"1er Bataillon 3e Regiment Les Grenadiers Hollandais"

 

French Imperial Guard

3^rd “Old Guard” Infantry Division - Dutch Grenadiers

3e Régiment de Grenadiers à Pied de la Garde Impériale

1er Bataillon

1812-1813

The 3rd "Dutch" Grenadiers of the French Imperial Guard is one of those iconic regiments I have always wanted to model, so it was with a bit of trepidation that I embarked on this project.  The white uniforms of the Dutch, and the splendor of their dress makes them a challenge to paint and to do justice to their reputation.  I hope I have accomplished that here.

The Battalion is modeled from Der Kriegspieler castings number 220, with what I believe are DK command figures as well (number 20).  The pose for the figure DK 220 was originally facing forward, in a somewhat awkward knock-kneed stance.  I therefore painstakingly rotated each head about 90 degrees (thank goodness for the soft metal!), detached the lead foot from the base, rotated the foot 90 degrees and bent the knee to give the figure a more aggressive and natural position.  The leg/foot was then simply reattached with super glue, and in some instances reinforced with super glue as the twisting did stress the metal.

It was not until I started work on the back side of these figures that I realized how much detail is required to paint a unit of the old guard.  I realized that the buttons on the gaiters alone amounted to in excess of 650-700 buttons to paint!

Interestingly, the drummers wore a blue coat in 1812, not the traditional white.  The Guard had flags that were recently reissued, so used the older diamond pattern flag until 1813.  While I did not have official guards for the eagle bearer, I opted to flank him here by a couple of gristled sergeants, distinguished here by gold stripes on a red background on the lower left arm.  The chevrons on a black background above that represent ten years of service for each chevron.

 

The weight of a 36 figure battalion was too much for my light box, causing it to sink into the stool on which I was photographing them.  Yet another reason not to go down the path of 36 figure battalions!

Of course being able to form a reasonable looking square in which the colonel can shelter is an argument for painting 36 figure battalions.

The Battalion is currently lead by the subordinate Colonel, who will be replaced by Colonel Ralph Dundas Tindal as soon as he is finished.  This figure is an old guard Colonel by Franznap.

 

I love the long legs of the Franznap horses!

 

Franznap figures are beautifully sculpted, though a bit more realistically proportioned than Hinton Hunt figures, which tend to be more robust in comparison.

Colonel Tindal is in progress, made from the same Franznap figure that has had a different arm attached (the model comes with three choices), the greatcoat over the shoulder removed, and the head swapped with an SHQ old Guard command figure.  He will take his rightful place at the head of the battalion soon, and the presence of his subordinate will be a constant reminder that in time I will need to paint the second battalion of this illustrious regiment.

Next up on the painting desk, the 5th Bavarian Chevauleger!