Wednesday, 24 July 2013

Villaviciosa Dragoons

I had been dreading painting the Villaviciosa dragoons as yellow is probably my least favourite colour to apply. I used a brown undercoat over an initial black spray (yes, I know), then a base colour of a deep yellow, and then went over twice with the top coat and a third time with some highlights. It probably doesn't show but at least the colour doesn't look washed out, which was my biggest concern:


















I reversed the uniform for the trumpeter and put him on a grey horse, although I suspect that by the time of Talavera the dragoons were probably just happy enough to have a horse.


















The figures are again Front Rank with the flag from Maverick models, this time a white squadron-style generic flag,


















My base sizes are probably more a left-over habit from the 80's and with modern figures I find I do have to squeeze them on, which never seemed to be an issue with the older Minfigs we used to game with back then. That said, I don't mind the stirrup to stirrup look, so will probably continue with this approach, at least for the time being.

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2 comments:

  1. Gonsalvo24 July 2013 at 09:52

    What a great blog, and excellent painting! I am planning on a Front Rank Spanish army myself (I have the figures for 2 Grenadier battalions already, the rest will have to wait until after I finish my Waterloo project in 2015).

    I personally love yellow coated cavalry - I usually shade them by staining with a mix of light violet and the original yellow... but I use exclusively a white priming, which is very different than black priming as far as techniques.

    You might consider adding a listing of the forces for your Spanish army, either as they exist or as planned, and if you're really ambitious, a listing of the the various regiments and their facings, etc (or a link to same).

    What size are your cavalry bases? I used to use 1.5" for 2 Minifigs, my newer figures are on 1.75 x 1.75" bases (for 2 Cavalry).

    Regardless, an inspirational site!

    Peter

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    1. Lawrence H24 July 2013 at 16:59

      A force listing is a great idea, and one I hadn't thought of. I only have around ten more units to go, along with a pile of command staff, so might do that at the end which will hopefully only be a few months away.

      My bases are still the old WRG 60mm x 40mm (around 2.4" x 1.6") for a stand of three cavalry, and 60mm x 20mm (2.4" x 0.8") for four infantry. I have a pile of Minifigs and Hinchcliffe based this way, so have followed my old convention.

      Once advantage is that if I do need bigger bases, I can always manufacture a bunch of sabots. Time always seems to be the problem though.

      Anyway, thanks for the kind words Peter, and I'll look forward to following the progress of your Waterloo project over the next couple of years.

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