Tuesday 1 June 2010

17th Light Dragoons (2)


My second unit of figures for the 17th is the Perry pack of dragoons "on picket duty". These are lovely figures, although to be honest probably of limited use for the kind of large battles I'm interested in. That said, I can see them patrolling the edges of the British lines, perhaps on duty in camp or even hovering around General Knyphausen who had a couple of dragoons attached to his staff (presumably as bodyguards or messengers). The figures' suitability for skirmish games is obvious and, to be honest,the figures are too nicely sculpted to be hidden away.


As these are "early war" troops I deliberately painted the horses in more traditional colours and not as palominos, tobianos or any of the more fanciful breeds that I enjoy doing. Paintings of dragoons in Mollo and on the Don Troiani website show the horses carrying white head bridles. These bridles have quite clearly been sculpted on most (if not all) of the Perry Miniatures cavalry, but I hadn't noticed until now; consequently, I painted white harnesses where applicable. Veterans of the Foundry and Perry Miniatures AWI ranges will know that throughout the packs are various figures that have faces very similar to that of Alan Perry. These figures are affectionately referred to by my London gaming companions as "Alans". A classic example can be seen in the close-up in the last pair below, although I would emphasise that I have never seen Alan looking so mean! This is a face that appears in each of the rank-and-file cavalry packs in the Perry range. I'm quite pleased with the way this figure turned out - as someone said elsewhere, he looks as if he's going to shoot every rebel he comes across.


3 figures. Painted May 2010.





10 comments:

Doc Smith said...

Giles - these are even better than the last lot - and I mean painting not the colour of the uniform! The face on the detail shot on the last one in the pictures posted is quite superb. Its a remarkable rendering & colouration of the features - even more so given the scale at which your working. Amazing stuff Giles - very inspiring.

Cheers,
Doc

Anonymous said...

Excellent brushwork Giles on both the horses and riders.

Thank you for sharing your joy,

Helen

Consul said...

Awesome looking unit! The detail on the faces is unrivaled anywhere else on the internet.

Consul.

Sire Godefroy said...

Had a laugh at this last guy's facial expression - top notch, both sculpting and your painting!

The detail of your riders is exceptionally well done. For my 16th dragoons' equipment I've chosen some other colours (e.g. blue canteens) as I had only contradictory information available. What was your main source here?

Cheers
SG

Giles said...

Thanks for the comments.

SG - when I painted my 16th Light Dragoons (pics at the weekend), I did the canteens in light blue. That was following the figures on the Perry website, which I gather followed the British cavalry's practice in the Napoleonic era. I am reliably informed by specialists in the AWI/18th century that canteens were not painted and were left as natural wood, sometimes covered with cloth or canvas to keep them cool. That said, light blue looks rather neat, I think - as often with the AWI: your figures, your rules :^).

Melanchthon said...

I love painting these guys.

You did a wonderful job.

Christopher(aka Axebreaker) said...

Great looking stuff yet again Giles!

Cheers
Christopher

marinergrim said...

Excellent work there on one of my local regiments. The Regimental museum is at Belvoir Castle (pronounced Beaver) and is well worth a visit.

marinergrim said...

Sorry should have said that it used to be at Belvoir but is being moved to Thoresby Park.

AJ (Allan) Wright said...

Nice looking figures. I could see posting two of these in a battlefield unit on the flanks to represent flankers, either that or mixed in here and there to represent NCOs, etc.