"Louis XVIII Starts his Hundred Days." Topic

Finally got this done. Louis did me a big favour by leaving the Tuilleries at midnight; it makes the photography easier!

Those are not electric lights in the background….they are very, very, powerful candles…….

The coach is that beautiful new model from Schilling/Westfalia, a creation of Niels Rullkotter of course. I added roof baggage, shutters, the glazed front window and the Bourbon crest. It is strictly more 1760s than 1815, but I suspect Louis was not too fussed by that stage! It just looks so right. I added two horses from their Saxon artillery six (they are really nice castings) but got their relative positioning wrong (the experts will notice three rear horses out of four and one in the leading pair at that!). Let's just say the harness is not fully ready for departure……..

The postillions are Perry RHA with much imagination and royal lace (which took ages and is quite invisible in the night shots). The Household troops you will recognise and even Louis is just an AWI British officer fattened up! The Black Musketeer mannequin, in La Musee de l'Armee, started this project. Niel's coach was the proverbial icing on the cake

couple more pics here;

https://imageshack.com/a/EiXz/1

Very nice. I like the conversions.

Very atmospheric indeed……….

Beautifully done.

Smart looking unit. Shane they never grace any battlefields.

well done – excellent conversions, inspirational

Superb!

Just great. I love your choice of figures, and especially their positioning in such an interactive manner.

"That fat king must be carried from the throne!"

Great stuff, well done!

Very impressive.

Deadhead,

Wow! It's art, Deadhead. It's not just miniatures, it's art!
Amazing.

- Sasha

Really grateful for the feedback. I have von Winterfeldt to thank for the extended coat tails on the Household cavalry. His early cuirassiers conversions inspired me.

Edwulf, you are so right. A very pretty bunch (actually their uniforms were magnificent) but far too expensive and amongst the least effective units in history. Most were dismissed or deserted before Louis crossed into "Belgium" and DoW wanted nothing to do with the remnants of the Royal Army. Always struck me as odd they did not even rate observer status for the campaign.

If you do got to the on line photos you will see the carriage before assembly and, if anything is a work of art, that is. It will look even better as daylight images of course, so I may redo as Louis' earlier foray, which he abandoned after a few minutes!

Thought it was worth adding some daylight shots "from the first attempt to leave". Personally I greatly prefer the midnight images. Many more on the link above, if interested;

Excellent models presented to the highest standart. I am in awe.

Thank you very much for sharing that with us.

Deadhead – Great job! Thanks for posting.

Best Regards,

John

Lovely result!

Night shots are definitely more atmospheric.

Day shots though show off your paint work and the figures more.

Museum quality work. Now i have to melt down all my stuff.

I love it! Very inspirationnal!
I suppose the Black Musketeers are conversions from Perry plastic carabiniers ?

Absolutely right. Just take off cuirasse ornaments from officer (no moustache) but preserve the chest shape as a sort of tabard. Add coat tails a la von Winterfeldt and a horse tail to the woollen crest on the helmet. The rest is minor helmet work.

The Gendarmes of the Royal Household were trickier. Plastic Perry dragoons with modified helmets from carabiniers (slightly taller) and chest lace. The aigulettes are from my favourite source. The brass wire you get with a nice bottle of Chianti (comes ready braided and twisted)

Not units that any wargamer would want though! Not sure even Louis did!

Blue Max, I meant to insert a picture to illustrate construction. So if anyone is overwhelmed by a desire to recreate Louis XVIII's very short lived Household Troops (Maison du Roi), here is how I did it. The painted figure I did years ago for a diorama never even started. He was meant to be meeting his imperial equivalent, a Chasseur a Cheval of the Guard at the close of the Hundred Days, but he was a bit crude, so I repainted after adding helmet details……..

Excellent!

Marco