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Saxons masquerading as Spanish

Posted by Bill Slavin on 13 Aug 2018, 16:48

As you may know from my previous posts I've been building my Spanish army in order to do a refight of the battle of Tudela in 1808. I wrote the scenario about a year ago, and thought I had the Spanish necessary until two weeks before our big game when I realized I was actually 60 (sixty!) figures short. I had no more Spanish figures on hand but I did have some HaT Saxons that I thought might convert.
This set, a bit lumpkin-looking, seemed well suited to a rag tag band of post June 1808 Spanish militia, some in the earlier white, others in the brown or combinations there of. The Saxon grenadiers had their peaked bearskins removed and replaced with bicornes and forage caps (sculpted). These figures all had swords, which I shortened to bayonets (wrongly appearing at the front rather than back) and a small adjustment was needed to the bottom of the lapels to make them the closed lapels of the Spanish. Backpacks were sliced off and straightened (the Saxons seemed to wear the packs angled, attached to one of the crossbelts) a few bread bags were added, braids removed, all the bicornes adorned with tall plumes and, as a final flourish, they were all given moustaches!
The coat tails are a bit long and old-fashioned-looking, but I attribute this and the misplaced bayonets to some unscrupulous war profiteer that outfitted this late-to-the-game outfit not strictly according to regulations. The beauty of the Spanish after a certain point in the war is almost anything goes!

So here are my results. If you would like to see a photo essay on the entire game, here's a link:
http://tinywarsplayedindoors.blogspot.com/2018/08/battle-of-tudela-november-23-1808.html

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Bill Slavin  Canada

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Posted by Bluefalchion on 13 Aug 2018, 18:46

Great stuff! What is the name of the fancy red and white hat being worn by the soldier standing at attention in the fourth photograph?
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Bluefalchion  United States of America
 
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Posted by Bill Slavin on 13 Aug 2018, 19:45

It's a forage cap. This was one of the Saxon grenadiers that I needed to carve the bearskin off so I sculpted this as a replacement.
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Bill Slavin  Canada

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Posted by Beano Boy on 13 Aug 2018, 20:28

Bravo! The conversion look real cool.
:mrgreen: Lets hope you have no need for Saxon Grenadiers in the near future. Very nicely presented with that base of dry grass and buildings that blend it all together. BB
Beano Boy  England
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Posted by MABO on 14 Aug 2018, 01:20

Good looking army!
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MABO  Europe
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Posted by Michael Robert on 24 Aug 2018, 15:15

Bill
your conversions work very well. They Don't masquerade, but firmly stand their ground.
Great stuff

Michael
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Michael Robert  France

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