Wednesday 26 December 2018

Fly me two dragoons

Not many people know but back in 1812, Napoleon was experimenting with a balloon observation corps. Obviously horses were short at the time due to the army eating most of them on the retreat from Moscow. As his Dragoons were considered quite flexible (ie being converted to Lancers or serving on foot) he decided these would be the guys to man his fledgling aerial service. Meanwhile Marshal Ney was commanding the rearguard on the retreat and had no cavalry left to scout for the dreaded Cossacks. So he sent an urgent communique to the Emperor, which has since been memorialised in song by none other than Francis Albert Sinatra, "Fly me two Dragoons so I can slay among the Tsars!".

Apologies for the appalling humour, I blame over-indulgence over the festive period.

Meanwhile here are my completed 1st Dragoons

As they arrived from Ebay:-


Refurbished:-


Seasons greetings to all.

Cheers

Dave
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6 comments:

  1. Rob27 December 2018 at 10:29

    A great unit - I do like dragoons and line chasseurs but they so often get muscled out by the more trendy or Garde units. What are the different epaulettes on the guy on the left of the front rank about?

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  2. mojoworking27 December 2018 at 11:00

    Hi Rob, Thanks for the kind comments. The epaulettes aren't actually different, it's just a reflection from the desk lamp off the gloss varnish!

    Cheers

    Dave

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    Replies
    1. mojoworking27 December 2018 at 11:10

      Rob,I've just checked the actual figures and the second from 'stage left' , ie the unit's right flank indeed has a green shoulder strap, missed that one when doing the red detail painting. Will get that sorted ASAP!

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  3. Wellington Man27 December 2018 at 14:20

    Rob is correct. Some people just do not paint their armies in the proper order, do they!

    You've created a wonderfully colourful and highly animated effect with your dragoons, Dave, which is not easy to do with such a complex and rather static sculpt.

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    1. mojoworking27 December 2018 at 15:06

      Thanks Matt, praise from the master is always appreciated. My next French cavalry unit will be 12 x Line Lancers, these are mainly original HH OPC castings which are quite a spirited pose in contrast to the dragoons. One or two may be home recasts as the bases are thin with large areas totally missing.

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  4. Mark Dudley29 December 2018 at 00:15

    I have a few JC cavalry recasts with malformed and missing basis. I use Miliput to rebuild the base and this works well.

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