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Thursday, 9 July 2015

Austrian Cavalry

Sorry for the quiet spell........... Chris has now restarted work on the Austrian cavalry.

Austrian Cuirassier


Attached is a photo of the almost finished 'green' of the trooper. There is a bit of work to do (reins, holster caps, lower the cartouche and round off the saddle cloth a bit), but quite close.

I selected the pose, as that is how I like to see my cuirassiers (hard looking) - I hope you like it. I think the resulting figure is very good, and am looking forward to painting up a unit (or two).



The intention is to cut the figure at the waist, where there will be a 'plug' joint, and the neck where there will be the same fixing as in the infantry. This should allow a fair amount of variation (it is not possible to completely split the horse and rider in semi flats).

We are not yet sure what will fit in the moulds, possibly just the horse in one, and three torsos, carbine, and heads in another. if only three torsos it is a bit of a shame, as I would like to see four, with an officer, standard bearer, trumpeter and trooper. If only three will fit I think that the musician could be left out and added, along with a dragoon drummer, a little later.

Austrian Dragoons & Musicians


Another mould with torsos can cover the officer, standard bearer and trooper for the dragoons, and a further mould for the musician torsos of both the dragoons and cuirassiers.

I think that there should be another walking horse to add a bit of variety - any thoughts on the dragoon pose?

Prussians and Russians


Once we have the first test castings we can see how much/little is needed to complete the dragoons and cuirassiers:

  • Prussian dragoons might just need new torsos & heads.
  • Prussian cuirassier might need new horses (shorter coat tails and sabretache) and heads
  • Russians might just need new horses (sword belts outside coat tails)

This can really only be decided once we get the first batch cast up.


As usual comments welcome, particularly just as we are setting of with the cavalry.


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21 comments:

  1. Scheck9 July 2015 at 23:25

    As I understood, this will be a miniature in 40mm - matching to or with the PA moulds? Wonderful, really a magnificent sculpt. As 40mm collector, I am curious to get more ranges of figures. I will follow your next news about this project - thank you for sharing this with us.
    Peter

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  2. SteveM9 July 2015 at 23:33

    Peter

    Yes this is a 40mm semi-flat to match the rest of the range. I am pleased to hear you like it.

    Steve

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  3. Corporal_Trim10 July 2015 at 01:28

    Fantastic, Prince August is really raising their game with these ! Not so much in comparison to the Karoliners as the original HE's have their own charm, but in comparison to the Rossbach series, to my eyes this represents great improvement.

    And again, hats off to your facilitation efforts, Steve.

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    1. SteveM10 July 2015 at 09:22

      Steve

      Thanks - it is proving tricky to decide how to maintain the balance. What I would like to see is to maintain the character of the old HEs (the horse pose is similar to the HE 'officer'' casting),have them fit in with the (my) Karoliners, but with a much higher level of detail and sculpting.

      Input is always welcome, - one of the spurs to getting this range going were your comments on the poses of some of the later Karoliner Russians. Comments are passed to the sculptor, who does listen, so what is said on this forum is influencing how the range is progressing.

      Steve

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  4. Ross Mac rmacfa@gmail.com10 July 2015 at 02:46

    He looks good so far. The position is good.

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    1. SteveM10 July 2015 at 09:26

      Ross

      Thanks, as with my reply to Steve, please let me know when you like, or don't like something - it all helps.

      Steve

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  5. tidders10 July 2015 at 12:23

    Nice figure

    I'm looking forward to the availability of the cavalry moulds

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  6. SteveM10 July 2015 at 20:54

    Allan

    Thanks, Chris has put a lot of effort into making something suitable for gaming. I think they will look good in units.

    Steve

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  7. Jay Stribling11 July 2015 at 19:16

    This cavalryman and horse look great. I am a sucker for standing or walking horses, but this is a great start for the "new" cavalry.

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    1. SteveM11 July 2015 at 23:30

      Jay

      Thanks, this to me is THE pose for cuirassier.

      Steve

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  8. Unknown11 July 2015 at 20:38

    Lovely cavalry figure Steve; really looks quite outstanding. Does he have a full cuirass or just the front plate?

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    1. SteveM11 July 2015 at 23:28

      There is only a front plate, however I have spoken to Chris (the sculptor) who says that if painted with a back plate it would not be noticeable. If there is space I will try and get a French bearskin in for you, but space is tight so no promises.

      Steve

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    2. Unknown12 July 2015 at 11:36

      You know me too well Steve! Many thanks. Really looking forward to this one.

      Delete
  9. Rahway13 July 2015 at 13:43

    I have been looking forward to this fellow's debut. A massed group of these figures should look very good.

    The walking horse is a good choice for a basic cavalrymen. If you do add another you might consider a definite alternative type, like a trotting pose, rather than a variation of the horse above.

    I agree that if this horse is going to be used for the Prussian Dragoons and sometimes be painted as a Russian Cuirassier the saddle cloth should be more rounded.

    One quibble: the bridle could be better. It would work on a more toy-like figure as it is now but so far this range has gone for better detail than that.

    I am really looking forward to casting a bunch of these troopers.



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  10. SteveM13 July 2015 at 14:05

    Rahway

    One of the things which is currently being changed is the reins, the nose strap is going to be raised, and the second set of reins attached, which should improve matters significantly.

    With respect to the horses my preference is to add some variation into the walking pose, as different as possible, but still walking.

    The Russians will probably have a different horse so the the sword belt and scabbard are over the coat. (I am having a chat with the sculptor later today, at the moment we are trying to figure best way forward.)

    I got an email from PA today saying the Russian infantry will be out this week?

    Steve

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  11. Rahway15 July 2015 at 03:38

    That is very good news about the Russian infantry. I have some tin on hand for them.

    PA11 / PAS931, the charging dragoon, has been a very popular figure. It might be a good idea to give some consideration to updating it within this new range.

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    1. Rahway18 July 2015 at 03:54

      PA has now released the Russians.

      http://shop.princeaugust.ie/russian-moulds/

      Delete
    2. SteveM21 July 2015 at 17:06

      Hopefully with the Waterloo exhibition sorted production of the SYW moulds will resume.

      I am still tempted to go for a walking dragoon so that there will be a variety of horses which will sit in the same units. I have not seen the rest of the cuirassier figures yet, so we can reconsider once we can see what goes in the moulds.

      Steve

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  12. Chris Salander24 September 2015 at 04:32

    Hi. My top priority is to get a 40mm hussar wearing a busby for the Austrian hussars. Any news on this type of figure?

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    1. SteveM24 September 2015 at 20:00

      Chris

      The plan is to have a pretty generic hussar, with several head options, including the busby.

      I have no idea of the proposed release date, but at the present speed of production it will be many months away!

      Steve

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    2. SteveM26 September 2015 at 12:02

      Chris

      I just noticed your comments on the PA website, thanks for taking the time to load them up.

      Referring to your comments on the site:

      The Prussian officer's sword is difficult to fix, I pin them, it is easier than it looks to drill into the back of the sword.

      The lack Prussian fusilier heads in the infantry mould was a mistake on the part of PA, there should have been two musketeers, and one each od fusilier and grenadier. They seem to be getting thier act togetherr better now.

      There is a fusilier head in the Prussian Guard mould, and the march attack figure (which is a nice figure with gaiter buttons and musket sling).

      Photos of finished units would be welcome.

      Steve

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