First French

Time to get started on some opposition for my British / Allied troops.
These will be the first French Napoleonics I've painted in 40 years.

I've started with these elite light infantry, which coincidentally were the first Hinton Hunt figures I bought when I started collecting about 3 years ago. That was the start of the slippery slope!

These are 1809-ish uniforms, I put the carabiniers in colpacks as well as the voltigeurs because a) I don't have any figures wearing the taller bearskins, b) I do have the figures in colpacks. Seen a bit of debate on various discussion sites and there is evidence that some units were attired this way and often retained this style up to 1812 and beyond, despite official regulations. Work on the Chasseur companies will start this week.

This was the first time I've used the black undercoat method and think I'll stick to it in future.

It's also the first time I've concentrated on a small batch of figures, it's certainly less tedious than painting a full unit of 24 at once. But I've calculated it will take me at least twice as long to complete a battalion, so will probably go back to the production line method in future.

This week I received 3 x British Light Infantry in exchange for 3 x BN5 British line infantry so have nearly enough for my British Light battalion now. Just need a couple of officers and I'll be good to go. On this subject, the guy who sent me these needs still more BN5's to complete his project, I said I'd make a request on his behalf to the good folk who read this blog, let me know if you can help and I'll put you in touch.