Thursday 29 March 2007

Two more French staff


These are he last two figures from pack FN 52 "Staff and Generals Dismounted". They show another General de Brigade and an Imperial Orderly. I painted these last night from start to finish, in about 2 hours; staff don't really take that long to do. That's enough of these foot figures for a week or so, as I really need to crack on with the 6th Hussars.
On a different note, I see that Perry Miniatures have released two more packs of British artillery in their AWI range. These packs are described as having men in "cap-hats". I'm not entirely sure what that means, although I suspect there is a re-enactment site that will tell me. I have ordered these packs and will put up photos of the figures when they arrive (unless the Perries' website beats me to it).

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm impressed by the commitment to produce such good figures and still lead a normal life, job etc. I always have trouble juggling time to paint, model, game etc and still do the day job and chase the family. It doesn't help that my job takes me away so often for substantial periods. As a result I am always keen to cram in as much as possible when I can.

Anyway, this ramble leads to the key question; when you are painting a unit how many figures do you paint at a time? Currently I do about 8 but your output seems phenomenal. So what's your technique with 'mass painting'?

Giles said...

Hi artilleryman,

Normally I paint 6-8 figures at a time. In a good week I can paint that amount Monday-Friday and then again over the weekend, so I average about 12 figures a week (cavalry take longer). Sometimes I focus on a smaller group of figures, as I did thie week with the French command figures. Last night I just wanted to see if I could paint two figures from scratch (the Kiwi was out with her friends so I had the evening to myself).

As for hours, I usually have between 30 and 60 minutes each morning and then up to 2 hours each evening during the week. At weekends I wake early and can usually have a good session of 2-3 hours before having to get on with the day. That gives me about 20 hours per week (again, in a good week). I reckon I spend about 1.5 hours per figure on average, so output will vary accordingly if I have a busy week at work.

I also appreciate that getting married and starting a family will drastically cut down on painting time - 12 figures a month if I'm lucky I suspect!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for that. It seems that our timetables aren't too dissimilar.

And you're right about marriage etc. A lot more real world importance cuts in and you have to balance carefully to keep the poor woman who married a wargamer quite happy.

As time has gone by it's been easier especially when the children become 'self-propelled' and dissappear off to university (huzzah!). It's all a matter of balance and common sense.

WSTKS-FM Worldwide said...

Hello there Giles,

Really nice looking French staff figures there! I particularly like the highlights on the blue coatees and cloaks. Will these figures also have a place in the upcoming Waterloo game with which you're involved?

Best Regards,

Stokes Schwartz

Anonymous said...

Giles,

These extra gunners will be general artillerymen for the Northern theatre, in gaiter-trousers, roundabouts and cut down tricornes (very small versions of the Saratoga gunners, but with a small side-to-side foxtail/bearskin crest).

RtL

ps: liked the Marines - very nice.

Giles said...

Hi Stokes

Not too sure to be honest. I'm thinking now that the Napoleon command vignette is going to look quite crowded and I may need some of the general etc for brigade and divisional command stands in any event. I will have to consult with the game organisers to see that they think.

Giles