On the workbench...

Hello friends and followers!

Well - looking onto the calendar, I just wonder to where the month may have disappeared. Once again, I realize that I had not painted much this month.
The reason is that my wife brings her business out to the people. For several years, she created creative things for various purposes (wall decorations, cards and decorations for weddings and other celebrations, car and motorcycle decals and all sorts of things made of paper, acrylic glass and plastics). All that was a homebased business - and in the meantime, our place here at home got lesser and lesser. I even had to share my painting table with a 60cm plotter!
In addition, you have to put all things away or keep a good eye on it, or the baby-boy will take it and...

...therefore, it was time to spread the word and bring the business outside. For several weeks, I helped my wife in every available minute, painting toilet tiles, fixing cords on walls, laying laminate, building and moving furniture, transporting all sorts of things...

...but on Wednesday, there'll be the great opening! So wish us luck and me to have more time for painting afterwards. ;-)

Nevertheless, I was able at least to start some new conversions:

The two hussars on the left side are Italians, the cuirassier conversions in the middle are going to be Westphalian cuirassiers (1st rgt. regulars and garde du corps) and the right one is a Prussian cuirassier for the 1813 campaign. All made up from Strelets figures.

The Westphalians required a removal of the horsehair on the crests, which was replaced by a self made caterpillar. For the Prussian, I used a Russians dragoon - that one just needed a little prolongation of the horsehair on the helmet. The horse itself required some additions on the saddle, which I made with the standard paper/woodglue technique.

In the meantime, I have bought all three Strelets French cuirassier sets, so I guess I'm going to build a large number of Westphalians, especially the 2nd regiment of cuirassiers, which has some great colours (blue, orange and red) as well.

Keep up painting!

March, it's march!

The ministry od hilarious headlines proudly presents you another splendid example of fashion from the historical mainlands of strange uniforming! Another strange, but true uniform from the colourful collection of the Kingdom of Naples!

Really, friends - I'm not kidding you. These guys in scarlet and white represent the late Velites a cheval - mounted rifles of the illustrious realm of King Murat.

After having a look at all the different colourful uniforms of these kingdoms' soldiers, I sometimes wonder if fashion design was the most popular branch in this area between 1807 and 1815. Or was it just the king who spent too many ours designing new uniforms for his troops?

Well - these guys were mounted rifles. In a time, when most nations' mounted rifles wore uniforms that were rather in a tone of green or blue, these look a bit like parrots.
To be honest, I only found these chaps on Histofig, nowhere else, not even in my book about the Naples army - so I can't really say if this is only their parade dress or if they were also wearing these uniforms on campaign. Which I somehow can't imagine...

Whatever may be the answer to it - at least they make up a really splendid picture, don't they?
These are, which some may have already noticed, from Strelets' set of French hussars.
I love these comical dwarfies - so I'm going to paint some Westphalian, Polish and Italian hussars using this set - and then perhaps all the French hussar regiments in the end.... muahahaha.