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Ninety Minutes with Final Cuirassier Squadron. . .

Here is where we stand with the third and final squadron of those RSM95 Austrian cuirassiers.


I had pleasant hour and a half yesterday evening, to finish the white belts/straps and do the red turnbacks and cuffs, which really brought these figures to life, the considerable amount of work left notwithstanding. I've also nailed down my process for painting large units of heavy cavalry, which I'll share here. Certainly, it's not the only way to do things, but it seems to work pretty well for me, and you might spot something here that's potentially useful in your own painting. So, here we go:

1) Black basecoat -- Done

2) Black undercoat on horses. -- Done

3) Flesh, hair, figure bases. -- Done

4) Drybrush horses with dark blue. -- Done

5) Brown girths and stirrup leathers on horses. -- Done

6) Metal bits on horse halters, martingales, stirrups, and spurs. -- Done

7) White markings on horses. -- Done

8) Tan undercoat on officers' and troopers' coats. -- Done

9) White/Silver lace on saddlecloths. -- Done

10) White belts, straps, and cuirass lace trim. -- Done

11) Red facings and turnbacks. -- Done

12) Swords, sword baskets, scabbards.

13) Carbine stocks, barrels, firelocks.

14) Metal cuirass shoulder straps.

15) Fill in saddlecloths/valises with red.

16) Fill in gauntlets and coats with white. Take care to let tan show in "shadowy" areas and creases, for example between arms and torsos, insides of elbows, beneath arms, etc.

17) Necessary touch-ups to fix inevitable paintbrush blunders.

18) Varnish with Future/Klear acrylic floor finish.



So, still quite a bit to do before these last nine figures are finished, which will bring the regiment up to its full strength of 30 figures. But some of these steps are fairly quick 'n' easy to do. No predictions just yet for when they might be finished exactly. The approach of Christmas and Young Master Paul have slowed things down on the painting front appreciably relative to previous years at this time, but maybe, just maybe I might be able to finish this unit in the next few days. Certainly before New Year's Eve, during that nice, quiet Christmas Week lull.

And for good measure, here is a close-up shot of four figures from the squadron. The red cuffs and turnbacks really helped bring these figures to life last night, and I left the painting table pretty well pleased.

Comments

A J said…
You're right to be well-pleased. They look a stalwart bunch of chaps. I'm looking forward to seeing them arrayed for battle. Hopefully they'll help swing the tide of war strongly in Stollen's favor.
Very well done. Merry Christmas!

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