From SamuliS - 28mm French Middle Guard at Waterloo (243 points)

Another larger entry. This time the Middle Guard Grenadiers at Waterloo consisting of 3 Battalions and represented by 16 men each. I actually finished them last week, but being the clever boy that I am I forgot to take pictures in time...Well better late than never so here they are :)

They are all Victrix plastics. Not the best quality miniatures with a lot of soft detail and bayonets that snap very easily. Still they were extremely cheap coming at about 30cnt per miniature from a sale so that does compensate quite a bit for all the shortcomings. The flags come from GMB designs.

On most my Napoleonics I like to keep the paint job simple as there are hundreds of these little buggers to paint if you really want a proper large battle. These were basecoated blue with an airbrush and then block painted with the main colours. To add some variety I tried painting the backpacks in different colours and then added some extra detail by highlighting the skin parts as that's what people tend to look at first and it does seem to help give a better overall impression. All this was followed with a wash to add some shading. Finally some mud on the clothing to look like they've been trudging through the rain soaked field at Waterloo and to make the paint job look better than it really is :) Distraction is always the great asset when trying to make a quick paint job look better and mud is a great quick way to add something extra that most people don't seem to bother with.

I'm quite badly behind schedule and haven't been able to paint as much as I want, but I do have a "good" excuse as I've lately fullfilled a male dream as a wild red head has made it's way into my life. Probably not the beast that Gentlemens' magazines seem to promote though as this redhead goes on four legs, is very hairy and is actually a guy. Curt should be pleased to hear that we've settled on a Canadian breed with the Novascotian Duck Tolling Retriever and both the parents are imported dogs from Canada, so our family is now one third Canadian :) In the future he'll be accompanying me when hunting ducks and grouse and will hopefully bring some much needed skill to the hunt when I can only provide luck (albeit very bad luck at that) and wildly exaggerated success stories. In the meanwhile he'll continue what every Toller does best, and that is coming up with new ways to trick their unfortunate owner. Damages have so far been limited to a single shirt, but that is definately bound to change in the future as he is continuously figuring out new ways to delight us with his tricks. He already did manage to open one low cabinet containing prepped minis, but luckily I spotted the looming disaster in time and saved my minis from a horrible fate and the little dog from massive stomach ache and a trip to the Vet.

25cm 'Realistic' scale dog

From Curt:

This post is wonderful on all accounts! Your Middle Guardsmen are very nice. I've put together my fair share of Victrix plastics and can attest to both their ease of conversion but also how fragile some of their parts can be (especially the bayonets). As you say a bit of strategically placed dirt and mud seems to strangely elevate many figures.

Your new puppy is awesome! I love his face and white paws. Sarah and I spent conducted the necessary 'awwws' and had fun checking out the breed online. What is the little fella's name? I have no doubt he will propagate Canada's good reputation in your fine household (shirts, shoes and nummy figures notwithstanding). :)