Yes I am still here, however I have not done anything with my semi flats for some time.
I recently had an email to say that PA have (finally) released four more moulds, and that there is a 10% discount if you buy the full set.
I have to confess I have not yet seen these moulds, so have not had chance to try them out and see how they cast. The packaging illustrations are prints of the computer generated designs - not castings.
The moulds are labelled 'Austria', however they are intended to be more generic than has been the case previously, and to produce figures that are 'near enough' to fill some of the gaps that exist across all of the armies.
General Officer
The mounted general officer is based on the Austrian uniform, with different heads (from other moulds) and varying paint jobs he should do nicely for all of the armies.
We decided to try and make something a little different from the usual pointing with sword, so went for the raised hat and pointing with baton. Hopefully a dragoon or cuirassier arm can be used if a sword is wanted.
Light Infantry
These have been 'a little while' in the making - looking back through the blog the discussions about what figures to produce were back in September 2014, and then the first sculpting shots were back around Christmas 2019 - no one can say they were rushed out!
Grenz & Pandours
Currently just a single mould for these, the kneeling and standing firing poses are fine for skirmishing. I would have liked to have seen another mould with an advancing pose paired with either one marching or loading - any thoughts?
The mould contains heads for Austrian grenz, Russian pandours and also a mirliton to make the various frei corps units.
The Hungarian officer will stand in nicely for their commander.
Frei Korps and Jager
Although labelled 'Austria', the second light infantry mould is even more generic, designed to cast figures which will be acceptable for a wide range of troops; again a single mould with two firing figures. The figure's kit is the same as the Prussian infantry figures, so can be mixed with the earlier moulds (and would make a close order firing line).
Officers can be provided by the line infantry moulds.
The figures have gaiters, so are correct for light troops such as Prussian frei korps, however as they have gaiters they are not quite right for jager (although these are also sometimes shown in gaiters).
The mould includes a head with an Austrian jager style casket, so the figures will also give a reasonable approximation of the Austrian jager, again as they have gaiters they are not quite right .
General Officer on Foot and Hornist
Hopefully I should get the moulds soon and will see how they cast.
As always comments are welcome.
My order went in yesterday. As I had hoped, I see some rather useful bits for my 1790's French Rev armies. Of course, the Austrian line inf in their Kasquets had gone back to buttoning up their coats by then so for them I'll have to start with the Wild Geese line, file cuffs and do a head swap but I'll only need one token Austrian line unit (maybe 2). But they'll do for freikorps, grenz, etc as is and make good Rev War French infantry once I drop bicornes or helmets on them.
ReplyDeleteThe mounted officer, well, he'll make a good Montcalm for a start.
Very good news; most expected !!!
ReplyDeleteregards
paco
Received my molds today and cast about four to five of each figure. All cast cleanly with the usual experimentation in placing the clamps. The figures have returned to the original figure size of the first molds leaving the French as the anomalous large figures. Each mold very closely matched the digital pictures we have seen. Now I hope that some British/Hanoverian infantry and some hussar releases could round out what has become quite a nice series. Very satisfying to have some new molds at last!
ReplyDeleteSteven
DeleteMy moulds arrived yesterday, and I had a play with them today. Most cast OK with Model Metal, but I struggled with some of the heads and arms with Casting Metal/scrap - what metal do you use?
I do like the general's arm with tricorne in hand - I can see lots of uses for that arm.
If you want to try and encourage PA to produce some more go to their Facebook page and add comments saying you want some hussars.
Steve
Also, I spent a lot of time trying to get the size right - these seem better.
DeleteSteve, I use Model Metal exclusively because I just don’t want to mess around with a lot of recasts or just lower detail quality. Finding the correct positions for the clamps is pretty important too.
ReplyDeleteI’m planning to do another Grenz unit (I have one painted using Matthias Manske’s figures), a Russian Pandour unit and Freytag’s light troops.
I’ll post on PA’s page today. Good thought!
I'm really loving this blog and have been inspired to start up home casting again.
ReplyDeleteI've got quite an assortment of Nürnberger Meisterzinn moulds and am wondering how the figures compare with the Prince August ones.
It's clear the PA ones are finer and have a bit more detail, but how about the height? Anyone have some experience here?
Thanks,
Robin Prince
Robin,
ReplyDeleteIt depends which molds you have. The mounted officer fits in very well as does the cuirassier standard bearer. The musketeer with leveled musket is a big guy (like the PA French) and the civilian mold makes much larger figures. The one piece hussar is fine and I use the limber and wagon sets. I avoid the multi part sets as the figures look goofy and are probably large.
Thanks Steven,
ReplyDeleteI am using the leveled musketeer and the marching grenadier for the bulk of my troops. I'm thinking of getting the Prince August Cuirassier moulds for my cavalry, and maybe the Grenz trooper as well.
It seems that the cavalry would be the right size, I'm not so sure about the infantry molds.
Robin
DeleteSorry for delay in replying.
I'm pleased you have been enjoying the blog - it's very slow at the moment as is PA's output - and also my gaming interests are elsewhere temporarily.
I don't have many Meisterzinn moulds, so cannot comment on scale.
Within the new PA SYW range there is some variation in size, and the French are a little on the large size but nothing drastic.
However the Austrian cuirassiers are way too big and in my opinion do not fit in with the rest of the range. There are some comparative photos in an earlier post.
I generally cast figures using 'scrap' figures (which is probably similar to PA's cheaper Casting Metal), as that is my small contribution to recycling, however I often struggle with heads and weapons, so sometimes end up with a few casts using Model metal for the difficult bits. So it is often the case that I have heads in Model Metal and the rest in 'scrap'.
Steve
Well, I've taken the plunge and bought the prince august moulds. I've gone for the Prussian and Austrian sets, and artillery and dragoons as well.
ReplyDeleteI've been casting with my own alloyed "scrap" generally like PA's standard metal. I've also made up something like their model metal to cast difficult parts.
The Meisterzinn moulds are tricky to get to cast, they pretty much need to be run as hot as possible. I find rubber moulds a bit easier to get results from.
Maybe in a few months I'll have some small forces to share,
Thanks,
Robin
Robin
DeleteWhere are you based - are you in UK?
Steve
In Canada, Kingston Ontario.
DeleteRobin
DeleteWhat did you put in the 'scrap' to aid casting the more difficult parts?
Steve
I've made two kinds of alloy. One is scrapminis, wheel weights and tin. It's roughly 65% lead, 30% tin and some antimony from the wheel weights.
DeleteI've added 4% bismuth to this mix and find that it really helped fill out the mould better.
The other mix I made is more or less a copy of model metal. It's 60% pure lead, 10% tin, 30% bismuth. It definitely casts much better and really picks up the detailwell. It is also extremely fragile until it has completely cooled off!
I source tin from old pewter, and 60/40 or 50/50 solder found at yard sales and flea markets.