French Cuirassiers & Dragoons

French heavy cavalry brigade of 3 squadrons of dragoons and 3 squadrons of cuirassiers. Figures from Elite Miniatures, based on single stands for the BAR Napoleonic rules that we are working on. click the pix to enlarge the view.



The results of an evening's worth of figure basing: Elite Miniatures French cuirassiers, dragoons and, oh, one Minden SYW Austrian cuirassier in the front row on the left. In the background you can see part of a 60 figure battalion of Minden SYW Austrian infantry that is waiting to get primed and painted.

The first leg of my 100 Days Napoleonic painting blitz was completed this evening with the completion of 34 French cuirassiers and the basing of said figures plus a few dragoons. You can see the results in the picture above. By the way, I really do not like terraining the bases of my figures. It can be a royal pain in the neck. I figure that it takes me about a minute to apply the spackle compound (paint is mixed in already), sprinkle some grit or gravel, then apply some flock while the spackle is still wet.

If I want the bases to look really nice, then I do what I call The Frank Hammond Method of spackle, grit, dry overnight, apply ink, dry brush and then apply static grass. This takes two evening's work because the goop needs to dry overnight before the ink wash is applied. It results in a more professional looking base, but it takes longer. Usually, I use this method for command stands or smaller wargame projects.

Here's a little basing tip that I picked up on TMP this week. When you want to remove figures from old bases, and the figures were glued using super glue, then you simply put the figures in the freezer for an hour or two to chill. This breaks down the glue bond. Then, simply pop the figures off the stand using a #2 Exacto wedge knife. I was amazed at how easily the figures popped off of the wooden stands.


Another view of my heavy cavalry brigade for the 1806 Project.

It seems like I have been on a heavy binge of Napoleonic cavalry painting this month. That's because I had the incentive of round two of the In The Grand Manner game on Saturday May 30th, and I wanted to paint a couple of 32 figure ITGM cavalry regiments for the French. Nothing like a deadline to get the brushes moving fast. That said, once the game is over, I will have to take a short break from Napoleonics and paint at least a squadron of the Minden SYW Austrian cuirassiers to relax me and restore a sense of sanity.