Painting and Assembling the Warbases Prussian Merchant's House

Hi friends:

This series of photos is mostly intended as a visual diary of a recent build of a Warbases MDF house, but might be of interest to some readers looking to make their models a little more interesting than the plain MDF.

This building is from the Warbases Napoleonic Prussia range of 28mm MDF kits, I've built several and they are nice buildings, a little large for big battles but they work well for skirmish games.  This one is the Prussian Merchant's house.  It's a two story building with a stone first floor, a timberframe second floor, and a peaked roof with gabled windows.

My first step was to paint the stones on the first floor.  I know they aren't really bricks, but I thought uniform brick red colour with offwhite mortar would work well enough, and while I've painted stone different colours of gray in their other kits, I couldn't really be bothered this time.  I guess the brick effect works well enough, even if they are oddly shaped bricks.

 The kit comes with a base that is scribed to represent paving stones, so I painted them two different shades of gray.  The outer walls are glued on and went together fairly well, with some rubber bands until the glue (I use white carpenter's glue) dries.

Inner walls in place and while it's unlikely they'll ever be seen on the table, doing them properly was quite satisfying, rather like painting the inside of the cockpit of a plastic model aircraft.   I at least know it's done.  :)   

The wooden ground floor door came out well, I used an AK wood tones paint set with some FolkArt Wrought Iron craft paint for the bars and handle.

The next step is to make the second story walls look interesting.  I wanted a stucco or plaster effect so I watered down some Wood Putty and used an old brush to layer it into the sections that are conveniently outlined on the MDF as being between the lines where the timberframe part will go.    I was careful not to get too much on the latter parts so the timberframe bits will fit neatly.   Once the wood putty was dry I painted it with a craft paint Buff colour and then a bit of a sepia wash.

Once that work is done and the doors and window frames are painted, the timberframes are glued on and clamped until dry.   While drying, the second story floor is painted using AK wood paints.  Again, I'm happy with the result, even though it won't be seen much.

The kit includes a nice little staircase up to the second floor.   The individual stairs fit into recesses in the wall and attach on the other side to the single piece staircase frame.   The railings were simple and I gave the landing some attention with the AK wood paint.   The roof was a challenge, it was just four pieces of plain MDF with the tiles etched into it.  I wanted a more three dimensional effect so found some plastic model railroad sheets in my stash, cut them to fit the roof sections, glued them on and them attached the roof.

The two dormer windows were a bit of challenge, I don't have any WIP photos of them.   Once the roof was on, there were some gaps between the sections that I filled with bits of MDF sprues.  The whole thing was then painted with craft Burnt Sienna, washed with an umber wash, and drybrushed with red paint.

The finished piece scales well with 28mm figures but does make them look almost small.   It's not a wee building!   In a large battle with many units on the table, you wouldn't want many of these structures on the table, but as I said above, they look great for skirmish actions.

I hope this post gave you some ideas on assembling and painting MDF buildings, or at least sold you on the Warbases product.  One minor complaint is that the buildings don't ship with instructions. but you can find them readily enough on the website.  

Even though working on a building like this takes time away from painting troops, the end result is worth it and it enhances the overall look of the table.  I'm happy with the final result and would certainly recommend the Warbases kits.    I might look at an STL file for another building but the painting work would be about the same.

Blessings to your brushes and craft knives.

MP+

Steppe Scalawags Sortie! - More Cossacks for Seven Years War

 Continuing my painting streak by slowly turning out more Foundry 28mm Cossacks for my kleine krieg Seven Years War project.  

On the right, the Cossack commander rides beside his blonde son, who is headstrong and hoping to prove himself in Dad's eyes.

Most of the paints used here are from the Foundry triad system.   I'm especially glad that I invested in their horse paints set.

One-Eyed Yuri, despite his eyepatch, can hit a rabbit or a Prussian jaeger from the saddle at the gallop.

New vicar arriving in the parish.  Father Berserki is feared by everyone except the Ladies' Garden Guild.

Dismounted cossacks ready to pillage and annoy.

I'm now about half way through the Cossack project.  Painting irregularly dressed figures slows me down, I think a lot about the colour palettes and try not to be too repetitious but OTOH painting them is more enjoyable than working on 24 musketeers in the exact same uniforms!

Hopefully we'll see these scurvy fellows on the tabletop soon.

Cheers and blessings to your brushes,  MP+

The Duellists in Miniature

I'm no Ridley Scott and these figures are not Napoleonics, but this is a set of Seven Years War officers who have chosen a particular conflict resolution path.  With pistols, which is one way to settle a dispute.

Both gentlemen wear the obligatory flouncy shirts.   The sculptor has made their calves quite buff, so they obviously don't skip Leg Days at the gym.

Some of the assembled witnesses that are included in this Foundry set (CIV004): seconds and a referee.   I've taken some liberties in painting their uniforms.   Once I enlarged the photo, the head on the fellow in the middle made me think of the muppets, and now I can't unsee it.

These figures will also be useful as Big Men, staff officers, and command groups.

More Seven Years War figures coming soon.   Cheers and blessings to your brushes!

MP+

Foundry Grenadiers and Happy Civilians for Old Fritz

 Recently finished and mustered into service with the Prussian army are these 28mm Foundry sculpts, grenadiers painted in the uniforms of the Anhalt Desau regiment as per Kronoskaf.   They will eventually represent the 3/6 Kleist converged grenadier battalion once I get the grenadiers from the Von Retzow regiment finished.

I had a terrible moment when I was spraying these figures with Windsor and Newton matte varnish, I was working too quickly and picked up the black primer can by mistake.   It took a split second to realize my mistake but by then I'd done enough damage that I had to essentially repaint the exposed side of three figures.   I will never do that again!

According to Kronoskaf these fellows had yellow piping on the cloth backs of their mitres, I opted for an ochre-ish colour which isn't that visible in this photo but which looks good enough for me.

The new troops are inspected by Der Alte Fritz and found to be satisfactory.

Two finished Foundry SYW civilians also done in this batch.  Magda the camp follower has big natural apples, and Johann would give his other leg for the king if he could.

Hurrah boys!

I should get these fellows on the table and give them their baptism of fire.   Thanks for looking and blessings to your brushes!

MP+

Scurvy Scruffy Steppe Soldiers: Foundry Seven Years War Cossacks

Galloping in from the east are these two Cossacks, badly needed light horse for my Seven Years War Russian army.   I have ten more to paint, but these two were the first off the painting bench.   They're part of Foundry's Cossack range of figures.  

 

And some Cossacks on foot, based individually for kleine krieg games, probably using Sharp Practice rules.  The cottage is a Warbases kit, with some of my own touches.

Consorting with the enemy, a friendly Prussian.  Prost!

The whole Cossack crew pose at their rented vacation cottage.  They gave it a bad review,  five torches, as in they each took a torch and burned it down - said that the towels were scratchy and the WiFi was bad.

Thanks for looking, and blessings to your brushes!

MP+

Mustering Into Service: Rostovski Regiment (SYW Foundry Figs)

Marching out of the basing depot and mustering into the Czar's service is this new regiment for my Russian Seven Years War army.  These are 28mm Foundry figures, Russian infantry in red waistcoats, and they fly the banner of the Rostovski Regiment (flags by Adolfo Ramos).   They are mostly painted using the Foundry tri-tone system.

The Rostovski Regiment was formed under Peter the Great and fought in several of the big battles in Eastern Prussia, including Gros-Jagsersdorf and Zorndorf.

I always try to add Foundry's character packs to my large units and there are some tucked into these bases.  On the left below, Fyodor still wears his servant's wig that he felt privileged to wear as valet to young Sasha Grigorevich Solovev.  Now that the master is a lieutenant commanding the colour party, Fyodor is his self-appointed bodyguard. 

Private Gervasi Stepanov is mindlessly cheerful and always does his best to improve morale.

Private Morozov is getting a bollocking from his corporal for picking his nose in ranks.

Isaak Osipov is boasting about the rabbit he shot while on picket duty, "Clean through the skull, like that Jager I potted at Gros-Jagersdorf, remember?"  Looks like I need to revisit Isaak's bayonet with some silver paint!

Captain Sergei Kovalev inspects his men before they go on parade.   The good captain is on a single base for games using Sharp Practice.  I like how the Foundry Russian officers in this set all carry carbines, it gives them a business-like look.

Father Mikhail Mikhailovich blesses the regiment's colours.

Good opportunity to put all of my Russian SYW army on parade.  I definitely need more light cavalry!

Many thanks for looking, and blessings to your brushes!  Happy Easter.MP+

Some 28mm Horse and Musket Civilians

Not all the figures in this post are freshly painted except for the gent in the brown coat and hat, but the rest were done later in 2024 and I don't think I've blogged them here, so I guess they count (count for what?  points?  prizes? 🤪).

Groom leads a horse out of the barn for a gentleman.   The groom and horse are from Foundry's 18th century civilian range, the gent in the hat is a Front Rank figure from their Napoleonic civilian range.  The barn is I think from Warbases.

It's funny what you see in photos that you don't see otherwise.   The poor groom looks like he has a bandage on his nose, when in fact I think it was just some pale flesh highlight that looked ok at the time.  I'll have to have a hard look at him and see if he needs fixing.   The gentleman is sold by Front Rank along with a packhorse, and I think he's meant to be a pedlar, but I decided to make him look a bit posh.   His clothing is probably too early 1800s for a Lace Wars game, but tant pis as they say. 

 MDF cart and cast metal horses from Warbases.  The kit includes a resin casting of straw as a load for the cart if one wishes.   The farm labourer is from Front Rank's Napoleonic civilians range, enjoying a tankard while stopping at a pub.

These figures could be used just as table dressing or as characters and plot points in a skirmish game like Sharp Practice.  That gentleman going for a ride could actually be a spy with valuable intelligence.   The straw in that cart could be hiding contraband or a deserter.   The farmer with the pitchfork could be a dashing intelligence officer in disguise or maybe he's just Theo from Plotzen. 

  

Thanks for looking.  Later this week, some ancients figures, and maybe a test drive of the Hail Caesar rules.  

Blessings to your brushes,  MP+

Seven Years War Russians in Two Scales

 First, a WIP of my latest big project, a 36 figure Russian regiment in waistcoats from the Foundry 28mm SYW range.   All my Russian infantry to date are in green coats, so this unit will stand out on the table, and the red is a nice look.   If I'm lucky I get a few hours a week to plug away at these guys, and have developed a sort of Zen like attitude towards painting one colour at a time on all 36 figures.

At the same time, I've had a look at these 15mm Russian SYW figures from TundraWorks, a Canadian company based in Ottawa.  I ordered an army pack during their Kickstarter last year and have just gotten around to looking at them.

As others have noted online, these pewter figures seem slim, but people also tend to say that they look good when painted.   I thought I'd give this batch, also in waistcoats a try.

As things get fraught between Canada and our neighbours to the south, it's good to know that there are home grown sources for figures.  Tundraworks has a line of Lace War and Napoleonic figures, which can be ordered from their Kickstarter page, though how one orders seems a little opaque to me.

Cheers and blessings to your brushes,  MP+

New Years Day Seven Years War Battle

Here's some more reporting on the gaming day I hosted this New Years, which is already well in the rear view mirror!   The players were Conrad, visiting from Ireland (THE Conrad Kinch), and David.   CK is a total grognard, whereas David was playing his second war-game ever.   We used figures (mostly Foundry and Front Rank) from my collection, and the rules were the very dependable Honours of War by Keith Flint, published by Osprey.

CK set up his Russian army, giving his commanders ridiculous names like General Timoshenko Hortonivitch.   To stretch my limited collection, we used three base units, which worked well enough:  regiments had a decently sized footprint on the table and gave both players enough units to manage while having a decent range of tactical choices.

The Russians had an advantage in infantry: two brigades of three regiments each, while the Prussians had one brigade of four.   Both sides had a grenadier regiment, and the rest of the troops were line.   The Prussian advantage lay with their better generals.  The Honours of War rules are unforgiving with the Russian subcommands, who statistically tend to be worse than their Prussian counterparts.   Thus Conrad had three dim and doddering brigade commanders, whereas the Prussians had two competent ones and one dashing general.   This would give the Prussians a huge advantage in initiative and twice allowed a Prussian brigade to get an extra move.   To offset, I should have given the Russians another battery.

Prussian lines arrayed for battle:

Given some coaching, David, the novice player, decided that the best thing to do with his Prussians was to be aggressive.   He ordered his cavalry forward, the hussars on his left and the heavy brigade of horse on his right, see here thundering forward.

While the fifes and drums called his infantry forward in the centre.  Frederick is seen on the far right, plotting the course of the battle.

The Prussian and Russian heavy cavalry collide on the one flank, and engage in a massive scrum in which the Prussian horse gradually and slowly get the upper hand.

The battle was actually decided on the Prussian left flank, where sadly I don't have any photos, but after defeating the Russian light horse, the Prussian hussars were able to exploit an extra move thanks to their superior commander, and start rolling up one of the two Russian infantry brigades.   Conrad was an excellent sport, coaching David on how to use his cavalry to best advantage in the situation,  even though he was working to defeat himself in the process.  Well done, CK.

The decisive moment was the impact of the Prussian infantry brigade on the Russian centre, where the bloodiest moments of the battle occurred, but when the smoke cleared, two Russian regiments had been mauled for the cost of one Prussian, and the Russians were at their break point.

Here, Frederick is being congratulated by happy Silesian peasants, who are trying to sell him snacks and souvenirs.

A decisive Prussian victory achieved through good sportsmanship by both players.  My friend David is keen to play another game, if I can get him away from working on his model railroad layout, and I continue to be impressed by the HOW rules, simple, easy to teach, and highly playable.   Also a thrill to get the bulk of my slowly growing Seven Years War collection on the table.

Cheers and blessings to your die rolls,

MP+