Friday 8 January 2016

From SamuliS: Zastrow Kürassiere (67 points)

Back from the holidays and some more Saxons, this time in the form of the Zastrow Kürassiere Regiment forming the second unit of heavy cavalry in addition to the Garde du Corps. Again 18mm minis from AB that were really a joy to paint as the details are very brisk and quite easy to pick out. A simple paint job with block painted colours and a black wash followed by a highlight.






Quite a fast project to paint as they were done in just a couple of short evening painting sessions. However they took quite long to finish up as hobby time was quite limited during the holidays as we were visiting quite a few relatives, going out hunting for a few days and watching the Ice Hockey U-20 World Championships that were played in my home town here in Finland. Still I guess it was time well spent as we shot a couple of moose down and Finland ended up winning the world championships after a thriller game against Russia!

Even with the temperature dropping to roughly minus 25 degrees Celsius it didn't stop us Finns from celebrating the victory in traditional way by going for a swim in a fountain in the city center. Though swimming was a bit harder this year around... I guess it goes without saying that we can get a bit crazy over hockey (though I guess we are still pretty far behind Canada in our obsession)




Swimming in the fountain can be a bit tricky in the time of victory

With the temperatures bordering on the classic frozen hell levels it's finally time to get back to painting in earnest. I'm not looking forward to hanging outside more than needed so it's a great excuse to finally put some hours in with the brushes!

Oh wow - this post is a real laugher, and painful all at once! We'll start with the cavalry - they look fabulous, and your brushwork does those marvellous AB castings justice.  As I mentioned in Alex's post earlier today, heavy cavalry is the belle of any tabletop ball, and these fellows look the part.  Great work.  
And on to the hockey - while in Canada we like to assume we are the only ones who are bonkers about it, the passion is in fact shared widely around the world, as you so amply demonstrate in this post.   
Let's see now...Finland knocked out the Canadian juniors, during which you painted some great cavalry figures, then you shot a moose (another facet of our state-endorsed Canadian identity), and then ran around outside in the buff because you beat Russia in a gold medal game (something we in Canada wish we were doing ourselves)...did you happen to burn down a maple syrup factory while you were at it? This would hurt, if that last celebratory photo was not so hilarious. I will rate that a few extra points, although hopefully we are not starting a new Challenge "scoring trend" (ahem)...35 points and great job! And Suomi for the gold!! We'll be out for revenge next year... 

Edit by Minion Tamsin - points adjusted as AB figures are being scored as 20mm 

38 comments:

  1. The cavalry are beautiful, don't understand ice hockey or being naked in winter. Would quite like to shoot a moose but in UK I think the zoo keeper would complain

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    1. I do recommend Ice Hockey! This might be considered blasphemy by most of the world, but it's a far more fast paced and interesting game than football :)

      And I don't recommend shooting those poor buggers in the zoo. I'd expect it to be quite illegal, and a bit too easy for my tastes as well :) Far more fun when you have to put in hours of work to track the beasts down.

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  2. Lovely cavalry unit Samuli! I am not sure which of the other images that I find most disturbing.
    Cheers PD

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  3. Don't worry Greg, no maple syrup factories were burned down as I happen to like that stuff quite a bit. A lot has been consumed over the holidays as my parents were visiting Finland from Montreal where they live.

    The moose had to be killed even though they are quite nice fellas. But there's hundreds of thousands of them roaming around in Finland and the population has to be controlled so that there aren't too many car accidents. It tends to be quite fatal when a 700kg moose comes through your windshield.

    Funny fact though. Sweden (and Finland as a part of that grand empire) actually experimented with Moose cavalry sometime in the 17th Century as the Moose are actually quite adept at moving through even thick snow when horses are unable to advance. Plus I'd imagine the shock effect of a charging Moose would be quite effective. Too bad that the animals were too smart to go anywhere close to where shooting could be heard even though they can quite easily be trained.

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  4. Awesome work on the cavalry Samuli! I really like the clean paintwork and that trumpeter is just ace.

    I think I would enjoy a sport were Moose shot at hockey players while they tried to swim naked in near freezing ponds (wearing their stoopid skates of course). I think it would really take off as an Olympic sport.

    Hmm, upon reviewing this I'm thinking that perhaps my bias regarding the 'sport' of hockey is peeking through. No matter. :O)

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    1. Ahh, I had forgotten that you are probably the only Canadian not to like hockey :) I though you guys had a pledge of allegiance to your local hockey team to start every school day with as a youth or something instead of the american way of pledging allegiance to your nation.

      But I do think your proposed sport could be very entertaining. Though some legal issues and animal rights might be problematic.

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  5. What sale are thoes last to figues in the frozen foutian vignette?... :D

    Fine work on those Saxons too.

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    1. I'd go with about 1.8m scale :) That's about the average height of a Finnish man. Not me in the pics, otherwise it would be closer to 2m scale :)

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  6. Smashing unit of Saxon Cav! Hard to believe they are 18's!
    Congrats on the Hockey victory too, my SJ Sharks usually start strong and fade away during the playoffs. As for swimming in frozen water during winter, I'd say it is preferable to break the ice BEFORE jumping in, a nice stiff after swim drink like Irish Whiskey helps too, you know strictly for medicinal value. ;)

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    1. Breaking the ice before jumping in makes it seem a bit easy :) The ideal way would be to break the ice by jumping. Excellent drink recommendation though :)

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  7. Love the unit, great work!

    So a hockey fan who takes winning very seriously, with parents who live in Montreal (my hometown)! You are a good sort, obviously.

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    1. Thanks Iannick! Can't go wrong with Montreal. Classic team, though I'm more of a Boston fan myself though.

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    2. BOSTON FAN?! I take back everything I said! ;-)

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    3. I figured that might be the reaction :) Boston on the ast coast and Ducks on the west! Better to follow two teams closely. Higher chance of success :P

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    4. Horus fan and Marchand hater. I like Greg.

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    5. To be honest you can't go that wrong with those two choices :)

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  8. That is a cracking cavalry unit. Really good.
    I think I may know a company that makes moose cavalry (I know they make deer cavalry) I will mention to a friend who used to sell them on Sunday and see if I can get any details and if they are still in existence. (they were always a very small part time company) Leave it with me.

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    1. I've actually seen deer cavalry before. Didn't know somebody actually made Moose cavalry as well. Might have to buy some :)

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    2. I am not 100% sure, I will find out on Sunday.

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  9. Excellent Zastrows .. My favourite Napoleonic Cavalry..

    And hell , why not celebrate your victories in style

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  10. That's some cracking paint job on that moose errr... (horse of course) cavalry! You make me really go nuts with all that talk about moose and hockey and naked men in frozen fountains. Therefore excellent and very worthwile entry!

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  11. These figure are just gorgeous. I'm still not going to paint any naps in the foreseeable future, but hey I've flip flopped on genre before. Remind me not to go swimming with you.

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  12. Very very pretty - but I'm not referring to the photo with the fountain.

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  13. Glorious work Samuli. That yellow is brilliant!

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  14. Great looking cavalry! Not sure about swimming in frozen fountains is the best thing to do....

    Christopher

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  15. Beautiful, beautiful job on these!

    Next time you post men with bare bums, make them men with nice bodies please :)

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    1. With the temperatures here you need to gather some fat for the winter season :) Helps with survival! Though I think generally people seem to keep the extra layer throughout summer as well ;)

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  16. Spectacular cavalry there.

    What's the opposite of 'scale creep' when you go cavorting in the ice?!

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    1. Well in Finland we call it crayfish farming when you have a bunch of men going ice swimming :) Seems everyone has their little crayfish when they come out.

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  17. So last year there was a thing where everyone was posting photos of their painting space. This year--nude photos of all participants?

    Beautiful work on those horsemen. I'm feeling very tempted by that AB range...

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    1. Nude photos might be an interesting trend :) Maybe paired with a miniature with the same pose?

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  18. Excellent cavalry, well done!! Reminds me I'm glad I'm in warmer climes at present too!

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