Monday 1 May 2017

Chasseurs a Cheval of the Guard

I have already painted the Chasseurs a Cheval of the Garde, but wanted to add figures for the Escort Squadron.  Once again, Art Miniaturen have come up with some outstanding figures.

Despite this being perhaps the best known uniform of any Napoleonic regiment, I've always found one aspect enigmatic: an objective understanding of the colour 'Aurore'. Too often, this is shown as a yellow, perhaps because the officers wore gold (see portrait below).


Officer of the Chasseurs a Cheval in full dress

Les Invalides

But when the real uniform is examined, Aurore seems a very different colour.  Even allowing for changes brought about by the ageing process, the colour of the frogging on the dolman and the edging along the shabraque is much closer to orange-red than yellow.  The frogging on the pelisse also looks a different colour to me but I'd accept that it has darkened up from its original orange-yellow.

This trooper shows the right shade of Aurore on the shabraque edge, but something much more yellow on the frogging of the pelisse. Could it be that the frogging on the pelisse was indeed a different colour from the dolman? This would have allowed more differentiation from the background red of the pelisse.



This trooper's frogging looks more like an officer's.




These Art Miniaturen are a mixture of converted Russian hussars looking distinctly exhausted and the new AM figures.  The Napoleon is Hinton Hunt.  They should be wearing just their dolmans, but I've converted them to the more colourful pelisses.

The officer is a Kamar Prince of Orange, re-purposed.




Detail of an officer's pelisse



This Marc Claus figure reprises the famous Gericault portrait of Lt Dieudonne, killed in Russia.



An early version of the same subject



The trumpeter is Lamming, an S Range officer is behind




The full regiment behind





2 comments:

  1. There are 11 DK Chasseurs sitting in my painting queue which I haven't quite dared to attempt for exactly the same reason, Picton - that and because there is no "aurora" shade in the Humbrol range. However, your post is so inspirational that I may just crack on and paint them!

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  2. Thanks Wellington Man, I don't have any DK figures, but I do have 12 HH figures which I bought second hand and am looking forward to repainting. I also have some Alberken, which are an inferior copy of the original one-piece HH figures.

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