Infanterieregiment Nr.3 Erzherzog Karl
I painted 24 figures as two battalions of Infantry Regiment No. 3 Erzherzog Karl. Just for a change, I added a few Magister Militum minis – including a complete Magister Militum command group – to the usual Pendraken marching figures. I enjoyed painting the Magister Militum miniatures. The surface detail, some of which was quite exquisite, was a joy to paint. It was very nice to see cords on the drum, something lacking from the Pendraken sculpts (see Post 47). However it had to be admitted that the Magister Militum miniatures, carrying more bulk, perhaps had more opportunity for detail. Unfortunately I felt that some proportions, especially the oversized spherical helmets, rather let the figures down. It had often struck me as strange that Austrian jacket tails appeared a problem for figure sculptors to get right. The Magister Militum infantrymen were a case in point. The figures appeared to have French-style jacket turnbacks – as the officer rightfully had. It was simply a case of using paint to remedy the error. IR3 was brigaded with the Stipsicz Hussars at Aspern-Essling. On the second day of the battle, the fresh infantry regiment was sent from the 4th Column to spearhead a further attack by the 5th Column on the village of Essling.
I chose Foundry Sky Blue Shade 21A for the ‘sky blue’ facing colour. I
discovered from an Austrian website that there was an Infanterieregiment
Nr.3 re-enactment group.
As a wargamer who’d
just painted the unit I did,
of course, immediately
compare my chosen
facing colour to the colour
used by the re-enactors!
POST 180
180
