"Northstar 1866 Prussian Infantry as Foot Guard" Topic

Hello, all,

This week's entry in my continuing series: Northstar 1866 Prussian Infantry done up to represent Prussian Foot Guard Grenadiers.

Given that the figures have the Brandenburg cuff rather than the Swedish (round) cuff, I added the guard lintzen (white lace strips) to the vertical buttons as I had seen in some illustrations. I didn't bother with the lintz on the collar (it just didn't stand out).

I did them in white summer pants as opposed to gray to spruce them up a bit and to make them stand out as well.

Best,
Ed M

Looking very good!

Load the Chassepots, boys.

Very nice.

Hi Ed!

I seem to be emerging as button counter in chief on your admirable efforts to popularise this great period. Your figures look excellent……. but, if you want to represent the Guard Grenadier regiments of this period, they should not have Litzen on their Brandenburg cuffs. Boring, but true! Also, all the Prussian Pickelhauben with the cruciform base of the spike, had a metal supporting band running down the the rear of the helmet from the spike to the middle of the rear neck guard. Told you I was BCiC!

Best regards,

Mollinary

PS I still recall with pleasure my abysmal performance at a FALL IN! many years ago, when my cavalry at a 17th Century version of Waterloo you ran failed catastrophically on every dice roll. A brilliant V&B variant, if I recall correctly.

Hello, Mollinary,

Good to hear from you. I remember that FALL IN! very well. "General Dice" certainly had his say that day. On top of your abysmal results, your opponent had one of the most incredible runs of luck with his dice that I've ever seen. For what it's worth, I put that game on two more times and it never went the same on that wing (and the results were always close).

The figures may be "1866 Prussians" but I'm putting together a set of figures that I wouldn't say are generic, but which would cover a wider period for a more general 19th century project I'm working on. Towards those ends, I accept that I am taking a bit of license. Any information is helpful, though, I'm sure, to everyone.

My reading on the pickelhaub didn't turn up anything so definitive, but indicated that there was quite a bit of variety in such details as you mention. Good to know.

With my Prussian line infantry, I continued that line on the pickelhaub down the rear of the headgear--can't really see it on the table (and it wasn't evident on some of the sculpts). Photographs of figs are sometimes much more demanding than the naked eye.

Although I've seen some images of Prussian Foot Guard that others have done with Northstar figs, they all have the Swedish cuff with the lintzen painted on them (which is accurate). Unfortunately, those figs are no longer available. So if you want to model Prussian foot guard, you have to do it with the Brandenburg cuffs. If we drop the "grenadier" from the designation, they're still not quite right, but they are technically closer, I suppose. Fine by me: these aren't intended to represent any specific single unit, so "Foot Guard" works.

For what it's worth, I modeled these figures from a Becker illustration of a Kaiser Alexander Garde Grenadier, circa 1890 with Brandenburg cuff with lintzen (and even the summer trousers). So I plead guilty to a bit of anachronistic license, but not pure artistic license.

Best,
Ed M

Hi Ed,

Your post sent me scurrying back to my books, and as usual, certainty disappears the moment I delve back into the texts. You are certainly right that by the end of the 19th century there are many sources showing the Guard Grenadiers with Litzen on their cuffs (either yellow or white!). Also a number of early illustrations do not show them, and accounts do not mention them. So the situation is confused, and for your personal requirements these do the business beautifully. They certainly make the figures look more exciting!

On Pickelhauben I am on firmer ground. The type with the cruciform base for the spike is for models up to and including the M1860, and always has a strip down the rear. Between the APW and FPW a new model, 1867, was introduced with a round base for the spike and no reinforcing metal strip down the back. After the FPW the reinforcing strip was re-introduced following experience of the helmets warping without it. All the Guards regiments had a special guard eagle, which also occurred on General officers helmets. This had the wings swept out horizontally, rather than upwards as in the line helmets.

Good luck with your project.

Best,

Andrew

Isn't it typical, just after you press send, you find a source which gives the answer to your question, in this case an Osprey! The Guard Grenadiers got the Litzen on their cuffs on 4th April 1874! phew, I knew I had seen it somewhere.

Andrew

Thanks, Andrew.

For all of that, nobody will even notice that these figures have litzen on the cuffs But as someone who painted 6mm League of Augsburg armies, that never stopped me!

Good stuff, though, to be sure.

Best,
Ed

Here are two superb (and lovely) references (among others):

"The Kaiser's Army" by Charles Woolley

and Bruce Bassett Powell's "Armies of Bismark's Wars"