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Hi, all! Here is the next installment in the series, and we move now to the cavalry of the Prussian army.

First up, a figure of a hussar officer, casting by New Hope Design:

[ATTACH=full]3734[/ATTACH]

The figure represents an officer in the parade uniform of the Leib-Husaren, or "Bodyguard Hussars", who were also known after their commander, Hans-Joachim von Ziethen, as the Ziethen Hussars. I've painted him as old General Ziethen himself.

Hussars were light cavalry, modeled on the original native cavalry raised among the Hungarians under the Austrian crown. "Hussar" comes from the Hungarian husz, meaning "twentieth", because they raised levies of every twentieth man in a village or clan. The uniform was derived from the national dress that they wore, including a fur cape, or Pelz (pelt), and a fur cap. The Hungarians often used a wolfskin as their pelt, and bear, wolf or marten fur for the caps. By the 1700's, though, the pelt was replaced by a fur-trimmed jacket.

Hussars were used as scouts, and fought in loose formations, at a time when battle cavalry still fought in closed ranks, to ride down the enemy. Because of their outlandish uniforms and irregular use, eventually a certain romance was associated with the branch, compared to other types of cavalry.

Here is a view of this figure from the rear:

[ATTACH=full]3735[/ATTACH]

The New Hope kit is really well detailed, and we can see some of the details specific to the Ziethen Hussars. As part of their parade uniform, squadron commanders wore an eagle-wing ornament on their fur caps, and they wore leopard skins, instead of the jacket. The skins were a gift from the Queen Mother (Frederick's mother) to the regiment. Now, you can see here that I painted these as tiger skins, and that shows how you really need to check your sources. In Engelmann & Dorn's "The Cavalry of Frederick the Great", they wrote that Queen Sophie Charlotte gave the regiment tiger skins. It was later that I learned that that is incorrect, that they were actually leopard skins. But I'm not AR enough to go back and repaint them.

Here are two more officers of the Leib-Husaren, this time, the castings are from Stadden:

[ATTACH=full]3736[/ATTACH]

The officer on the left is wearing the jacket, which was blue with white fur trim, while the one on the right wears the pelt. In German, both would be called a Pelz. They also wore boots of yellow leather, which was another trait borrowed from the Hungarian national costume.

The Stadden castings are a little bulky; hussars were recruited from among the smaller men, because the belief was that they would be more agile and nimbler horsemen. These figures are a little big for hussars, in this scale. By contrast, the New Hope Ziethen figure is truer to scale. Ziethen himself was of relatively small stature. Here is a shot of all three, to show the contrast:

[ATTACH=full]3737[/ATTACH]

That's why, for rank and file figures, and to fill out a scene, the Stadden figures are perfect. But for portrait figures, I look for figures from the newer makers, like Puchala, or New Hope.

Sticking with the hussars, here are two more figures, this time, from the Belling Hussar regiment:

[ATTACH=full]3738[/ATTACH]

The figure on the left is from Ulrich Puchala, and is a portrait figure of the regiment's colonel, Sebastian von Belling. On the right is a figure by Imrie-Risley, based on a uniform study by Menzel. Belling's regiment wore a felt cap, instead of a fur cap, and a uniform of black. On their caps, they wore a badge showing the Grim Reaper, and so they were called the "Total Death" Regiment (the 5th Hussar regiment also wore black, and had a death's head badge, so they were known as the Death's Head Hussars).

Here is a shot from another angle:

[ATTACH=full]3739[/ATTACH]

As with all of his other sculpts, the figure of Belling by Puchala really does look like contemporary illustrations of the man. The figure by Imrie-Risley is also very well detailed for its time; the original goes back to Bill Imrie's original figure catalog in the 50's, Hellenic Miniatures. The name indicates no connection with Greece, however; it was named after his wife, Helen. The current Imrie-Risley catalog includes almost all of the figures that Bill issued in the Hellenic line.

Here is a group of hussars from various regiments and manufacturers:

[ATTACH=full]3740[/ATTACH]

From left, another Belling hussar, by Puchala; a hussar and officer from the Kleist Hussars, also called the Green Hussars; and a hussar from the Natzmer Hussars, also called the White Hussars. Those last three castings are from Dolp in Germany. All of them have very good detail cast into them. Here is a view from the back:

[ATTACH=full]3741[/ATTACH]

The officer of the Green Hussars is probably based on the commander himself, Frederick William von Kleist. Along with his hussar regiment, he raised a Freikorps, or "free regiment". Such units supplemented the main battle line, and were often of mixed arms, containing infantry, cavalry and artillery. They also served often as irregular troops or independent task forces, work for which the line regiments were ill-suited.

Here is a single hussar, another casting by Imrie-Risley:

[ATTACH=full]3742[/ATTACH]

I painted this one as a hussar from the 7th, or Malachowski Hussars. The figure is actually listed in Imrie-Risley's catalog as "French hussar, 1795", but it illustrates how similar the uniform was from one army to the next, and how little the uniforms changed from the Seven Years War to the French Revolutionary wars, that I could paint this figure as a Prussian hussar from 1756, with no real modification to the casting. In our own Revolutionary War, the hussars of Lauzun's Legion in the French expeditionary force wore a uniform that was identical to ones worn in 1763.

Here is a view of the figure from the rear:

[ATTACH=full]3743[/ATTACH]

You can still get these figures new from Imrie-Risley, at the website, www.saratogasoldier.com, though I tend to look for them at toy soldier shows, auctions and flea markets. The catalog also includes mounted hussars.

To round out this post, here are three more hussars by Imrie-Risley, this time, from the Brown, or Werner Hussars:

[ATTACH=full]3744[/ATTACH]

These figures show the variation available with the basic casting; I/R includes different arms, and even different heads, with the same basic body for these hussar kits. In this case, I had an arm with a carbine, which was the firearm issued to the hussars; an arm with a bugle; and an arm with a drawn saber. So I painted these as a captain, or Rittmeister, a cornet or Trompeter, and a hussar of the Werner regiment. Here is a view from the rear:

[ATTACH=full]3745[/ATTACH]

Since the hussars' uniform was relatively close-fitting, it had no pockets, so they carried a pouch suspended from their swordbelt, called a Säbeltasche, or sabretache ("saber-pouch"). For the men, the cover was decorated with the royal monogram in lace of the regiment's colors. The officers carried pouches with various decorations, which were not necessarily uniform, but showed similar themes, like the Prussian eagle, and trophies of arms. Also, alone among officers of the day, officers wore moustaches. Otherwise, in the 18th century, it was not fashionable for gentlemen to wear facial hair. With the French Revolution, the styles changed.

In the next installment, heavy cavalry...

<blockquote data-quote="the Baron" data-source="post: 1857" data-attributes="member: 75">Hi, all!&nbsp; Here is the next installment in the series, and we move now to the cavalry of the Prussian army.First up, a figure of a hussar officer, casting by New Hope Design:[ATTACH=full]3734[/ATTACH]The figure represents an officer in the parade uniform of the Leib-Husaren, or &quot;Bodyguard Hussars&quot;, who were also known after their commander, Hans-Joachim von Ziethen, as the Ziethen Hussars.&nbsp; I&#039;ve painted him as old General Ziethen himself.Hussars were light cavalry, modeled on the original native cavalry raised among the Hungarians under the Austrian crown.&nbsp; &quot;Hussar&quot; comes from the Hungarian husz, meaning &quot;twentieth&quot;, because they raised levies of every twentieth man in a village or clan.&nbsp; The uniform was derived from the national dress that they wore, including a fur cape, or Pelz (pelt), and a fur cap.&nbsp; The Hungarians often used a wolfskin as their pelt, and bear, wolf or marten fur for the caps.&nbsp; By the 1700&#039;s, though, the pelt was replaced by a fur-trimmed jacket.Hussars were used as scouts, and fought in loose formations, at a time when battle cavalry still fought in closed ranks, to ride down the enemy.&nbsp; Because of their outlandish uniforms and irregular use, eventually a certain romance was associated with the branch, compared to other types of cavalry.Here is a view of this figure from the rear:[ATTACH=full]3735[/ATTACH]The New Hope kit is really well detailed, and we can see some of the details specific to the Ziethen Hussars.&nbsp; As part of their parade uniform, squadron commanders wore an eagle-wing ornament on their fur caps, and they wore leopard skins, instead of the jacket.&nbsp; The skins were a gift from the Queen Mother (Frederick&#039;s mother) to the regiment.&nbsp; Now, you can see here that I painted these as tiger skins, and that shows how you really need to check your sources.&nbsp; In Engelmann &amp; Dorn&#039;s &quot;The Cavalry of Frederick the Great&quot;, they wrote that Queen Sophie Charlotte gave the regiment tiger skins.&nbsp; It was later that I learned that that is incorrect, that they were actually leopard skins.&nbsp; But I&#039;m not AR enough to go back and repaint them.Here are two more officers of the Leib-Husaren, this time, the castings are from Stadden:[ATTACH=full]3736[/ATTACH]The officer on the left is wearing the jacket, which was blue with white fur trim, while the one on the right wears the pelt.&nbsp; In German, both would be called a Pelz.&nbsp; They also wore boots of yellow leather, which was another trait borrowed from the Hungarian national costume.The Stadden castings are a little bulky; hussars were recruited from among the smaller men, because the belief was that they would be more agile and nimbler horsemen.&nbsp; These figures are a little big for hussars, in this scale.&nbsp; By contrast, the New Hope Ziethen figure is truer to scale.&nbsp; Ziethen himself was of relatively small stature.&nbsp; Here is a shot of all three, to show the contrast:[ATTACH=full]3737[/ATTACH]That&#039;s why, for rank and file figures, and to fill out a scene, the Stadden figures are perfect.&nbsp; But for portrait figures, I look for figures from the newer makers, like Puchala, or New Hope.Sticking with the hussars, here are two more figures, this time, from the Belling Hussar regiment:[ATTACH=full]3738[/ATTACH]The figure on the left is from Ulrich Puchala, and is a portrait figure of the regiment&#039;s colonel, Sebastian von Belling.&nbsp; On the right is a figure by Imrie-Risley, based on a uniform study by Menzel.&nbsp; Belling&#039;s regiment wore a felt cap, instead of a fur cap, and a uniform of black.&nbsp; On their caps, they wore a badge showing the Grim Reaper, and so they were called the &quot;Total Death&quot; Regiment (the 5th Hussar regiment also wore black, and had a death&#039;s head badge, so they were known as the Death&#039;s Head Hussars).Here is a shot from another angle:[ATTACH=full]3739[/ATTACH]As with all of his other sculpts, the figure of Belling by Puchala really does look like contemporary illustrations of the man.&nbsp; The figure by Imrie-Risley is also very well detailed for its time; the original goes back to Bill Imrie&#039;s original figure catalog in the 50&#039;s, Hellenic Miniatures.&nbsp; The name indicates no connection with Greece, however; it was named after his wife, Helen.&nbsp; The current Imrie-Risley catalog includes almost all of the figures that Bill issued in the Hellenic line.Here is a group of hussars from various regiments and manufacturers:[ATTACH=full]3740[/ATTACH]From left, another Belling hussar, by Puchala; a hussar and officer from the Kleist Hussars, also called the Green Hussars; and a hussar from the Natzmer Hussars, also called the White Hussars.&nbsp; Those last three castings are from Dolp in Germany.&nbsp; All of them have very good detail cast into them.&nbsp; Here is a view from the back:[ATTACH=full]3741[/ATTACH]The officer of the Green Hussars is probably based on the commander himself, Frederick William von Kleist.&nbsp; Along with his hussar regiment, he raised a Freikorps, or &quot;free regiment&quot;.&nbsp; Such units supplemented the main battle line, and were often of mixed arms, containing infantry, cavalry and artillery.&nbsp; They also served often as irregular troops or independent task forces, work for which the line regiments were ill-suited.Here is a single hussar, another casting by Imrie-Risley:[ATTACH=full]3742[/ATTACH]I painted this one as a hussar from the 7th, or Malachowski Hussars.&nbsp; The figure is actually listed in Imrie-Risley&#039;s catalog as &quot;French hussar, 1795&quot;, but it illustrates how similar the uniform was from one army to the next, and how little the uniforms changed from the Seven Years War to the French Revolutionary wars, that I could paint this figure as a Prussian hussar from 1756, with no real modification to the casting.&nbsp; In our own Revolutionary War, the hussars of Lauzun&#039;s Legion in the French expeditionary force wore a uniform that was identical to ones worn in 1763.Here is a view of the figure from the rear:[ATTACH=full]3743[/ATTACH]You can still get these figures new from Imrie-Risley, at the website, www.saratogasoldier.com, though I tend to look for them at toy soldier shows, auctions and flea markets.&nbsp; The catalog also includes mounted hussars.To round out this post, here are three more hussars by Imrie-Risley, this time, from the Brown, or Werner Hussars:[ATTACH=full]3744[/ATTACH]These figures show the variation available with the basic casting; I/R includes different arms, and even different heads, with the same basic body for these hussar kits.&nbsp; In this case, I had an arm with a carbine, which was the firearm issued to the hussars; an arm with a bugle; and an arm with a drawn saber.&nbsp; So I painted these as a captain, or Rittmeister, a cornet or Trompeter, and a hussar of the Werner regiment.&nbsp; Here is a view from the rear:[ATTACH=full]3745[/ATTACH]Since the hussars&#039; uniform was relatively close-fitting, it had no pockets, so they carried a pouch suspended from their swordbelt, called a Säbeltasche, or sabretache (&quot;saber-pouch&quot;).&nbsp; For the men, the cover was decorated with the royal monogram in lace of the regiment&#039;s colors.&nbsp; The officers carried pouches with various decorations, which were not necessarily uniform, but showed similar themes, like the Prussian eagle, and trophies of arms.&nbsp; Also, alone among officers of the day, officers wore moustaches.&nbsp; Otherwise, in the 18th century, it was not fashionable for gentlemen to wear facial hair.&nbsp; With the French Revolution, the styles changed.In the next installment, heavy cavalry...</blockquote>

[QUOTE="the Baron, post: 1857, member: 75"] Hi, all! Here is the next installment in the series, and we move now to the cavalry of the Prussian army. First up, a figure of a hussar officer, casting by New Hope Design: [ATTACH=full]3734[/ATTACH] The figure represents an officer in the parade uniform of the [i]Leib-Husaren[/i], or "Bodyguard Hussars", who were also known after their commander, Hans-Joachim von Ziethen, as the Ziethen Hussars. I've painted him as old General Ziethen himself. Hussars were light cavalry, modeled on the original native cavalry raised among the Hungarians under the Austrian crown. "Hussar" comes from the Hungarian [i]husz[/i], meaning "twentieth", because they raised levies of every twentieth man in a village or clan. The uniform was derived from the national dress that they wore, including a fur cape, or [i]Pelz[/i] (pelt), and a fur cap. The Hungarians often used a wolfskin as their pelt, and bear, wolf or marten fur for the caps. By the 1700's, though, the pelt was replaced by a fur-trimmed jacket. Hussars were used as scouts, and fought in loose formations, at a time when battle cavalry still fought in closed ranks, to ride down the enemy. Because of their outlandish uniforms and irregular use, eventually a certain romance was associated with the branch, compared to other types of cavalry. Here is a view of this figure from the rear: [ATTACH=full]3735[/ATTACH] The New Hope kit is really well detailed, and we can see some of the details specific to the Ziethen Hussars. As part of their parade uniform, squadron commanders wore an eagle-wing ornament on their fur caps, and they wore leopard skins, instead of the jacket. The skins were a gift from the Queen Mother (Frederick's mother) to the regiment. Now, you can see here that I painted these as tiger skins, and that shows how you really need to check your sources. In Engelmann & Dorn's "The Cavalry of Frederick the Great", they wrote that Queen Sophie Charlotte gave the regiment tiger skins. It was later that I learned that that is incorrect, that they were actually leopard skins. But I'm not AR enough to go back and repaint them. Here are two more officers of the [i]Leib-Husaren[/i], this time, the castings are from Stadden: [ATTACH=full]3736[/ATTACH] The officer on the left is wearing the jacket, which was blue with white fur trim, while the one on the right wears the pelt. In German, both would be called a [i]Pelz[/i]. They also wore boots of yellow leather, which was another trait borrowed from the Hungarian national costume. The Stadden castings are a little bulky; hussars were recruited from among the smaller men, because the belief was that they would be more agile and nimbler horsemen. These figures are a little big for hussars, in this scale. By contrast, the New Hope Ziethen figure is truer to scale. Ziethen himself was of relatively small stature. Here is a shot of all three, to show the contrast: [ATTACH=full]3737[/ATTACH] That's why, for rank and file figures, and to fill out a scene, the Stadden figures are perfect. But for portrait figures, I look for figures from the newer makers, like Puchala, or New Hope. Sticking with the hussars, here are two more figures, this time, from the Belling Hussar regiment: [ATTACH=full]3738[/ATTACH] The figure on the left is from Ulrich Puchala, and is a portrait figure of the regiment's colonel, Sebastian von Belling. On the right is a figure by Imrie-Risley, based on a uniform study by Menzel. Belling's regiment wore a felt cap, instead of a fur cap, and a uniform of black. On their caps, they wore a badge showing the Grim Reaper, and so they were called the "Total Death" Regiment (the 5th Hussar regiment also wore black, and had a death's head badge, so they were known as the Death's Head Hussars). Here is a shot from another angle: [ATTACH=full]3739[/ATTACH] As with all of his other sculpts, the figure of Belling by Puchala really does look like contemporary illustrations of the man. The figure by Imrie-Risley is also very well detailed for its time; the original goes back to Bill Imrie's original figure catalog in the 50's, Hellenic Miniatures. The name indicates no connection with Greece, however; it was named after his wife, Helen. The current Imrie-Risley catalog includes almost all of the figures that Bill issued in the Hellenic line. Here is a group of hussars from various regiments and manufacturers: [ATTACH=full]3740[/ATTACH] From left, another Belling hussar, by Puchala; a hussar and officer from the Kleist Hussars, also called the Green Hussars; and a hussar from the Natzmer Hussars, also called the White Hussars. Those last three castings are from Dolp in Germany. All of them have very good detail cast into them. Here is a view from the back: [ATTACH=full]3741[/ATTACH] The officer of the Green Hussars is probably based on the commander himself, Frederick William von Kleist. Along with his hussar regiment, he raised a [i]Freikorps[/i], or "free regiment". Such units supplemented the main battle line, and were often of mixed arms, containing infantry, cavalry and artillery. They also served often as irregular troops or independent task forces, work for which the line regiments were ill-suited. Here is a single hussar, another casting by Imrie-Risley: [ATTACH=full]3742[/ATTACH] I painted this one as a hussar from the 7th, or Malachowski Hussars. The figure is actually listed in Imrie-Risley's catalog as "French hussar, 1795", but it illustrates how similar the uniform was from one army to the next, and how little the uniforms changed from the Seven Years War to the French Revolutionary wars, that I could paint this figure as a Prussian hussar from 1756, with no real modification to the casting. In our own Revolutionary War, the hussars of Lauzun's Legion in the French expeditionary force wore a uniform that was identical to ones worn in 1763. Here is a view of the figure from the rear: [ATTACH=full]3743[/ATTACH] You can still get these figures new from Imrie-Risley, at the website, www.saratogasoldier.com, though I tend to look for them at toy soldier shows, auctions and flea markets. The catalog also includes mounted hussars. To round out this post, here are three more hussars by Imrie-Risley, this time, from the Brown, or Werner Hussars: [ATTACH=full]3744[/ATTACH] These figures show the variation available with the basic casting; I/R includes different arms, and even different heads, with the same basic body for these hussar kits. In this case, I had an arm with a carbine, which was the firearm issued to the hussars; an arm with a bugle; and an arm with a drawn saber. So I painted these as a captain, or [i]Rittmeister[/i], a cornet or [i]Trompeter[/i], and a hussar of the Werner regiment. Here is a view from the rear: [ATTACH=full]3745[/ATTACH] Since the hussars' uniform was relatively close-fitting, it had no pockets, so they carried a pouch suspended from their swordbelt, called a [i]Säbeltasche[/i], or sabretache ("saber-pouch"). For the men, the cover was decorated with the royal monogram in lace of the regiment's colors. The officers carried pouches with various decorations, which were not necessarily uniform, but showed similar themes, like the Prussian eagle, and trophies of arms. Also, alone among officers of the day, officers wore moustaches. Otherwise, in the 18th century, it was not fashionable for gentlemen to wear facial hair. With the French Revolution, the styles changed. In the next installment, heavy cavalry... [/QUOTE]

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