54mm French Artillery-All the King's Men

Just finished up a 54mm French Napoleonic Line Artillery battery set from Ken Cliffe's All the King's Men line.  The artillery sets come with 6 figures AND a Del Prado artillery model. The Del Prado model is sweetness and sold me on the set.

These figures are classic with loose arms and heads to enable the painter to semi-customize the unit.

The figures came virtually flash free with minimum mold lines to clean.  I did have to add a bit of Elmer's Glue before using a gap-filling Super Glue to clean up some gaps between the torsos and arms. That's minimal compared to some of the clean up I've had to do with other manufacturers lately (see Westphalia Rises Again post).

Anyhoo, here they are. I'm rapidly becoming a 54mm addict. It's a chore to paint smaller sized figures.  Each of these figures is a mini-project within the larger scope.  I took the photos outside in the spa room since it's a beautiful Tejas day.  The highlights turned out a little heavier than I liked in brighter lights. I painted under a fluorescent lamp. I probably should change light sources but won't for now.   Nah....I've got more to paint during the Christmas break!

Closer up shot. I need to "weather" the artillery piece.

Great figures to paint. The unit turned out quite well.
Your 54mm collection should have these artillery batteries.

Fear The Ham Eaters! Westfalia Will Rise Again!

The vaunted and much feared Westfalian Corps is beginning to take shape around the Red Oak Spa and Pool Club during the holiday season.

Westfalian Army Rations

The Corps is being constructed from Napoleon at War and New Line miniatures to be played with Napoleon at War rules.


Here is a brief review of Men at War French Westfalian "posers".  The figures themselves are not bad.  I was quite put off by the amount of flash on the figures however since they are expensive in comparison with other manufacturers' offerings.  Hopefully Men at War folks might take a look at the figures and re-do the molds. The figures were not miscast; just messy. It takes longer to clean them than it does to paint them.

I'm stuck with these guys since they're a sight larger than all 15mm and almost non-compatible with any other manufacturer. I have found that New Line Miniatures 20mm Napoleonics are the only figures that work with Men at War. Yeah, I'm whining but with the investment in this Corps nearly hitting the $300.00 mark (for unpainted stuff), I'm committed.

Eaters of Ham in l' Order Mixte

Chunky little no neck figures

Brigade Complete

Clay and Kevin were right.  They WOULD look better
if I had taken more time to paint them.  

Are you shaking in fear yet?

Four deadly ham eating battalions


Have a Happy Festivus Maximus from The Rat Palace Redux in Red Oak, Texas.