French line foot artillery (1)

I meant to post these pics ages ago, but completely forgot to do so. I painted this Foundry gun and crew over a couple of days in August. The sculpts are by the Perries, but in their former Foundry style and are quite different to the figures they produce today. The poses are typically imaginative and the faces are full of character, but the figures' proportions are a bit "gnome-like" in the way that infuriates some wargamers. To be honest I found these figures fun and easy to paint, but it will be interesting to compare them to some of the newer artillery packs from Perry Miniatures. The crew pack comes with a few implements and the covered barrel and pile of cannonballs you can see in the photos - I suspect these may be more 17th century rather than 18th century. I detached 2 figures onto separate bases as I like to have 4 figures per crew for medium sized guns.

As for the paints used, I wanted to have a darker blue for the artillerymen's uniforms than I've used for the line infantry. For troops such as light infantry and the artillery where both jackets and trousers are dark blue I have decided to use a more "realistic" dark French blue colour than the deliberately lightened blue I used on line infantry and cavalry. So I used the Foundry "French Blue 65" and then mixed in some "Deep Blue 20" for final highlights. The gun itself was painted with the Foundry "authentic" "French Gun Olive Green 109". I'm not convinced, personally - it looks far too "apple-y" and not sufficiently "olive-y". It's certailny nothing like the old Humbrol authentic colour for French artillery, which really was a green ochre colour. I may need to find something else for next time, or not bother with the "C" highlight.


6 figures and a gun. Painted August 2010.