Kickstarting a project

There is no better way to delve into a new period than painting 170-odd figures in one go. This is what I did with the promised Hungarian War of Independence project, for which the 6mm MDF range by Commission Figurines seemed a reasonable choice.

The fruits of my labour are the following: three units of Hussars, two dragoons, one cuirassiers; a Hungarian, a German and a Honvéd unit of foot.

As it is a very local conflict and therefore not widely known, I'm going to share interesting trivia as things progress. 

The hussars can work for either side, but they are the most Hungarian of all arms. Right from the start of the war, the Hungarian forces did not have any battle cavalry, so hussars had to make due. Fortunately, larger cavalry formations (division and above) were rarely employed as a single force by the Austrian side.
These figures work both as Austrian "numbered" regiments and Honvéd hussars.

The crested helmet and white uniform is, on the other hand, a very German/Austrian characteristic, so we know which side these figures belong to. By this time, the helmet was much simplified, and closer in aesthetics to those worn during the Risorgimento era, but this won't show at the chosen scale.

Neither will the minimal differences in gear between German and Hungarian troops. Only a handful of regular infantry battalions joined the rebellion, because as a precaution the majority of those which recruited in Hungary served abroad (mainly with Radetzky in Italy).

I've found a very quick, yet OK-looking method for painting these MDF bods. I'm using the scorched dark brown original color of the figure with a flat earth primer to bring out the very fine laser-cut detail, after which I simply block in the colors. I've highilghted the blacks (boots, helmets and shakos) because they looked too dull.

The Hussar uniform is complicated to paint at all scales, so I used a very simplified scheme.

You might also notice that I started basing the figures on 50x25mm bases instead of 25x25. They are easier to move this way, and at some point I'd like to have larger units made up only of these.