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Showing posts with label Mould contents. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mould contents. Show all posts

Monday 6 February 2023

Suggestions for Future Moulds

This is a long post, so get yourself a drink before you start reading😊

There has recently been a fair bit of discussion on both the PA website and this blog about the wish list for future PA releases to their SYW range. I have tried to collate this below; if I have missed or misunderstood something let me know in the comments and I will update it.

Austrian, Prussian, Russian and French.

These ranges are almost complete, in my opinion PA should concentrate on filling the gaps in these before starting something else.

Austrian Cuirassiers

These were the first digital cavalry, and used slot in torsos, my idea, which I thought worked well, however PA have found it difficult to ensure a proper fit of torso into the horse, so the idea was abandoned. 

From the photo below it can be seen that the Austrian cuirassiers are way out of scale. In my opinion they need reprinting, they were sculpted digitally so it should be relatively simple to rescale them. 

Prussian Cuirassiers

The Prussian cuirassiers were quite distinct from the Austrians, the main differences being:

  • Prussian tricorns have steeper fronts.
  • The coat tails were significantly shorter.
  • Most wore a sabertache like the hussars.
  • Rounded saddle cloths.

The  tricorne is not a major issue as there are suitable heads elsewhere in the range, however the coat tails and sabertache are difficult to convert.

I have used converted figures from the Rossbach range, however they are a bit on the small side. This is a major omission from the range, all Prussian armies need cuirassiers, so I think they should be one of the top priorities,

Dragoon Heads

The heads in the dragoon moulds are very small so I have avoided using them, instead using the larger heads from the infantry moulds. These are digital and all sit in a single mould, so it should not be difficult to resize and reprint them.

Russian Cossacks

There has been a suggestion of some moulds for cossacks. A set of cossack moulds would be nice, however as far as I am aware they did not play a significant part in set piece battles, so at this stage I think they should drop well down the list. (There is a mould in the Rossbach range which might be useful.)

Artillery crew in coats

It would be nice to have two more moulds with artillery crew in coats to complement the current ones in shirtsleeves.

British and Hanoverian (British)

The British played an important part in both the European fighting, and also worldwide. If the range is to be complete, then PA need to properly cover the British. 

British Infantry

As discussed in an earlier post, the British infantry were quite distinctive, so would merit a range of four moulds to cover the hat men, fusiliers and grenadiers.

British Highlanders

These would make an interesting addition, and would probably merit another 4 moulds. When the time comes there needs to be a discussion on the most appropriate poses.

British Light Infantry

Again an interesting addition, particularly to also cover the various ranger units in North America.

British Cavalry

The 'heavy cavalry' can probably be covered by the existing dragoon moulds, but the 'light cavalry' with distinctive helmets (which are in the dragoon mould) and hussar style saddle cloths might merit a few moulds.

General Propose Figures

Infantry Standing & Firing

It has been suggested that figures are produced to cast units standing in line firing. As a gamer I try to avoid using troops in close order firing lines, as they simply do not work when put into columns, however I appreciate that some of you may want them.

The light infantry mould PA3129 'Austrian Jaeger Light Troops' was modelled with the intention of them doubling as figures for a close order firing line, the equipment is similar to the Prussian line infantry.


There is however a lack of standing command figures, so at some time it would be nice to add a couple of moulds to contain an officer, drummer, standard bearer and NCO in a standing position.

Limbers and Wagons

There is a limber and horses in the Karoliner range, these look quite different from the new SYW figures, however with replacement heads they fit in reasonably well.

Size wise they are a bit smaller, but not too bad, as they are usually some distance apart not a major problem. Although it would be nice to have some new ones, I think they would go well down the list.


With respect to a wagon, I did a bit of 3D printing - I found a file for a French Napoleonic wagon and rescaled it as close as I could to make an Austrian one. I appreciate not everyone has 3D printers, but if you have access to one it is a good option. 

Pioners etc.

A set of pioneers and labourers working with pick axes, shovels etc would be a nice addition. Perhaps 2 moulds with a selection of tools and poses.

How to Proceed?

Please note that all I can do is make suggestions to PA, I do not decide their production order and/or timetable. In my opinion, a sensible way forward would be as follows:

  1. Austrian (& Russian) cuirassiers - rescale and reprint these figures. It might be a case of changing them to castings with the combines horse and torso, with some variety of horses as in the dragoons. (3 moulds)
  2. Dragoon heads - rescale and reprint these heads. In addition to changing the mould in the dragoon set, offer this single mould as a replacement. (1 mould)
  3. Prussian cuirassiers - modify the Austrian cuirassiers to the Prussian uniform, and introduce some variation on horse positions. (3 moulds)
  4. British Line Infantry - 4 moulds as discussed in earlier post.
  5. 'British' Artillery - a couple of moulds with generic crew in coats to cover all nations. (2 moulds)
  6. British Highlanders (4 moulds?)
  7. British Light Infantry (2 moulds)
  8. British light cavalry (3 moulds)
  9. Standing infantry command group (2 moulds)
  10. Cossacks
  11. Pioneers

Thus far PA have produced 34 moulds in 10 years, so the above list of 24 moulds will keep everyone busy for a while!

If you have stayed with it this far, your thoughts would be appreciated?

Tuesday 31 January 2023

SYW Range - how is it progressing?

When PA started designing their SYW range (almost 10 years ago) I thought that a good indicator of how the range is progressing would be to see if it was possible to make figures illustrated in the Blandford book 'Uniforms of the Seven Years War 1756-63'. Although an old book, I often thumb through it for inspiration. 


I made a list of the illustrations in the book, and then tabulated how to make them using the PA moulds, with colour coding of progress (see the table below):

  • Green - a mould for that troop type has been produced.
  • Light Green - no specific mould, but it is possible to cast something pretty close by mixing available parts.
  • Orange - hopefully moulds for these will be produced in the future.
  • Light Blue - nothing in the SYW range, but a satisfactory figure can be made using older ranges.
  • Red - not likely to be produced.
Yes - an indication of someone with too much time on their hands, however it was a useful tool in deciding what parts, particularly heads, needed to be squeezed into the moulds.

I've just had a look at the mould list on the PA website, and think the SYW range now has 34 moulds and over 180 separate parts. Looking at the chart the majority things are now covered, the main troops gaps (based on this book) are Prussian cuirassiers and British.

As discussed in the previous post PA are planning to produce more moulds, so hopefully these gaps will be filled.





Thursday 8 December 2022

Hussar Size Comparison

In response to Ross's request, Peter Michael Prow has cast some figures (I still don't have the moulds) and photographed with the older Rossbach French Hussars (note there are no right arms on the new figures). The photos are on the PA Facebook Page - I have pinched them:

The Rossbach figures are the two bottom left. I have cast up a couple of units of the older figures, but personally I do not like the poses so only painted up one of them.

The new figures are more to my taste, and with the variation in horses and arms should make up some nice units.

And close ups with the two horse and head types (I think the officer horse might be different again).



And finally one with the Grenzer head.


If you have any questions please raise them in the comments and hopefully Peter will respond.

Saturday 3 December 2022

Hussar Moulds Released

 As you may have seen, PA have recently released their new SYW hussar moulds, just in time to add to Santa's list.

I had a fair bit of input into deciding what to put into the moulds, but due to other interests have lost contact with PA a little over the last few months, so have not had chance to try out the moulds in advance of release. I have a set on the way, and will cast up a few once I get hold of them - postal strike permitting. The pictures are just downloads from PA's website.

Although released as three separate moulds they are intended to work as a set taking advantage of interchangeable heads and arms.

3132 - Officer and Trumpeter in busby

The first mould shows a trumpeter in kolback, however looking at the mould contents it can be seen that there is also an arm with a sword, so he can make an officer pointing. This figure should differ from the other two moulds by not having the wide cross belt worn to by the troopers to carry the carbine (or the standard). 


  3133 - Trooper with busby 




The next mould has a trooper in kolback carrying a carbine. As with the officer, there is also an arm with a sword to allow variation, if the sword arm is used then a carbine needs to be found from the final mould (or from the dragoons).

If a standard bearer is wanted (not many carried them) the intention is to use the carbine arm and drill through.



3134 - Trooper with mirliton


And finally a trooper with a sword in mirliton. In addition to the sword arm this chap has a the separate carbine which needs to be attached. I am not keen on the head let off the horse as that will need some filing to sort out, however PA are squeezing a lot of goodies into these moulds.


So with the above it should be possible to make hussar units in either kolback or mirliton and with variation in arm and horse positions - it will be interesting to see if it works.

What is missing?

I asked for a fourth mould containing an Austrian hussar trooper with their distinctive long coat and tricorn, but I think I was pushing my luck a little. If people want it then it might be worth commenting on PA's Facebook page,

In all probability I will not be the first to use these moulds, so as always feedback would be appreciated.

Monday 22 August 2022

New Grenz Mould

 A couple of weeks ago I got my greasy mitts on the new Grenz mould containing the advancing figure and drummer.

I am in the middle of another project at the moment (20mm WW2 Normandy - I went there earlier this year), so it could be a while before I get around to painting up a unit. However, I was interested to see how the figures have turned out, so spent a few hours casting up enough the figures for a couple of 16 man units.


My current casting set up is in my garage/wargames room - pretty simple and easy to pack up:
  • The base board is just an offcut of kitchen unit shelving, it is fine under hot figures and small spillages, but would blister if a large lump of melted/hot metal was left in the same place for too long.
  • A 300W solder pot (a bit bigger than the one PA sell) - and PA ladle.
  • There is also a cheap digital thermometer (the thin twisted black wire on the right).
  • Moulds (usually in pairs) are normally just held by 3 elastic bands, but this one needed a bit of extra pressure in the middle to prevent flash, so there is an additional PA clamp.
  • I have a pin vice handy to push 1mm holes through the mould sides in difficult areas, in this case  it needed vents in the lower tips of both sword scabbards.
  • Pliers for getting the figures from the moulds and snips for cutting off the ingates etc.
Below are photos of the new Grenz figures 'as cast' using Model Metal, I have cut off the ingates etc. but not cleaned them up any further - the head is 'as cast' and just pushed in. (You can see the marks on the scabbards where I have drilled vents.)





They are pretty clean and should not take a lot of preparation and I think will paint up well.

I intend to make 16 man 'close order' units, with 13 advancing, the drummer plus an officer and standard bearer from the Hungarian range. I will base them on single bases so that they can also act in open order.

I have also cast up a unit using 'scrap metal', they also cast easily, detail is not as crisp, but should also paint up well.

I hope someone buys them - as I had to twist PA's arm to get them made😟.

Sunday 19 June 2022

How much metal do I need?


Over the weekend I ran some participation games, which were re-runs of the Prague game we put on at Hammerhead back in March, but this time using the 'Field of Battle' rather than the 'A Gentleman's War' rules. Both are fun rules, however I found the FoB games ran quicker.


One of the players was considering building an army using the PA moulds, and asked how many figures can be cast from a bar of metal. I guessed a unit was about 250-500g (2-4 bars), but was not really sure - I have now looked into it in more detail..................

Prince August Metal Bars

PA's bars of Model Metal weigh 125g each, and according to their website will cast five 40mm foot figures.

Apparently the bars are sold by volume, so for interest I weighed 4 of each - Model Metal averaged 126g/bar and Casting Metal (surprisingly) a bit lighter at 121g/bar.

I also weighed a couple of my completed units (mostly scrap metal), after making allowance for the basing:

  • A 16 figure infantry unit weighs about 325g, just over 20g per figure, so 5 or 6 foot figures per bar should be about right (3 bars per unit).
  • An 8 figure dragoon unit as heavier at something like 500g, so 62.5g/figure - 2 per bar (4 bars per unit).
Looking on the PA site, there is currently (19/06/2022) little price difference between the two metals, assuming you buy 30 bars (enough for about 8-10 units), the cost per bar is:
  • Model Metal - £3.47/bar
  • Casting Metal - £3.25/bar
Model Metal generally produces much better castings, so at these prices there is little point in buying the cheaper metal (but prices are ever changing).

At the time of writing Model Metal is about £28/kilo (plus postage), so about £0.55 for infantry and £1.75 per cavalry; clearly if you can substitute/recycle  'free' scrap lead you can both save money and feel smug!

Scrap Lead

As I have said many times, the bulk of my figures are cast from scrap metal, although I do use Model Metal for fine detail such as heads, and Casting Metal when I run out of scrap.

For reference I weighed some bags of Old Glory ECW figures, these are small 28mm, both the foot (30 figures) and cavalry (10 figures) weight in around the 420g mark - about enough for a semi-flat unit. (I'm not suggesting you melt down new figures - it is just to give an idea of comparative weights.)

Anybody who knows someone who home casts, please don't throw away old figures, metal sprues etc. save them and get them recycled,

Printer's Metal

PA are currently selling old printer's metal at £15.83/1.9kg, so £8.50/kilo - less than the 1/3 price of Model Metal - has anyone tried it? 



If you can add any useful information please share it in the comments section.

Saturday 8 June 2019

Austrian Erzherzog Joseph Dragoons

I have just completed my first 8 man unit of dragoons. These are new figures, so as a change from my usual practice of photographing the assembled unit I thought it worthwhile showing the individual figures.

I have painted them up based on Erzherzog Joseph Dragoons, but with some simplification (for example my hand is not steady enough for multiple lines on the saddle cloth). The figures are mostly as in the mould, but with one main change - I have replaced the heads with  older infantry officers heads, with mustache just painted on where appropriate. I did this primarily because I think the older, hand sculpted heads have better definition on the facial features - and also to maintain continuity with the cavalry I have already converted from the Karoliner range.

Trooper


Apart from the Russian officer's head the only other minor change I have made is to fix the carbine a bit lower than the lug/hole suggested.


I think he is a very fine chap, and the mould will get a lot of use (I have cast 30 so far).


Officer


This time with an Austrian officer's head - another nice figure, who is also going to act as 'Brigadiers' in my army proudly taking command of 3 or 4 units.




(I appreciate the officers saddle cloth should be a different colour - however I had already painted it before I remembered and did not feel inclined to change it.)


Drummer


Dragoons had drummers rather than trumpeters, apart from the head (and sword hilt) this is the standard figure.


I'm sure it would look better if I could paint an eagle on the drum - but these are wargames toys not display figures! Also there should be a sword hilt showing which was forgotten by sculptor, I could have easily corrected it using the hilt of of a sword from elsewhere - but I missed it until too late!


Standard Bearer


And finally the standard bearer. There is no actual figure for the standard bearer (we did not think it warranted an additional mould) - instead an extra arm has been provided to convert either the officer or trooper - I chose the trooper as he has a carbine cross belt which looks very similar to the one to carry a standard (there is also a cartridge box on the back).


The trooper and officer both have drawn swords, whereas for the standard bearer it should still be in the scabbard - I just glued on the hilt of a French sword.


Finished Unit


I have now based them up, so here is the completed unit.


Size Comparison


As discussed previously, the cuirassiers are too big, and do not fit in well with the rest of the SYW figures. To bring the dragoons into scale with the rest of the SYW range they have been plotted 7% smaller than the cuirassiers - I have taken some shots as size comparison.

First of all a comparison with the Austrian infantry. Both the infantryman and dragoon measure about 42mm from heel to top of hat - so that looks fine.


Next a comparison with my converted Karoliners. The Karoliner appears marginally larger, although again the men's heights are about the same - I suspect the difference is the larger head on the Karoliners horse. I think they will look fine together, particularly with the same heads on both figures.



And finally the cuirassiers - I checked it, that really is only 7%!


And as requested by Ross - a couple of shots against the old HE with musketoon.


The new figure is a bit larger and bulkier than the old HE, which is in line with the whole of the  SYW range. Note that I have used the Russian officer's head as I like the look of an almost full round head on the semi-flats (just personal taste), however the heads in the moulds are not quite as wide.

Overall Conclusions


The dragoons are really nice figures, I would have preferred something with a bit more energy, but will still be using them for the bulk of my Austrian and Prussian dragoons.

I have a unit part finished which have the sword arm replaced by the one on the shoulder taken from the cuirassiers - it will be interesting to see if the larger arm really shows up?

As always comments would be appreciated.

Wednesday 29 May 2019

Dragoons released

(Updated 01/06/19)

In case you are not on PA's mailing list - they have just announced that the dragoon moulds are (finally) been released - see their newsletter:                 


Prince August Logo

Seven Years War Dragoons.


Hi Steve,
The June Bank Holiday weekend is upon us, combined with Fathers Day on the 16th and the new release of our super Dragoons Mould set inspired us to offer some discounts that will determine how your hobby develops this summer.

First and foremost, we have a brand new set of FOUR moulds that offers you the biggest opportunity yet to customise your castings for the armies in the Seven Years War. Dragoons were fielded by most countries and our mould have interchangeable heads to reflect that versatility. Painting /Assembly guides are still in development.
There is an early discount of 10% off this new set that expires at noon on Tuesday.

The other discounts are part of the June Weekend Sale and include the following:
·     SYW Artillery crew moulds PA3118 and PA3119.
·     SYW Russian Bundle further discounted.
·     PA1240 Napoleonic Starter Kit (54mm).
·     PSK-L Advanced Paint Pack.
·     Solder Melting Pot.
·     AC-PA2073 Tool Set (Brass Brush, Files and Super Snipper).

Sale expires at noon on Tuesday June 4th 2019 GMT+1. No coupons are required. Sale prices are on product pages (strikethrough of older prices can be seen). No minimum order requirements.




I received a set of 4 moulds today (so no sneak peak this time), which comprises:
  1. Officer with Austrian head (as shown)
  2. Drummer with Austrian head (as shown)
  3. Trooper with Austrian head (not shown - see below)
  4. A set of 8 different heads to make other nations & horse grenadiers,  plus an arm for a standard bearer.
The horse/torso are one piece castings, with separate arms, heads and carbine.

The picture is confusing (in fact wrong), the rear figure is the previously released cuirassier, the dragoon is on a similar horse, however the sword is pointing rather than on the shoulder.

As the weather has been fine I have done some casting over the last couple of days, and have cast up enough figure for about 5 units (so that is 30 of the trooper). Initially using my 'scrap metal' I struggled casting the heads, swords and carbine (which are near the top of the mould). However after some venting, and playing around with the elastic bands and clamps I ended up with something like a 90% success rate. (They cast much easier with the Model Metal).

The heads Austrian heads in with the tops of the moulds with the horses and riders, and although they cast pretty much every time, the detail was a little smooth. For the Austrians I have decided to use the officer head from the Russians, which I think is one of the nicest in the range, and is the one I have used on the Karoliner conversions, so there will be some continuity between the two sets of cavalry.

I have a couple of units cleaned up and undercoated and will try and get one painted in the next week or so - the dragoon officer is also going to act as 'brigadiers' until some general staff are available.


Sunday 27 January 2019

More head swapping

I've been playing again................

Following on from the previous post. The charging French dragoons were originally painted as a large 'old school' unit - so there are quite a lot of them. (Enough for 3 of my smaller 8 man units if I paint up two more standard bearers and musicians)

Having done the first unit with a straight swap of heads with tricorn I decided to be a bit more adventurous. and make a unit in forage cap.  I used the 'bonnet de police' from the SYW French infantry - again it fits quite well and looks fine size wise.


I have to admit that this combination of the Karoliner charging cavalry and the new SYW heads is really growing in me, and I might cast up some more?


Interestingly, when I started this project all I asked PA to produce were some more heads!