above); the first highlight was the base colour from the set (third from the left in the photo above) and the second highlight was the third highlight colour (i.e. straight white – rightmost in the photo above). I opted for two thin layers of each colour as opposed to a single thicker layer.

Successful white trousers!

The test figure has spent most of the rest of this week being dragged round the house by me and viewed under various different light sources. And the conclusion is that I’m satisfied with the outcome. In fact, I’m more than satisfied with the whole experiment. At last I think I have three shades that work as a palette for white and all three of them come from paints that don’t go chalky. Oh yeah – look right for a photo of the results.

Reviewing Peter F’s painting guide has got me thinking about the blue palette I had previously settled on for the Saxon officers’ surtouts. Before, I’d be visualizing a sky blue as the target to aim for but Peter’s notes describe the colour as a grey-blue, the figures he is painting at the moment are definitely a grey-blue rather than a sky one and (this is the clincher) Peter Bunde’s plates for the Saxon infantry regiments also indicate a particular shade of grey-blue. A pity really, because I was pretty damned proud of the pair of officer’s trousers that I’d painted the other week. Still, all is not lost: two of the colours from my intended palette will still serve well and I’ve identified a suitable candidate for the third colour. Once I’ve re-painted the trousers of the officer in question, I’ll post details here.

A slight digression follows.

Peter F. intends to sell relevant Peter Bunde Brigade plates alongside his painting guide. If you haven’t seen these plates before, then I urge you to investigate them. Peter B. is German and therefore has easier access than many to primary research materials in German museums, archives and collections. Naturally, the fact that German is his first language also makes it easy for him to correctly interpret these sources. The result is that the Brigade plates are a stunning uniformology resource that mainly (but not exclusively) covers German states of the Napoleonic period. Each A4 plate covers one particular unit in extensive detail.

For example, the plate about the Saxon Prinz Friedrich August infantry regiment is on my desk at the moment. It illustrates the the flags carried by the two battalions; uniforms for musketeers, NCOs, sappers, musicians and officers; shako details; rank distinctions; the shabraque for mounted officers; the aforementioned grey-blue surtout; examples of campaign uniform and other details like cartridge cases and forage caps. The plate comes with a page of notes translated into English with a full list of the sources used by Peter B.

Digression over.

The last area of work this week has been the Wargames Illustrated article. I have to confess to a little procrastination on this front but I’ve got thing back on track and I’ve completed almost half of the article now. Most of what’s left is planned out and there’s only one section that I’m not particularly looking forward to because it calls for some research that feels a bit too much like exam revision for my taste. Still, I could get the thing finished next week with a solid final push. Dan’ll be pleased to hear that if he’s reading this.

PS: who spotted photos of von Peter and ADC Simon in this week’s Foundry e-mail newsletter!?