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Sunday 1 June 2008

Progress. Slow, but Progress...

Officer of 38th Jagers in very much campaign wear! One of a number of Foundry minis in an otherwise Front Rank collection. He's not as "bug eyed" in real life as he seems to be in this shot!

Progress of sorts, anyway. I have been steadily daubing paint on my Russians (and French!) these last few weeks, namely because I have learned how much easier it is to start with a black undercoat! I have always used white or grey in the past, but I am finding that black actually suits my painting style better, and I was actually rather pleased with the results I have been getting. I did need stronger lighting over the painting table, though.

My collection is not all Front Rank miniatures; I broke down some time ago and ordered some of their Russian command figures for variety, this despite their almost piratical postage rates to the Far East (and which compared badly with just about every other manufacturer out there- grrr...).

Now these are Perry-designed miniatures, so nice design and detail throughout. They are larger than The Foundry's range of French, and while the Front Rank figures are a mite taller, these are certainly compatible even when mixed in the same unit.

The biggest disappointment was the casting quality, or lack thereof. The moulds have been allowed to deteriorate far more than should be acceptable, especially given the premium rates that The Foundry charges. This manifested itself in drums and scabbards, etc. that had not come out completely and which required some major work with epoxy putty to repair.

I very much doubt I'll be troubling with further orders from these guys.

Now having said that, I am happy with the extra variety they lend my Russian army, notably the officers, and especially the greatcoated drummers and standard bearers, something Front Rank never covered. What between them and the conversions I have been carrying out on a few of the Front Rank minis, I can add something "different" to each battalion.

Picture taken with my new 5-megapixel cellphone digital camera. Green and blue remain difficult colours to get right, though. I need to experiment more with the settings and lighting.

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