Dragon cuera del presidio de San Ygnacio de Tubac, Arizona 1780

[jesus gamarra]

Hello again friends, on this occasion I show a picture of a dragon cuera The figure is an original sculpture by Antonio Zapatero and is modelled to 90 mm​​. I hope you like.

For more photos you can visit my blog: http://jesusgamarra.blogspot.com.es/

 

[Diegoff]

Great work as usual!

 

[housecarl]

That's some insane freehand Jesus.
Carl.

 

[Edorta]

That's some insane freehand Jesus.
Carl.

I agree, all the drawing is really impressive, specially in the leg covers and shield, very useful to defend from the indian arrows. Nice colors and strong character shown by his face. The groundwork reveals perfectly the Arizona dry weather ( arida zona )

Military miniatures painted by Eduardo Garcia

 

[bonehead]

Nicely done. This is a cool figure of a cool subject. Love it!!

 

[ChaosCossack]

Beautiful paintwork, just beautiful

 

[jesus gamarra]

Thank you very much to all, I am very happy that you like the work. Greetings

 

[Joe55]

Now this is cool! I think this is the first figure I've seen representing colonial Spain in the southwest. Wish it was a commercial piece I'd snatch it up in a heartbeat. A fine sculpt that is beautifully painted !!

Joe

 

[Blackship]

Excellent figure and painting .The shield I presume is ceremonial item .Any info will be really helpful .

 

[Diegoff]

Excellent figure and painting .The shield I presume is ceremonial item .Any info will be really helpful .

The shield was used in combat against arrows and other missiles.
They were called "cueras" (cuero means leather in spanish) because their leather armour. They usually charged the apaches with lances, the escopeta (short musket) was a last resource as they usually could fire just one shot before the close combat.
http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=27059&PID=511189

 

[Blackship]

The shield was used in combat against arrows and other missiles.
They were called "cueras" (cuero means leather in spanish) because their leather armour. They usually charged the apaches with lances, the escopeta (short musket) was a last resource as they usually could fire just one shot before the close combat.
http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=27059&PID=511189

Thanks for the info and the link .Some very colourful uniforms there .

 

[Babelfish]

1780 or should that be 1870?!

Either way great job!

- Steve

 

[megroot]

Fabulous work Jesus, as always.

marc

 

[Diegoff]

Fantastic piece, great "leather soldier".

Actually I am slightly disappointed that he doesn't have a Cuera that defines the type of soldier they were. Cuera was made from 6-7 layers of cow hide and easily stopped Indian arrows, these guys were quite brave defenders from Apachi in pre-colt era.
Spanish colonial troops don't seem to have been explored very well in miniature so far.

Steve, date is correct - its pre-wild west cowboy time, California, they still used flintlock muzzle loaders and lances.

Joe - there has been this set - commercial, I think - there was a vignette some time ago too

I sculpted that cuera many years ago -on a horse by Andrea Iotti- for Art Girona.
The figure show how the equipment was carried and the use of the escopeta to supress the attacking natives. Being muzzleloaders only had chance to make a shot. Some companies preferred the bow and arrows.
They were the forerunners of the "Far West" riders. Their patrols covered thousand of kilometers in Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, California... that's why they carried even ten horses per soldier.

 

[Diegoff]

This Osprey book is recomended for everybody interested: http://www.ospreypublishing.com/store/The-Spanish-Army-in-North-America-1700–1793_9781849085977