June 20: The Set Up

Peter over at Baccus offered up a free 6 mm army for the War of Spanish Succession. As he put it, he wanted to put his money where his mouth is about how good 6 mm can look, and how easy they are to paint. All us lucky winners had to do is provide a write up about painting the army. Just when I thought “free” meant free!

I confess I have a little experience with 6 mm. When I first started out, I wanted impressive looking armies. Not 9 men and a command stand for a 850 man brigade. So I bought Napoleonic figures from dozens of different manufacturers and in half a dozen scales (6, 10, 15, 20, 25, 28 mm). I painted up a brigade or two of British in 6 mm (all Adler and Irregular figures) but sold the lot off. They were just too small to get enough detail on to keep the painter in me happy. Here is a (not very good) photo of some of my very earliest painting:These are Napoleonic British infantry - flank company figures (you can just see the white “wings” on their shoulders). Here are two more:

Keep in mind these were among some of the very first miniatures I ever painted about 3 years ago. Also note - these run fully 7 mm from the sole of the boot to the eye. And frankly I was not that happy with the overall sculpting. Is it just me or are those men in danger of being eaten by their shakos? And they’re awfully well fed, especially for British infantry in Spain.

Now I must say I did enjoy the change in scale from 15 mm (the scale I finally settled on). So although I did sell off all my 6 mm, I kept two packs - one of British Personalities, one of French. I have painted two of them, Wellington and one other, about 18 months ago, so the results are better. Here they are:

Who knows how a 6 mm unit might look in the hands of a good painter. For example, here is a photo sent to me by another (much better) painter of some Adler 6 mm Dragoons:

So now it just remains to be seen how the Baccus stack up for detail. Will painting them be a chore or am I going to have to find room for a new scale on my work table?

If nothing else I’m delighted to have some new lead, as I’m currently attempting to go “cold-turkey” on miniatures purchases until I reduce my  unpainted lead inventory by 25%.

NEXT: The Figures Arrive

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