French 1st Hussars Regiment

The French 1st Hussars are an iconic regiment resplendent in their fur lined pelisses encrusted with lace worn over the shoulder of their laced dolmans, with elaborate sabretaches dangling from corded waistbelts.  They really were quite the spectacle.  These Hinton Hunt figures were originally painted by Richard Tennant and came to me as part of his collection.  I am pleased to say they have been painstakingly restored and are now once again ready for battle on the tabletop.

Clearly this photo was taken sometime during their deployment in Austria, long before they travelled along the dusty roads of Spain.

I had originally intended a new addition to the unit to serve as the Colonel, but Richard had done such an amazing job on his own colonel, that I demoted my addition to a company Captain.

With all of the work that went into the leopard skin saddle cover I simply could not make myself hide him amongst the rank and file.

Here is the command stand with a Franznap interloper painted as the company Captain.  The Franznap figures are slighter in build and more finely sculpted, which is why I had originally intended for him to be mounted as the colonel and thus on his own base.  Despite the mis-match in styles, I like this look and don't mind the commander being a little stylistically different, it distinguishes him from the other ranks after all.

The trumpeter is one of Mr. Tennant's lovely conversions.

Horse butts.

Arrayed for review.  There are two squadrons represented here, each of two companies.  Each company has its own distinctive pompom at the base of their plumes, and of course the elite company is distinguished by the red plumes and fur busbys.

More horse butts and a whole lot of lace.  Thank god I did not have to paint all of that lacework on the dolmans and pelisses!

Next up on the painting desk are four Chasseurs a Cheval that will be painted to match Richard's work on the 15th Chasseurs.  He has some incredibly fine detail work on the vests and jackets of these figures, so it is with some trepidation that I will try and match them.

The riders are original Hinton Hunts, but the horses are recasts that I have repaired and in the end I believe will be very difficult to distinguish from the originals.  I guess we will know in a month or so...