"2e Eclaireurs finally done!" Topic

It's taken ages, but finally the 2e Eclaireurs of La Garde sont finis! Let's face it, no one can agree on their uniform, so I have tried to show every variant, in just 12 of them. I have never accepted the conical shako as anything but the work of a later artist, reflecting his contemporary military fashions. I am convinced enough to leave off the lance pennons and I have shown them both with the shabraque and the simpler tackle, as seen on the Perry US cavalry horses. I had converted several by covering the little leather satchel with a Greenstuff sack, but forgot about them completely! The horses are too big for this unit, an unusual complaint in 28 mm modelling!
The scouts are a mixture of;
Perry Carlist War Polish lancers with added coat tails and much grinding away of detail
The same figures with Perry plastic French hussar cylindrical shakos (my favourites)
The Perry Chasseurs a Cheval in cylindrical shako, with much work on the coat.
Cap lines are from the brass wire you get with a nice bottle of Rioja. Dragoon helmets were left over from the Perry figures in overcoats, now Polish lancers. Nothing wasted in my spares box! The pistols are from Victrix Highlanders. Great for spare parts, but no way was I going to tackle that tartan after my first effort failed disastrously. The fallen leaves were cut out one by one by Mrs Deadhead……….she cursed me.

Some earlier unpainted shots etc here;
imageshack.com/a/usEz/1

Wow! Deadhead you have done a magnificent job, they look absolutely superb! Oh I miss Eclaireurs in my collection but I am no good at converting figures. Maybe this shining example will inspire the Perry Brothers to make us a set.

great conversions and basing for the winter campaign of 1814

Very nice!
I also like the frozen bases

Envy, complete and total envy…..

Bravo Deadhead!

Pat

Very much appreciated, to all of you. To be honest I think the photography lets them down slightly. I used so many lamps, that I have too much reflection. These look highly reflective and glossy in the pics posted. The bay and chestnut horses do have a slight sheen, even with a matt varnish, but the riders are totally matt in reality. They are also not quite such a garish green….and the "red" is crimson on the real thing!

White balance etc can only achieve so much……wish I was more of an expert on the photos.

Of course now I see the aurore sploge on the eclaireur's collar and the awful red stripe on the shabraque……the camera does not forgive any errors, but it creates others

Very pretty!

Those snowy bases are making my feet cold, and it's ~80degF outside!

Great work, I wish to have a set in 18mm 1 day.

Really, really nice, and of course completely unique with all the conversion work you did on them!

some tipps, the lining of the saddle cloth was white with diagnoal blue stripes, at least Bucquoy shows this like that, I like the turned up points of the saddle cloth.
In case you like to improve the red stripe at the edge – pre – paint it with a very dark brown and then the thin red lining on top and leave a thin dark brown line in between the aurore and the red.

Now I had often wondered about the turned up and exposed lining on the shabraque. It would look far better, as well as more accurate, as you suggested. Snag is I did the Garde chevauleger lanciers, chasseurs a cheval etc the same grey!

The dark brown idea is inspired. The figures are generally better than the photos suggest. Again, they are totally matt finish in reality. The exception is the red stripe, which I added as an afterthought. It is awful and will be redone today as you advise.

Wish it was 80F outside in North Yorkshire today………..

80 F outside in North Yorkshire – didn't you convert to Celcius ;-)).

Anyway colder temperatures are not that bad for fine lining – there the paint is not drying to quickly on the brush.

Genius. Brown stripe then red………trouble is can only get to the outer figures. But next time……..

They look absolutely amazing, I love the idea of basing them on rounded bases!