Reichswehr Kavallerie, Scholz' Künstlerische Soldatenbogen 27K - pt.2

Hello,

Today I'm showing you the figures from Scholz sheet 27K again, only this time cut out and assembled. This was my first find in 2025, and I was very happy about it. This is actually the only set I own both as a complete printed sheet version and completely cut out.

Unfortunately, the figures needed a lot of love to get them back on their feet. They must have been stored in damp conditions at some point—thank goodness they didn't start to mold! The bases were made of pressed cardboard and had become unusable. The figures themselves were a bit wavy. So I removed the old bases and pressed the figures for a while to make them flat again. Most of them never had any back reinforcement, and the ones that did have it at some point had come loose. So I gave the figures a layer of thin cardboard and glued on new wooden bases. I hope they're in good shape now to last for the next hundred years.

The officer in the front, at 11cm tall (8cm figure size), is actually slightly larger than the other 8 figures (10cm / figure size 7cm), which is further emphasized by the rider's different perspective.

I hope you like them as much as I do.

Best regards,

Andreas

Reichswehr Kavallerie, Scholz' Künstlerische Soldatenbogen 27K - pt.1

Hello,

Today I'm showing you another sheet from Josef Scholz in Mainz. This time, number 27K, and it shows nine cavalrymen of the German Reichswehr in their uniforms from 1921 to 1934. 

Since the soldiers are wearing white and light blue lance pennants, I can even narrow down the regiment. They must be riders of the 17th (Bavarian) Cavalry Regiment. For me as a Bavarian, that's certainly something special - but the sheet is still in the original sales block, and that's a real stroke of luck for me. That's the only block of this type I've ever seen, so I absolutely had to have it. I'll present the block separately someday. The sheet presented here is even included three times!

More on this topic tomorrow... 😉

Sincerely,

Andreas

Wargame Print - Just Paper Battles Crimea 1854 - pt.2

Hello,

Today I'm showing you a little update on my "Just Paper Battles" French in the Crimean War 1854 project. I've made some more figures for the collection. As before, they're scaled up to 75mm. This time, they're some Chasseurs à pied and the first Tirailleurs algériens.

Best regards,

Andreas

Abadie - Soldatenbilderbogen IV

Hello,

Today I'm showing you another Abadie printed sheet. This time it's number IV of the "Soldiers' Picture Sheets" and is interesting because it's the only double sheet I've seen of it so far. In addition to a few marching soldiers, it also shows the team with horses und carriage for a field howitzer and a packhorse with a packed machine gun. The soldiers are wearing the uniforms of the Austrian Federal Army before 1938 and are in the Abadie standard figure size of 6 cm.

Best regards,

Andreas

Preußische Artillerie, C.Burckardt's Nachfolger Weissenburg No.241

 Hello,

After showing very high-quality printed plates the last few times, today I'm going to show you the opposite. 

Today I'm showing you No. 241 from "C. Burckardt's Nachfolger, Weissenburg" (formerly Wentzel) featuring Prussian artillerymen. As was often the case back then, this one was printed on very thin, poor-quality paper. 

The graphics and the print itself are fine, but the coloring was done using stencils. Unfortunately, the coloring didn't always hit the right area. In some places, the ink soaked into the paper, and in some places the still-wet paint was smudged. Nevertheless, a nice example of the cheap mass production of the time. 

And definitely good enough to create my own hand-painted figures using the scans of this plate – but more on that later.

Best regards,

Andreas

French Cuirassiers, Fischbach No.8

Hello,

Today I'm showing you print sheet number 8 from Fischbach (Strasbourg). 

It demonstrates the fine art of paper soldier production. Finely detailed printing, high register precision, vibrant oil colors, and the silver as a true metallic color! Unfortunately, this is the only Fischbach plate I've come across in the almost twenty years since I started buying paper soldiers. As far as I know, there were a total of ten different plates of the French Army in uniforms from 1872 onwards. The drawings of the figures were originally by Alfred Touchemolin. The figures are about 13 cm tall, and the riders are about 9 to 9.5 cm tall.

Best regards,

Andreas

Regiment Gardes du Corps, RAPI S14

 Hello,

Today I'm showing you a printed sheet from the German manufacturer Rauert & Pittius (RAPI) from Sorau. The sheet has the number S14 and shows soldiers of the Prussian Gardes du Corps Regiment in the uniform from shortly before World War I. 

A total of 15 riders in parade uniform are shown, including 1 officer, 1 Feldwebel (staff sergeant), 1 trumpeter, 2 Unteroffiziere (sergeants) and 10 men. It was probably printed in the mid or late 1920s. The height of the figures is 10.5cm from the horse's hoof to the tip of the helmet.

Best regards,

Andreas

Petits Soldats, Héros de la Grande Guerre - Imagier des combattants de 1914-1918

Hello,

today, I'm showing you again a book about paper soldiers. "Petit Soldats, Héros de la Grande Guerre" by Jean-Pierre Colignon.

To be precise, it actually describes the development of the French army, the development of military branches and uniforms. But it is illustrated by a whole series of wonderful paper soldiers from the First World War painted by Jean Bruneau. There are really a whole lot of soldiers depicted and all of them are painted in a style that has its own charm. The figures are about 13cm tall and are therefore also good for scanning or copying and making your own figures to display. Unfortunately, my French is very bad so I can't say much about the quality of the text. But since I just like looking at paper figures, it was definitely worth buying the book for me.

Best wishes,

Andreas

Title:  Petit Soldats, Héros de la Grande Guerre - Imagier des combattants de 1914-1918

Author:  Jean-Pierre Colignon / Illustrations de Jean Bruneau

Publisher:  Éditions Contre-Dires Paris

Printed:  2014

ISBN:  978-2-8493-3323-5

Number of pages:  146

Language: French

Price:  10 - 20 Euro (2025 in Germany / second hand)

Wargame Print - Just Paper Battles Crimea 1854 - pt.1

Hello,

Today I would like to introduce you to my new project. I have been looking for French figures from the Second Empire for a long time. Unfortunately, I have never managed to find beautiful historical printed sheets (for scanning) of them. The Epinal/Pellerin plates are still available from time to time. However, these are rather weak in color, and sheets from Silbermann or Fischbach are just as difficult to find as the very colorfully printed French ones from some German manufacturers. I briefly had the idea of ​​painting the figures myself - but that would take a lifetime. So I kept trying out different things and finally found a solution that I like.

The figures from "Wargame Print" from the series "Just Paper Battles Crimea 1854". These are 28mm figures available in PDF format for you to print yourself. The graphics were created by Ivan Golyzhenkov. You can buy these files, for example, at www.wargamevault.com.

The figures are available in different scales. In 6mm and 10mm, entire armies are available at once. In 28mm, you always get a branch of one of the nations. There are now different branches of the French, British, Turkish and Russian troops.

The figures are each designed with a front and back and are intended to be used as figures for wargaming games. When cutting them out, you should leave a little margin around the figures. This is also necessary because the front and back of some figures do not exactly coincide. However, I decided on a completely different form of representation.

In keeping with the motto "bigger is better", I tried to determine the maximum size of the figures. The aim was that the figures would not be pixelated, but that I could still print each of the figure groups on an A4 sheet of paper without any problems.

I liked the figure size of 7.5cm best, so my figures are printed at 266%. My figures also have no back (or rather, it only consists of one layer of black cardboard). So that the soldiers can stand, I mount a small wooden base on the back. 

I think the figures look very good in a group and I'm already looking forward to being able to present a whole "army". I think it's positive that all the figures are shown from the front. That way I don't have to decide whether my Frenchmen are marching from left to right or vice versa. 

The representation in field uniforms is also attractive, as such figures are usually shown in parade uniform. It's a shame that so far only the most important troops have appeared for the Battle of Alma in 1854. I'm writing "a shame" because, for example, there is no French cavalry yet (apart from a few Spahis as escorts for the staff).

 So I'm really hoping that a few more units (especially guards and cavalry) will appear. Although I had actually only considered the French at first, I have to admit that I'm now toying with the idea of ​​getting the other factions too... We'll see what the future brings. Now I have to do some gluing and cutting to make my French army from 1854 grow quickly.

Best regards,

Andreas

Schweizerische Infanterie, Scholz' Künstlerische Soldatenbogen 21K

Hello,

Today I'm showing you sheet 21K of the "Künstlerische Soldatenbögen" (Artistic Soldier Sheets) by Josef Scholz. It shows Swiss infantry in the uniforms from 1935/36. The figures are exceptionally large, with a height of 12.5cm to 14cm.

Unfortunately, this beautiful collector's item always makes me a little sad when I look at it. The sheet had survived well for 80 years - then the German post got hold of it. Although it was packaged pretty well, it arrived crumpled and damaged. It's a real shame! But what can you do? These pieces don't grow back and that's why it's important to preserve it, even if it was damaged completely unnecessarily.

Best wishes,

Andreas