Friday 4 July 2014

Spanish Converged Grenadiers

I've always wondered whether the line battalions were tempted to say "Where did they go?" when the grenadiers were pulled out of their respective line battalions to form "converged" units. I have tried to keep them in the same facing colours as the main units from which they were they were notionally drawn:


















The Spanish grenadiers are among the most distinctive of Napoleonic uniforms in my opinion, using seal-skin for their distinctive caps. Obviously not the most environmentally-friendly of headwear and it is difficult to imagine this being put forward as a good idea today but, that said, cultural mores were much different in the late 18th century when they were first adopted:


I have probably gone a little heavy with the black between the waistcoats and crossbelts, and could possibly have put a bit more into the design on the cap bags, but am still quite pleased with the overall appearance:



6 comments:

  1. Whoah, Lawrence... that's a LOT of Spanish Grenadiers! Interesting tidbit about the use of sealskin... I had no idea! I have had the figures for 2 units of Spanish Gremnadiers (Friont Rank, well 33's is probably about accuratye, LOL) on hand for about 5 years, awaiting the start of my Spanish project, about 1 year from launch now.

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    1. Thanks Peter. Yes, I would say two units for 28mm is plenty - at least, that's all I ended up doing!

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  2. gosh, these converged grenadiers look marvelous....

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  3. Thanks Phil, I didn't hold back on the different coloured facings. It gave me a break from all the white, at least.

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  4. Come on - you're teasing us - where is the rear view? Lets see the bags on the back of their headgear...

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    1. Well, I chickened out in the end and went with a much more stylised version than what I managed in 28mm. That was after a few attempts, and a lot of frustration...

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