"From His Imperial Capital Of Vienna..."

 "... Kaiser Francis I of Austria presided over the many territories..."

This 28mm scale metal model is produced by “Wargames Foundry", and can be purchased as part of their AN002 German Infantry Marching set. The figure is one of eight identical Napoleonic Austrian infantrymen sculpted by Michael and Alan Perry found in the blister, and took a bit longer than I anticipated to paint due to some annoying casting flaws.

The model was primed using a couple of layers of "Two Thin Coats" White Star as I thought this would actually help speed up the process. Unfortunately, this actually proved a bit of a mistake, as the soldier has so much detail on it which required a "Citadel" Abaddon Black base coat, that it took what seemed like an eternity to 'pick it all out'. Needless to say for my latest batch of Napoleonic Austrians I have gone with a black undercoat.

"...Which made up his vast eastern European Empire."

The infantryman's collar, cuffs and waist-band were given a fine line of "Vallejo" Heavy Red and splash of "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson. This colour scheme followed that shown on the 'official' paint-job, and having done a meagre bit of research into the army's uniforms apparently suggests the unit originated in either Budweis or Leitmeritz.

I also took this opportunity to pigment one of the shoulder straps using a mixture of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade. In many of the pictures I looked at as reference material, this piece of leather was actually a silver-grey in colour, and appeared to connect to the chap's hip-carried water bottle. However, as one of my many short-cuts had that piece of kit simply being splodged in "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna - including its strap - I thought it would be best to use the same colour throughout.

"Black Site Studios" WIPs - These three NASA Astronauts just need some washes and a tidy up

Lastly I applied a little "Vallejo" Gold over a Heavy Sienna base layer to the bottom of the Austrian's sword scabbard, and his helmet plate. This was later shaded with some "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade. I did contemplate applying some "Vallejo" Gold to the underside of the fusilier's plume. But that looked like an incredibly fiddly enterprise, which I thought may well drive me insane - though I may well go back and add this detail to the entire eight-man unit once they rest of the models are finished.

In addition to my Napoleonic test piece I have also dusted down the three remaining 32mm resin miniatures produced by "Black Site Studios" I last worked on way back in December 2024. I purchased the trio of NASA Astronauts as part of the American-based company's 2021 Lunar Core Game pre-order, and whilst I fell out of love with the project after I paid for some models which weren't actually in stock - and they couldn't tell me exactly when they were likely to next cast them - I have since seen that they now sell most of the range as 3D printing STL (Standard Triangle Language) files, which negates both the high postage costs and delivery times that were previously frustrating me.