New - Prussian Foot Jäger Template

And here is the first of the Prussians - one of the Feldjäger zu Fuss (wiped out rather ignominiously at Spandau in 1760. Perhaps they had a problem clumping around in those heavy boots?). There's an amusing anecdote about Old Fritz which illustrates his dislike of these sort of gentlemen; on some battlefield he spotted a jäger lurking in the bushes and asked him what he was doing. When the jäger said he was on the lookout for a good target, Frederick told him he should get out on the battlefield and fight like a man in the open!

David.

New -Template for Austrian German Infantry Grenadiers

And here is the template for the Austrian German Infantry Grenadiers. I'll probably be heading north for the next few templates - perhaps, after doing a template of Old Fritz's foot jägers, I'll do some of his line infantry too. We'll see how the inspiration strikes. Then there's the Grenzer and those d***ed cavalry to do from scratch. ;-)

New - Template for Austrian Hungarian Infantry Grenadiers

Here is the grenadier uniform for Austrian Hungarian infantry regiments. The bag on the bearskin cap is usually shown (e.g. in the 18th century Morier plates) hanging to the right side but I've flipped it over to the left here so it can be displayed and coloured. I've also shown the simplest form of the cap, without a plate of any form at the front. The types with plates, the simplest being a grenade badge, are variants that might be added to the infinitely long list of possible things to do!

New - Hanoverian Freitag Jäger Template

There seems to be some dispute about the details of this uniform so I've kept it simple (no falling collar, for instance) and stayed with the contemporary manuscript illustration in Niemeyer and Ortenburg.

No doubt there will be even more discontent in the barracks of the Saxe-Bearstein cavalry and dragoons when even the disreputables like this get new uniforms before they do! I think the Linienblatts may be taking a short holiday to foreign parts for the duration... or at least until the Saxe-Bearstein cavalry are decently clad again.

David.

Coming soon!

Coming soon - Hanoverian and Prussian Jägers, and Austrian grenadiers. Hopefully that will please a few people and keep the couriers from battering the shop doors down and disturbing the good citizens of Tippelbruder at 3 in the morning! ;-)

David.

What comes of haste and tiredness

Well, as they say in Tippelbruder "A tired man is a sloppy workman" and "Hasty work is sloppy work". I've now updated the two Austrian infantry templates, as I realised this morning (browsing through a SYW uniform book over breakfast) that I had missed off the retaining strap on the left shoulder on both. So, apologies to anyone who downloaded them before now and is anxious to have as authentic a uniform as possible - though I imagine that most people will shrug it off and not feel the sense of mortification that I felt when I realised. I *really* do like to get it right! :-) Obviously burning the midnight oil and trying to do things too rapidly is not good - so I hope people will (as Jeff suggested) not mind being kept waiting. After all, I've been doing this for only a very short time and it has to fit into whatever time I can find after doing everything else that life demands. If someone is willing to fund me so I can do it full-time for three months, please do contact me ASAP! ;-)

David.

New - Austrian Hungarian Infantry Template

After a rather fiddly time (all that braid on the waistcoat, for instance) we now have a Hungarian Infantry Template. In some ways I wonder if doing a template from scratch may not sometimes be a lot easier than all the tweaking!

David.

New - Austrian (German) Line Infantry Template

Not a Grenzer this time, as it involves too much original work (and I haven't much time at the moment) but instead a template of an Austrian German line infantryman, which I know certain people will find useful. The Hungarian-style uniform will probably be next, as it involves less original work, followed finally by the Grenzer uniform - unless Jeff of Saxe-Bearstein's ragged horse and dragoons besiege the shop in Tippelbruder demanding new uniforms in which case I may have to rethink... ;-)

Basic SYW French infantry template now available

As Jeff of Saxe-Bearstein has so eloquently reminded us, we must not forget the French. ;-)

So here is a basic French infantry template- there will be variants of this later. Please form an orderly queue, Lords and Gentlemen! The shop is crowded enough and there will be danger to life and limb if there is a stampede to the counter. There are enough copies for everyone...

David.

Great excitement in the town of Tippelbruder

Great excitement today in the sleepy little town of Tippelbruder! A courier from the court of Saxe-Bearstein rode into town early this morning with the news that David Linienblatt has been appointed Master Uniform Designer (MUD pronounced MAD) to the Throne of Saxe-Bearstein. This is a far greater honour than we could have imagined so soon after the establishment of our design emporium. It seems likely that this is a purely honorific appointment as no mention has so far been made of emolument but of course the entire Linienblatt household is ecstatic with delight and hopeful of riches to come through the work that will no doubt pour in as a result of all the publicity generated by this signal honour.

Other messages of support from potential clients have also been most welcome and we look forward to doing business with a wide range of nobles and gentlemen. We are, notwithstanding our appreciation of the honour bestowed by Saxe-Bearstein, entirely neutral in our affiliations - "a business must be businesslike", as everyone says in Tippelbruder. ;-)

Hanoverian infantry template

Jeff of Saxe-Bearstein was in need not only of a hussar template but also of a good template for his Hanoverian-style infantry - so here it is. This has both musketeer and grenadier variants. The split cuff does mean it is not very suitable as a template for anything other than Hanoverian or British-style uniforms but I hope to get round to a Prussian-style uniform soon.

David.

The first one - the hussar template

And here's the first template which many people will already have seen - the generic hussar. In fact this is a French uniform but at that period, of course, hussar uniforms tended to be fairly similar. I may well get round to doing some different national variants but not for a while, as so many basic templates still need to be drawn. I have tweaked it a little (including rounding off those nastily square lace loop ends on the pelisse) and now it has the large kolpak or fur cap of the SYW period, rather than the 1740s small kolpak of the original.

David.

Fons et Origo - or how it all started

It was Jean-Louis' recent posting about the templates on the Saxe-Bearstein blog on the Yahoo Old School Wargaming forum that first intrigued me; and then I read that Jeff of Saxe-Bearstein just couldn't find the staff to make up his hussar uniform pattern template. In fact there seems to be a dearth of suitably qualified tailor/draughtsmen in the whole of imaginary SYW Europe. Foolishly, certainly quixotically, I find myself stepping forward and offering my services without waiting for an invitation - hence Not By Appointment. I'm naturally hoping that such services as I can render will save me from the clutches of the likes of Frederick the Great's recruiters (aka kidnappers), as I'm sure that handling a musket would be far worse than handling a mouse or tablet. Indeed, perhaps one day I shall be honoured by receiving the accolade By Appointment from one of the august personages to whom I dare to offer my humble inky-fingered services. ;-)