From StefanK: 28mm Napoleonic Retreat from Russian - French Foreign Allies (35 points)

Those following the Challenge will know that Stefan and I are both enjoying working on the Perry range of French 1812 Retreat models. Here are seven members of the Grande Armee's foreign allies that he's recently added to his fine collection.

From Stefan:

Once again a couple of Perrys' excellent 1812 Frenchmen and allies. This time I chose a couple of figures from their infantry and cavalry sets. Actually they were meant to be a group of heroes for the last bonus round but unfortunately I wasn't able to finish them on time.

Actually I tried to paint them slightly unusual. More precisely I wanted to represent as many German soldiers as possible. These are the results:

An officer from some kind of cavalry unit. Actually all of his clothing besides the coat is civilian. But this coat is the pattern usually worn by cavalrymen of the Grande Armée.

A soldier from Napoleon’s Légion Portuguese. Clearly recognizable from the very special hat. In addition he’s wearing an army greatcoat and a couple of civilian scarves.

Cavalryman from the 1st Carabiniers. This regiment served with four squadrons in the 4th Cavalry Division under General de Division Jean-Marie Defrance at Borodino. This guy here seems to weare a rather full kit under his greatcoat although he obtained some civilian clothing as well. Anyway he looks fierce wielding his two pistols and therefore I use to call him “Django” in a friendly way.

Just a grenadier from a line infantry regiment. He’s wearing a combination of mostly civilian clothing and an army greatcoat. Therefore special characteristics aren't recognizable and so I like the idea that he is from a unit from the Grand Duchy of Berg.

An artillerymen from the French foot artillery. Actually he is from the infantry set but the greatcoat is hidden enough to resemble the double-breasted version which was worn by the artillery as well. His shoulders are covered with a civilian blanked which I painted in a checked pattern so his epaulettes aren’t visible. Actually he might be from my home the Grand Duchy of Berg as well…

A very nice figure of a hussar having lost parts of his kit and wearing a kind of blanket. I chose to paint him greenish since he should represent a soldier from the 1st Westphalian Hussars.

Another infantrymen with rather average equipment. He’s wearing an army greatcoat and a civilian jacket and cap. Once again this guy could be used as a soldier from every regiment of line infantry or any other unit. Maybe he’s a boy from the Bergische Land as well…

As usual I employed Vallejo model colours. It was great joy to paint these figures since they are as excellently sculpted as the other miniatures I know from that range. Especially the hussar general (the heroe entry) and the hussar with the blanket have extraordinarily detailed faces. But when I varnished the minis great havoc came over me. Carelessly I used Army Painter Anti-Shine for the final layer and stuff partly dissolved the paint and caused it to wrinkle partly. Fortunately most defects are rather small but the Portuguese infantryman and the Frenchman with the purple cap are rather filthy. I was so angry yesterday because Anti-Shine caused me to repaint a dozen horses two years ago so I should have known better than using it again. But in between I used it on some other miniatures and it worked well. Anyway that stuff will never touch my miniatures again!

I hope you like the results nonetheless. Up to this point I couldn't bring myself to decolour them…

Beautiful work Stefan. I really like that you've picked a theme for these fellows giving us an insight to the incredibly varied nature of the Grande Armee at that time. 

Sorry to hear about your mishap with Army Painter's Anti-Shine spray. I've had similar problems with it myself. It seems to be misnomered as it instead should be called 'Anti Anything' or 'Pro Infuriating' spray. I now stick to Testor's good ole stinky Dulcote.

These seven miserable fellows will give Stefan 35 points.

Stefan, like a poker game I'll see you these excellent chaps and raise you with some more Russians by the end of this weekend. Stay posted!