31 March 2011

1er Régiment de Carabiniers

For my La Haie Sainte project, I needed 2 regiments of Cuirassiers and I do have plans to do a second. But as an aside, I said to myself let's paint just one figure as those red-plumed fellows. Well I could not stop and here we are. I believe I enjoyed painting this cavalry unit more than any previous, I may even expand it to 12, but we will have to see. I have 8 more figures left from my second Perry box of heavy cavalry and they are slated to become the 1er Régiment de Cuirassiers. I have said it before, but I will say it again, these are first rate figures and I endorse them without reservation. 

I believe I got most of the uniform and the horses right, although I do note that the plume on the helmet of the trumpeter in the above sketch is white, might change it after more research. 


I used alcohol based metallics on the helmets and the cuirasses. Vallejo puts out a line called Oro Liquido, and they are just fantastic. On the officer's cuirass, I used red gold and on the troopers, I used plain gold. It is a little tricky to use, you put on a couple of brush strokes and then you have to re-stopper the bottle and give it a good shake to carry on. The paint just falls off the brush and has an almost perfect viscosity with an excellent spread and coverage pattern, remember I am painting over white and this is a single coat. It dries almost immediately. Highly recommended!
The flag came out of the Perry box and with a touch up, it looks quite nice.


Hopefully, you can see the difference between the two gold colours. I really like that red gold.
And finally, before Old Anonymous puts his 2 cents in, I do know that this is not the 1815 Carabinier uniform, but I found the white and sky blue just irresistible.

Well, I am going to take a little break from painting and start to work on my La Haie Sainte scenario. I have just finished re-surfacing my terrain boards (I will put up a post soon) and it is time to do something different. Let's hope that I have enough KGL Light/95th figures for the scenario. More to come! 

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10 comments:

  1. Beautiful work, John. I'm definitely going to have to try that metalic paint.

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  2. Thay look great - the best Napoleonic cavalry type in my opinion!

    Ian

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  3. I marvel at your output John. I guess I'm just an idle beggar!! You should expand your carabiniers AND your cuirassiers. A division of French heavies is bound to come in useful. 8O)

    Salute
    von Peter himself

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  4. Really lovely, John! You're going through a purple patch at the moment, churning out unit after unit!.

    Well done.

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  5. Great work - I really like the Perry plastic heavy cav - great mini's

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  6. They are VERY pretty cav John - paint 'em the way you like I say! Leave the right number of buttons etc to the pedants - just keep enjoying your painting, which you obviously do, given your prodigious output!

    Cheers,
    Doc

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  7. just came across your blog...excellent paintwork

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  8. Hi
    Very nice figures as always!
    The French carabiniers have an additional advantage: the first and second regiments were virtually indistinguishable on the field, when the men wore their white gloves!
    Best regards
    Rafa

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  9. Hi John,
    These are great looking, Brilliant the effect you get on the horse too. How is it you are doing them? is it various a wash over white?
    The golds look really cool too.
    Cheers
    Paul

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  10. Thanks for the compliments, they were fun to paint.

    Paul, the horses are all done with various washes or inks over a white primer.

    John

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