Elite Miniatures French In Bicorns
I am slogging my way through the painting of another 72-figure battalion of French infantry in bicorns for my 1805-07 project using a 1:10 figure to man ratio. I use the term "slogging" because I don't particulalry like the figures that I'm painting and 72 figures of non-enjoyment is hard work. I generally like the Elite range of Napoleonic figures, but inevitably, some figures are better than others. I plan to field two battalions per regiment so I hit on the idea of painting each regiment in a similar pose so as to distinguish one from another. Thus, the 12e Regt de Ligne uses the "advancing" pose which I like, but the 21e de Ligne uses the "at the ready" pose which I don't like for some reason. The latter pose has too many "hey Steve" poses with the head turned to the side looking at the guy next to him and the angle of the head turn makes me think of Linda Blair in The Exorcist :devil: and the heads just are not very good, and I could go on and on, but I just don't like the figures. I do not seem to have this problem with the advancing or the marching poses. For some reason, Morbey's French in shako look much better - nicer heads and anatomical proportions than the bicorned lads. Uggh! I have completed two 12-figure companies and am well on the way through the third company, so I am half way there and will never have to paint this pose again. I can't wait to finish this battalion, but I fear that continuing to work on it will suck all of the joy of life from my old carcass. Rant over.

I can well relate to this. I've had same thing with Perry Sudan, love 'em when they're done, really like painting the Mahdists don't enjoy painting the British so much. No solution but with 72 figure units I can only wish you luck. But I'm sure they'll be worth it in the end.

The original Elite Prussians (as well as the Connoisseur Prussians IIRC) were done by the bloke behind Calpe (another Pete) - are these those figures?

The "original" range of Elite Miniatures were sculpted by Peter Morbey and included 1806 Prussians and French in bicorns that were suitable for anything up to 1807. These were smaller figures and very well done, mimicing the Impressionist style that Peter Gilder championed. Morbey later redesigned the French range by making them larger, closer to 32mm, but calling them 28mm figures. When he later added Prussians for the 1813-1815 period, I believe that a number of these figures were sculpted by Peter Fitzgerald (who later started his own Calpe range of figures). Morbey's Napoleonic figures, while a little cartoonish, are still nice and most of them are enjoyable to paint, especially his cavalry figures which have a lot of movement and elan to them. Most of his infantry figures are decent to good too. However, when he redesigned the early French in bicorns, some were good and some were not so good. I prefer the older, original range of French in bicornes and have managed to find enough to paint two 72 figure battalions of them. One of my acquaintances has enough of the old figures for me to add probably two to four more battalions. He won't sell them to me, but we do have a deal where I trade him painted figures for unpainted original Elite figures. Sigh, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. So far, I have completed the following: 2 btns of new Elite "advancing" pose = 12e Regt de Ligne 1 btn of new Elite "at the ready" pose = 1/21e de Ligne 1 btn of old Elite "advancing" pose = 1/25e de Ligne I am currently working on the 2/21e de Ligne using the new Elite figures that is the cause of my distress. After this one is done, it is smooth sailing as I go back to a battalion of the old Elite French. I will need to paint four more battalions to complete GdB Gudin's division in Davout's III corps circa 1806 to finish the French side of the project. My partner in crime, Bill Protz, is working on one of the other divisions in Davout's corps and he has completed 2 btns, with 2 more on the way from Sri Lanka (right, he isn't painting them himself - what a slacker) :) I have also finished a 36 figure chasseur a cheval regiment , a dragoon regiment of 40 figures and a cuirassier regiment of 40 figures plus one foot battery of 4 guns (soon to be 8 guns). The Prussian army has 6 battalions completed and one dragoon regiment of 40 figures and one horse artillery battery of four guns.

You're much more courageous than I! I couldn't paint figures I dislike. I've painted figures with annoying or painful uniforms, yes, but I've never painted figures I don't like. 72 of those, I would become :mental: I dislike Elite miniatures, precisely because of all the "Hey Steves" and "look up in the sky" poses. What are they all looking at?? Which is unfortunate because the range is so huge. To each their own, though.

some of the Eureka French DAF Lovely to paint forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=5411&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0" target="_blank">http://wdlovesme.19.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=5411&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

I plan on using the Eureka figures for one of my regiments. I have the first battalion of the 85e de Ligne primed and ready to paint (72 figs) and I will have to order more figures for the second battalion. These are very nice figures and I look forward to painting them. I did paint one sample figure and really liked the way they turned out. Of course, this is likely to lead me down the path to paiting the Austrians in the casquet head gear and fighting Napoleon's Italian campaigns. :mental: When one is using insanely large battalions like I do, it somehow is easier to mix different brands of figures on the table top because the eye is fooled by the great mass of figures and the difference in height is not so apparent.