Miscellaneous Napoleonic Cavalry

[CliosPaintingBench]

The horses are lifelike, I especially like the dappled grey. A multi-thousand figure backlog... really is something. I thought my backlog was big....

[k.b.]

Only recently was i able to get my hands on 4 of these wall stands to temporarily place my figures within easy reach with a view to (hopefully) increase my productivity rate because so many of my unpainted minis are hidden in boxes and as we say out of sight, out of mind.

[Bessiere]

So sorry for my absence K.B.. The last few months have been tough to say the least. I've lost 2 dear friends and had multiple medical mishaps. Yet for all the difficulties I have found inner dimensions to deal with it all and keep going. Your painting and photography are as brilliant as ever though I might keep my infantry figures closer together while a cavalry melee goes on around them. Any single soldier caught would be horizontal very quickly if you know what I mean. Are there Zvezda sets you are looking for? I have a few extras laying about of Russian grenadiers, Hussars, light artillery as well as French voltigeurs and OG grenadiers. Oh and French artillery too I believe. My stack of yet to be painted his well over a hundred and could stand some thinning out. carry on and let that imagination charge onward to new challenges. The best is yet to come my friend.
Cheers,
Bessiere

[k.b.]

Lovely to hear from you again Bessiere but I was so sorry to hear of your losses and medical mishaps. These things certainly make our hobby appear frivolous and futile when put into a real life perspective. But at the same time, at least for yours truly, my minis, paints and brushes are my personal escape from all the madness and problems the world is facing right now, and thus preserving my mental health (for hopefully a good few years to come).

You are definitely right about the infantry figures being sitting ducks in the middle of a cavalry melee, but there shall soon be more infantry to place on the ground to bolster their defenses somewhat. However, that is not to say that infantrymen were never exposed in the shown manner. Who knows, if this recent surge in my enthusiasm to paint infantry continues, then perhaps shortly I might have the numbers to produce a square? Hahahaha

[Bessiere]

I have seen those purported squares and they intimidate me. They require several hundred with endless repetitions of poses - no thank you! I leave those for the dedicated anglophiles at least for the Waterloo diorama. James has more than enough need of French cavalry to keep me going for years but it appears he plans to finish the charge sections this year. That's about 4 years later than first anticipated but the challenges of building this are far outside of anyone's personal experience. I'm glad he is more concerned with getting things right than done on a certain time frame. You seem to really enjoy the photography aspect and I suspect will relate to your future projects. Don't forget my offer should you need some Zvezda sets that I doubt I shall ever use. My buying far outpaced my ability to plan realistically and here I am looking at stacks of boxes. I have yet to complete my original goal of French and Austrian armies to my satisfaction, never mind all the Confederation states, Poles, Italians and tiny Russian army so far done. I should have started about 40 years ago tbh but life gets in the way. Happy painting and photoshooting,
Cheers,
Bessiere

[k.b.]

When my motivation begins to wane i always think that a good tidy up of the work bench is the first step towards reactivating mojo. Here`s mine after ...... i hear some of you asking ``If that`s the after, what must it have looked like before`` .............. I know....... shame on me!

[k.b.]

Chose to tackle a new hussar regiment........opted to paint his overalls in the colour of his full dress breeches. It certainly makes these Soumy Hussars more elegant than they would be if I`d painted them brown or grey. Here`s my first figure nearing completion. Anyone know whether his pelisse was lined in a different colour. My research has, up to now, struggled to come up with an answer.

[Ochoin]

Possibly red cloth?
"pelisse had their elbows reinforced with red cloth"

https://stefanov.no-ip.org/MagWeb/eel/14/ee14russ.htm

https://thisreilluminatedschoolofmars.w ... s-1808-16/

[k.b.]

Thank you kindly Donald for your absolutely fascinating research. Especially that first link that i hadn`t seen before. After careful reading it looks like I shall be adding a black or white lining to the pelisse. However, due to the size of the pelisse in 1\72 (and i have experimented by painting not only the elbow patches but also the looped braiding), i have opted not to add those details as it all looks too much imho. I`ll try to find one or two of the different pelisses I have painted previously with all that detail for you to decide for yourself.

[Ochoin]

KB, thank you for your kind response - particularly as I was wrong!

Yes, even an expert painter such as yourself has to simplify, sometimes.
A painter of my standard could probably paint figures with a rattle can!!

donald

[C M Dodson]

He is a splendid looking chap.

The painting and photography are first class.

Best wishes,

Chris

[Kekso]

That is one darn good hussar. Please, keep them coming.

[k.b.]

Thanks gents for your continued support. Not able to paint much at present for various reasons but thought you might like to see a line chasseur trumpeter i had started working on.........






..........and together with this fellow is another Soumy Hussar nearing completion, bar his pelisse......

[k.b.]

Haven`t been able to get to grips with my brushes and paints of late but here`s a mameluke trumpeter to add to the last few figures I`ve partially painted.



.......sorry for the terrible sheen on his pants but i hope it will diminish as it dries. If not I have AK`s ultra matt varnish which will do the trick .
And as a bonus here`s another piccie of my Soumy Hussar after i had touched up one or two little mistakes as well as better fixing his pelisse in place.

Oh, and have just seen a couple of other photos of Pavlograd Hussars that i hadn`t posted and which you might like.....

[despertaferro]

Hi k,b, your work on such a difficult figures is amazing...

Thanks for sharing!

Joan

[Bessiere]

Bloody lovely work K.B. I am particular to the Pavlograd hussar. A very fine figure and I love his toilet. I have an issue with sheen when I don't mix my paints well but i use acrylics and that isn't your choice is it? Some brands like lifecolor green seem to have a lot of sheen as well. May I suggest painting the bases, for my tastes it adds something and is of little trouble. My output has ground to about nil, getting burnt out after 7 years of steady work more or less. I am very excited to work on a writing project I'll be happy to share when complete but that will be off in the future. Almost 50 pages so far and it's fun when it flows easily. Plus I'm really digging the memoirs I'm reading and bought the Chandler campaigns of Napoleon book with a dozen others. Much research to do. Old habits die hard. I have to enjoy vicariously the painting of others for a while it seems. Gratitude.
Cheers,
Bessiere

[k.b.]

Howdy Bessiere,
Firstly let me say a big thanks for your kind comments regarding this topic. They may be less frequent but they are as welcome as ever. Recently I tried my best to pm you to discuss exactly what boxes of Zvezda figures I might be able to persuade you to part with good sir but the message never left my outbox and i`d posted it the 15th of May. So let`s send it through this thread instead. I thought my stash of figures was an example of an over-zealous collector`s over-commitment to our hobby but it sounds like yours was even greater. Obviously we shall need to discuss payment, shipping costs etc that in all honesty is going to be the trickiest part of the deal because the Brazilian postal service has to be one of the most unreliable in the world. I have actually given up trying to order stuff from the UK as it’s easier to get things on my annual visits back home. However, as the old saying goes “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
And secondly I would like to know if I’m right in thinking you are beginning to lose interest in our hobby? If so, I’m greatly saddened to hear that, but at the same time with the Ukraine suffering so much from the dastardly war games being played out in real life by Putin, it’s becoming more and more understandable. On top of which I think you had been involved in some large scale projects helping others which i am sure partly contributed to your saturation. Besides our hobby it sounds like you are committed to writing a book which i would love to hear more about in due course. I understand that as we grow older it is important to diversify our interests although I myself need my paints, brushes and minis more than ever to keep me sane amid the global chaos and as I’ll turn 64 later on in the year, one never knows when our eyes, and steady hand will start to fail us but I certainly hope I’ve got at least another 6 good years of quality painting in me. That means I need to be increasingly selective.
Let me know your thoughts and we’ll take it from there.
Keith

[k.b.]

A little correction here …. otherwise you’d all be left thinking yours truly is a time traveler. When I wrote 15th May I really meant 15th March. Silly me….
PS/ let me also add my thanks to Joan for his kind words.

[C M Dodson]

The standard of painting is, as ever off the page.

Brilliant work.

I am sorry to learn of Mr B’s fatigue.

Hopefully, a dip into the world of books will recharge the batteries.

However, as the years advance things do get less easy to hurdle so to speak.

I used to thrive on organising and problem solving. Now, I am happy to leave it to others.

I sincerely hope that Mr KB will continue to astonish us with his magic paintbrush.

Best wishes,

Chris

[k.b.]

Thank you kindly Mr Dobson for your over-generous compliments. Thought i would post a few piccies of some figures I`m putting the finishing touches to - on a lazy Sunday afternoon. To be more precise, I`m the first step into basing them. They need to be left to dry before i blow off any excess base material and add a thin coat of Woodlands Scenic white glue to fix things once and for all before applying the various coats of paint.
You`ll be glad to see I`ve almost finished my Old Guard standard bearer and whilst basing my Soumy Hussar, as requested by Mr B, i found a couple of other painted horses that were lying around painted but crying out to be based, so here goes.