Black Hussar make three different packs of Saxon Artillery Crew each with four figures in. Each package costs 7.00 Euro. I decided to purchase a total of four packs (two of SA011 and two of SA016). I did not purchase any of the packs with forage caps. The four packs gave a total of sixteen figures which was enough to crew my battery of Saxon guns from Calpe.
In the pictures shown there are three figure from pack SA011 and one figure from pack SA016. All of the figures arrived with minimal flash and needed very little tidying up. There is also a lot of detail on the figures which makes painting easy compared with some figures from other manufacturers. Although Black Hussar do make the Saxon Artillery pieces, I had already purchased three 6 pdrs and one howitzer from Calpe, which I am very pleased with; so I cannot give a review of the Black Hussar artillery equipment.
I particularly liked some of the detail on the trousers with the piping on the front of some figures being easy to see and paint. I also like the fact that some figures had overalls rather than the piped trousers, which gave some variation in the unit. I painted one of the figures with white overalls and one with grey overalls.
The only real issue I have is the figure carrying his shako; it seems to me like a pose that you cannot use multiple times in the same battery as it is not a neutral type pose; but this comment just reflects personal preference.
Painting
For painting I mainly used Vallejo Model Color paints. I will give the paint numbers below alongside the color description. I did use a few Vallejo Game Color paints, these are indicated with a *
For the jackets I used three greens: 980 Black Green for the base, 970 Deep Green for the main color and 967 Olive Green for the highlights
For the red trim I used three colors: 859 Black Red for the base, 908 Carmine Red for the main color and 957 Flat Red for the highlights
For the white trousers I used: 990 Light Grey followed by a number of thin layers of 72.101* Off White
For the grey trousers I used: 992 Neutral Grey for the base, 991 Dark Grey for the main color and 990 Light Grey for the highlights
For the sashes I used: 875 Beige Brown with 847 Dark Sand on top
The gold was: 72.055* Polished Gold
The face and hands were: 955 Flat Flesh with a very light wash of 73.204* Flesh Wash
Basing
For the basing I put each of the figures on a LITKO 20mm x 20mm base. The gun rests on a LITKO 60mm x 60mm base and can be put onto the limber base when required. The bases are then put onto a 60mm x 100mm LITKO magnetic formation tray with a couple of extra 20mm x 20mm bases to fill in the spaces. The formation tray allows removal of figures for casualties. As you will notice from the pictures I still need to finish the formation tray edges.
There is always a lot of discussion on the painting of Saxon Artillery pieces, with the temptation to paint them bright yellow and black. I wanted to avoid what I have heard referred to as “Bumble Bee” artillery. I therefore used a yellow ochre color which was then heavily painted with a sepia wash to tone the brightness down and highlight details. The barrel was then painted a bronze color with a black wash do highlight the depth and also tone it down. The black is always difficult to paint to achieve depth without making it look grey. I have tried a couple of techniques which work well enough, but I am still looking for a better solution on the next gun.
Summary
These figures from Black Hussar work very well with the Calpe guns and I will be looking to purchase some more when I get around to my second Saxon artillery battery.
