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Thursday 26 June 2014

Prussian & Austrian Moulds 3104 & 3105 Released

Prince August have now released the next two moulds in the series. 

This is a bit of a lazy blog painting wise as all I have done is downloaded the pictures from from the PA website. I did however cast the figures (from pre-production moulds), which were then painted by Richard Hattersley, a regular gaming opponent, so I don't feel too guilty. 

It is also worth adding that these new moulds are more detailed than the earlier three, with detail such as musket slings and gaiter buttons added.

I have discussed both of these moulds in the past, but now they are out I will fill in a bit more detail.

3104 - Prussian fusilier drummer and (guard) infantry at march attack


This mould was added as something of an afterthought to fill some gaps in the Prussian range (sculpting and design wise actually came after the Austrian mould).



Contents:

3104/1 - Infantry body (march attack position),
3104/2 - Musket and left arm (for march attack),
3104/3 - Fusilier drummer body
3104/4 - Prussian Guard inf. – head,
3104/5 - Prussian Guard officer - head,
3104/6 - Prussian Fusilier head,
3104/7 - Prussian Fusilier head.





The sculptor did not originally think that a march attack figure could be fitted into a mould due to the length of the figure. Eventually he hit upon the idea of casting the musket and arm separately, a bit more assembly work, but it does produce the classic march attack pose. Obviously although labelled as 'guard', it is suitable for use as musketeers, fusiliers, grenadiers............. 

The fusilier drummer is is a rework of the the earlier one, but without the lace on the arms. It was really intended to be used more for the Austrian infantry than the Prussian fusiliers, but PA did not want to mix an 'Austrian' and 'Prussian' in the same mould - so it's 'Prussian'.

The fusilier heads are added so that that there is no longer a need to cast all those NCOs to get the heads (there was a mix up in 3103 which should have had a fusilier head in it).

And last but not least guard heads for officers and men with fancy hat lace to make up the guard battalions (many fusilier officers could also use this head) - and also make it more attractive marketing wise.





As you can see it's quite a squeeze to get it all in.











And some of Richard's brushwork



3105 - Austrian fusilier infantry advancing and march attack


As discussed some time ago, the Austrian (German) infantry posed a bit of a tricky one for us. In the end we went for a single mould, taking maximum advantage of the head swapping abilities of this range.



Contents:
3105/1 - advancing Infantry body,
3105/2 - March attack infantry body,
3105/3 - Musket and left arm (for march attack),
3105/4 - Fusilier officer head,
3105/5 - Fusilier infantry head,
3105/6 - Fusilier infantry head.








The bodies are similar to the Prussians, but with without a sword, and with the single Austrian haversack. Two fusilier heads are provided to fit the bodies, and also an Austrian officer's head; these can be used with Prussian moulds 3101 & 3102 to make up the command groups.

And again some completed figures.





If you want to see them made up into units, using the 'Prussian; commander look back at my postings of 9th & 27 April

And there are now enough troops and poses to start pulling together a couple of decent armies (well the infantry anyway).




It isn't yet possible to do grenadiers, but the wait should't be too long, a suitable head with a bearskin will be available in the forthcoming Hungarian moulds,



As always keep the comments coming!

5 comments:

  1. Just ordered the first three moulds, will have to save up fo rthe these two now :)

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  2. I have placed an order for them.

    Every day I have been receiving a newsletter from PA concerned with World Cup coupons without any mention of new releases.

    Congratulation to you and the PA team on getting these done and expanding the range. The painted samples look good too.

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  3. Thanks for the feedback from both of you, it is being listened to - hope you enjoy the moulds.

    I have no idea what PA are playing at and am getting tired of the World Cup emails, they seem to loose the plot on occasion - BUT they have released the catalogue with a lot of emphasis on SYW.

    http://princeaugust.ie/joomla/

    The figures in the two new moulds are a little more detailed that the previous three (which themselves are good), as Chris (C. Tubb the sculptor) has added things like gaiter buttons & musket slings etc. The new Austrian (no sword) mould is particularly useful with the advancing and march attack poses plus heads for officers and rank and file to convert the command figures.

    I have to confess to not having yet used the 'black' moulds for these, so would be interested to hear how you get on with the separate arm on the march attack figure, unfortunately necessary due to limitations on mould size?


    Steve

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  4. The postman delivered my package from Prince August this week and I have now made several castings from molds PA3104 and PA3105.

    The new Prussian mold, PA3104, contains the Fusilier Drummer, March-attack Infantryman, two Fusilier heads, Guards tricorne head and Guards Officer head. Two neck cores are included. As in the older molds the package includes the standard PA casting instruction sheet and the head assembly instruction sheet.

    The painting and assembly sheet has been changed. One side repeats the painting instructions for IR2 and IR33 that were in the older molds.

    The assembly side of the sheet has been updated to include the new molds and contains assembly instructions for Leibguard and Fusilier battalions. The assembly instructions for the Guards NCO bring up one of the compromises in this series. The instruction sheet advises you to use the private soldier’s head. This gives you a mustache but you will have to paint the red feathers onto the hat. If you use the Guard Officer head you get the feathers but must paint the mustache on the face.

    The sheet explaining the organization of the Prussian army is not in this package. Instead there is a one-sided sheet containing painting instructions for the Guard flag and brief painting instructions for the dress uniform for officers and men of the 1st Battalion of the Guard. No instructions are provided for NCOs. The package cover illustration shows the aiguilette but the painting instructions to not mention it. Most of the space on the sheet is taken-up by ten copies of a line drawing portraying the Guards’ flag.

    This mold works well. The bodies and heads are easy to cast. As you would expect, the cast parts are compatible with the parts from the previous molds in both size and fit. The castings are detailed and these details ate crisply rendered. There is an indentation on the left side of the March-Attack pose. The separate arm and musket fits into this depression and lines up with the left hand, which is cast on the body. There are no pegs, slots or holes but there really is only one way for it to fit.

    The Austrian mold, PA3105 contains two Fusilier bodies, a March-Attack pose and an Advancing pose. Two Fusilier heads and one Officer head complete the mold. Two neck cores are included.

    The paperwork in the package includes the standard casting instructions, the head assembly instructions and two sheets specific to this mold. There is a sheet showing painting instructions for the 27the regiment on one side and assembly instructions on the other side. The painting instructions include the regimental (yellow) flag. Assembly instructions are given for a Fusilier battalion. The last sheet in the package is single-sided and has twelve copies of a line drawing of the flag.

    Once again the bodies cast easily, including such details as the three buttons on the coat cuffs. The March-Attack pose uses the same type of separate arm as the Prussian mold. The only noticeable difference is that the Austrian has cuff buttons.

    The Officer’s head easily fits the Prussian body. The Fusilier head on the March-Attack pose is snug but fits both the Austrian and Prussian bodies. The Fusilier head on the Advancing pose can be a problem. I found that it is prone to casting with flash and I had to toss some back in the pot. The Fusilier heads fit the Prussian bodies needed to complete the battalion. They can be snug so I recommend keeping the neck post short.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the very useful review..............I'm relieved the separate arms fit OK on the production moulds!

      It's always going to be a balance as to how accurate we can represent the intricacies of the period. We are trying to get the rank and file for the main nations accurate. But then if we can get the command troops reasonably close with just a head swap on the Prussians we go for that.

      The Hungarians will be all new.

      The Russians might reuse some of the Prussian command.

      Thanks again for the review - very helpful.

      Steve

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