More Zinnfiguren units completed

I have added 5 more units to my Zinnfiguren armies. Four of the units were secondhand painted figures I bought from Berliner Zinnfiguren a few weeks ago when they had a sale.

The 5th unit I have painted used Kieler Austrian Dragoons as the Saxon Prinz Karl Chevauxlegers. 

The Berliner Zinnfiguren figures have been used to add two more Infantry units. These are the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Prinz Moritz 22nd Infantry Regiment. 

Two further units are the 12th Portugal Cuirassier Regiment. These are Herbu figures are particularly nice and full of motion.

The painting of these chaps is rather nice as seen in the detailing on the saddle cloth.

Next up are a couple of guns and once these are done I think I will have enough for a small game.

Zinnfiguren Armies gathers pace

I have added 5 more units to my Zinnfiguren armies.

Firstly I have painted the Karlstsder Oguliner Grenz in their earlier pre 62 uniform.  The privates are Grunewald figures whilst the NCO is a Kieler figure.

Grunewald figures are well cast with good definition and paint up nicely.

I have recently sold some of my lead mountain and used some of the funds to buy some secondhand painted figures from Berliner Zinnfiguren flea market.

When you buy figures from Berliner Zinnfiguren their website utomatically deducts German VAT for shipping to a UK address. I also kept the order and shipping costs under £135 and this did not attract any UK customs or VAT charges. 

Firstly 2 units of the Hungarian infantry using Kieler figures. These have been painted as the Batthyanji regiment but I will use these as the Nikolaus Esterhazy regiment for my Freiberg project. 

I also purchased some Prussian Cuirassier. These are painted as the 1st  Schlaberndorff Cuirassier using Herbu figures.  I have used 6 figures per base and like the look of the extra figure. I will add an extra figure to my other cavalry bases as and when I paint up the second base of figures for these regiments.

I have been pleasantly surprised by the painting of these figures. There are different grades of painting and these were classified as Extra Fine painted. They also have standard as well as the very basic painted by manufacturer.

Pricing for these second hand painted figures is just over £2 for an Infantry figure and £4.20 for mounted. Postage was 15 Euros.

Kieler Zinnfiguren

I have been painting some more Kieler Zinnfiguren for my Freiberg project.

First up a unit a Prussian Frei battalion.

I have painted these as the Frei-Infanterie von Lüderitz and these were part of Kleists command at Freiberg.

For my next unit I decided on a paint restoration on the remaining old factory painted Kieler Austrian Grenadiers I bought on ebay. 

This is how they looked before my restoration.

I have tried to recreate how they might have looked when they were bought in Vienna in 1936. I repainted, touched up and tidyed up the paint work.

Finally I have painted an Austrian officer again using a Kieler figure.

Krockow Dragoons

My latest unit for my Freiberg Zinnfiguren armies is the Prussian Krockow Dragoon Regiment No 2.

I have used Kieler figures for this unit and they are certainly in dynamic Charge poses.

I could not find a nice blue for the uniform some mixed a couple of different shades together. I used Liquitex Prussian Blue ink for the shading.

A closer view shows the detail of the figures which although fine is pronounced enough to paint and shade.

I now have 10 units painted and almost enough for a small game. I will be making  a unit identification bases with holders for small dice to show strengths and record loses. For rules I am thinking of using amended versions of Charles Grants The War Game or Might and Reason by Sam Mustafa.

Next unit is a Prussian Frei Battalion and an Austrian mounted Officer.

More Zinnfiguren

I have completed 2 more units for my Zinnfiguren project.

First up is an Austrian combined Grenadier unit. These are made up of the old Kieler figures I recently got from ebay.

This unit is made up of the Grenadier companies from the Salm and Roth Wurzburg regiments.

The second unit is a Prussian Grenadier unit. I got these figures as part of a job lot I recently purchased. They are again Kieler figures and were already painted. I decided to make some minor paint changes and these are now the 8/46 Alt-Billerbeck Grenadiers.  I have some extra Grenadier figures so may add a couple of extra to ones to bring these unit up to strength.

Pálffy Cuirassier

These are the Pálffy Austrian Cuirassiers. I have used Droste figures which I bought 10 years ago from Fechner.

At the Battle of Freiberg the Pálffy were brigaded with 2 other Austrian Cuirasser regiments and the Batthyány Dragoons.

I have painted the standard with the arms of the house of Pálffy.

Each Zinnfiguren figure has the codes that can be used to identify the figure. These figures are no longer available from Fechner but are now available from:-

Schum Zinnfiguren

I have also be fortunate to pick up a job lot of Kieler Zinnfiguren from a fellow gamer. I have plenty of Infantry and Cavalry now and only need to order extra standard bearers, officers and artillery figures. I will be ordering these from Schum as he sells single figures.

As part of the job lot it included a rather nicely painted Seydlitz figure.

I found this figure useful as a reference in trying to see what I could achieve with Acrylics. I still have a lot to learn but one thing I will not be doing is trying to use oils to paint these figures.

There is on other thing about Seydlitz figure.  He is only painted on oneside. This is common for figures which are then used in dioramas or mounted in pictures frames.

I will use this figure but clearly he can only lead charges going right to left.

Next up  a combined Austrian Grenadier unit.

Mainz Lamberg

I have added another unit to the Zinnfiguren armies.

These chaps are the Mainz Lamberg. I have used Scholtz Austrian figures from Berliner Zinnfiguren. 

I am still learning what painting technique works best with these figures but find 10 infantry or 5 cavalry a good number to paint as a batch. 

The Mainz Lamberg served with the Austrian army and was present at many of the battles including Freiberg.

There is little known about the regimental colours so I have used the speculative  from David's excellent Not by Appointment blog and free hand painted my version.

 https://nba-sywtemplates.blogspot.com/2023/09/highly-speculative-flags-of-mainz.html?m=1

Next on my painting table is a a unit of Austrian Cuirassier.

Batthyányi Dragoons

I have completed my latest unit. These are the 7th Batthyányi Dragoons.

During the Seven Years war they were commanded by Heinrich Hartenberg.

I am using Acrylics to paint my Zinnfiguren. For shadow I use Acrylic inks with Burnt Umber and Sepia working well on horses. I use  grey ink to add a little highlight.

These figures are from Kieler set 1428  - Dragoons in Angriff (attack) and are certainly dynamic looking chaps.

I have started my next unit - the Mainz Lamberg Infantry.

Zinnfiguren - First units completed

I have now painted extra figures to bring my first units up to strength. I have used 90 by 40mm bases for Infantry and 90 by 50mm for Cavalry. 

The bases are painted a nice shade of Green using Vallejo Golden Olive (857) and I have stuck a piece of green felt to the underside to make it easier to slide the bases across my kitchen table or green mdf playing surface.

I am loosely basing my collection on the battle of Freiberg on 1762 as this has a nice mix of troop types.

The Erbprinz is an Imaginations unit, perhaps the most famous in Wargaming history. This is the first Zinnfiguren flag I have painted.

Infantry units consist of 10 figures or in some cases I will use 8 plus a mounted officer.

The 4th Hussars were commanded by Bohlen in 1762. Prussian Hussars are main battle cavalry and I use 5 figures per unit. For skirmish cavalry I will use 4 figures per base.

I have 2 units of Prussian Grenadiers completed. They are the 17/22 Rothenburg and 19/25 Woldeck.

I have my next unit, the Austrian Batthyanyi Dragoons, 90% painted. After this I will do an Austrian Infantry unit.

Kieler Austrian Grenadiers

Occasionally Zinnfiguren do come up on Ebay in the UK. When a box of Austrian Grenadiers come along I made an offer and the troops have now joined my growing collection.

The figures came in their original box and where painted on the 31st Jan 1936.

Kieler produced many pre painted sets and this set is 589.  Kieler first produced figures in 1924 and you can still buy them today. 

https://www.kieler-zinnfiguren.de/index.html

This box was sold in Vienna and interestingly the shop still exists but no longer sells Zinnfiguren.

The box has still got it's original packaging and includes 18 infantry figures and a mounted officer. The painting is very basic however the only damages are two missing scarbards and one broken bayonet. Not bad for figures that are over 87 years old.

I gave one of the the figures an overnight bleach bath which stripped the old paint revealing the figure details hidden below. 

These figures are enough for two battalions of Austrian Grenadiers.

Puttkamer Hussars

I have completed my latest unit of Zinnfiguren - they are the 4th Puttkamer Hussars.

Cavalry will be mounted five figures on a 80 by 50mm base and will represent a 5 squadron regiment.

I have also reconsidered my Infantry organisation and basing and will now have 9 figures on a 80 by 40mm base.

This a mock up the new basing. I have slightly staggered the line as I feel this adds movement to the basing. 

First Zinnfiguren base completed

I painted these 6 figures over 11 years ago when I got my first Zinnfiguren. Yesterday I rebased them on my new basing as part of my restarted project.

This unit is the Erbprinz from Charge. I have on 60 by 30mm and stuck two mdf bases together so the bases are easier to pick up and move.

Each base of Infantry will represent a battalion and I will paint two battalions for each regiment giving me the option of deploying 2 bases as a unit if I wish.

I will probably do a few Imagination units as well as core Austrian and Prussian units. This allows greater flexibility as they can fight for either side depending on the scenario.

Next up will be some Prussian Grenadiers which I painted 7 years ago. Once these are done I will start painting some new figures.

Berlin and Zinnfiguren

I have just got back from a short city break to Berlin. While there I was able to visit the Berliner Zinnfiguren shop for a spot of shopping.

Over 10 years ago I had bought a few Fechner Zinnfiguren online and painted a few of them before putting them away. Well I now had the opportunity to buy a few more so I could create two small armies.

Berliner Zinnfiguren sell both new and secondhand figures so I picked a few of both. Here's the haul.

3 boxes of new Schulz figures. The boxes contain 23 Prussian Infantry, 27 Austrian Infantry and 9 Prussian battalion gunners.

I bought 2 secondhand boxes of old Kieler cavalry figures that cost 15 Euros a box. I am not sure how old these are but the packaging could be pre war.

The first box of 15 Prussian hussars included 5 that have painted as the 4th Puttkamer Hussars the remainder are unpainted figures. I will do a paint restoration although I am not sure if these are original factory painted ones.

  

The second box contains 10 part painted Austrian Dragoons and goes to show that lead, or should that be Zinnfiguren, piles exist in Germany.

Thus is going to be kitchen table collection and my current thoughts are towards a battalion represented by 6 figures on a 60 by 30mm base and cavalry on a 60 by 50mm base with 5 figures. I have enough figures now to do 14 infantry bases and 8 cavalry and a couple of guns. 

Rules wise DBSYW, Volley and Bayonet and Charge come to mind. For Charge each Infantry base will represent 12 figures and a cavalry base 6 figures.