Tuesday, February 14, 2017

31st TRANSYLVANIAN HONVED BATTALION

For those who have been following along, the previous post on the Hungarian/Honved infantry (in gray and brown attila) represented 3/4 of the current work-in-progress. While waiting for the blizzard to clear this weekend, I wrapped up the 4th and last unit in the project: the 31st Transylvanian Honved Infantry. This unit required a conversion, and so progress was separate. As usual, in this post, you may clix pix for BIG PIX.

My inspiration:
31st Battalion Circled
The above image comes from the excellent Gyozo Smogyi Honved Army, 1848-49. In it you can see the major differences between the 31st Battalion and the "standard" Honved uniform: kepi, and short (white) coat as opposed to the standard attila.

In order to achieve the distinctive lines of the unit, I went with the excellent Steve Barber Revolution in Europe range...


The Honved Infantry Fixing Bayonet (above left) provided the the head and the short-coated Austrian Grenzer (above right) provided the torso..

Source figures in front and conversions on sticks.
Given the short white coat, the exposed hungarian knots on the trousers, and the kepi, I think the overall effect will be different enough to warrant the effort put into the conversion (as opposed to being just another manifestation of my peculiar mania for these things)...


This unit completes my work on the Honved infantry until the sculpts I commissioned become available. Then there will be two more units of Honved infantry (in kepis) and two units of Jagers to be done.

At this point, I have to add that I had thought that I would be both painting and playtesting at the same time. Unfortunately, work:life balance has left only so much energy. Given that there are figures in the pipeline that aren't yet available to complete the Honved/Hungarian army for my project, this should provide a natural pause for me to shift into playtesting.
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6 comments:

  1. Jonathan FreitagFebruary 14, 2017 at 4:23 PM

    That is a handsome uniform, Ed!

    ReplyDelete
  2. PhilFebruary 14, 2017 at 11:03 PM

    Once again, I am really impressed by your wonderful job, and by this splendid uniform...Excellent...Special mention for this amazing officer!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ed MFebruary 16, 2017 at 4:14 AM

    Thanks, gents, I'm happy with how they came out and they definitely do have a distinctive look. The heads wound up being a bit more canted than I had expected (as if some of the guys were cocking their heads to hear something), but that's more obvious in a photo than on the table.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AJ (Allan) WrightFebruary 16, 2017 at 11:07 AM

    These are my new favorites in this army for two reasons: 1) they're striking with the contrast in colors of the uniform and lacing and 2) Any time you can use the word 'Transylvanian' to describe a historical unit.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ed MFebruary 16, 2017 at 7:01 PM

      One thing about enamels is that they aren't as vivid as acrylics. However, the Testor's Model Master Bright Blue (that I used as a base for the caps and trousers) is an exception--it "pops" and stands out nicely in this scheme. It's a good match for the blue trousers of the Austrian and Hungarian infantry.

      I think I'll name the imaginary colonel of the battalion "Froderick" Frankenstein. :)

      Delete
  5. Old NickFebruary 17, 2017 at 6:34 AM

    Beautiful figures in colorful uniforms. Your project is outstanding. Looking forward to seeing it on the tabletop I. It's glory.

    ReplyDelete

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