(Remember: click on the pictures
for a bigger version):
The figure is from Renegade Miniatures.
The figures are sold as
“Dragoons”. I’m no expert on French cavalry or anything, but most of the
pictures I can find of French Dragoons all seem to shown wearing helmets. This
shako (is it a shako? Or a tall kepi…?) looks more like what is pictured in
illustrations of the Chasseurs à Cheval…. So that’s what I’m calling these
guys.
I got a boxed set that I
originally thought might have 12 in it, but turned out to only have 9… I do
like to have cavalry units of 10… luckily this can be rectified by ordering
another regiment of 8 plus a command blister of 3 – voilà – TWO units of ten…
Of course, what I’m going to do with TWO units of Chasseurs à Cheval when I
have no other French units… or early was Germans to oppose them… but it all
makes sense in my own bizarre little world.
I’m not totally excited about
the Renegade horses – they’re monstrously heavy beasties that are supported on
two spindly little legs – if you look at the pictures on the Renegade site and
compare them to mine, you will notice that I’ve bent the front and rear
extended legs in. – I’ve done this so I can attached them to the base as well
to give the model two more points
of contact in hopes that they won’t break. I have some British cavalry as well
and a few of them have been broken (and repaired) and I haven’t even getten to
adding their lances and painting them!?
The other little complaint I
have about the horse is that their case with swords in the scabbard attached to
the saddle… unfortunately everyone (with the exception of the trumpeter) has
their sword drawn. I’ve noticed the painted ones on the web site have just been
painted as they are (perhaps the French carried a spare as they were so poorly
manufactuered?). No one else would probably notice this sort of detail, but I
did… and it would bug me… So I had to carve off the hilts on all the guys with
swords drawn (which, as stated, is most of them…).
Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:
The rest of them… I should have
the rest of the unit finished up tonight and I’ll post them tomorrow…
Must be the flavour of the month with Great War miniatures. Nice work Tim on the Frenchie. I do love the early uniforms for all belligerents.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Helen
Thanks Helen! Yes, a number of my favourite blogs seem to have been doing Great War stuff lately, and that's definitely part of the reason... also they're new (to me) - I picked them up just this last week as they were on sale (new=shiny=fun!)... and there are other not-so-game-related reasons for my renewed interest in the Great War - more on that in a bit...
DeleteLooks great!
ReplyDelete(I hope you don't mind an impertinent observation, but I wondered why you didn't do your usual dark lining/underpainting when it came to the blue stripe on the red trousers. Maybe too "fiddly"?) I do like your painting style, which helps tie together a wide variety of miniatures.
Thanks!
DeleteI don't know... I'll go with "too fiddly"... I know I've done it in the past - did the black outline - especially on figures where the piping is actually modeled... maybe I was just feeling lazy...?
Very nice work Tim.
ReplyDeleteVery good, Tim - nice work ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone. Should have the rest of them up shortly...
ReplyDelete