Wehrmachtsgeschütze, Gustav Kühn 10285 (similar)

Hello,

Today I would like to show you two gun groups that I was able to purchase recently. The figures are known from the Gustav Kühn sheet no. 10285. There they are referred to as "Leichter Minenwerfer" (Light Mine Thrower - that is the light infantry gun 18) and "Schwere Haubitze" (Heavy Howitzer). The Gustav Kühn sheet also contains a third gun, the "Gebirgs-Haubitze" (Mountain Howitzer).

But these figures certainly do not come from this sheet. They are more likely to have been printed in a newspaper, a brochure or as advertising material. Firstly, they are printed on very poor, thin paper, and secondly, they were only printed with three colors (cyan, magenta, yellow) - although the cyan was not aligned correctly.

The figure size is approx. 6cm.

Best regards,

Andreas

Czechoslovakian Artillery 1938 - ABC

 Czechoslovakian Artillery 1938

Hello,

today I'm showing you my last sheet from the series of Czechoslovakian soldiers from 1938 from ABC magazine.

If I remember correctly (I was able to buy the sheets about 10 years ago), the series consisted of a total of 4 sheets: infantry, cavalry, artillery and air force. Unfortunately I'm missing the Airforce one. The artillery sheet was probably published in 1993 or 1994. The figure size is 6cm.

Best regards,

Andreas

Deutsches Reichsheer Musikkorps, RAPI S5 (pt.2)

Deutsches Reichsheer Musikkorps, RAPI S5

Hello,

after a few necessary repairs to some figures, I can now show you the rest of my new music corps.

There are 31 figures in total - but there were originally 33 figures on the print sheet. Unfortunately, two are missing, namely a clarinet player and a bassoon. The rest are in pretty good shape. As mentioned in the first presentation, all figures have been repainted as Württembergers. This is most noticeable with the Schellenbaum. The dangling tails were originally printed in black and white.

I really like these figures and I'm looking forward to presenting the next ones in a few days.

Best wishes,

Andreas

Schwedische Infanterie, Gustav Kühn, Neuruppin Nr.8842

Schwedische Infanterie, Gustav Kühn, Neuruppin Nr.8842

Hello,

I actually wanted to show you the second part of my new Reichswehr music band today. However, some of the figures were damaged and needed a little improvement.

In the meantime, I would like to show you this old print sheet by Gustav Kühn with Swedish infantry. The soldiers are wearing the single-breasted coat that was introduced in Sweden in 1886. In terms of uniforms, the sheet shows the period between 1890 and 1910. Rafael de Franzisco López also dates Kühn picture sheets with 8000 numbers for the period up to 1900. It is interesting that each of the 15 figures is different. The figures are between 9.5 and 10 cm in size.

Best wishes,

Andreas

Deutsches Reichsheer Musikkorps, RAPI S5 (pt.1)

Deutsches Reichsheer Musikkorps, RAPI S5

Hello,

today I would like to show you 11 of my new paper soldiers.

They are part of a wonderful collection that I was able to buy a few days ago. The figures are from the cut-out sheet "RAPI S5 Deutsches Reichsheer: Musikkorps" (German Reich Army Music Corps). RAPI is the abbreviation for the manufacturer "Rauert and Pittius" from Sorau, who produced paper soldiers between 1922 and 1944 and whose figures I personally find very beautiful. Sheets S1 to S6 are dedicated to the German Reichswehr in the uniforms from 1921 onwards, and sheet S5 shows the music corps of an infantry regiment. The sheets are normally all in Prussian national colors, i.e. the cockades, helmet markings and lance flags etc. are all in white/black. The figures shown here were cut out and made by a proud Württemberger, who gave the figures all the red/black Württemberg state colors. A very nice detail in my opinion.

You can see the drum major, 5 flute players and 5 drummers from the "military" part of the music corps. The figures are not the same, each one is a little bit different from the others. The figure size is 8cm.

Best wishes,

Andreas

Czechoslovakian Cavalry 1938 - ABC

 Czechoslovakian Cavalry 1938

Hello,

today I would like to show you another sheet of paper soldiers from the Czech ABC magazine. They were apparently printed there in 1994 or 1995.

This time there are 5 Czechoslovakian cavalrymen in the uniform from 1938. The size of the figures (riders) is 6cm and the figures are painted with front and back.

Best regards,

Andreas

Deutschmeister-Kapelle, J.S.J.W. 117/2

Deutschmeister-Kapelle, J.S.J.W. 117/2

Hello,

Today I would like to show you a new sheet of paper soldiers that I just got yesterday.

It is an Austrian band, the so-called "Deutschmeister Band".

The "Hoch- und Deutschmeister" were an infantry regiment (No. 4) of the Austro-Hungarian Army until 1918, but the band continued to exist after that and still exists today. They still wear this traditional uniform today. That makes it difficult for me to determine whether the soldiers up to 1918 or the later marching band are really being depicted here. The sheet has the number 117/2 and the abbreviation "J.S.J.W." for "Josef Schneider Junior Wien" (Vienna). The figure size is 9cm.

Best wishes,

Andreas

1er régiment de grenadiers à pied de la Garde impériale, 1815

 1er régiment de grenadiers à pied de la Garde impériale, 1815

Hello,

Today I would like to introduce you to my new project of self-painted soldiers. I plan to make 25 figures and have now finished the first batch of them. The figures show the French 1st Guard Grenadiers in the uniform from the 1815 campaign. I used the color plates by Bernard Coppens and Alexis Cabaret as a template. I also drew some details myself. If you are bothered by my gray-haired sergent, you are of course right. I am of course familiar with Paul Dawson's scientific analysis of the conscription documents, and I know that the sergents were all very young because all the older ones were promoted to officers. But I wanted to convey a little bit of the myth that Maudiut and other veterans of the time created. It will take me a while until all the figures are finished, but then of course I will show the whole troop here.

Best wishes,

Andreas

Czechoslovakian Infantry 1938 - ABC

 Czechoslovakian Infantry 1938

Hello,

today I would like to show you a soldier's sheet from the Czechoslovakian/Czech youth magazine "ABC".

This page with beautifully drawn soldiers was printed there in 1993 or 1994. The soldiers are wearing the uniform of the Czechoslovakian infantry from 1938. The figure size is 6cm and there is a front and a back view.

Best regards,

Andreas

My very first self-painted paper soldiers

 My very first self-painted paper soldiers

Hello,

today I would like to show you my very first self-painted paper soldiers. At the beginning of January I was in contact with Jean-Benoît Pfeiffer via Facebook, and when he explained to me how he makes his wonderful figures, I didn't want to wait any longer and created the first template and started gluing, cutting and painting.

These were my "test pieces" so to speak. Unfortunately, I didn't pay too much attention to research on the figures, so the piping that was supposed to run in the middle of the chest now runs much too far to the side. I also thought it would look particularly good if I outlined all the details with thin black lines. I did that with acrylic paint, but it was incredibly slow. So I tried out different things and finally found a bottle of black ink. That worked much better - although the ink was a bit shiny after it dried. So I wanted to seal the figures with a layer of matt varnish. That's where the strange shine and the spots that you see in the photos (especially in the dark blue) come from. All in all, more and more things came together that made me unhappy with it. For example, my buttons were still very uneven, etc. So at some point I decided to end this "series" instead of painting figures that I had far too many complaints about from the start.

So those were my first works from the beginning of January 2025. Only a few weeks have passed since then, but I think I've changed my style since then. And these test figures were of great importance for that - even if five of the ten were never finished. At least I learned a few things that I won't do in the future!

Best wishes,

Andreas

Abadie - Soldatenbilderbogen X

Abadie - Soldatenbilderbogen X

Hello, today I would like to show you another "Soldatenbilderbogen" from Abadie. This time it is number "X" and it shows four dragoons from the Austrian Federal Army (Österreichisches Bundesheer).

This sheet is also available with the number "XA" printed on it. On this one, one of the soldiers was replaced by an officer in the same pose. There is also a sheet without a number and the print: "Österr. Kavallerie im Angriff" (Austrian Cavalry in Attack) on this one, the pose of the rider is almost identical, but the horse has a different posture and is not seen in side view but in quarter view from the front.

Österreichischer Dragoner (Austrian Dragoon), original figure size is 6cm (rider)

If anyone reading this has Abadie sheets and would like to give them away or at least show them, I would be very happy to hear from you.

Best wishes,

Andreas

Les petits soldats de Strasbourg - Papiersoldaten und die Festungsanlagen von Vauban

Les petits soldats de Strasbourg - Papiersoldaten und die Festungsanlagen von Vauban

Hello,

Today I would like to introduce you to the book "Papiersoldaten und die Festungsanlagen von Vauban" ("Paper Soldiers and the Fortifications of Vauban"). 

It is a mixture of an art book and an exhibition catalogue. The reason for the book was a special exhibition in the Saarloius Museum in 2014, where an extensive collection of paper soldiers was on display. The book is divided into various articles, each with its own author. It begins with an introduction to the "Museum Haus Ludwig", then the "Ludwig Collection" is briefly discussed, and of course specifically the paper soldiers in this collection. Other articles describe the French army at the time of Napoleon III and the fortifications of Vauban. At the end there is an overview of the individual items in the collection shown, i.e. a description of each individual soldier sheet used and the uniform description of the soldiers shown.

The book has 112 numbered pages, 20 of which are about the Vauban fortifications in Saarlouis (mainly large-format photos), while the remaining pages are mainly about the collection and photos of paper soldiers. The paper soldier collection includes 3592 figures that come exclusively from the Silbermann (all sheets) and Fischbach (only sheets 1 to 4) sheets.

Anyone interested in these French cult manufacturers will find what they are looking for here. There are great photos of many of the soldiers (also of some of the packaging), etc. BUT: it is an art book. There are many large-format photos and detailed photos, groups of soldiers in interesting arrangements. As a collector and enthusiast, however, I would have liked to see as many of the figures as possible. And unfortunately, this wish is not fulfilled. There are some groups that are covered quite comprehensively, but for example my beloved Chasseurs a Pied (Silbermann No. 1) are only mentioned in the introduction to the collection. There I learn that there are 303 figures of this unit - but only one picture with 6 of them is shown. And unfortunately this is the case with some of the sheets/units. 

Nevertheless, I like the book, not least because it deals with this topic in my native language and also provides some background information - and to my knowledge this is unique till today.

Best wishes,

Andreas

Title:  Les petits soldats de Strasbourg / Papiersoldaten und die Festungsanlagen von Vauban

Author:  P. Pachnicke, C. Wiotte-Franz, T. Wolf, G. Hülsmann

Publisher:  Museum Haus Ludwig für Kunstausstellungen Saarlouis

Printed:  2014 (limited to 1000 copies)

ISBN:  978-3-942279-23-9

Number of pages:  112 

Language: German

Price:  between 12,- and 25,- euros in used condition (2025 in Germany)