Conversion WIP

I haven't posted on this blog for 3 months now as I've been busy with a conversion project. Unfortunately it isn't one that can be done with Green Stuff and solder.
The conversion in question is me having my nose re-built from scratch after having most of it removed following a diagnosis of skin cancer. This is the current situation after 7 surgical procedures.

As you can see I can't wear my specs so painting is out of the question. The next procedure is scheduled for next week, hopefully this will be my last major operation and I can start painting again after a few weeks of recovery. It's so frustrating getting a lot of time off work and not being able to do anything productive! Also this is the second time round with this series of operations, the first was in Autumn last year but the results were 'sub-optimal'. If the outcome isn't any better this time I might suggest that the surgeon does a head-swap! My OH's choice for a donor head would be Johnny Depp, but I think he might not have finished with it yet.

Curiouser and Cuirassier......

.....as Alice (almost) said when she expanded like a telescope after eating some dodgy cake. I'm feeling a bit stretched too, life has been rather hectic recently, what with an operation on my nose (and another to come very shortly), my horse has had an abscess in her hoof which meant daily dressing changes, and work has been quite hectic too. But I managed to schedule in a little painting time and here is the result.

Mainly original HH with a few copies.

The Legend of the Lost Legion

A month ago I confidently predicted I'd finish my next unit within a week. Here we are a month later and I've finally got round to finishing these HH recast line infantry ca. 1808 in greatcoats. It's been a busy month work and personal life-wise, with the continuing saga of my nasal reconstruction also featuring. The only reason I've found time to complete this exercise in "speed painting" is that I'm currently off work recovering from the latest surgical procedure. So here is the Lost Legion who should have marched off my painting desk a month ago. In the background are a unit of French Cuirassiers, a mix of originals and recasts, prepped and ready to paint. I'm not going to tempt fate by forecasting a completion date as I've got another couple of surgical procedures to look forward to in the next few weeks.

Alberken again

My latest French Line Infantry battalion, once again the fusiliers are Alberken and the flank companies Minifigs, with a Newline officer and drummer.

Next project is prepped and ready for painting in the background, a unit of Hinton Hunt French Line infantry in greatcoats. I hope to get these completed in less than a week as there is much less detailed painting needed than the full dress uniform.

Edit: Adding comparison pic for Anonymous

This is the command group from the front. I have another drummer and officer from the same lot I bought on eBay, pictured right. As you can see I didn't need to add shims under the figures to bring them up to HH height, so maybe they aren't Newline? I bought them as a quite cheap lot because they had a good few officers and musicians which seem to fit well size wise with HH, but manufacturer wasn't specified. Maybe Art Miniaturen?

French Guard Artillery

1 x horse gun and 4 x crew + 1 x foot gun and 6 x crew. The hose artillery gun is HH, need to replace this with a larger model, it looks a bit ridiculous next to a true 25mm piece.

French Line infantry reinforcements

Just completed my second French line infantry battalion.
The figures are early Minifigs (possibly Alberken? I've never seen any Alberken figures myself) apart from the officer who is a Hinton Hunt casting and the drummer who I believe is Newline.

These are highly compatible with HH size & style wise, in fact I recall reading on the Vintage 20mil site that there was a huge controversy in the mid / late 60's over the provenance of Minifigs masters. Looking at the HH officer and the Minifigs eagle bearer side-by-side I can see why you might think that one was a conversion from the other (allegedly).

French Foot Artillery

I decided I needed to add a battery of artillery to my fledgling French army, but as I've got 12 crew figures and 3 guns I thought why not paint them all in one batch? So here they are.

All completed in less than a week, to be fair I have had a lot of spare time!

All original HH figures, but I think the guns are Hinchcliffe.

Fifth of Five

The last two weeks I have been working on a unit of French Line Lancers.
As these are the fifth French unit I've painted as part of this project I decided to paint them in the facing colours of the 5th Regiment. The PVA glue sticking the flock to the bases is still not dry and it shows in these pictures, it'll dry clear in a couple of hours. All original HH OPCs ,which I do prefer to the 'dismountable' series, even if the groinal area of the riders is a little difficult to reach with a paintbrush.