A Quick Update

I have not forgotten this project. However, the time needed to mold the putty is too long to get much done without interuption from the little one, hence not much further forward. Here are a couple of photos of the current figures, one of a member of the legion, the other a member of the forces of Uber Gruntshuffen (ie a more 'historical' figure).



The legionary needs his helmet decoration doing before being moulded, while the other one needs his jacket tails and tricorne completing.

Or at least they would have if I had taken the photo of the second figure!

10:1 Organisation

Following on from yesterdays post;

The Century

Composed of six Musketeers, six Pikemen, one Officer, one Ensign, two NCOs and one Gunner with an Amusette.

The Regiment

Composed of four Centuries plus one Colonel, 2 or 3 Drummers, six Legere, one Legere Officer, one Legere NCO, six Mounted Troopers, one Mounted Officer and one mounted NCO.

Summary

The breakdown given above has the basic combat formations shown, in approximately the correct ratios. I have slightly increased the numbers of Legere and Mounted Troops (by one figure each) to give a more balanced split to the force and to get closer to the 'half' company size
A full Legion would have four of the above Regiments plus one General, one ADC, one Legion Standard Bearer, the Artillery and a few engineers etc.
How does this look as a scale version of the force listed yesterday?

The Legion - Organisation

Gentle reader, your aid is most urgently sought. Following the Yuletide Festivities, Herr Gruns has recieved new stock of cloth etc from the Duchess Irma, enough to enable him to complete the majority of his uniform designs. The latest incarnation of the uniform is well under way and will be shown here very soon. However, we do need your help and advice on a quite urgent matter.
The goal of this project has always been to produce a wargaming force built around the ideas put forward by de Saxe. As I will be casting the figures then I can happily work to whatever ratio of troops that I wish. The favourite being 10:1 so 1 casting equals 10 men. Reading the 'original' version scanned by Google there is a complete breaskdown of a Legions composition.
Could you please have a read of the following and then suggest what I would need to make to build the model Legion.

The Legion

General x1

Major x1
Quatermaster x1
Engineers, Surgeons etc x12
Carpenters x10
Wagons x10 (with 20 drivers)
Cannon x2
Pontoons x2
Regiments (4) x3524*

The Regiment

Colonel x1
Lieutenant-colonel x1
Major x1
Drum Major x1
Surgeon x1
Centuries (4) x736*
Half Century Light Infantry x70
Half Century Cavalry x70

The Century

Centurion x1
Leuitenant x1
Second Leuitenant x4
Ensign x1
Sargeant Major(?) x1
Fourier x1
Captain of Arms(?) x1
Fifer x1
Drummers x3
Companies (10) x170

The Company

Sargeant x1
Corporal x1
Soldiers x15




The Light Infantry and Cavalry are drawn from amongst the normal troops of the companies, as are the crews for the Amusettes which are attached at the rate of one per Century.

Assuming 10:1 figure scale and with the Infantry deploying in 4 ranks what do you think is needed, how many of each and why. Of the soldiers forming the bulk of the Companies, two types are required as the rear two ranks are armed with both Pike and musket whilst the front two ranks only have the musket.

Diagrams

Here is the key for the diagrams

A Christmas gift For Little Irma

My apologies for the poor photos but my usual place has been taken over by Santa's little helpers.
Again this is just one that I have finished to see how it looks. Still need to work on pose and detailing, but overall I am rather pleased with this one (obviously you do not get to see the ones that I am not happy with).
Quick overview of the little chap. He stands 27mm to th top of his head. The shoes and leggins are as I described in a previous post, i.e. that is done the wrong way round with the gaiter going over the top of the shoe. This will be changed on the next batch. The jackets are; a long under waistcoat with sleeves made of fabric; a short over waistcoat without sleeves made of leather.
It is quite hard to see some of the differences due to the poor lighting.
Other details added since the figure was last shown - the arms, musket, belts, cartridge box, sack, shoulder tabs for unit identification and the @@*%%$%$ stupid decoration on the top of the helmet.
Anyway let me know what you think.

Another Update

I've been quiet on here and thought that I would take the opportunity of sitting up with an upset baby to rectify the situation.
Sculpting practice continues, if a little slowly. Thanks for all the encouragement and advice given after the last couple of posts. I will try to get time to post a few photos soon.
On the design of the uniform, I have been having some fun that I will share over the coming posts. This mainly consists of period and reproduction items that Ican use as templates. My theory being that de Saxe is describing how he would uniform the troops based on variations of existing outfits.
First up, the shoes and gaiters. From looking at the 'original' artwork (posted earlier) and reading Jean-Louis translation, this is what I have come up with. Look at the gaiters on the central figure in this picture and imagine the top of the gaiter extended further up the thigh. Then take the boots from the left side figure and shorten the to just above the ankle, but still over the bottom of the gaiter. Thi gives something that looks similar to the, sketchy, 'original'. Or do you think I have it wrong?

A Quick Update

Having laid down the rather loose rules of how I was going to operate on this blog, I have now disregarded them but only short term. My main problem with this project is that I cannot sculpt at all well. So from now until the new year, my time on this project will be dedicated to pushing putty around. The results of this I will post please let me know what you think and what I need to do to improve.
First up, an infantry man. Legs are finished, torso is mostly finished and the arms are just being posed. The uniform is based on the picture of de Saxes' Legion as shown earlier in this blog. So we have a very high gaiter, long waistcoat under a shorter,sleeveless waistcoat and a lovely helmet!

The Front

The Rear

Head with Helmet

I can't wait to try making te funny wing decorations for the front of the helmet - Iv'e no idea where to start!

Comparison with RSM

Although the RSM figure looks much larger than mine, the completion of the torso will give the body the same height although it will still be narrower. The heads are almost identical in size. Adding a base will also make them look closer.
I still do not know which pose to go with. Currently it is posed so that the right arm is in pretty much the same position as that of the RSM figure. The left arm will be holding the musket with the hand supporting the end of the stock rather than the lock resting in the crook of the elbow. However that RSM pose is one that I really like, does anyone else prefer one pose over another?
Leave a note, let meknow what you think.

Poor Gruns

Starting out again has proved a tiring time for Herr Gruns. However he is delighted when word reaches him that the Duchess is providing him with extra resources to enable him to complete his task. It is hoped that they will be recieved before the end of the year. Until then he spends his time working on the patterns for the new uniforms.

For his own amusement he makes up his initial attempt into a completed outfit.