Miscellaneous Napoleonic Cavalry

[Ochoin]

One of the nicest sets of figures painted as they deserve. Your work is truly excellent.

donald

[Bill Slavin]

I completely agree with Donald on both accounts. These look fantastic and will always be one of my favourite Italeri sets.

[Bessiere]

You're in luck if you want casualty figures since Linear A, Franznap and Speira all have sets recently released. The Linear A are already sold out where I shop so you might want to move quickly to secure a set. The Speira are really great figures but the swords and scabbards are very easily broken off. The Linear A have a bit of flash and contain dragoon, lancer, carabiner and cuirassier figures. I should be receiving the Franznap soon so I can let you know what I think of those once they arrive.
Cheers,
Bessiere

[raph86]

Hello,
Another nice addition to your cavalry.
I myself painted this reference with great pleasure two years ago.

For the linear losses, I find the figures too big compared to the others except maybe with the zvezda and with too many moulding lines and deformation. The Franznap are just beautiful and for speira, I have the 3D files so I'll print some as soon as possible to see how they look but the advantage is to be able to modify the scale to your liking.

[PatrickJ71]

Wow, k.b.: 24 beautifully painted dragoons!
Very smooth and detailed painting as always.
I find it difficult to keep up a high standard when painting multiple figures, but you don't seem to have that problem.
Thanks for sharing,
Patrick.

[Santi Pérez]

Wonderful dragoons, k.b. Great figures they are!

Santi.

[Peter]

Wonderfull!

[MABO]

My respect for finishing this cool cavalry unit. Like a lot of other members here, I like the Italeri Dragoons. They were released when I strted with the hobby so they are a milstone for me. Your painting is once more impressive. I am looking forward to see more of your skills.

And of course I am waiting for the cossacks!

[k.b.]

Thanks gents for your comments which are always most welcome. Both Donald and Bill agree that these Italeri French Dragoons are a fantastic set and I dare say they are my favourite set out until today.
Your information Bessiere regarding casualty sets was enlightening as I was completely unaware that Franznap had several sets of casualty figures available. The Speira figures, indeed like any other 3D printed figures don’t inspire me at all. For me they are cold, they have no soul. Even Strelets figures, none of which I own, have something magical about them that 3D printed figures don’t seem to have up to now. The Linear figures I shall - sooner or later - get hold of although I am reluctant to spend a lot on minis that need lots of flash and mouldlines removed. As for Franznap’s it’s crazy that up to now I haven’t really got to grips with Francesco’s minis despite having several sets of his French Hussars. Not sure until today if I was disappointed with them or not. For me they’re a bit too skinny and the horses were a big disappointment overall, even though their positions are tremendous. I just found that the details that put figures into the outstanding category were for some reason missing on Franznap’s figures. I feel he has rushed so much to get a huge variety out there on the market, but maybe he cut corners when it came to quality control. Saying that, the proportions are probably more accurate than most 1/72 miniatures on the market.
When I have finished sculpting some Cossack heads (cheers for the subtle reminder Mabo) and converted a few dragoons I might get down to seriously tackling some of Francesco’s hussars…… up to now I have merely toyed with the idea. And I most definitely want to get round to sculpting some minis of my own. It’s so easy to criticise…… perhaps I shall be more sympathetic once I find out how hard it really is.
Thank you kindly Patrick for your remarks even if by my count there are 25 figures out there up to now (but more are still in the pipeline) and not the 24 you mentioned. Appearances can be deceiving and I assure you I do have difficulties keeping my miniatures to a similar standard. In truth it’s why my turnout is so slow, and probably explains why I jump around from 1 regiment to another, even from one scale to another. Procrastination and the tedium demon are also often the culprits for keeping my productivity very low.

[k.b.]

Been fiddling with my camera again. At same time thought I'd breathe some life into my French Dragoons........by adding Russian cavalry

[Peter]

Keep playing with that camera Keith! I like it!

[Rich W]

Looks like an epic cavalry scrap taking place!

[Bessiere]

Now that's a scrap! Nice to see so many finely done figures together
Cheers,
Bessiere

[Bessiere]

I should mention I just finished both the Linear A and the Franznap sets of cuirassier casualties (2 sets of each). The Linear A are rather large and a fair amount of flash but they painted up pretty well. The Franznap are unfortunately small (same size as A call to Arms Cuirassiers/ a hair larger than Airfix) but nicely detailed and also a pleasure to paint. There were a few bad spots on the castings; swords, sheath and reins missing on a few. First time I've gotten bad casts from Franznap so I don't know if it's just particular to this set. I also had fun mauling some Zvezda figures with pliers and getting poses I didn't think possible so there are many options.
Cheers,
Bessiere

[k.b.]

I should mention I just finished both the Linear A and the Franznap sets of cuirassier casualties (2 sets of each). The Linear A are rather large and a fair amount of flash but they painted up pretty well. The Franznap are unfortunately small (same size as A call to Arms Cuirassiers/ a hair larger than Airfix) but nicely detailed and also a pleasure to paint. There were a few bad spots on the castings; swords, sheath and reins missing on a few. First time I've gotten bad casts from Franznap so I don't know if it's just particular to this set. I also had fun mauling some Zvezda figures with pliers and getting poses I didn't think possible so there are many options.
Cheers,
Bessiere

Would love to see some photos of both sets with some size comparisons.

Thanks you kindly gents for your comments.
Am not adverse to criticism so please don’t be afraid to do so.

[Santi Pérez]

It's great to enjoy two large masses of riders so well painted facing each other in a tough melee. Great work, k.b.

Santi.

[Minuteman]

These images of a Napoleonic cavalry fight are very impressive, Great work!

[Bessiere]

Here's a comparison of sizes for you K.B. Back row center are Italeri French cuirassiers. Italeri dragoon on left. Foreground is a single speira figure with 2 Zvezda on either side. 2 Cuirassiers on extreme right are Franznap and the Carabiner and Dragoon are from the Linear A set - absolutely dwarfing the Italeri figures.

[k.b.]

Thank you kindly for showing these figures here…. love the Franznap Cuirassier firing pistol and the Carabinier falling from his horse the most. Also liked a lot the lying Dragoon and the Cuirassier in the middle of the front row. Appreciated how you included a couple of Zvezda Cuirassiers to give a size comparison and the Italeri Dragoon propped up against his fallen horse was also very inspiring.

Am finishing a couple of Vistula Lancers and a Hussar officer afterwhich I cannot procrastinate any longer - casualty figures will have to jump to the front of the queue before my Russian Don Cossack conversions. Your casualties have truly been my inspiration. Thanks again.

[Bessiere]

I forgot to mention the standing cuirassier on the back row left has the bottom half of an ESCI Prussian infantryman. You can still tell from the head and torso size they are tiny in comparison to the Zvezda and Linear A which are a full head taller. I found by using a jewelers saw to make shallow cuts I could bend the legs of the Zveza figures and squeeze them closer together using pliers and a fair amount of force. Many of the Italeri dragoons can have their left arm liberated from their body by careful use of a blade which can then be bent up in a different position. Don't forget the head twists either, just pad the jaws of the pliers so you don't dent the figure. You can turn them at least 90 degrees with little problem. It stresses the plastic but won't break it. You don't even have to heat the figures up though some say it helps. I skip that step fwiw.
Cheers,
Bessiere