Review Bonapartes : Westfalian Cheveau- Leger Officer 1811

[Nap]

Hi Guys ,

This has been in my GA for a while but I thought it worth spending some time sharing the piece with you all .

The subject is a Captain in the Westfalian Cheveau-Leger-Garde , as always lets have a little bit of information about the Napoleonic Westfalian Army :

The Kingdom of Westfalia was created by Napoleon in December 1807 following the treaty of Tilsit. The new Kingdom was composed of parts of Hannover, Brunswick, Saxony and most of Hesse-Kassel. Westfalia was entered as a charter member of the newly formed Confederation of the Rhine. As such it was obliged to provide a 25,000 strong contingent to the Grande Armee in the event of war. The Westfalian army created to meet this requirement was closely modelled on that of France and by the end of 1808 comprised the royal garde grenadier and jäger battalions, the chevau-leger regiment and a garde-du-corps squadron. The line consisted of an elite jäger-carabinier battalion (normally attached to the Garde), six line infantry regiments each of two battalions, one light battalion, one cuirassier regiment, one chevau-leger regiment plus national guards and veterans units. In July of 1808 the 2nd cuirassier, 7th and 8th Line infantry regiments and the 2nd light infantry battalion were raised. In 1810 the 1st and 2nd hussar regiments were raised, in 1811 the 3rd light infantry battalion and two line infantry regiments (2nd and 7th) added a third field battalion. In 1812 a new two battalion garde infantry regiment (fusiliers) was raised, together with the 9th line regiment, the 4th light battalion and the 2nd chevau-leger regiment. Following the disastrous retreat from Russia less than 1,000 Westfalian survivors gathered at Thorn during January 1813. During 1813 most of the old units were hastily re-raised, the 1st line infantry regiment formed part of the garrison of Danzig and surrendered on 29th November 1814. The 2nd & 3rd regiments and the 2nd light battalion were part of the garrison of Dresden which surrendered when that town fell. The 4th and 5th line infantry regiments were captured at the fall of Kustrin. The 6th line infantry regiment was not re-raised after 1812. The 7th line infantry regiment was disbanded at the dissolution of the Kingdom. The 8th & 9th line infantry regiments, the 1st and 4th light battalions and the fusilier-garde regiment were disbanded after the battle of Leipzig in October 1813. The 1st and 2nd hussars went over to the Austrians on the night of 22/23 August 1813. The garde-du-corps squadron, the grenadier-garde, jäger-garde, chevau-legers-garde, the jäger-carabinier and 3rd light battalions, the 1st chevau-legers and the 1st & 2nd cuirassiers were all in Westphalia and disbanded when the end of the Kingdom came in September 1813.
During the period 1808 - 1813 five different patterns of flag were issued to the line and garde infantry regiments ( the light battalions apparently were not issued flags) and four different patterns of standard were issued to the line and garde cavalry regiments.

Uniforms consisted of Dark Green with Gold.Yellow facings , the monogram JN was placed on the helmets and pouchbelts .

Refereneces abound but a good start is MAA 44 from Osprey :Napoleons German Allies 1 Westfalia and Kleve Berg , the particular subject of this bust is covered in plate H1 .

Continued in next post:

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Onwards as ever , the model was received quickly in a jiffy bag which when opened revealed a strong cardboard box , no box art was on the top , the name being handwritten on the end . All parts were packed in bubble wrap :

The details of the model are as follows:

Title : Westfalian Rittmeister Cheveau - Leger 1811

Reference:RB10

Scale: 200mm

Material: Resin

No of Pieces: 3 (the main bust with head , the plume and the tassels for the end of the aguilettes)

Sculptor: Richard Bailey

Painter on Website : Dave Freeman

Continued in next post:

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Lets have a look at the pieces now , firstly the plume and the aguilette tassels , these are both well done with some really nice details especially on the plume itself , some might want to give it a little more movement to add a little bit of interest ...but not necessary .
The tassels are also nicely done , all parts are cleanly sculpted and when fitted to the aguilette looks really good

Prep needed was minmal , there is a plug on the end of the plume which fits into the helmet holder ...I would however recommend replacing this by pinning it.

Continued in next post:

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Moving on now to the largst piece this is ofcourse the bust itself , a true bust it is a one piece casting with the head and helmet all together .

Prep needed will take about 5 minutes and consists of removing a small casting plug from the undersides and sorting out a mounting rod to use whilst painting the bust



Lets start at the top and work down , firstly the helmet he wears , this is nicely done with some really good work put in by Richard and the caster ...no flashing to deal with . the helmet comes with the peak which on reflection would have IMO probably been better as a separate piece to make painting easier . The chin scales are hooked up onto the peak and sits well , nice details on the boss at the sides , the plume holder is drilled ready to receive the plume .

The helmet plate is finely detailed with the monogram JN...nice to paint with all this fine details

The crest is a wonderful piece of sculpting and will without doubt benefit careful painting ..just look at all the details on it really well done .




Lets now move to the face this is a true cavalry officer , well to do with chin jutting out , he has a great moustache , this and the hair are well defined , facial features are good but the eyes do look a little close togetehr which IMO is a shame , also you have to be careful when painting as the peak is as explained cast on already .



On now to the callar , this is well sculpted with the chin pushing down oto it , the lacework is well defined , thi swill make painting easier .

Looking at the shoulder scales these are great , strongly scu;pted with again really good undercuts , the one on the left shoulder has extremely well details drops/cords , the other is plain as befits his rank with a great aguilette being held under and sculpted on the chest .



All details have really well defined areas , undercutting on all of these including the chest lacework is probaly a little heavier than we are used to but this is a great trait IMO as it will aid the more inexperienced modeller .

The pouchbelt sits across the chest and over the left shoulder epaulette with fine details on the beltplate , the pouch itself is also done well , perhaps the way the end of the belt sits on the top of the pouch is a little off but nothing too drastic .



Buttons are good as well , wth the actual uniform jacket having nice folds on it , the ones on the right arm look a little heavy , but a quick use of the sanding blocks and putty should sort this out if needed in your opinion.





Lets have some more pictures of the full bust:

Now my final thoughts on this bust , its a nice piece , some of the sculpting might be a little heavy but nothing that really detracts of a well detailed and impressive piece .Prep is minimal , the result will be a great display piece .
For more details and to look at an evergrowing range of both busts and fugures all sculpted by talented folk why not visit the website: www.bonapartesmilitarymodels.co.uk .

To end this review lets have some more pictures of Davids painting of this bust :

 

[Jazz]

A lovely piece with very nice details Kev, and a nice review as always. My only small critism of the kit would be that IMO the eyes are too close together giving the face a "too thin" look. But thats just my opinion.

 

[Nap]

A lovely piece with very nice details Kev, and a nice review as always. My only small critism of the kit would be that IMO the eyes are too close together giving the face a "too thin" look. But thats just my opinion.

Hi Jazz,

Thanks for the comments , yes I agree you are correct with your observation , it was in my notes for the review but I never put it in ...for some the "thin look" is ok ..but this is full of nice detail if not a little heavy on the sculpting (ie the folds)

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[megroot]

That looks a really nice bust, but for me it is to heavy sculpted.

Marc