Family history - my great-great-grandfather Hans

 Family history - my great-great-grandfather Hans

Hello,

today I would like to show you another hand-painted soldier. It was one of the first ideas I had when I started painting paper soldiers at the beginning of January. I am doing some family tree research and have been able to collect a few photos. Among them is a whole series of "soldier photos" from the period 1890 to 2010. And it is precisely these soldiers from the family that I would like to depict little by little - a military family tree of my family with paper soldiers.

I will start here with my great-great-grandfather Hans. He lived from 1870 to 1938 and is currently the oldest member whose military career I know. He was a soldier for the first time (as a conscript) from 1890 to 1892 in the Royal Bavarian 1st Jäger Battalion "König". 

There is also a picture of him from this time. This was originally colored, which at that time meant nothing more than painting over the black and white photo with colors - usually only the head and hands (if visible) remained exposed. Unfortunately, I only have a copy of a copy of this picture. The original picture must have been badly damaged. 

I tried to depict this uniform here. It wasn't easy for me and I had to paint over many areas of the figure several times until I was satisfied. But I think it turned out pretty nice. Unfortunately, I don't know which company he served in, so I chose the company badge (Troddel) from a 1st company. Since it is white, it is the easiest to paint over if I should find the right information one day.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the only time my great-great-grandfather had to wear a uniform. Firstly, he probably completed another military exercise in the same unit in 1906, and secondly, he was called up again in 1915. I also have some photos and his military records from this time, so there will be another figure for this at some point.

Best wishes,

Andreas

Voltigeurs - 5e régiment d'infanterie de ligne

Voltigeurs - 5e régiment d'infanterie de ligne

Hello,

Today I would like to show you two more hand-painted paper soldiers. These are also voltigeurs, only this time from the 5th French Line Infantry Regiment. Since I really like these colorful uniforms, I painted a whole series of voltigeurs from different regiments. One of my soldiers is a caporal.

The basics for the figures were based on graphics by André Jouineau, which I modified to suit my needs.

The historical model for the uniform was a picture by Bucquoy (at least I think it was by him). His voltigeur is dated 1811. The special thing is the completely yellow and red colors. In addition to the yellow collar with red piping, the cuff patches are also yellow. A detail that you really don't find very often. The epaulettes are also yellow with red crescents. The shako bears the special eagle shield of the regiment from 1810, which was apparently used in parallel with the diamond-shaped badges of 1810. There is also a white cord attached to the shako. The pompom is yellow, just like the feather. The tip of the feather is red.

Best regards,

Andreas

Abadie - Soldatenbilderbogen I

Abadie - Soldatenbilderbogen I

Hello,

Today I would like to show you a printed sheet with paper soldiers. It was produced on behalf of the Austrian company Abadie. This company was primarily known for its cigarette paper, but also produced paper napkins, among other things. In addition to many other promotional items, this company also gave away paper figures as an extra when certain quantities of their goods were purchased. 

I know of three series with different themes of paper figures so far. Firstly, soldiers of the Austrian Federal Army (Österreichisches Bundesheer) up to 1938. Secondly, Italian and Ethiopian figures from the Abyssinian War, and thirdly, a series with Wild West figures. In addition to these single-sided printed sheets, there were also a whole series of individual figures with the front and back printed. Unfortunately, I do not know who drew the figures or which publisher printed the sheets. On all the surviving sheets that I know of, only the company name "Abadie" is printed.

Here I am showing the "Soldaten Bilderbogen I" with soldiers of the Austrian Federal Army marching in a slightly angled view. The sheet contains an officer, a flag bearer, a drummer, a trumpeter and ten marching soldiers.

The figure size is 6cm.

Best regards,

Andreas

Voltigeurs - 111e régiment d'infanterie de ligne

 Voltigeurs - 111e régiment d'infanterie de ligne

Hello,

I would like to show you two hand-painted soldiers. They are voltigeurs of the 111th French Line Infantry.

I have not found a historical description of the uniform of the 111th. However, I have found a representation by Alexis Cabaret, who created it as a graphic. And since other representations of him of other regiments that I was able to compare with historical sketches or descriptions matched very closely, I trust his representation here.

His voltigeur is dated 1809. He wears the standard infantry uniform, the yellow collar of the voltigeur company (with red trim), and yellow epaulettes with green crescents.

His shako has a yellow upper edge, the shako cords are also yellow, and he wears a diamond-shaped shako plate.

I painted the 1810 model shako plate with the large stamped numbers. It would have been better to show the 1806 model. If I come back to this regiment and paint more Voltigeurs, I will do the older model for future figures.

The feather on the shako is green with a yellow tip. The pompom, on the other hand, is yellow.

Best regards,

Andreas

Paper Soldiers of French Second Empire - In the Art of Jean-Benoît Pfeiffer

Paper Soldiers of French Second Empire - In the Art of Jean-Benoît Pfeiffer

Today I would like to introduce you to the book "Paper Soldiers of French Second Empire".

It is number 8 in the "Paper Soldiers" series by Soldiershop Publishing and it has around 50 pages. At the beginning there is some information about the author, or rather the creator of the figures shown. After that there is a very short summary of the history of the "Petit Soldats de Strasbourg". From page 8 onwards the colour plates start, showing many different hand-painted paper soldiers by Mr Pfeiffer. The book is not a collection catalogue, however; rather it shows the figures in plates with two rows of figures per page. The rows are usually simply copied, i.e. each figure is shown at least twice. The figures shown are around 7cm high.

As it is called "Paper & Wargame Soldiers Series", I assume it is intended for copying the pages and cutting out the figures.

Since Mr. Pfeiffer was the one who gave me the final push to start painting paper soldiers myself, a book with its figures is of course a wonderful inspiration for me.

Best regards,

Andreas

Title:  Paper Soldiers of French Second Empire in the art of Jean-Benoît Pfeiffer

Author:  Jean-Benoît Pfeiffer, edited by Luca Stefano Christini

Publisher:  Soldiershop Publishing

Printed:  2020 in Italy

ISBN:  978-88-93275477

Number of pages:  50 (41 pages of color plates)

Language: French, Italian, English

Price:  22,- Euro (2025 in Germany)

Hello and welcome to my paper soldier page!

Here I would like to try to document this hobby (mainly for myself) in the way I live it out.

I have always found paper figures and especially paper soldiers very interesting. As a child, there were cut-out figures on cornflakes packaging every now and then - and these must have wired something wrong in my brain. Since then, I have been "infected" by such figures.

I then started drawing paper soldiers myself very soon. My father then made copies of these sketches for me and I colored them in with colored pencils. That's how I created my first Napoleonic paper soldiers when I was 8 or 9 years old. And it didn't stop there. I also made more modern figures, even vehicles and buildings. That was a long time ago and at some point these things naturally had no place in a teenager's life and ended up in the trash.

It was only when Peter Dennis published his first booklet "Wargame the English Civil War" in 2016 that I came across it by chance and was immediately enthusiastic! Since then, I have repeatedly cut out and made such paper soldiers and enjoyed them. I have also come across some older printed craft sheets with such paper figures since then and I have enjoyed collecting them.

Basically, I would divide the topic of paper soldiers into three areas.

Firstly, the venerable self-painted figures. The typical representatives are the "Petit Soldats de Strasbourg". Traditionally hand-painted one-sided figures on cardboard with a wooden base.

The second area is the printed figures. Originally only as black and white schemes, these were very soon also hand-colored and since the middle of the 19th century also printed in color.

The third and most modern area are the figures that exist as computer files or copy books. Sometimes these figures are beautifully hand-painted, sometimes computer-generated. Realistic, comic-like or highly abstract - there is something for every taste.

As I wrote, I started with the last category in 2016. I scanned pages from the Peter Dennis books and printed them out in color. Glued the figures together and cut them out. After a while I started collecting a few old printed sheets. Mostly nicely done drawings from the Czech ABC children's magazine. In the 1980s, there were many military cut-out figures there that I like.

I didn't dare to take the last missing step - namely, to paint paper soldiers myself again - until January 2025. After the highly esteemed Jean Pfeiffer explained to me how he makes his own wonderful figures, I had to try it too!

I'm not an artist. I'm neither particularly good at drawing nor painting. My figures won't win any prizes or have any material or historical value. But they are a wonderful counterbalance to a stressful everyday life. It's fun to research the uniforms and then reproduce them in color. And last but not least, I enjoy looking at them. And that's what a hobby should be about, right? Joy, balance, fun!

With that in mind, thank you to everyone who inspires me and who shares my interest.

Best wishes,

Andreas