Well, operation flock was almost completed when I realized that I still had not painted all the guns for the various armies I was flocking! Disaster! So, we not have Operation Artillery to wrap up all the outstanding armies (two steps forward, one step back). So, now I am painting all the artillery in the world. At least it feels like it! However, I will not be thwarted in my efforts to finally finish my 19th century armies!
Nest on the block was the Napoleonic Wurttemberg army. Like many of the armies in this series, I had the miniatures for some time (back when Napoleon at War was a thing). The models themselves are all Eureka 18s. This is a very nice line and has the advantage of being totally complete! I purchased the models because of their size and crispness, as Eureka always does a good job. Like many of my forces in this period, I do not have the testicular fortitude (or eyesight) to paint these models. So, off they went to one of my favorite miniature painters, Fernando in Sri Lanka. It took a while to put together all the painting instructions (maybe painting is not so bad?), but I finally did that and sent them off. They finished up in a few months and I had a pile of baggies each with a single miniature back!
Once I finally unpacked everything, it was time to start mounting them. Out came the white metal bases. As we play our games using the old Napoleons Battles (Koenigkrieg) basing system, I pulled out the appropriate sizes for that and spray painted them all tan on the top side (I asked Fernando to paint the figure base brown also). Once the paint was set, I glued all the figures to their bases using while glue. I like it for this type of figure, as it blends the base a bit with the overflow.
Next was all the standards. In this case, I went with Vaubanner (my favorite), as the flags for the army are interesting and deserve a little extra niceness. The flags are paper, so it is just a case of cutting them out and soaking them in water, adding white glue and shaping them on the pole. Once they stiffen a little, I went back on some of them and shaped them more.
Next was Operation Flock. I painted all the bases using Howeard Hughes Geo Hex Green and dipped them in Woodland Scenics turf blend flock. Once everything had dried, I hit all the bases with Dull coat to seat the flock and figures.
I then had to paint all the guns that I had forgotten! Wurttemberg guns were natural wood with metal fittings. So, I sprayed them tan, hit all the fittings with metalics and then went over everything with a sepia wash. I then painted the gun barrels brass (over brown). With that, the Wurttembergers are ready for the tabletop!
- Manteuffel