Miscellaneous Napoleonic Cavalry

[Susofrick]

Hmm, have the figures. Never thought of painting them like this. Like it! Most of mine are still unpainted even.

[Bessiere]

They look similar to guard Cossacks but my suspicion is these are the works of a singular illustrator who may have been given incomplete or wrong information to work from. Still the Black Sea hosts tended to dress however they liked as most Cossacks had to supply their own horse and weapons (what a deal for the czar eh?) so it's entirely possible entire sotnias were outfitted by wealthy Cossacks achieving some sort of conformity. Thanks for that 2nd link, I'd never seen that page before.
Cheers,
Bessiere

[Rich W]

Brilliantly painted as always!

[k.b.]

Am not sure if my memory is playing tricks on me but i think i had posted some more piccies of French Cuirassiers which seem to have disappeared. Together with a few nice comments as well. Any chance of this page reappearing or should i repost the photos?
Or is this all just a figment of my imagination, Bennos is still off the air, and I am dreaming all this?

[k.b.]

Let me try to remember what i posted..............
Methinks there was a Lancer de Berg




and a French Cuirassier, i believe......




pretty sure there was this Russian Hussar officer in the early stages of being painted

[Bessiere]

we're still here and admiring your horsemen par excellence.
Cheers,
Bessiere

[k.b.]

Firstly, I need to thank you Bessiere for your loyal support.
Secondly, i believe i had previously posted this duo together.......

Here is the pistol wielding Cuirassier on the horse originally intended for him, and now i have a doubt - which rider looks best?




Next time i post these chaps will be when they're based and in battle against the unknown white Cossacks.

[k.b.]

I said there was a skirmish brewing between my white Cossacks and these Berg Lancers and French Cuirassiers. Enough said. Here they are.....

[C M Dodson]

Beautiful as always and those Berg lancers are a really different unit to display.

Best wishes,

Chris

[Sho]

Unsure of the English name for this cossack regiment so any help would be greatly appreciated.

These "white cossacks" were not a regiment but 180-men strong squadron of Militia from Herson, Ukraine. Was joined to 3rd Army. Recruited, paid and commanded by V.P.Skarzynski.

[k.b.]

Thanks a lot Chris for your comments and yes, these Berg lancers are indeed an interesting regiment to paint up. I have used some artistic license as there is conflicting info regarding their uniforms. I opted for green shabraques and not pink which i felt just wasn't practical nor did it look right.

And Sho, my old friend and fellow AB 18mm collector...... what a pleasure it is to hear from you. Congratulations on having come so far in the years since we last chatted. Your work in 18mm is truly brilliant. I remember commenting somewhere that i thought you should give figure sculpting a try. Think i said the same to Massimo C and Franznap on these very pages (or was it on the Hat website?). Thankfully the work of all three of you has evolved tremendously since those days. Little did i know you'd all develop your own ranges of minis and develop so far, so quickly.

It's sad that with the passing of years I have been forced to move away from the smaller scales as my eyesight isn't anywhere near as good as it used to be and 18mm gives me a headache after as little as one hour painting. As the next scale up is 1/72, coincidentally, it's the scale which got me into this hobby over 55 years ago, I kind of settled with those extraordinary Napoleonics from Zvezda as being the peak of figure sculpting in my favourite scale. I have also painted a lot in 28mm, esp from the Perry bros, but painting a single figure and doing it full justice requires me to use an Optivisor magnification which i stubbornly resist as much as possible. That's undoubtedly why, as you can see, my Napoleonic collection in 1/72 has grown considerably over the last 5 years or so.

Your information regarding my white Cossacks was sweet music to my ears. I had searched everywhere to find info on them 9restricted to the English language may i add but my research was all to no avail. Thank you kindly Sho for your invaluable insight. Was your source in Russian by the way?

[Sho]

Yes, in Russian. Text from revers of postcard with picture you show earlier.
But there are also more info from wikipedia in English.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skarzynski

[k.b.]

Here are a few more Russian hussars from the work desk sporting matt white undercoats. Let's see which regiment(s) a few splashes of colour will transform them into.......

[k.b.]

.............and here's a sneak peak of something else I'm finally getting to grips with.........


..........really am not too keen on these giant horses but let's see when we get a lick of paint on them (and to tell the truth the riders themselves are pretty gigantic).

[Bessiere]

The Mamelukes are enormous but since they often had fancy patterns on their clothes it gives you more room to paint details. You can get kinda crazy on these guys that way. Looking fabulous KB, all them dressing individually was overwhelming for me (too many color choices). Cheers,
Bessiere

[k.b.]

Thanks Bessiere for your unflagging support. You are absolutely spot on with your comments about the Mamelukes, so many colour options that it’s almost too much for our brains to process. However, I’ve turned that into my motivation and as an exercise to test my colour sense. The horse colours will also allow a certain freedom of choice to have far more variety than in a regular unit, so I am approaching it as a challenge on many fronts, including a variety of ethnic skin types, uniform with tricky braiding/details to complete as well as the many horse colour options. Let’s see how they turn out, and maybe more interestingly, how long they will take to complete.

[C M Dodson]

Superb painting as always and those Russian hussars are a beautiful collection of figures.

Best wishes,

Chris

[Peter]

Very nice painted riders!

[k.b.]

It's been a while since i posted anything, unfortunately i haven't been very productive of late......... other more important priorities, alas.
But just to show my most recently finished figure (actually I've just realised there is some missing braiding on his cuffs still to be done), but he's almost finished, is the charging Alexandrinsk Russian Hussar alongside a comrade painted long ago.

[Bessiere]

Glorious work KB! Wolves teeth are quite striking and I know theres a ton of detail lurking in the sabretache, sleeves and dolman. Lovely stuff, gotta admit those hussars were truly a sight almost too pretty to shoot at.
Cheers,
Bessiere