The New Puttkamer Hussars (H4)

HR4 Puttkamer Hussar Regiment (click twice to enlarge)

Close up view of one of the squadrons

CLICK ON ALL FIGURES TO ENLARGE THE VIEW

I have recently completed the rebasing and increase in size of my old Puttkamer Hussars regiment for the SYW Prussian army. The figures were 20 RSM Prussian hussars painted by Bill Biles around 1990 and based on cardboard, painted green and dipped into a bowl of green flock. That was state of the art in 1990, but not so these days. So I thought that I would rebase the unit and add in four new Minden command figures to bring it up to 24 figures (two squadrons of 12 figures).

Read the captions on the pictures for the rest of the story of the rebasing process.

The unit before the rebasing project begins.

Prying the the figures off the cardboard bases, circa 1990, with an Exacto blade. Be careful!

We need to add four more command figures to bring the unit up to 24 figures. This illustrates how well the RSM and the Minden Miniatures fit together.

A closeup view of an officer (left) and trumpeter (right) using Minden figures. This is my first ever attempt at painting a skewbald horse.

The figures have been glued to new 2-inch square wooden bases. They are now ready for terraining.

Here is the finished product: two squadrons of 12 figures each.

It is amazing how much better the regiment is now that it has been rebased with spackel terraining, static grass and some tufts.

As a result, I was able to quickly add a new unit of cavalry to my Prussian army, needing only to paint four command figures using Minden figures. I did not use a 2-tone paint scheme on the hussars' breeches and dolman. Only the white pelisse has 2-tone painting to bring out the white better. I wanted the new figures to blend in with the old painting style.

So the Puttkamer Hussars are now ready to get into action and make life miserable for the Austrians.