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!
