I finally got around to finishing off few of the HE cavalry. They are painted more-or-less as Carabiniers. Just another 50 or so to go and I can think of rivalling Bill P's own monster unit.
I think they have painted up quite nicely, although I'm cringing a bit as this rather zoomed-in shot shows up EVERY SINGLE mistake I made while painting them..!
This being said, I do like them and will be buying more. I've also gone and bought samples of most of the HE Infantry - everything barring the pikemen basically, so stay tuned for more on the HE range. Oh, and I also bought a trio of the splendid-looking Spencer Smith artillery - I feel they'll make excellent train of siege artillery. I'm starting to think I may have to buy a unit of the Infantry - perhaps 48 privates and five officers might be a good place to start. Any Tips on what codes you'd recommend Henry?
Enough of me; on to the eye candy. I love that Colonel on the left of the picture.
4 comments:
Oh, Greg, these are *gorgeous*! I'm dangerously close to spending lots of cash on HE. Aren't those horses fab?
Okay, basic Spencer Smiths I use are the marching musketeers (A1), grenadier marching (A3), officer walking (A5). For goodness sake don't make the mistake of ordering the awful officer with drawn sword (A6). The drummer I use is (A7). I use the officer figure as the flag bearer, just sticking the flag against the body front and to the base -- the flag bearer (A8) is a duff conversion of the artillery rammer figure. Also note that PJ has now created a marching grenadier wearing mitre, but doesn't appear to have given it a code, so ask for it specifically. There's a photo of it on the OSW site.
Cheers
Henry
These are attractive looking figures. I can't say that I see any mistakes in the painting. Good job, especially with the horses. What colors and shades of brown did you use? I can't wait to see the full regiment, or at least a squadron.
Alte Fritz
Gents, I do love those horses, I think they are as nice as the RSM ones, perhaps even nicer because their poses are more various. I forgot to mention that they are moulded with the riders attached, too. This is something I have grown to appreciate as I've never liked the unsightly gaps you get between rider and saddlery or indeed saddlery and horse you get otherwise.
The horses are painted Bestial Brown (TM) with a 50-50 highlight of that and Vallejo Orange. I then block in the coat, belting, gloves and flesh then give the whole thing a wash over with my trusty burnt sienna ink. Mr Horse then gets a bit of lining-in with some black paint. Mane, "socks" and eyes get a coat of black paint and then I pop a tiny dot of white at the corners of the eyes and we're done.
Mistakes: look at where the colonel's glove joins his sleeve...
I'm sure PJ would be delighted if you were to buy some "Grant-sized" units from him! I will be putting together at least one on my own account.
Hello,
not to be pedantic, but I'm almost sure Carabiniers were in royal blue from the start. Now your cavalry wholly in red would be Gendarmes -far more prestigious, being the heirs of the men-at-arms of the 'Compagnies d'Ordonnance' raised in 1445 A.D., while the Carabiniers dated 'only' from the late 17° century. 'Gendarmerie' was an odd peculiarity of Ancien Régime France : because of its venerable, 'heavy' and supposed noble ancestry, it was totally distinct from all other 'horse' units, collectively known as 'light' cavalry (including the Cuirassiers du Roi and Carabiniers). Actually the Gendarmerie enjoyed a status somehow intermediate between the Household Cavalry (with which it was brigaded) and the Army.
For the flags there are some on the 'Nec Pluribus Impar' site at:
http://vial.jean.free.fr/new_npi/archives/archiv.htm
click on 'France' then on 'Gendarmerie'.
Within the 'Gendarmerie' in the widest sense there were subtle differences of seniority between the 'true' Gendarmes (claiming as ascendants the 'knightly' men-at-arms of the Compagnies d'Ordonnance) and the 'Chevau-Légers', heirs 'only' of the mounted archers attached to the former in the late medieval 'lances'.
Bes regards,
Jean-Louis (abdul666lw in Yahoo groups)
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