Review From Russia with Love. Chronos Cavalry.

[Steve Edwards]

I am ashamed to confess that my first reaction to Putin's invasion of Ukraine was "Oh dear, will we still be able to get Chronos miniatures?" Pitiful or what! Anyway, the good news is that you can still buy them. They take a little longer to arrive. As usual, there's a choice of metal or resin. I opted for metal because I'm a metal man.

Here's my two new arrivals, Russian Lancer Officer 1812-14 and Russian Hussar Officer 1810-14. Both fairly recent releases. Apologies for the blurry photos, I can't find me little tripod.

Lancer

Here's the lancer officer, depicted mounting his steed. Not a miniature pose you see very often but it must be a regular event if you've got a horse. And that is a statement of the bleedin' obvious.

The shabraque is moulded separately in two halves as opposed to the integral approach we usually see.

And here's the horse. Well, what can I say? It's a Chronos horse, an absolute beauty.

Here's the lancer, assembled with blu-tack. It's a very nicely modelled figure with excellent detail.

I'm a little concerned about the mechanics of assembling and painting this one. Like most people, I usually drill a hole in the rider's backside and insert some brass rod (ouch!) so that I can paint the horse and rider separately. As you can see, there's an attachment point at the left knee. So I guess you have to assemble the shabraque separately, then attach the rider and get the dangle of the stirrup right. Then paint. Maybe it'll be easier than it looks. Probably not.

Hussar

The Hussar officer is standing by his horse's head, yet another familiar equestrian pose.

Again, a separately moulded shabraque. Look at that lovely crisp detail, it's crying out "Paint me! Paint me!"

Inside we see yet more detail. Pistol holsters and the Hungarian saddle. Come on, we will never see this in the finished model. I think the sculptors are suffering from Misericord syndrome. Never mind, we may not see it but the angels will!

Another superb Chronos horse.

Here's the standing Hussar officer assembled in blu-tack. I've been watching "War and Peace" DVDs recently so this dude is going to have to be Nikolai Rostov of the Pavlograd regiment.

Pass the magnifying glass! It's a bit washed-out but I've tried to get a close-up on the details of the Hussar's kit. Amazing. I'm looking forward to some serious eye strain.

Verdict

Chronos seem to get better with each release and these two are must-haves for any Napoleonics fan.

 

[CHRONOS]

Hello, Steve.
Thank you for your words!
Of course it's not easy for us right now, but we continue to do our job!

 

[Redcap]

Lovely figures and subjects - thanks for the review.
Gary

 

[Nap]

Hi Steve

Thanks for sharing the reviews , nice releases and well done to Chronos

Look forward to seeing these on your bench

Nap

 

[CHRONOS]

This is a color tablet with Pavlograd Regiment hussars .
The lower (leftward) figure is a reconstruction of the appearance of captain (rotmistr) Nikolai Rostov.

 

[Andrew Dalziel]

I guess you could paint the hussar figure as a Mariupol Regiment Hussar.

 

[CHRONOS]

Mariupol Hussar Regiment

 

[Nap]

Threads moderated

Nap

 

[Sergei]

My ancestor served in the Mariupol Hussar regiment. He fought with the Soviets

 

[Redcap]

Russian figure producers have no more say or control over what's happening

Let's just stick to commenting on the hobby shall we?
Gary

 

[Nap]

Moderated AGAIN

Just a reminder members have the facility reporting comments to Moderators ....

This is a Modelling forum

Nap

 

[Steve Edwards]

Thanks very much for the Nikolai Rostov image. Like most native English speakers, I can't read the Russian alphabet. All I can read is "1813".

Russian language is not usually taught in British schools. Most schools teach French as the foreign language subject. My school taught French in the first year and then made us study another foreign language from the second year. Which language was based on the results of your French examination after the first year, like this:

Top 5% Russian
Next 25% Latin
Next 35% German
Final 35% Spanish

I did German. I'm not clever enough to learn Russian!

 

[CHRONOS]

Thanks very much for the Nikolai Rostov image. Like most native English speakers, I can't read the Russian alphabet. All I can read is "1813".

Russian language is not usually taught in British schools. Most schools teach French as the foreign language subject. My school taught French in the first year and then made us study another foreign language from the second year. Which language was based on the results of your French examination after the first year, like this:

Top 5% Russian
Next 25% Latin
Next 35% German
Final 35% Spanish

I did German. I'm not clever enough to learn Russian!

I pointed out to you the figure of Nikolai Rostov in English.
But I can't do a permanent translation of all texts into English.
If I do the translation, I won't have time to make the figures themselves.

 

[Steve Edwards]

We don't expect you to do a translation of all texts into English.

Please devote your time to making your magnificent figures. We love them.

All your work in providing uniform colour references is greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

 

[Steve Edwards]

A word of warning. Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that Chronos are limited editions. Which means when they're gone, they are gone.

There's a few PF'ers (I am one!) moaning that we can't get the Tatiana Romanova figure because it has been discontinued. I could have got it any time when it was available but I kept saying "Oh, I like that one. I must buy it". But I never did. And now I can't.

So, in the words of Beyoncé, "If you like it then you should put a ring on it". If you like the lancer or the hussar then make them yours now. The grey army always accepts new recruits. I don't know about you but my grey army has more recruits than I could paint in three lifetimes. But I don't care. It's the one's that got away that worry me.

I've always liked that Russian Cuirassier in winter dress....