The King of Bavaria and Other Things

Over the past few months I've been busy with work and some fun stuff to the point that I let updating the blog slide a bit. So here's the latest on the troop build up.

First is King Ludwig II of Bavaria, based on a portrait I found on the internet.

The body is the Prince August Classic Toy Soldier standing at attention. The sash is a piece of cardstock glued into place with white glue. The head, necklace, and medals are made from Kneadatite (green stuff). The cording and shoulder scales are made from lead thread that I picked up at the local fly fishing store. The helmet I liberated from my Army Black commander figure.

 Here is my Army Black/Cornflower Blue cavalry brigade command. The horses are the usual cheap plastic ones I have most of my troops mounted on. The riders are from the Dutkin's Civil War General mold. The heads are (from left to right): the standing staff officer sold through TVAG, the Dutkin's French Chevau-Leger Napoleonic cavalryman, and the Dutkin's German WW1 infantry to which I added the eagle plate. The maps were hand drawn by myself on regular printer paper.

Since the King can now take the field, I figured he would need a bodyguard. For the riders I used the Dutkin's British Horseguards figure with the Dutkin's French Chevau-Leger Napoleonic cavalryman head. Because this figure is casted with the saddle, I modified a horse figure I had and made a mold of it to reproduce the mounts you see.

Here are my Army Black/Cornflower Blue Dragoons. The heads you 'll recognize from above. The bodies are my own design.

Here are my Army Black Machinegunners. The Gun and the gunner are of my own design. The original gun is made from brass tubing, styrene rods and sheet, balsa wood, and Kneadatite. I made a mold of the original to make the duplicates. The gunner is a modified version of my rider/driver figure. He's made with seperate arms and head.

This is my Army Red Kettle Drummer. He's a stock Prince August figure (I've had the mold for over 3 years and finally got around to making the stock figure). I have used this figure (or parts of it) for both Army Red and Army Black Hussars as well as my Horse Artillery. The paint job is my own design, so any relation to a drummer of an actual unit is accidental. This figure weighs well over 1/2 a pound, mostly in the horse. This is why I'm using cheap plastic horses.