Review Horse Artillery of theGuard 1812 from Dolman Miniatures

Nap · Dec 24, 2013

Hi to one and all ,

Twas the night before Christmas , not a mouse stirred , indeed nothing was heard ...apart from the tapping of a keyboard in Naps household , he was looking to the sky for a jolly man in a red suit loaded up with little boxes ...but until then Santa has said why not share your thoughts on a release from Dolman Miniatures ..so I have pleasure in presenting this my pre Chritmas day review.............

What are we looking at ...a release from a while back from DOLMAN MINIATURES , namely a bust of a French Artillery Officer of the Imperial Guard .

As always lets have a bit of a background on this elite arm of Napoleons army , we all know that Napoleon himself was atrained Artillery Officer and is indeed famous for manning a gun himself ..much to the respect of all his troops.

The gunners considered themselves the elite of the Guard , , an arm so vital in Napoleons Army , flamboyant in uniforms and dedicated to their beloved Emperor , the subject is from the period 1812 , a date which strikes horror in any historians mind ..the retreat from Moscow where so many suffered and died in horrific cold and snow storms .

The uniform itself was very much hussar in style with the Dolman and colpack very much in evidence ..all cutting a dashing sight to any lady that might see them.

The Artillery of the Guard was formed by decree of 1806 on 15 April from the Lt Artillery company which was formed in the days of the Consular Guard...in Napoleons words "Nothing is too good for my Guard" , pay was higher than the Line and when formed consisted of 3 squadrons each of 2 companies , each of these was made up of 25 gunners 1st class , 25 2nd Class , 25 recruits, the remainder being NCO's and Officers .

Officers wore the same style as their men but with gold lace braid on the

dolman , pelise etc ., the colpack was of black fur and had a scarlet bag piped in gold with flounders and cords , topped off by a scarlet plume

.

On the march the very ornate pouch belt was often protected in a leather cover.

As you might gather a truely distinctive and impressive uniform of an Elite unit in Napoleons Army .

References abound of course but 2 I particularly like are from a while ago , and very much used by me , both by Michael Head , full of colour .

Histoire and Collections also have a great book again packed full of information and great reference

Another from Almark is by Patrick Griffiths in the Nation in Arms series :

Continued in next post:

Nap

Nap · Dec 24, 2013

Lets now look at the bust itself ;

Received in a sealed plastic bag this time with a colour picture card wrapped round , this was for the Review model only , when you get yours it should be in the normal plastic flip over container , despite mine not being in this all parts were received fine and with no damage whatsoever ..testament to Dolmans pride in their products .

What are we looking at :

Title: Artilliere a Cheval de La Garde 1812

Reference: B8

Scale: 1/10th

Material: Resin and White Metal

No of pieces: 8

Sculptor:Eduardo Sánchez.

Box Art: Eduardo Sánchez.

The model has as stated both Resin and white metal the main torso (with head being cast in a dark gray resin) the remaining 7 pieces (consisting of the plume , flounders , cords and tassel , the plume holder , and a tiny bow for fitting under the chin scales .

Prep needed was simple to say the least ...just a casting remanant to remove from the underside of the torso and a fine line to sand off on the shoulders , a little bit of filing on the flounders etc and opening up the bow before fitting and you are all set to go.

Looking at the torso first , and after washing it before priming to remove any casting residue we can now look at the subject itself , out officer lets call him Francois wears his colpack with plume and cords etc , together with the pelise buttoned up , full of lacework , pulled tight into the neck which is kept warm by the fur edging , across his shoulder he wears the puchbelt this is depicted in the red leather cover .

From the top the colpack is a wonderful piece of sculpting , the fur is well depicted , full of texture with the cords cast on front and back , the bag hangs down , bright scarlet sitting correctly into the top of the colpack,on the opposite side we will fit the plume and the flounders , under the bag we will put the 1 tassel , the 2 longer pieces of braiding in white metal being fitted around the edges ...great idea and a benefit when painting IMO.

The face is a true proud and dashing frenchman , moustached and with his hair swept back into the style of the guard , the hair is well defined as is the moustache , chin scales are sculpted onto the face with gap underneath for the bow

On now to his pelise , this is worn held together , the fur edging being nicely full of texture as well ( this could have been any colour ranging from brown to white ..very much dependant on the Officers wealth and rank)

The braiding as particularly well done , loops are hanging down where needed , undercuts on the lacework is great , well defining the fine work in the sculpting ...for me it will be NMM on this lace work , lots of dry brushing on the fur as on the colpack as well .

The pouchbelt is worn across the chest with the distinctive cover well done with the buttons going down the centre , in the middle there is the Imperial eagle and the Imperial crown between these are two hanging chains..details on the belt is nothing short of excellent and I commend Dolman for this .

The remaining parts are well cast this time in white metal , the plume is a joy to see , , fitting of this will take a bit of modelling knowledge the plume holder needs to be fitted to the colpack first (pin and drill if you can) , once this is secure and safe then pin and drill the plume and fit into the holder , the holder is a nice piece as well if a little fiddly to work with .

Flounders are also well sculpted with the style being well defined , the tassels on them are finely done as well .

No base is included , but most modellers would prefer to use their own , I will drill and put a brass rod into the base before priming and then fit this into my chosen wooden base(I will then put kitchen film around for protection then on top of this white paper tape again for protection and allowing me to hold the piece .

Continued in next post

.

Nap

megroot · Dec 24, 2013

Thanks Nappi,
this one is high on the list to buy. Great detail is sculpted. Good reference to.

Marc

Nap · Dec 24, 2013

Hi Guys ,

Final thoughts this is a straight up and down piece , full of details , great conversion potential as well , casting is really good (as with others from Dolman) and will make a good companion piece to the Chasseur a Cheval also from Dolman

For more information and to order have a look at their website : www.dolmanminiatures.com

Thanks to Dolman for the Review figure and also to you all for looking in

Lets just enjoy the box art in different views ..cracking work and a great inspiration