Tuesday, August 23, 2016

28mm Dismounted Napoleonic French Dragoons and Mediterranean Cottage


I needed to take a bit of a break from the undisciplined (if entertaining) cacophony of Renaissance fashion to work instead on something a little more staid, a little more 'uniform' in order to kick back and unwind.



Here are a half-dozen dismounted Napoleonic French dragoons, accompanied by their trumpeter and officer. 

Napoleon posted several regiments of dragoons to Spain during the Peninsular War and one could say that the French dragoons were the earliest anti-guerilla units in history. (Being that the Spanish word 'guerilla' was popularly coined during the Napoleonic period, being the diminutive of 'war' or alternately 'little war'). For both sides the guerilla war in Spain was a very brutal affair, with no quarter asked or given.


These figures are from a couple of manufacturers - two are multi-part plastics from Perry Miniatures, while the rest are from Brigade Games, sculpted by Paul Hicks.

Leader based on a hex and Trumpeter (support) on a square to help spot them on the tabletop.

I think the two sculpting styles work quite well together. That being said, I have to admit I'm a bit of a traditionalist and prefer the longer coattails of the earlier dragoon uniform a bit better. Hey, it's all about cutting a dash while sweating to death under the blazing Iberian sun!


The rustic cottage is from Grandmanner's 'Spanish Napoleonic' range. I managed to pick up a few in this series before they were discontinued earlier this summer (thanks for the help on this Sidney!). This is my first stab at painting one of these models and I found it a blast to work on.



After cleaning, I first sprayed the building's parts with Krylon Camo Brown and then over-sprayed with Krylon Camo Khaki to provide the base. I then used 'Americana' craft paints to block in the colours, Army Painter 'Strong Tone' as a wash and then liberally drybrushed using increasingly lighter tones.




While these buildings were specifically designed to reflect 19th century Spanish architecture, I think that, with a bit of squinting, they will work fine in any Mediterranean setting, and I imagine they'll see good service in our upcoming Italian Wars games. I'll post pics of the other buildings as I work through them.


Thanks for stopping by folks - have a great week!
 

43 comments:

  1. I've not painted anything Napoleonic since 1976, so I'm pretty darned impressed! That terrain looks the part as well, beautifully finished.

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    1. You've been holding out well Ev! Napoleonics were my first toy soldier love so I always enjoy coming back to them.

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    2. Mine too! Ahhhh the heady days of my early teens casting my own French infantry....

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  2. Splendid dismounted dragoons and building, love the details on this house...

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  3. Fantastic work, I do like both the house and the Dragoons. Excellent stuff!

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  4. What a splendid Post Curt, the different manufacturers hang together rather well and that cottage is very lovely.

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    1. Thank you Mr. Awdry. I agree, they do mash-up rather well.

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  5. Very nice indeed!

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  6. Lovely work on the dragoons and the building Curt :)

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  7. Superb work Mr Curt. I have a box of the Perry Dragoons waiting to be assembled and painted but may wait until December to get those started. I've always found mixing the Perry and Brigade figures go well. Front Rank can be a bit more difficult to mix in the same unit.

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    1. Ah, some Dragoons for the Challenge then, eh? Brilliant! Yes, Front Rank's castings are very nice but perhaps a bit too well fed to mix with Perry and Hicks' work.

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  8. Great work Curt! Paul Hicks really has a similar sculpting style to the Perry's. They all make great minis, definitely some of my favorite sculptors.

    By the way I just found my challenge "entry price" ready packed, but not shipped. Is your old address still valid? Sent an e-mail a few weeks back as well, but don't know if it went in to junk mail or somewhere else.

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    1. I love their work as well and so prolific - my brush can't keep up!

      BTW message sent. Thanks very much!

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  9. Lovely looking figures Curt as always! I love the building and think that it will fit nicely into an Italian Wars action.
    Cheers, Peter

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    1. Thank you Peter! It's nice to get some more terrain added to the collection.

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  10. Brilliant work dude - the dragoons are fantastic, but any production of terrains is even more impressive to me! Well done.

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    1. Thanks Greg, we both have the same aversion to doing terrain so I'm going to have to push on before the ardour begins to flag. ;)

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  11. Excellent painting work as usual
    I have a bunch of Perry dismounted Dragoons somewhere in my lead mountain, your post is enticing me to dig for them...
    I'm already planning the challenge (just over 3 months away) and the odds are in favour of a British/Portuguese army to confront my French.

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    1. Thanks Benito. I've done up a few battalions of the Victrix (now Brigade?) metal Portuguese and they are excellent - I think you will enjoy them.

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  12. The dragoons and house look very fine, Curt! Your history lesson gave me a bit of chuckle too as I have been eyeballing the Ranger Up shirt "Gorilla Warfare"....it's morning and I'm still waking up! ;)
    Break time over, so get back to the Italians! ;)

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  13. Both excellent pieces of work. The dragoons as well as the cottage loo superb!

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  14. Excellent work Curt. Nice Dragoon green; not too dark, not too light.

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    1. Cheers Iannick, yes, I've looked for years for a good Dragoon green and finally found it in the Wargames Foundry range. I highly recommend their Napoleonic sets.

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    2. Thought I'd recognize it...;-)

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  15. Fantastic painting work, Curt. The Dragoons are really nice, with a perfect green colour. And the house is superb, really Spaniard!

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    1. Nothing like getting a thumbs up from somebody who's at the source. Gracias Juan!

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  16. Fantastic work, Curt. I am so glad that the parcel arrived (and relieved it was only resin houses I was transporting across the Atlantic ;) ). The dragoons look wonderful. One of the most useful troop types on any tabletop - relentless foragers and pretty unpleasant characters to boot!

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    1. Thanks again Sidney for being my willing 'hobby mule'. The buildings arrived safe and sound and I hope to beaver through them over the coming weeks.

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  17. Simply excellent work there Curt! The dragoons look lovely and that building turned out beautiful! Really love Grand Manor buildings!

    Christopher

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  18. Excellent work on both the miniatures and the building Curt! The colour combination is rather striking on these chaps.

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    1. Thanks Nick! I purposefully made the colours on the Dragoons a bit punchy so they stand out on the tabletop.

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  19. Great looking dragoons and useful Spanish/ Italian building, finally started Napoleonics, was waiting till I grew up but have decided to start them now anyway.
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks very much Iain! Napoleonics is one of those epic periods of military history, rich with drama and great characters - I think you'll really enjoy it.

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