Reply to thread

Message

More of the heavy cavalry, this time, dragoons.

Dragoons started out in the 17th century as mounted infantry. The idea was that they could ride where they were needed, faster than men could march, then dismount, form firing lines, fire a volley and mount up and move off. Their name comes from the firearm they originally carried, a short musket called a "dragon" (very poetic).

By Frederick's time, dragoons were true cavalry, serving like the cuirassiers to charge and ride down enemy formations, which they did, until cavalry passed from the battlefield with the advent of automatic weapons.

Here is a portrait figure of one of Frederick's cavalry commanders, the Duke of Württemberg:

[ATTACH=full]3916[/ATTACH]

This is a portrait figure casting by Ulrich Puchala, and it is a very good one. His sculpt looks very much like contemporary portraits of the Duke. This was one such engraving, and it's such a great pose:

[ATTACH=full]3917[/ATTACH]

The Duke was one of a number of officers who had their own territories to rule, but who took service in the Prussian army. Some even wound up leading their Prussian regiments against their home states' units serving with the Imperial troops against Frederick. Each state in the empire was required to supply levies of troops, "contingents", in time of war. Württemberg was one state with troops serving on both sides, as were the Hessian duchies.

Here is a shot of the Duke with one his men, a casting by Stadden:

[ATTACH=full]3918[/ATTACH]

This figure by Stadden is listed in the catalog as a "Brunswick dragoon, 1777", but since they wore uniforms identical to the Prussian in cut and style, and it was unchanged going back to the Seven Years War, I can paint them as Prussians.

You can see here, too, an illustration of what I was saying before about Stadden castings and how stocky they are. But dragoons were also recruited from among the larger men, and he looks relatively robust. He's armed with a carbine, as well as with a straight cavalry sword.

Here is another dragoon, this time, the casting is by Vallance:

[ATTACH=full]3919[/ATTACH]

This figure is based on a watercolor by Lefferts, I think, of another Brunswick dragoon from the Revolutionary War. A change of color and eh voila! another Prussian from 1756. This one, I painted as a dragoon from Regt 11 "von Platen".

Here is another copy of this casting, this time, painted as a dragoon of the second regiment, "von Krockow":

[ATTACH=full]3920[/ATTACH]

This kit turns up from time to time on eBay. Vallance made some other nice Revolutionary War figure kits, including Washington and Lafayette at Yorktown, with the General posed dramatically, one foot up on a stone, and Lafayette looking at a map laid out over a drum, and a soldier of one of the Carolina regiments (subject for another thread!)

More of Frederick's dragoons, this time a group of Puchala castings:

[ATTACH=full]3921[/ATTACH]

The first one on the left is another Württemberg dragoon, and the other four, I painted as members of the Bayreuth Dragoons. They achieved fame in the battle of Hohenfriedeburg by charging the Austrian lines and scattering them, capturing a larger number of men, standards and cannon. This is another great figure, I really like the casual pose, leaning on the carbine.

Here is a shot from behind:

[ATTACH=full]3922[/ATTACH]

And this is a shot to show how I label my figures (when I'm feeling ambitious):

[ATTACH=full]3923[/ATTACH]

I used a table in Word, printed the captions in the smallest font I could get, then printed them on regular bond paper, cut them out and pasted them on the bases with white glue. Fine, when I had a whole bunch of figures to do, but not so good, if I have only one new one to do.

Here are two more dragoon figures, the last for this post, two more by Stadden:

[ATTACH=full]3924[/ATTACH]

I got these in an auction on eBay. The one on the left was missing his left hand, and the one on the right held his empty left hand raised. His posed suggested itself-he needed a mug of beer. And his companion would be smoking a pipe. I scrounged a hand from the spares box, added a pipe of wire, and sculpted (roughly) a Faiencekrug for the other. Here is another angle:

[ATTACH=full]3925[/ATTACH]

I have two more castings which will join them. They will depict a group of dragoons on campaign or on manoeuvers, scrounging their supper.

More figures to follow in the next post...

<blockquote data-quote="the Baron" data-source="post: 2437" data-attributes="member: 75">More of the heavy cavalry, this time, dragoons.Dragoons started out in the 17th century as mounted infantry.&nbsp; The idea was that they could ride where they were needed, faster than men could march, then dismount, form firing lines, fire a volley and mount up and move off.&nbsp; Their name comes from the firearm they originally carried, a short musket called a &quot;dragon&quot; (very poetic).By Frederick&#039;s time, dragoons were true cavalry, serving like the cuirassiers to charge and ride down enemy formations, which they did, until cavalry passed from the battlefield with the advent of automatic weapons.Here is a portrait figure of one of Frederick&#039;s cavalry commanders, the Duke of Württemberg:[ATTACH=full]3916[/ATTACH]This is a portrait figure casting by Ulrich Puchala, and it is a very good one.&nbsp; His sculpt looks very much like contemporary portraits of the Duke.&nbsp; This was one such engraving, and it&#039;s such a great pose:[ATTACH=full]3917[/ATTACH]The Duke was one of a number of officers who had their own territories to rule, but who took service in the Prussian army.&nbsp; Some even wound up leading their Prussian regiments against their home states&#039; units serving with the Imperial troops against Frederick.&nbsp; Each state in the empire was required to supply levies of troops, &quot;contingents&quot;, in time of war.&nbsp; Württemberg was one state with troops serving on both sides, as were the Hessian duchies.Here is a shot of the Duke with one his men, a casting by Stadden:[ATTACH=full]3918[/ATTACH]This figure by Stadden is listed in the catalog as a &quot;Brunswick dragoon, 1777&quot;, but since they wore uniforms identical to the Prussian in cut and style, and it was unchanged going back to the Seven Years War, I can paint them as Prussians.You can see here, too, an illustration of what I was saying before about Stadden castings and how stocky they are.&nbsp; But dragoons were also recruited from among the larger men, and he looks relatively robust.&nbsp; He&#039;s armed with a carbine, as well as with a straight cavalry sword.Here is another dragoon, this time, the casting is by Vallance:[ATTACH=full]3919[/ATTACH]This figure is based on a watercolor by Lefferts, I think, of another Brunswick dragoon from the Revolutionary War.&nbsp; A change of color and eh voila! another Prussian from 1756.&nbsp; This one, I painted as a dragoon from Regt 11 &quot;von Platen&quot;.Here is another copy of this casting, this time, painted as a dragoon of the second regiment, &quot;von Krockow&quot;:[ATTACH=full]3920[/ATTACH]This kit turns up from time to time on eBay.&nbsp;&nbsp; Vallance made some other nice Revolutionary War figure kits, including Washington and Lafayette at Yorktown, with the General posed dramatically, one foot up on a stone, and Lafayette looking at a map laid out over a drum, and a soldier of one of the Carolina regiments (subject for another thread!)More of Frederick&#039;s dragoons, this time a group of Puchala castings:[ATTACH=full]3921[/ATTACH]The first one on the left is another Württemberg dragoon, and the other four, I painted as members of the Bayreuth Dragoons.&nbsp; They achieved fame in the battle of Hohenfriedeburg by charging the Austrian lines and scattering them, capturing a larger number of men, standards and cannon.&nbsp; This is another great figure, I really like the casual pose, leaning on the carbine.Here is a shot from behind:[ATTACH=full]3922[/ATTACH]And this is a shot to show how I label my figures (when I&#039;m feeling ambitious):[ATTACH=full]3923[/ATTACH]I used a table in Word, printed the captions in the smallest font I could get, then printed them on regular bond paper, cut them out and pasted them on the bases with white glue.&nbsp; Fine, when I had a whole bunch of figures to do, but not so good, if I have only one new one to do.Here are two more dragoon figures, the last for this post, two more by Stadden:[ATTACH=full]3924[/ATTACH]I got these in an auction on eBay.&nbsp; The one on the left was missing his left hand, and the one on the right held his empty left hand raised. His posed suggested itself-he needed a mug of beer. And his companion would be smoking a pipe. I scrounged a hand from the spares box, added a pipe of wire, and sculpted (roughly) a Faiencekrug for the other.&nbsp; Here is another angle:[ATTACH=full]3925[/ATTACH]I have two more castings which will join them. They will depict a group of dragoons on campaign or on manoeuvers, scrounging their supper.More figures to follow in the next post...</blockquote>

[QUOTE="the Baron, post: 2437, member: 75"] More of the heavy cavalry, this time, dragoons. Dragoons started out in the 17th century as mounted infantry. The idea was that they could ride where they were needed, faster than men could march, then dismount, form firing lines, fire a volley and mount up and move off. Their name comes from the firearm they originally carried, a short musket called a "dragon" (very poetic). By Frederick's time, dragoons were true cavalry, serving like the cuirassiers to charge and ride down enemy formations, which they did, until cavalry passed from the battlefield with the advent of automatic weapons. Here is a portrait figure of one of Frederick's cavalry commanders, the Duke of Württemberg: [ATTACH=full]3916[/ATTACH] This is a portrait figure casting by Ulrich Puchala, and it is a very good one. His sculpt looks very much like contemporary portraits of the Duke. This was one such engraving, and it's such a great pose: [ATTACH=full]3917[/ATTACH] The Duke was one of a number of officers who had their own territories to rule, but who took service in the Prussian army. Some even wound up leading their Prussian regiments against their home states' units serving with the Imperial troops [i]against[/i] Frederick. Each state in the empire was required to supply levies of troops, "contingents", in time of war. Württemberg was one state with troops serving on both sides, as were the Hessian duchies. Here is a shot of the Duke with one his men, a casting by Stadden: [ATTACH=full]3918[/ATTACH] This figure by Stadden is listed in the catalog as a "Brunswick dragoon, 1777", but since they wore uniforms identical to the Prussian in cut and style, and it was unchanged going back to the Seven Years War, I can paint them as Prussians. You can see here, too, an illustration of what I was saying before about Stadden castings and how stocky they are. But dragoons were also recruited from among the larger men, and he looks relatively robust. He's armed with a carbine, as well as with a straight cavalry sword. Here is another dragoon, this time, the casting is by Vallance: [ATTACH=full]3919[/ATTACH] This figure is based on a watercolor by Lefferts, I think, of another Brunswick dragoon from the Revolutionary War. A change of color and eh voila! another Prussian from 1756. This one, I painted as a dragoon from Regt 11 "von Platen". Here is another copy of this casting, this time, painted as a dragoon of the second regiment, "von Krockow": [ATTACH=full]3920[/ATTACH] This kit turns up from time to time on eBay. Vallance made some other nice Revolutionary War figure kits, including Washington and Lafayette at Yorktown, with the General posed dramatically, one foot up on a stone, and Lafayette looking at a map laid out over a drum, and a soldier of one of the Carolina regiments (subject for another thread!) More of Frederick's dragoons, this time a group of Puchala castings: [ATTACH=full]3921[/ATTACH] The first one on the left is another Württemberg dragoon, and the other four, I painted as members of the Bayreuth Dragoons. They achieved fame in the battle of Hohenfriedeburg by charging the Austrian lines and scattering them, capturing a larger number of men, standards and cannon. This is another great figure, I really like the casual pose, leaning on the carbine. Here is a shot from behind: [ATTACH=full]3922[/ATTACH] And this is a shot to show how I label my figures (when I'm feeling ambitious): [ATTACH=full]3923[/ATTACH] I used a table in Word, printed the captions in the smallest font I could get, then printed them on regular bond paper, cut them out and pasted them on the bases with white glue. Fine, when I had a whole bunch of figures to do, but not so good, if I have only one new one to do. Here are two more dragoon figures, the last for this post, two more by Stadden: [ATTACH=full]3924[/ATTACH] I got these in an auction on eBay. The one on the left was missing his left hand, and the one on the right held his empty left hand raised. His posed suggested itself-he needed a mug of beer. And his companion would be smoking a pipe. I scrounged a hand from the spares box, added a pipe of wire, and sculpted (roughly) a [i]Faiencekrug[/i] for the other. Here is another angle: [ATTACH=full]3925[/ATTACH] I have two more castings which will join them. They will depict a group of dragoons on campaign or on manoeuvers, scrounging their supper. More figures to follow in the next post... [/QUOTE]

Verification