Prussian Cuirassiers - Rossbach

I thought I had better write something to let you know I am still around!

Quite understandably, Prince August have gone quiet during the pandemic and  not been able to release the new staff officer and light troops moulds I was looking forward to.

I have painted up a few more cavalry units, but they are just 'more of the same', so nothing worth discussing here. I have however recently had an attempt to make a unit of Prussian cuirassiers. Neither the old Karoliners or new SYW range have anything suitable, so decided to have a look at the old Rossbach range - and spent my hard earned pennies on the 3 Guarde du Corps moulds (trooper, officer and standard).

I was not happy that they fit in 'as cast', so did need a little work..............

As usual I swapped the heads for the Prussian infantry officer from the SYW range. The one on the Rossbach figure is not bad actually, however I decided they would match in better if I changed them.

The troopers have neither a carbine or valise, I decided I could live without the valise, but really wanted a carbine. The figure has the sword low on the right side, just where the carbine hangs. I initially thought that I was scuppered, however after a little experimentation I found that it relatively simple to cut a groove down the back of the sword using a hacksaw blade, and then slot in a slightly filed down carbine from the dragoons.

The Rossbach moulds do not include any musician, and the Karoliner and SYW do not match the style, so the best I could come up with was to cut/file away the whole right arm of an officer figure and replace with the trumpet from the SYW Austrian cuirassier. The Austrian cuirassiers are rather on the large size, so even after some filing down the trumpet arm has a bit of a 'lobster arm' effect, not brilliant but he will do (oops a bit of basing paint to clean off).

Size wise the Rossbach figures are on the small side, see comparison with the Karoliner/SYW Austrians.

I am not overly impressed with the results, and think we really need a a figure adding to the SYW range. However having invested in the moulds I will possibly do one more unit to have some units to put on the table.

General Officer

Just a quick post to let you know I am still here, and that PA are still slowly progressing the SYW  range😀

General Officer

There have been quite a few requests for a general officer, so PA are proposing to produce one. Rather than the usual sword in hand we thought something a little more interesting might look good, so we went with bare head with his hat in his hand - I think it is rather splendid.

As with the other mounted figures, he will have a separate right arm and swapable  head, so there will also be an alternative with head covered and a baton.

And you can also (hopefully) use an arm from the dragoons to give him a sword in hand (the hilt on the horse would need cutting off which might be fiddly)

If you don't mind the poses being the same you could make some French household cavalry using various arms (sword, trumpet & standard).

Light Infantry

The light infantry are also well underway, there will be standing firing and kneeling firing for both the Grenz & Frei Korps, I will post something when I have more details.



As always feedback would be appreciated.

More Austrian & Prussian cavalry

Happy New Year to everyone!

Over the festive break I have managed to finish off a few units which have been sitting on the painting table for some months  (they kept being put back as I indulge in my current fads). Excuse the photo quality, they are just taken on an old compact camera under a desk lamp.

Austrian Horse Grenadiers

This is my take on the grenadiers from DR#2 Liechtenstein, as usual I have simplified detail, as I prefer to have them 'neat' rather than 'accurate' (I can't do both), the flag is as usual from Maverick Models.

The horse grenadiers are based on the recent dragoon mould, but with a few modifications:

• The sword arm has been replaced by that from the cuirassiers, as I really do feel this is a better pose - it is a bit oversize but I think looks fine.
• The head is from the earlier infantry moulds, as the the castings I get from the dragoon mould seem very small/flat (I have suggested to PA that they remake the head mould).
• Horse grenadier squadrons had trumpeters rather than the drummers in the rest of the dragoons. I made one using the dragoon officer with the cuirassier trumpeter's arm, it took a bit of filing/bending, and again is a bit big - but I think looks fine.

• To finish off, I added sword hilts to the empty scabbards on the trumpeter and standard bearer (from from the French infantry).

This swapping of parts is what I always wanted for this range, although there are some issues with fit and sizing I must admit I enjoy using the various parts to come up with as close an approximation as I can to the units I want.

Prussian Dragoons

I have also painted up Prussian DR#5, again with a simplified paint job.

I could not resist making a few of modifications:

• The sword arm is again from the cuirassier.
• The heads are all 'Prussian officers' from the infantry moulds, as again I wanted heads which were 'fuller' than those in the dragoon mould.
• A sword hilt was added to the drummer, as it is missing on the casting.

Austrian Cuirassiers

Although the recent PA cuirassiers are very nice figures they really are too big, and having used them on the table a few times I simply cannot live withe the size difference relative to the rest of the army (I'm an engineer).  I have sugegsted to PA that they reprint the cavalry (possibly with torso/horse combined) at the correct scale, however in the meantime I have decided to cast and paint up some cuirassiers based on the Karoliners, with a head 'upgrade' using the Russian Infantry officer's head.

As always comments welcome?