I am currently working through my existing French cavalry
with the aim of making the 6 figure squadrons up to full 12 figure units. The
Horse Grenadiers pose a bit of a problem because I have no more 2-piece
castings. What I do have are some Der Kreigspieler OPC’s but the problem with
these is that they appear quite weedy when compared to their comrades and their
swords look like miniature knitting needles.
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| The chap on the left is my modified version and on the right is how he looked originally. Total growth is about 2mm which is just enough I think. The sword looks a bit more serious too. |
The solution has been to take the advice of Steve C (click here) and give them some extra height by cutting the horse's front legs from the base, straightening one, and repositioning. I also decided to replace their sword arms with some donated from a few knock-off line Dragoons.
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| Here they are side by side with one of the existing 2-piece troopers. A bit thin maybe but he'll bulk up when painted. |
I’m pleased with the resulting increase in stature, and I think I have eliminated the ‘take your child to work day’ look that might have resulted if I’d mixed in the castings without modification.
18 comments:
More elite heavy cavalry! No-one else is going to be safe going out on the table top with these killers around. Methinks your line troops need some bolstering up, although at present I’d suggest what they really need is some counselling.
Rob, you can never have enough elite heavy cavalry - just ask Ponsonby, oh no, you can't!
It might also be worthwhile turning some of tge heads slightly to give a bit of variety to the opcs. If you line the jaws of the long nosed pliers with card and turn just a tiny amount it works well.
This can be done with the HH hirse heads too. particularly beneficial with the standard two piece hirse which has a head slightly swayed to the right. a few straightened or even turned the other direction or a but further in its original direction can help.give variety.
ar
And at six o’clock Compte Etienne Guyot will take them home to bed because they’re tired little grenadiers. Spot that song.
Impressive change in appearance - Steve C is a great man for tricks and tweaks. If your trooper is looking a bit thin, the answer is obvious - give him some fat paint! Nice, informative post - thanks.
Thanks Roy, I’ve always been nervous about tweaking heads but now I’m confident I have the technology to reaffix any breakages I may give it a go!
Nigel, is that the one that starts “if you go down to the foret de Soignes”?
Thanks Tony, I’ll give that some thought!
Very clever touch Ian, works well for both horse stature and sword.
Thanks Lee!
Interesting idea. I might try that about on my next squadron of French Line Lancers. I have 4 original Hinton Hunt and 2 DK figures. The DK figures arrived yesterday, courtesy of Rob, and they are having a bleach bath before I decide if they need any work.
I was wondering if painting the horse in lighter shades would make them look fatter and conversely darker shades make them look thinner.
Your grenadier growing is extraordinarily effective, Ian. They are transformed. I'm very impressed with the sword swaps too. Have you taken up soldering?
Mark, I think you will find it worth the effort to raise the horses. It's pretty simple to do and I just glue the repositioned leg down with araldite rather than solder. I also find that if you mix the thinner figures in with the originals and don't put them at the ends of the line they will tend to blend in.
WM, still no soldering for me (what a wimp), the sword arms are cut just below the gauntlet and then drilled and pinned using a piece of wire cut from a staple secured with super glue. I'm pretty confident the join will withstand the rigors of campaign!
Nicely done Ian...
I don’t think the difference in width will be too obvious once they are painted... you could always add an extra coat of varnish.
All the best. Aly
And you were impressed by my modifications to the Dutch - that was nothing to what you have achieved here! What a magnificent transformation. It hardly looks like the same figure!
Aly, yes or use a bigger brush!
David, I’m looking forward to painting these to see how they turn out.
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