Workbench

24th June - Austrians and poles

I've got two moulds at the mould makers at the moment. In one are the Austrian grenadiers in march and attack poses, and the Austrians in helmets in march and attack poses.
In the other are a bunch of new masters; nine Polish lancers, six Polish infantry and a few other bits and bobs including four completely new Austrian artillery crew figures.
I'll be up the casters as soon as they are done..
Si

28th May 2010 - Bicornes at last

I've finally got a production mould done for the French bicornes and had metal from it. So the code is now in stock.
That's a bit of a weight shifted from my shoulders.
I have also got metal of the WWII Poles and the originals have been sent off for more conversions.
I will get the conversion moulded in my Austrian grenadier mould and then set about creating packs.
The lancers are also being converted to create more poses and the bugler.
I have almost finshed the 7-TP and I now intend to do a Wz.34 as well.
I will be at Partizan this Sunday, so please look me up and say hello if you are going.

17th May, Russians, French and housing.

My woes aren't over for the Russian greatcoats, they are very difficult to cast successfully. I'm going to modify them and create a mould for line troops, so there'll be tiny differences, but ones that allow them to cast up easier.
The Bicorne French are at Griffin and I am just waiting for the courier to deliver them to me now.
I played a game of Black powder the other night and needed a bunch of Spanish style housing, both urban and rural. But I didn't have any. I'm absolutely strapped of cash at the moment, so I decided to make my own. Here's a picture of the first few buildings in the batch. I'll be making moulds for these before Partizan and hopefully getting a few cast up as well. I intend to use these base buildings to create based buildings with courtyards, walls and out buildings too.

4th May 2010 - Late Russians and Early French

I've had a number of issues with the Russian greatcoats - moulding issues, stock issues, etc - add to that the Salute week and the great volcanic ash debarcle and I'm weeks late with shipping a lot of Russian orders - some packs went out early from the master mould stocks, the others are still waiting - I can only apologise for such poor service, I'll be putting some extras in the packs for those who are patiently waiting.
Not a great way to conduct a new product launch...

On to more pleasant news; the early French masters are parcelled up and ready to ship to the mould maker.
I have used the delay on these figures to create twenty variants. Yep, you heard it right, there are twenty different figures in this pack. The mould have 20 of one pose and 20 individuals, so you'll get a random mix. Variants include some fatigue caps, back pack additions, arm positions and head positions.
I hope you enjoy these figures and consider them worth the wait. They are in the original Percy style, as they started life as conversions.
Also in the mould will be the first three WWII Polish lancer poses and three new infantry poses. So this range will be back in action.
I am attending partizan with a tiy stand hidden in a dark corner somewhere, so my aim is to get the early French out by then....

13 April 2010 - Russian greatcoats on sale

I popped the Russian greatcoats up in the shop. I'll get a picture up tomorrow, as I've painted the figures, but my sons have put my camera somewhere safe...

I'm really pleased with these figures, they really convey a sense of that Russian stoicism as they plod onwards.

Working towards sending the early French off this week, just fiddling with a few casualty figures and extra masters afore they go.

10th April 2010 - Russians return

I have the new mould in my hand now. It contains the Russian greatcoats. I'll be taking this up to the casters on MOnday night to get some spun out.
ALso on there were the Austrian Grenadier and helmet sub-masters. So I can have these production moulded very soon.
General problem at the moment is lack of cash, sales have been awful in March, so the new Polish lancers, a new mould and a restock have cleared me out.

New mould to go will be the bicorne French as I know quite a few of you want these, hopefully I'll get some sales and I can get more moulds made.

7th April 2010 - WWII is go, lancers

First pics of the Polish lancers are up in the shop under 1939 Polish. I'll have these moulded soon and then create some variants - you can see I've had czapska and adrian headgear done. There'll be a bugler as well.

Russian greatcoats mould is being pressed tomorow, so I should have castings by the end of next week. Loads of other bits in there as well to allow me to finish a lot of stuff off.

March 2010 - Russian greatcoats

I've got another new mould going off tomorow; the Russian greatcoats. In this mould are a few more masters that will allow me to release the Austrian grenadiers and musketeers in helmets.
I also have the French bicornes elite company figure in there too.
Austrians are outselling the Russians at about 4:1 at the moment, so the Austrians will be getting the most focus with artillery crew and cavalry coming first.
I've not seen any WWII Poles yet from my sculptor, but I hope they are not too far away.

March 29th 2010 - Poles

Just spoke to the sculptor and the Poles are progressing. I have three lancer poses in progress and I'll be swapping these about a bit to change headgear and poses.
Also there are a few more casualty poses - this time it's Austrians as I had ome lying about and have been messing with them.
Still waiting for my Russian mould, but I've been away for a week, so not had a chance to worry the mouldmaker yet..
have started on the French step by step painting guide...

1st march 2010 - WWII again..

I've actually pulled my finger out on the Poles and commisioned someone to finish off the infantry.
He's also doing lancers.
I'm not that happy with the TKS and lorry, so I'll probably remake these alonf with the 7-tp and bofors. So there is some progress there..

Back to Napoleonics.
I am working on the Austrian grenadiers now, and helmeted troops. Both of these require some work in terms of head swaps and minor pose changes. But they are well on the way - I have:

Austrian Grenadiers marching
Austrian Grenadiers Advancing
Austrian fusiliers in helmet marching
Austrian fusiliers in helmet advancing
All very close to ready.

The bicorned French are next in a mould, they are sitting ready for posting off. So expect a release for these guys within a month. There's flank companies coming too.

I'm also working on the casualties andhave commisioned another three to give a pack of four. These will be as generic as possible and will feature a mix of bare head and generic shako.

21 february 2010 - next codes

I've been fiddling with a pile of masters tonight. I expect the next code out to be the Austrian grenadiers.
Also nearing completion are the early French with bicornes and the Nassau flank companies.

29TH JAN 2010 - THEY'RE HERE

The moulds turned up. Unfortunately I need to go to the USA for a week at 7am tomorrow, so they're staying here for a week. Such bad timing.
Anyhow, as soon as I get back they'll be spinning and the first Austrian and Russian packs will go on sale.

28th Jan 2010 - so close but so far

I've had notice today that the moulds will be here tomorrow, Yahoo!
Only thing is I have to go to the USA for work for a week next week, so not a lot will happen to them. I am hoping I can get them to the casters before I go, but I doubt it. That means a weeks wait till they go to the casters and then a few days for them to spin the lead up.
Oh well, at least there's some progress.
I've also been playing WWII in 10mm with IABSM, so my interest in the Poles is picking up again. I really should finish these blighters off - don't I always say that!

January 20th - almost there.

I've called the mouldmaker and I'll be getting moulds next week. So I am almost at the point of the first proper releases from Redline!
I'll be popping the moulds up to the casters midweek and expect to get stock from them early the week after. Unfortunately I will be working in the USA that week, so preliminary release date for Austrians and Russians is 7th Feb.
Thanks for your patience on the progress, now I am back in the swing of things, I can get the helmeted Austrians done and also the Nassau flank companies.

12th January 2010 - moulds!

I've actually parcelled up a load of 1st generation masters ready for production moulds. So the Austrian shako dudes are off in both march and attack poses, the Russian grenadiers and some new masters....
The first Nassau packs are in the shop, the flank company masters are in the new moulds. I'll be painting up some of these this weekend.
I'm working on speccing up the Austrian cavalry and then the gun crews. After they're done I'll get the Russian cavalry done.
My first painting guide is up, I've got French to do next.

8th December 2009 - Austrians

I've spent the evening cleaning up and inspecting 60 Austrians. I've enough to make a production mould now. So these will go off tomorow. Shakos first and then helmets later. With Grenadiers to follow.

Russian master casts are also here, I'm sorting through those as well. Standard uniform and greatcoats - both with kiwer type shako.

Off to see Hawkwind tomorow, so no more progress for a night.

2nd December 2009 - Nassau

I've been working on the Nassau troops tonight. Created the 1st and 2nd flanquers and the 1st and 2nd Grenadiers. These are from two dollies in two slightly different poses.
The command group is done.

I've got a new Austrian grenadier pose on the way.
British and French gun limbers and train are done, just been painting some of these up. Not sure when I will mould these as they are unlikely to be big sellers and I'd rather get my Russians and Austrians going first.

18th November 2009 - new masters!

I've had a delivery of the new masters from my new mould. Lovely looking stuff!
I'm now working through some conversions and tiny mods to create some production moulds.
First up will be the Russians. these are ready to go now.
The Austrians get a few headswaps to create helmeted and shako versions of everything.
The Nassau troops are being converted to create the flanking troops for both 1st and 2nd regiments, so there'll be a complete set of infantry for Nassau.

29th October - pack size change

I'm re-organising the shop categories for the 10mm Napoleonics to 30 figure packs. I need to change all my stock, so it will be a slowish process. British and French line are done though.
Also started to add new categories to the shop..

27th October 2009 - The masters are gone!

Yep, I finally posted off the masters to Griffin moulds.
Final list includes Austrians, Nassau, Russians, bicorne French, new British skirmisher poses, new French artillery poses, casualty marker, artillery drivers for British and French.

I'm off to Sacramento for a couple of weeks, so I hope these are at home when I return....

Russian infantry master

Big thanks to Pawel in Poland for guiding me on the configurations of the new releases. I really like to be 100% sure on the accuracy and suitability of my figures, even if they are very tiny!

I'm working on a painting guide at the moment - British first...

14 Oct - more masters

I've got the first Russian infantry master and this rather splendid casualty marker - they've arrived in time to go in the mould, so things are expanding at Redline at quite a pace.
Extra stuff in the mould that I've created:

Here's what's going in to the new mould

Nassau line marching
Nassau command - 3 figs
Austrian grenadier
Austrian officer
Austrian standard bearer with shako
Austrian fusilier with shako, march
British horse artillery draft horses and riders (two)
French artilllery train with shakos
British stovepipe skirmishers in greatcoat standing
Above but kneeling
Russian infantry marching
Casualty/shaken markers - two poses.=
Piper cub in 1:600
Malburian with mitre
Remastered Prussian trooper and officer
Austrian artillery carriage with seat

Oct 12th 2009 - mould contents

Here's what's going in to the new mould

Nassau line marching
Nassau command - 3 figs
Austrian grenadier
Austrian officer
Austrian standard bearer with shako
Austrian fusilier with shako, march
British horse artillery draft horses and riders British stovepipe skirmishers in greatcoats - two poses.=
Piper cub in 1:600
Malburian with mitre
Remastered Prussian trooper and officer
Austrian artillery carriage with seat
so far -= still adding...

8th October - Last of the Austrians

I've got EBob popping around for dinner tonight, he's bringing the last of the Austrian masters; my flag bearer (no moulded in flag!)
I'll spend the weekend getting the bits ready for the mould and then send it all off Monday.
I'll have alimited number of casts off the master mould and then start converting in order to be able to offer Grenadiers, shakos and helmet packs.
Robs also done a nice advancing pose, so I'll be creating some advancing figures too for a bit of variety.
He's busy making the first Russians today...
Things are moving along, even if it is a little slow.
I've even made some progress on the WWII Polish, although I may end up handing that over to Rob as well..!
Thanks for sticking with me!
Si

4th October 2009 - more Austrians

I now have the Austrian officer and drummer. One more to go, the flag bearer.
As soon as I get the flag bearer these will go off for moulding up.
I intend to do two packs of infantry to start - marching and advancing. The marching pack will have a few small variants of marching figure, but predominantly be vertical muskets and in step. The charging pack will be of the two more dynamic poses.
The marching pack will do for most of the time, with the option to add in a charging front rank if you want some variety.
I will make up skirmishers later, the jagers, these will be in fire, move and reload poses.
I'm really happy with the sculpts that EBob is cranking out for the Austrians, I'm talking to him about Russians next and there are a few bicorne French conversions kicking about as well...
I'm making up the rather nifty Austrian artillery pieces.

13th September - Austrians

I'm anxiously awaiting the next five Austrians from EBob. These will mean I can get a new mould made and get quite a few bits in to production. I'm up in the attic later and I'll create a list of the stuff to go in the mould, so you know what's coming up.
The Austrians will be made in three different poses, with three different types of head gear, when the masters return I can convert and create all of the poses in all of the headgear. There'll be march attack, march and bayonet out (as the first pose) not sure if I should mix these poses in a pack or do them separate.
There's also three command figures.

Also photographed all the British cavalry as well!
I'll add these to the site on Monday.
Bought more books on Austrians at Colours, and some on Russians as well...;)

10th September - Austrian master

After EBob made such a great job of the British sample, I have commisioned him to do me Austrians. Here is the first example; a grenadier.
Hope you like it!

24th August - Back to work!

I've been off for three weeks sunning myself in Wales and the Isle of Wight...

Back to it now and more progress on the artillery drivers and limber horses.
I've commissioned EBob to create the first of the Austrian infantry, I've also been hacking bits off of the Malburian masters in order to get these remade to some sort of Redline standard.

I've worked on a couple more BK12 poses for the Polish infantry and the 7TP hull is done.

I'm a bit stuck on photos at the moment, the loft is in a mess and I've not fixed up my photography station.

As time allows I will get these things done.

22nd July - New French artillery limber riders

I've done the first French arty limber riders with shakos. working on the British HA ones now.

20th July - New British master

I asked one of my sculpting pals to create me a trial piece to see if he could viably do 10mm figures.
Here's the trial piece...
I asked him to base it on a Perry 40mm figure. I have this idea to present infantry squares and this is the front rank figure I need.
What do you think??
I was mightily impressed. I'll be getting the figure cast up and then modified to create a light company skirmisher and also a rifleman.

18th July - New stock!

The chasseurs came back from the mould makers and I have some stock of metal. I'm working on painting them up for the shop now. I managed to create five different trooper poses.
Really need to work on the Austrians now, so I can get some casts done and create he basic troops.
EBob has created me a new dolly for a kneeling figure, I want to extend the range of skirmisher poses and I'm also keen on creating some figures specifically for modelling an infantry square.

1st July

I'm finally sending the full set of Chasseurs off to the moulders today. It's taken ages to get this far, but I'm there now. I've learnt a lot about this period on the way.
The Nassau figures are nearly done, I have the officer, two flankers and one line figure done. Not sure if I want to represent 1st AND 2nd regiments. They differ in shoulder detail on the grenadiers and flankers. Is it worth it?
I'm making progress with artillery horses. I have French figures with shako done, I have British horse and foot artillery in progress too. I guess I should create an ammunition wagon too.
I've also reworked one of the Malburian figures that I had to something that I think fits in with the Redline range. If this gets favourable response I'll carry on with the rest.

Blitzkrieg12 is slowly getting organised. I need a couple more BAR poses and I'll be ready to get a production mould made for the infantry. Next up are the guns (Bofors and Schnieder) and the MG teams. I should also get some cavalry done as I now have a load of Napoleonic cavalry to base them on.
I've been painting 10mm Napoleonics like crazy, so will start to do some basic painting guides soon.

15th June 2009

I’ve been clearing through some of the ‘extra’ bits I got from Mark when I bought the Flashing Blade 10mm Napoleonics range. I’ve come across a number of new codes that I can get to release status. Firstly there are three new stovepipe shako British packs; great coat line infantry, great coat skirmishers and light infantry skirmishers. I’ve been making up the masters to create a little bit of variation on these troops; adding a few extra items on their packs and changing the poses slightly.
I’ve also got a load of French Voligeurs in the early pattern, longer coats with decorated shakos. I may release these as a new pack if I can run to a new mould. Again, I’ll try to add some variety.
I’m expecting the Chasseurs to turn up towards the end of the week and the first pressings of the new limber horses.

5th June 2009 - Redline and BK12

Nassau!
I played a game of Quatre Bras on Tuesday and needed to have a few brigades of the Nassau contingents. I had to paint up some proxies in green in order to have something for the table.
So incensed was I, that I started work on some 'proper' Nassau figures.
I've done three slightly different infantry march attack poses and I'll have the command complete this weekend. As soon as I find a space to hijack on a mould I'll have another nationality on the books.
Austrians are making progress, I have a grenadier and a fusilier done, if I can find a way to take clear photos of the tiny masters I'll pop them up.
Next job is to complete the artillery limber trains when the horses some back from the moulders.
I've made no progress at all on the Brusnwick cavalry...

Blitzkreig 12 - I sorted out the infantry figures last night, I am going to do one more BAR pose and add two figures with caps and then I'll release the infantry packs to the moulders.
I'd really like to get this range moving as soon as possible.

1st June 2009 - redline and BK12

I'm excitedly waiting for the new castings to come back from Griffin so I can create a production mould and get the Chasseurs in the shop.
I've decided to put some effort into getting the Blitzkreig WWII range actualy on sale. So I'll be sorting through the infantry and creating the last few poses to allow the Polish to be released.

29th May 2009 - Redline

The French chasseurs are off to be moulded!
My first 'new' products for the Redline range.

I've also created some limber draft horses, these will have riders added when I get them back, so I can create both sides of the draft team.

7th May 2009 - Redline

The French Chassears a Cheval are done, the standard six figures, three troopers, standard bearer, bugler and officer.
I have redone the French foot artillery crew done as well; these I've done with plumes to distinguish them easily from the horse who have none. They have the short infantry sword, double cross belts and decorated shako.
I've commisioned some new dollies from EBob, a kneeling, running, crouching and marching. So this will allow me to add some more variety in to the newer packs.
I've started the French limber horses, the rear pair are done. The limbers are also finished.
I am researching british artillery limber tracery in order to start the British horses as well.
I've also been talking to Paul Hicks about some classic command packs.

I've not made a start on the Brunswick cavalry yet, although I hope to get some progress this weekend.
My next range will be Austrians. I'm working on the spec for this range right now.
Best regards
Si