"Austrian Dragoons as Danish Horse Guards 1st Schl-Hol War" Topic

Hello all,

This one is not for the purists (and is a bit against my own DNA in that regard). I wanted to include some form of heavy cavalry for my Danish side, so I went with the Danish Horse Guards. I could have probably repurposed Bavarian Cuirassiers, but I had left over Northstar Austrian Dragoon figures and these would fit well with the Danish Dragoons that I had done using the same Northstar figures. The helmet on the Austrian Dragoons, with a bit of modification, would be closer to the look of the Danish Horse Guards, I thought, as well.

This was my starting point, Danish Horse Guards:

Here's an interesting picture of them loading up for the war:

Once again, I started with the Northstar Austrian Dragoons:

Like before, I cut off the forage roll on the saddle pommel (on the right side), the tin cup from the roll on the back, and scraped the eagle off of the helmet front. Going farther by way of modifying the figures than normal, I added a crest with some green stuff. I thought about trying to add a cuirass, but that was just a bit too much for me.

Here is the result. I painted the signature big boots in over the overalls. The absence of the cuirass is the biggest departure, I do admit, but the overall look of the unit is reminiscent of the historical, I think, especially given that the cuirass would be yellow and probably not stand out that much from the yellow jacket from the 3-4 foot game-table perspective (that's my story and I'm sticking with it!). What does stand out is the headgear, which I think came out well and does deliver the signature look (and probably nobody but me would know that the cuirass is missing--let it be our secret).

Best,
Ed M

PS. I'm rounding out my collection and should be putting up a "Pass in Review" of the armies in a few weeks (on the "show off your 19th Century Army Thread")>

Hmmn, I was thinking about adding another cavalry unit for each side to my 1848 Toy Town armies. I just might do that for the Danes, and the figures already have a cuirass.

Great job,really look the part.

I like it. If you tell me, they didnt use their cuirass, i beleave you.

Do you differentiate with your troops, what time they fought: 1848, truce, 1849, truce, 1850?

Thanks, Decebalus,

I'm generally going for an 1848/49 look for the Danes--more transitional earlier look (post shako and red coat for inf, pre blue coat for dragoons) to fit the figures to some extent rather than targeting a specific campaign.

Best,
Ed M