I continued working on transforming templates previously created with artificial intelligence; the result—at least here—is truly impressive. In this case, I intended to recreate a sergeant of the Aosta Regiment of the Piedmontese Army in 1848.
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| Piedmont 1848 - Horse Artillery - The original painting |
I wasn’t able to resist either the charm (or perhaps the future slavery?) of AI in drawing my papersoldiers. The reality is that they have indeed reached a level of definition I could never have hoped to achieve. I think a few examples can give a better idea—more than words—of what I’m talking about.
By observing these figures, one can notice, for example, how the grip has improved significantly, as well as the facial features and the folds of the clothing.
Naturally, AI has to be guided, so I changed the color of the trousers and a few other details, but the result belongs—unfortunately—to it.
And so I found myself drawn into a historical period I had never wanted to tackle: WWII, and specifically (here bottom) the German troops during the bloody Battle of Stalingrad. In this case, AI was of total support and, once properly guided, produced an excellent result.
Likewise for a soldier of a Prussian regiment during the Seven Years’ War. As can be seen, AI has to be “trained,” but the difference between 2015 and 2026 appears enormous.
This project is part of the project on the Third Battle of Ramla, but I admit that I was inspired by the Der Alte Fritz Journal website, particularly by the model of the city of Khartoum.
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| Armenian Archers firing from the roofs |
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| Defending the minaret |
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| Attack on the minaret |
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| A lonely Crusader attempting to attack in between the narrow streets |
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| main road |
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| visual on the village/town |
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| The 2 minarets and the main square |
I have always wondered how many paper soldiers (of a good level, so from 2015 to today) I have produced. The projects that I started and did not complete (all of them) are the following:
So it is quite a number of Battles and a lot of papersoldiers. I will try to sum them up. I already started with the Battle of Ramla, and here I would like to count the Roman Legion.
It was on 4 categories of men
Hastati (20 centuries, i.e. 10 maniples 1200 men in total)
Princeps (20 centuries, i.e. 10 maniples 1200 men in total)
Triari (10 centuries, i.e. 600 men in total)
Every century of Hastati and Princeps had the first 2 rows launching pilum (spears) so every century is done by 40 men with gladium (sword) and 20 with pilum.
Total
200 Hastati (red feathers) with gladium + 100 Hastati (red feathers) with pilum
200 Hastati (black feathers) with gladium + 100 Hastati (black feathers) with pilum
200 Princeps (red feathers) with gladium + 100 Princeps (red feathers) with pilum
200 Princeps (black feathers) with gladium + 100 Princeps (black feathers) with pilum
300 Triari with horizontal spears
300 Triari with vertical spears
After a long wait, I have finally received 30 metal plates (provided by REVIS acciai and cut by CTL) that allow me to deploy one battalion on a single base, with a great saving of time; I started with the first battalion of the Normandie Regiment. At the Battle of Turin in 1706 it took part with 1,310 men, that is about 436 men per battalion (a total of 3 battalions); in fact, from these figures one must subtract the regimental staff, which consisted of 1 commander, a deputy, and so on for about 10 men (I would add another 10 NCOs); in any case, for the first battalion I kept the number fixed at 436 men, of whom:
86 in the first line 103 in the second line, 93 in the third line, 93 in the fourth line for a total of 375 men (including lieutenants and second lieutenants among them); 15 men in the flag group (3 flags); 12 drummers, 11 NCOs and 11 captains behind the lines, and the staff, consisting of 1 battalion commander, 3 officers and 6 NCOs.
This is the visual effect of the first battalion of the Regiment Normandie.
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| Metal plates |
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Metal plates with (paper) grass
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Although my original intention was to depict the Third Battle of Ramla at a 1:1 scale, I eventually got carried away. Some time ago, I began reconstructing—entirely out of paper—a Fatimid city, or at least a coastal one. The walls had already been completed earlier, and from there I moved on to the inner buildings. Now I have reached the stage of constructing the minaret. This is the first one.
I started with two toilet paper rolls stacked on top of each other and a medicine box. I made a small cut at the base of the roll so it would fit more securely into the structure (picture 1).
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| Picture 1 |
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| Picture 2 |
I then prepared a base for the octagonal terrace and glued (picture 3).
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| Picture 3 |
Here is the final result. The dome was made by twisting blue sheets of paper; however, the overall look and proportions did not fully convince me (picture 4)
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| Picture 4 |
I then proceeded to cut it in half, creating a joint in order to make the minaret higher.
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| Picture 5 |
I added and glued the joint (picture 6)
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| Picture 6 |
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| Picture 7 |
This is the final result. Nonetheless I did not like the colours of the side building and so I had to change it as well (what a job!) (Picture 8)
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| Picure 8 |
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| Picture 9 |
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| Picture 10 |
BRAVO MAX!
It’s always a special feeling when your child walks the same path as you. The result doesn’t matter; what counts is the effort and the willingness to spend an afternoon with his dad playing with little soldiers. Sometimes dreams really do come true. Mine – a lifelong one – came true today.
Thank you, Maximilian!
(Not just any name: he was named after an ancestor who, interestingly, was once against these Swedes of the Yellow Brigade.)
