I have wanted to do something like this for a long time and have eyed that Renedra pontoon bridge since it was first released maybe eight to ten years ago. Well finally I bought one...actually I bought two, because it can be built as just a wooded bridge and I figured I might have a need for one of those, but it will probably just sit unassembled in the spares area for a couple of years.
But the pontoon bridge alone was never going to be satisfactory so I bought the Perry French Napoleonic bridge builders set as well.
You can almost imagine that this shot is taken at a standup at the Grand Armée Annual Conference and the officer is saying "Good morning everyone, my name is Colonel Pivet and I would line to introduce my team: to my left is Captain Delafont, who is on secondment from the staff and whose interests include bridge building, travel, ornithology and cordon blu cooking; to his left is private Arnoux, who is the comedian of our group and likes nothing better than serving up exploding croissants to his teammates..."
I mounted them all on 20mm Renedra plastic bases, carving wooden planking into the bases for the three sappers that will be working on the bridge. The officers were given grassed bases, figuring that they probably would be observing from the bank anyway. The two lads in the water could have been left without bases, but they would likely get lost or damaged so I put some water texturing on the base and let them have a swim.
When put together with the bridge the figures make an impressive scene. Clearly this bridge is being built across the Blue Danube, although it was more brown than blue when I saw it.
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To further enhance this scene there is a set with a pontoon wagon with four more workers and various pieces of equipment, but sadly it was out of stock when I ordered these so it will have to wait for another time.
Beautiful work and nice attention to detail with the basing. Workers on grass bases would have looked odd when placed on the bridge. The water does look much more inviting than the Berezina would have been, so coffee and croissants or even a few beers would be a nice way to round out a pleasant afternoon's work. The Napoleonic version of a men's shed I suppose.
ReplyDeleteI based the officers with standard bases because I figured that would probably more commonly be used in staff groups rather than dirtying their hands in construction duty, especially the Chasseur who looks as though he is completely bored and longing for that coffee and a French tart...the pastry that is, of course. The other blokes, however, might be lucky to get some potato soup and a bit of stale bread.
DeleteThat is a nice kit and great figures to really help set the scene, which should make an excellent scenario for a game, either construction or destruction.
ReplyDeleteThanks Steve. I have a scenario in mind...
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