Gajo Minis just updated their catalog to reflect the most recent stock level changes. One of the updates was a restock of their Prussian Landwehr. This was a troop that I did not have for my 1812-15 Prussians, as I had been waiting for this restock for a while (or a good deal in a flea market). I wanted six units, so I ordered the sets and they arrived in about five days.
The Gajo line has six sets of 12 figures each. Three of the sets come with command and the other three are just troopers. You can get them with red, white or yellow facings. If you want another color, you will need to overpaint these. As it is just the color and tabs, it is a quick job, if you are so inclined. I wanted Silesians and Brandenburgers, so red and yellow worked for me. As with all the Gajo models, these figures are painted to a nice base black standard with a couple levels of highlight. The models are all Old Glory 15s, so a nice variety of poses within a solid line. I wanted units of 24 to give myself plenty of flexibility, so I got six command sets and six trooper sets.
Once they arrived, I pulled out some white metal bases and sprayed them with some medium green spray paint to prime them. I then glued the figures to the bases using white glue. I prefer the white flue, as it acts as a bit of a filler and holds better than super glue in my experience (it does take much longer to dry and you have to make sure the troops stand up correctly).
The next step was to add the flags. I would normally use some commercial flags or print my own. These figures came with some flags, so I thought I would just use these, as they looked fine. That proved to be a mistake, as I think they were printed on an inkjet printer… Well, I dipped the flags in water as I normally do and added white glue to the inside. It was at this point, I saw that the ink was running… Son of a b….. So much for a quick step… At this point, I was committed (and annoyed), so I figured to would go forward with what I had. Since they are only Landwehr, I figured I would wrap and heavily fold the flags to cover the issue. So I did that and let them dry.
The next step was the flocking. I did my usual geo Hex green paint wet with some Woodland Scenics mixed turf flock. I let that dry and looked over the wreckage of the flags. The folding was not going to hide the running, so I just grabbed some paint and painted over the flat areas. The white flags got white and the blue flags got blue. The red bird was good enough, so I let that be. I finished up with some Testors Dull Coat. I’m happy with the models and they will fill out my army quote nicely. The flags were a disappointment, but it was a lesson learned. Test before you woke!
– Manteuffel