Miscellaneous Napoleonic Cavalry

[Bessiere]

We share an ambition it seems: I'd like to do every Russian Hussar reg't. They would look pretty cool all together dontcha think?
Cheers,
Bessiere

[k.b.]

It would be a wondrous sight to behold Bessiere.
However, the simple truth is the Russian Hussars are much more interesting figures to paint than their French counterparts. At least in my opinion.

[k.b.]

Comparing Italeri FHs with Zvezda’s Russians that is. Mind you, in real life there was surely no Napoleonic cavalry uniforms more beautiful than the French Hussars.

[k.b.]

Here we have 5 recent additions to the lanciers rouge. Mostly complete but a couple of bases need to be done and a few final touches to the horse furniture and maybe a few minor details added to some faces ie moustaches and 5 o'clock shadows which i haven´t tried before.

[Susofrick]

Looks wonderful! A long time ago (circa 1984 when the ESCI-set came out) I thought the blue lancers was the important ones. I had seen red lancers in some pictures, but, well, since they were BLUE on the box I thought the way I did. Could just as well painted them red I realize now. Anyhow, great work as usual from you and I really look forward to your 5 o'clock shadows (the missus were on me for mine).

[MABO]

Supercool!

[k.b.]

Here's a glimpse of what's going on at my workstation at the moment.





For those of you who like Russian hussars, this chap is from the Pavlograd Regiment, whose uniform was a somewhat unusual combination of colours but for some strange reason i kinda like the quirkiness of the turquoise blue pelisse with white/grey fur over the green dolman. Both the pelisse and dolman would have had red braiding for ordinary ranks or a pale yellow for officers, according to my research.



Looking at this picture i believe I'll need to make his dolman less turquoise and more dark green to provide a bigger contrast with the bluish turquoise of his pelisse.

[k.b.]

Here are a few photos to show how my newest hussar is coming along. Boy are these chaps time consuming. My consolation will hopefully be when the finished figure is complete. The satisfaction should be greater. The key word is the 'should'. As this is a test of colour combinations and the combinations are not tried and tested the finished figure is somehat hit or miss. Let's wait and see........













Ps/ sorry about the picture sizes, next time i promise they'll be smaller.

[Bessiere]

Looking good Keith. Nice combination of colors with the green/turquoise dolman and light blue pelisse.
Cheers,
Bessiere

[k.b.]

Am posting here these in progress photos to keep my stuff together. Hope that's okay moderators. If you would rather i open a work in progress page i will do so.






Here am testing the pelisse in place before deciding on the braiding/lining colour(s)

[C M Dodson]

Marvellous work.

Best wishes,

Chris

[k.b.]

Thank you Bessiere and Chris for your support. Here's an update on yesterday's work on my Pavlograd Hussar.
Let me look at my photos, include a few and add comments as i proceed to copy and paste.
First and foremost i began painting his horse. Opted for a dappled grey. Used primarily Ivory Black and Titanium White with a few little flecks of Yellow Ochre here and there.



Next up is his pelisse to which i have added the red braiding. Zvezda's sculpting is outstanding but it's still a tricky job at this scale. Need to touch up the fur and add the buttons.......







Now the colours have been established i need to get my optivisor out to add the dapples to the horse along with the shading/highlighting to the saddlecloth and buckles and details on the reins. I must say I'm greatly looking forward to seeing this finished figure mounted and based.

[Bessiere]

Great detailing on this chap, even the collar is precise and that is hard to do. This is a special one for sure.
Cheers,
Bessiere

[Peter]

Great work again Keith!

Those details aren't easy to paint but they came out good!

[k.b.]

Horse has been dappled.........just about finished the horse - other than the base. Now the paint needs to dry before i do his base. Tomorrow i intend to finish the braiding on his dolman and pelisse and then i think that's him finished. It's a crying shame that these Russian Hussars from Zvezda are no longer available as i would love to paint up an entire box in these colours.



I've just realised that his saddlecloth still needs a few shadows and highlights......oh well they say Rome wasn't built in a day - nor were Pavlograd Hussars painted in a week for that matter.

[PatrickJ71]

I admire your productivity, Keith.
I'm sorry I don't always have the time to praise your achievements, but I enjoy following this thread. After the various beautiful lancers, this Pavlograd hussar again becomes a masterpiece. And I've said it before: your use of oil paint gives your figures a special touch that I like.
That dapple gray horse looks great too, by the way.
thanks for sharing and keep them coming.
Patrick

[Bessiere]

Nice job of dappling your mount KB. Everything looks very good except the Alexander monogram is much darker than the edging red which makes it fade from vision. You may be in luck for getting hussars: https://www.hannants.co.uk/search/index ... c&pageID=5
Order soon! They also have French old guard and Russian Cuirassiers.
Cheers,
Bessiere

[Peter]

Nice work on that horse!

[k.b.]

Thanks a lot Patrick for your kind words. I am always most grateful when viewers take the time to add some comments along with a like.
A further thank you to Bessiere for his continued eagle eye criticism which I most appreciate. You were completely right with regard to the painting of the Alexander monogram - it had indeed just had one coat of paint (Cadmium Purple). I still need to add a Cadmium Red Deep and maybe even a Medium for highlights.
And finally my thanks also go out to Peter whose untiring contributions and work as a moderator here will always have my eternal gratitude without which I acknowledge there would probably be no Bennos.

The short time I spent with brush and paints yesterday were confined to a few colour studies to decide how best to highlight the dark Chrome Green I used for the saddlecloth. It’s a tricky colour is green especially to highlight and I was in doubt as to whether to use white or a flesh colour as I often do with my reds and blues.

Ps/ Most of my Sunday was spent watching the two fantastic Rugby World Cup quarter finals. I thought England fully deserved their victory over Fiji although the Islanders scared the living daylights out of me in the closing few minutes. But the France v S Africa game was truly phenomenal. Probably the most incredible modern game of rugby union I’ve ever seen. Neither team deserved to lose and it was a nail biter until the last second.

PPS/ Ah…… and I nearly forgot….. Thanks a million Bessiere for the hannants tip. My order will be duly placed today - without fail!

[Rich W]

Excellent updates! Real attention to detail that I could never have the patience for!