More Russian Militia for Borodino

 Another unit of Russian Militia.  These fellows were painted with a blue-grey palette while the earlier batch used a brown palette.  I figure colors would vary a lot with the militia as they were outfitted at different times and by different sponsors and I'm guessing 'cheap' was the guiding quality principle.

And these are again 15mm Battle Honors figures.

Russian Militia for Borodino

 A Russian Militia battalion is ready to enter the field.  These are Battle Honors 15mm figures.

Russian Akhtyrsk Hussars

 Some more Russian Hussars to add to the order of battle.  Pleased with how these guys turned out.  Need to brush some grass off the front rank though.  AB figures are fine indeed and I like it when the paint job is good enough to show off some of the quality of the sculpt.  

British Light Troops

 Finished up three units of British and Scottish light troops.  43rd Light (white), 52nd Light (buff), and 71st Highland (buff plus the hat band) Light Infantry.  This took a bit!  Add my 95th Rifles and Cazadore to the 43rd and 52nd and I have the Light Division.  I have some light dragoons and KGL Hussars around somewhere.    Looks like I forgot to darken base edges . . . 

New Battalions for Napoleonic Russian Order of Battle

 Grenadier Battalion to be slotted in for the Kiev Grenadiers of the 2nd Grenadier Division.  I need to get a proper flag for the battalion.

Jaeger Battalion to be slotted in for the 50th Jaeger Regiment of the 27th Division.

Gluckhovski Cuirassier

 Finished another unit of Russian Cuirassier.  This is a couple of squadrons from the Gluknov Regiment.

New Additions

 Added some Napoleonic and ACW units to the collections.

Saxon Infantry Battalion.  18mm Eureka Minis.

French Infantry Battalion.  18mm Eureka Minis.

Dismounted Confederate Cavalry.  28mm Sash and Saber Minis.

Terrain Tiles for 15mm Wargaimng

 In between other projects I wanted to make some terrain tiles for 15mm table top.  Below is one sample.  the base is clear plastic, 6" square,  with a coat of gesso.  Then spackle compound, PVA glue, and fine ballast.  the buildings were onces I already had.  

The fences were the new creation.  I created the fences by using a dremel cutting disc to cut into the tops of the fences and to score a line down the basswood stick.  Painted it a light brown and then a dark walnut stain to show off the score marks that delineate the "planks" in the fence.  Then dry brushed on some highlights and glued it to the template.  

Not the best terrain tile but also fairly simple to make and I'll crank out a few more.

New Vehicles from Butlers' Printed Models

These are the first 3D printed models I've formally added to my WWII collection.  I haven't used 3D printed models before because the quality and cost factors always moved me to choosing cast models.  Analog vs. digital and I'm just an analog guy in a digital world.

The quality problem with 3D Printed Models for me is the resolution problem.  Vertical surfaces show the deposition layers in the 'Z' dimension (up/down) and for sloped surfaces it is even worse as they show the resolution problem in the Z and X/Y dimensions.  Sine, cosine, and all that stuff.  The better the resolution of the printer, the less noticeable the striations.  And the resoultion also limits the amount of detail you can include on a model.  Think of rivets and such for armored vehicles.  

The better the resolution and the more expert the person creating the digital file and the printer setup  are the better looking the model will be.  That all comes at a cost and for me I have always decided on cast modes vs. 3D prints as the quality of cast is better and the price is cheaper.  

But I've added a new factor into my choice of models.  With 3D printed models, a manufacturer can have a large inventory of digital files compared to the master sculpts and master molds a casting operation requires.  It is cheaper to create a digital file than a mold so a 3D print process can offer lots of variations without much added cost.

I needed French Lorraine vehicles, specifically I needed a radio vehicle for 21st Panzer Division in Normandy.    None of the businesses I normally buy from do a Lorraine much less a radio vehicle version.  I would settle for a 3D printed model if I could find one that was decent.

And I did with a UK company called Butlers' Printed Models.  These guys had a large inventory of digital models and judging from their descriptions about their process and looking at the photos, they seemed to know what they were doing and the price was better than what I pay for cast models.  So I ordered some vehicles to see how good they were.  I ordered the Lorraine 37L+ fuel trailer to stand in for a signals vehicle.  Looks like a spool of signal wire on the fuel trailer to me.  Close enough!

I was impressed.  The size of the vehicles fits well with my other 15mm vehicles. The better resolution printers and material that Butlers uses gives  a model that does not have thick bulky sides, the model is not fragile, and does have a good level of detail and the striations on the vertical and sloped surfaces were tolerable to me.  And the price was right.  So overall I am happy with the Butler models and will add them to my buying list.  Service and delivery time from UK to USA were all excellent.

Some photos below with OG15/Quality Casting figures included for comparison.      

Here is a shot of the models right out of the box.  There is some clean up (expected)and you always have flash removal and filing to do with cast models) to remove the support surfaces produced in the 3D printing process.  No problem using a sharp x-acto knife.

This is a shot of the the models after clean up.  The red arrow points to a support surface I missed and removed later.  Often the support surfaces to be removed can look an intended surface so you have to look twice before calling clean up complete.

And below are the painted vehicles.  The basic Lorraine 38L will go with my French 1940 collection and the "signals" version will go with the 21st Panzer Division "oddballs" collection

 

Napoleonic Generals and Aides de Camp

 Finished up a group of French ADC's and Russian Generals and ADC's

Russian ADC's

General Bagration

General Kutuzov

General Platov

A group of three "typical" French ADC's

And some more fashionable French ADC's

Russian Artillery Batteries

 A Russian heavy artillery battery with 12blr cannon and heavy licorne

and a Russian light artillery battery with 6lbr and light licorne

Russian Infantry Units

 Two Russian infantry units ready to fight.  Still need to add flags but these are the Odessa and Simbirsk regiments from the 27th Division.  The 27th fought at the Fleches at Borodino.  Normally not a problem with AB miniatures, but the advancing pose figures have fragile bayonets, so a drop of glue was added to the bayonet to hopefully help hold them on.

Circa 1812 French Infantry in Greatcoats

 French Infantry unit decked out in greatcoats.

1st Infantry Regiment of Vistula Legion

 

Chasseurs of the Imperial Guard Cavary

 Here are a few squadrons of the Chasseurs a Cheval of the Imperial Guard.  Nice christmas colors just in time for the holidays!  These are AB figs.

Russian Dragoons

 Next up are the Harkiv Dragoons.  This unit was part of the 4th Cavalry Division backing up the Russian center at Borodino.

 

Russian Cuirassiers

 Latest additions to the Napoleonic Russian Order of Battle.  

Military Order Cuirassiers

Ekaterinoslav Cuirassiers

 

The two regiments were part of the 2nd Cuirassier Division backing up the Fleches at Borodino.  

French Chasseurs a Cheval

 French 1st and 2nd Chasseur Regiments.  Both regiments has scarlet regimental color, 2nd had green collars instead of scarlet.  So I've either got two small regiments or they can be put together to form a larger 1st or 2nd Regiment.  These are Battle Honor/OG15 figs.  I haven't used to many of them in my collection as I feel the AB figs are nicer but the OG15 figs are generally more "dynamic" and good in their own right so I mix in a few OG15 units for the tabletop.

Not sure why I posted such a dark image before.  I tend to do that . . . I shouldn't be afraid of the light!

French Line with Artillery

 Finished up some French Line troops and guns.  This time with Battle Honor figs to get some more variety amongst all the Eureka figures.  Here's a sample.

Russian Musketeers and Jaegers

Finished up some Russians with greatcoats.  Jaegers up front (dark belts) and Musketeers in the back (white belts).