MDF Napoleonics

So after my trip to the Joy of six show, I promised to show you my attempts at painting Napoleonic infantry.  Specifically some French infantry.  So here they are.

You can easily see the difference in colour between the undercoats used.

I had to change my normal painting style for 6mm figures as these are laser cut MDF.  Because of this, they take paint in a different way to metal castings as it soaks into the MDF.  I tried two different styles of painting, one was undercoating in white and the other in black.  I then block painted the flesh, clothing and weapons. I also added a home drawn and printed flag.  I  know this is oversized but I think recognising the flag is important at smaller scales.  I picked out some of the laser engraved detail using a very fine indelible black ink pen to give definition.

If you look carefully, you will see some of the blue coats are darker than others. Those are the figures which were undercoated in black. I'm unsure which undercoating style gives the best result, especially at anything more than close range viewing. The figures were fairly easy to paint. For those under the coated in black a stripe of white up the centre of the front of the body for the vest and turn backs and breaches with blue added to the edges is the bulk of the figure painted. It's the same system for those undercoated in white but without the need to overpaint the areas which will end up white.   I think I will stick with the white undercoat system and buy a bottle of Vallejo Prussian Blue to offset the lightening effect of the undercoat.

What really makes them pop is adding the fine detail. This includes things like turn backs on the sleeves, shako plates, pom-pom colours, backpacks and blanket rolls.  Unlike metal figures, I have not given them an ink wash as there isn't sufficient sculpted detail for the ink to pick out. At the moment these figures are not varnished but I am considering using a spray on varnish to give some protection.

Picking out some detail really helps bring them to life.

I have based the figures on cardboard (as a test) and used my normal texturing system of fine sand topped with patches of flock.  Currently, these are on a 6 cm x 3 cm base, but I’m still unsure as to how I will base them going forward as I am not yet sure which rules I will use.  That said I prefer the large unit look of this batch to the smaller base I tried first.  I think these are rather nice given that they are essentially 'thick' flats.  There is enough detail from the laser engraving to help show the edges of clothing so that gives a guide for where colours will change.  At arms length they look very little different to their more 3D metal cousins, unless you squint along the lines where they look more 'blocky'.  However, at the price point these little chaps come in at they are hard to beat.  the unit shown above consists of 30 figures and I estimate it cost under 50p including basing materials!