As part of my continuing project to increase all my 6-figure cavalry squadrons to full 12-figure units I thought it was time to turn my attention to the French. You may recall that I have some line lancers (FN/118 one-piece Lancer) that Don gave me that form half of my Lancer/Chasseur unit and these have been designated as next in line for an upgrade.
This has proved more time consuming than I had hoped as I have pretty much had to repaint the existing figures as well as paint up six additional ones. I find retouching existing paintwork is generally more work than starting from scratch because apart from colour matching I have to adapt my style to fit in with the original painter’s work. In this instance I’ve had to get by without any black lining which I find hard.
With the addition of sky-blue facings, the unit will now represent
the 5th Chevau-Legers-Lancers as per the Hinton Hunt painting instruction sheet.
I did have fun making the trumpeter conversion (from FN/320 2-piece Lancer) possibly
my favourite conversion so far. I have two more figures to paint and then they'll be ready for basing.
26 comments:
Very nice indeed!
Lovely Ian. There is something special about those line lancier uniforms. The fifth with their bleu ciel facings are 'everyone's favourite' too aren't they?!
Marvellous trumpeter too.
Regards, James
Snap! I'm just finishing eight Chevau-Légers Lancers to complete the 6th regiment (Madder red facings). All now painted and with a first coat of varnish. I hope to complete basing and varnishing this weekend. Unfortunately they're not all HH originals but I'm hoping that won't show except on closer inspection.
I trust yours will set the example for how to behave on the field in the action. Even better would be to brigade them on the table-top under Wathiez and try and do a little better at Quatre-Bras.
These are a very good addition to your collection. I think the helmet rather than the lancer regiments with czapka look very smart indeed. I look forward to whatever's next.
Stephen
So that’s what one does with FN320s.. Very nice indeed, Ian. As I recall, these messieurs did well enough on the table top in their former, composite, identity. No doubt that will continue.
I too am doing 12 HH light horse lancers at the moment bought s/h in 1997! They are originals and needed much filing of flash. I'm doing the 4th - crimson facings, which is a bit perverse as my slight red/green colour blindness makes the trouser stripes a challenge. Your unit looks great. I've settled for a Kennington command trio which are a reasonable match.
The French Cavalry are looking very nice- well done there IAN.
Thanks Matt!
James, I agree that the blue facings do look nice although there's not much contrast against the green. Might have been better if the uniforms were a nice dark French blue.
Rob, that's great - send me a photo when you've finished them!
Thanks Stephen!
Nigel, I only had one FN320 and although I don't like cutting up original figures it seemed like a good way to use him.
Simon, they seem to be the figure of the moment! The refurbished figures had already been well de-flashed but I've also had to clean up some unpainted castings. The biggest problem is cleaning up the lance as the front end can be quite fragile - I reinforced mine with a liberal amount of superglue.
Cheers Kev!
The 5th. . . THE french lancer unit to paint. Wonderful! I painted up a unit of old Battle Honours 15mm lancers as the 5th almost 30 years ago although they lacked the personality of these.
Best Regards,
Stokes
Beautiful Ian. The pose is so similar to the AB 18mm one piece casting line lancer, much better than the flimsy upright version, and to think how old these HH's are they are a delight.
Thanks Stokes, I also have some ‘first generation’ 15mm Minifigs painted as the 5th!
Lee, the lances are of course over scale but part of the charm to me.
These are a smash hit, Ian!
I haven't yet dared a light blue and green combo, but now that you've shown the way...
I love your work!
WM
Lovely work - excellent unit, and the trumpeter is great. This HH pose always makes me think of George Jeffrey, which is a bit of a fright on a Sunday morning, since that was the cover photo on his famous Napoleonic Wargames (though not the 5th regiment, I think).
WM, I think my mum used to say "blue and green should never be seen" however these chaps seem smart enough.
Tony, I never had a copy of that book but the figures on the front cover do look impressive.
Splendid toys Ian...
I of course approve wholeheartedly... as it also have this unit in my collection.
All the best. Aly
Thanks Aly, the 5th are clearly more popular than I realised!
Nice work Stryker. I'm with you on starting over from scratch when painting figures, unless of course it is a whole well painted unit! I have a handful of very well painted French Old Guard Grenadiers and Voltigeurs, but since they will be incorporated into a larger whole, I suspect into the Dettol they will go. The lancers are lovely - despite the green and blue combo...
Thanks David, in the end I have almost completely repainted these so perhaps on reflection should have stripped them and started from scrath. However I was loath to strip Don's artwork. In future though I will have a new rule - always start from scratch!
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