Allied High Command for the Secret Project

This is a big ol' batch of creative conversions, mostly Russian and a few Austrian command figures.

Most of the stuff comes from the Zvezda French staff set, which has some really cool figures.

Left to right:

• A Zvezda ADC in the uniform of the Pavlograd Hussars,
• Tsar Alexander I, converted with lots of green stuff, from the mameluke figure in the Italeri Imperial Staff set, escorted by a Zvezda standard bearer,
• Kaiser Franz II, originally a Waterloo1815 British officer, given an Italeri early French trooper's bicorne and a Zvezda GNW Swedish grazing horse, escorted by a Hungarian Grenadier standard bearer,
• In the background: an Italeri French officer disguised as a Russian,
• General Kutuzov with an ADC, the sitting figure is originally the Zvezda represantion of Marshal Berthier - he was given a drum and a forage cap, as per the painting of him at Borodino; the ADC is a HäT Austrian officer,
• In the background: another Zvezda French staff figure as a high ranking Russian general,
• and last but not least, Prince Bagration, converted from the head and upper body of the Zvezda French figure climbing his horse with one leg in the stirrup, and the lower body of another Italeri mameluke. The head was also repositioned.

I took the chances with some November afternoon sunlight, I think the photos are quite good this time.

Detailed shots of the figures.

I've gathered some fresh ballast from the roadside, so the base on the Bagration figure is slightly different. I like experimenting with these mini-dioramas: you can find a bicorne and a sword on a rock near the Tsar, stashed muskets next to Kutuzov, and an ammunition chest and a rifle at the feet of Francis' horse.

The standards are small pieces of cloth and are painted freehand. I've really come to like this method recently, so I'll be doing more - looks a lot more natural than printed flags or painted paper. The cloth also absorbs most of the paint (yes, I use white primer first), and this makes it very stiff, so I can bend and shape it.

Now I've got two of the three Emperors here, and also a Napoleon stashed somewhere... I wonder where all this is going?