French Guard Chasseur a' Cheval in 54mm

Been a while since I sat down to post something. Doesn't mean I haven't been busy though. Since my last post (gosh, was it eight months ago?), I've completed a few models, managed to actually play a tabletop game (and promptly lost!), have a couple of projects in progress, and have been having regular weekly evening meetings with my gaming group for board gaming. Been on a nice trip in February too. 

Once I overcome my posting apathy I hope to eventually post something on some or all of the above. 

Today I'll start off with a 54mm Chasseur a' Cheval Garde 1815 from Pegaso Models. Pegaso produce beautiful models, their casting is clear and very crisp making their models really nice to paint. The figure is cast in white metal and is painted entirely with acrylics (Vallejo). This has long been languishing in my war chest and I finally found a good enough reason to fish it out.  One of my gaming buddies turned 60 last month so I reckoned it would make a great special occasion present to someone who appreciates this stuff.  As a matter of fact it was very well received.

Would've been nice to add an engraved brass plate but I just didn't have the time to find a decent supplier. If anyone knows of a good one I would be happy if they could drop me a name.

 Anyway, hope you like it!

 

 

 

French 7th Hussars trooper in 54mm

Last February I had published a work in progress post of a 54mm French Napoleonic Hussar.  Those who missed that post can see it here. The figure has been ready for a couple of months now but being the lazy bugger that I am, it took me all this time to come round to take a few half decent pictures suitable for publication.

The figure itself is from M Model and is painted entirely with Vallejo acrylics. No oils. The figure is finished in ultra matt varnish but the horse has been finished in satin. All reins and buckles are scratch built. This is my second 54mm figure, the first one having been done quite a few years ago and can be seen here. These figures take up quite some time to finish and obviously the level of detail is much higher but they are also very rewarding when complete. And they certainly make eye catching show pieces in any collector's cabinet! 

My current project is a 1:72 scale diorama of an Avro Lancaster inspired by a recent visit to the Derwent dam in the UK. This is the place where the famous 617 Squadron made their practice runs before their raids on the Ruhr dams. The build is still in its very early stages (hampered by domestic refurbishment works) so I expect it will be some time before I will be able to present anything of this project. Until then keep well!

 

Monument to 617Sqdn with Derwent dam in the background

 

A couple of pro bono commissions

Having finally resolved my posting issues it is time to return to the keyboard. These last two months I carried out a couple of commissions to two of my gaming buddies. Two of my pals set up Jakobovo (or Klyastitsy) in 28mm and I noticed that one of them fielded Napoleon himself as commander of a meagre corps. This struck me as overkill so I enquired why couldn't he use another figure? His reply was that he didn't have any other high ranking marshal or equivalent in his collection so this set me off to provide him with one. I didn't have too many high ranking officers but I finally landed a miniature of Soult from Perry Miniatures.

A couple of days later, another of the guys asked me to repaint a handful of command figures which he had had for some time but wasn't happy with the way they were painted. There was a miniature of Napoleon, another of Blucher, and another three what seemed as staff officers - British and Prussian. As he had gotten them from somebody else, the manufacturer unfortunately remained unknown. The painting wasn't too bad but it could definitely be improved.

The following pics show the figures as they were delivered to me.

Poor Boney looked like he had just been mugged by Spanish guerilleros!

 

First up is 'Le Petit Caporal' obviously

 

A stern Emperor reviews his troops

 

The Guard officer is an old figure I've had for ages. Maybe Hinchcliffe?

The next figure is a British Light Dragoon officer (or so I presume). In a nod to the Ukranian situation I chose that country's colours for his plume.  The French infantryman is from Perry's plastics box.

Next up is another British staff officer. He was originally painted in blue but we all know that just doesn't fly does it? I've no idea if this is a personality figure or just a generic officer.

And next up is "Old Vorwarts", Field Marshal Gebhard von Blucher himself !

 

 

And finally another Prussian staff officer who could be anyone really.  Could be Gneisenau but he is never depicted wearing a moustache as far as I know.

Apologies if picture quality is not optimal but I shifted a few things around the house lately and the usual place where I take my pics is not available any more. So until I find a new area I had to make do with a temporary spot but unfortunately the light was not ideal. Another pesky issue to sort out............