These were the "big Guys on big horses", the Grenadiers à Cheval de la Garde were the last unit of the French Guard still to be done. This is one more conversion this time using the horses and bodies of Italeri Dragoons and the heads of the very old Airfix Foot Grenadiers (the officer has a Zvezda head).
In fact both French Horse Grenadiers and Dragoons shared the same uniform cut, which, even better, barely changed all along the Napoleonic wars.
The good thing about the Airfix Grenadier heads are the big heads they have (compared with the bodies) and so they blend quite well with the much bigger Italeri bodies.
The officer with Zvezda head had to have a plume and this why no Airfix figure was used here.
Unfortunately you only need 4 stands for Waterloo AoE as these guys are a nice sight with their black horses and imposing figures.
Next: More Dutch
Good choice of "donors" for these conversions, I reckon; I had the old HaT set and thought they looked more like pipsqueaks than giants!
ReplyDeleteThanks Dave. Brands are a bit careless in that regard. These guys had to be 1,75m tall but Hat makes everybody the same size, at least when made by the same designer. But worse is the Airfix french grenadiers which are smaller than the line.
ReplyDeleteA fine representation of the 'big heels' JP. You want them to look suitably imposing don't you? I have the Strelets Gendarme d'elite figures for them (with a bit of trimming here and there) also on the Italeri horses.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes, James
Thanks James. Its a pity brands don´t look at the characteristics of nations or military groups within nations and everybody has the same height and weight like Star Wars stormtroopers.
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