"Active Military Service Lasted Ten Years."

"After which began the Reserve duty (Reservedienstpflicht) till the age of forty."

This 28mm scale metal model is sold by “Wargames Foundry", and can be found inside blister AN038 Jaegers 1805-15 Running. The sculpt is one of eight identical Napoleonic marksmen crafted by Michael and Alan Perry, and slightly surprisingly come in two separate pieces - the actual Austrian Light Infantryman with an open right hand, and his firearm.

Due to owning ten of this self-same miniature, following a successful bid on "eBay" late last year, I plan to use the soldier to form an initial, tiny (four-figure) unit of sharpshooters for "Black Powder" by "Warlord Games". I therefore primed him with plenty of "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey, washed his limbs with "Citadel" Nuln Oil, and roughly highlighted them with (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey, before setting about to replicate the rest of the palette I used upon a test piece early last month.

"CoolMiniOrNot" WIPs - Nick Fury is being progressed from the base upwards

After 'blocking out' all the chap's numerous straps with plenty of "Citadel" Abaddon Black, I began tackling the Austrian's rifle, backpack, moustache and hair with a coat of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna. These areas were subsequently shaded "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade. I also slowly worked my way through the marksman's cuffs, collar, straps, fancy shoulder ribbon and hat plume using a combination of Wyvern Green by "Two Thin Coats" and "Citadel" Nuln Oil.

For the final steps, I applied a few licks of "Two Thin Coats" Cold Corpse Blue on the Jaeger's sleeping bag, and some well-placed dollops of "Vallejo" Gunmetal upon both his gun barrel and drinking canteen. All of these areas were later washed with "Citadel" Nuln Oil. Lastly, I applied a smidgeon of "Vallejo" Gold to the soldier's coat buttons, sabre handle and hat crest, before darkening down the metallic paint's vibrancy with a dash of "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade.

"CoolMiniOrNot" WIP - This Tyrannosaurus Rex's stand has been base-layered and shaded 

I had actually been hoping to get at least one or two more of this particular sculpt completed by now. But have found my enthusiasm for the miniature (and my Napoleonic project in general) to have been severely dampened by an issue with my "Vallejo" Matt Varnish. For some reason the damn product covered the infantryman with very visible white speckles, which meant I had to repaint much of the model before I could base him. This left a very unpleasant taste in my mouth, and essentially killed my desire to get the remaining two sharpshooters finished in the short term.

Fortunately, I have found my hobby mojo to have slightly returned thanks to working on a couple of 40mm plastic super-heroes by "CoolMiniOrNot". These models are supposed to be for the board-game "Marvel United". But I have other plans for Nick Fury and the (not Devil) Dinosaur involving "The Silver Bayonet" rule-set by "Osprey Games" and some homebrew amendments...