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And now for something colourful (I hope) ... Following discussion with Wez (see the chat section), I plan to build a Polish Lancer of the Imperial Guard. In 1807, in honour of the Polish nation, Napoleon decided to incorporate into his guard a regiment of Polish Cavalry, under the title of Light Horse. After the battle of Wagram in 1809, the regiment was armed the lance, and took the name Light Horse Lancers of the Guard, generally known as the "Polish Lancers". The sprue shots: Packaging Which contained a printed guide and a zip lock bag The zip lock bag contained some parts ... Before 1810, the trumpeters wore a crimson kurta (jacket) with white facings and a crimson czapska (hat), after that date the colours swapped to white with crimson facings. I'll refine the dates of this build when I decide which colour scheme to use.

The battery of fearless men A young officer, of questionable popularity, established his military reputation at the siege of Toulon (1793). Background French royalist counter-revolutionaries had handed the major French naval base of Toulon, together with its arsenal, to an Anglo-Spanish fleet under the command of Vice Admiral Lord Hood* and Admiral Juan de Lángara in August 1793. The British fleet also seized more than 70 French ships, almost half the French Navy. Both the strategic importance of the naval base and the prestige of the Revolution demanded that the French recapture Toulon. Although a series of French generals were nominally in command of the siege operation, the man responsible for its success was a little known artillery officer. When that officer was eventually given command, the Republicans first seized the outer forts overlooking the port, before preparing for the main attack on a fort ('Little Gibraltar') that dominated Toulon’s two harbours, followed by a general assault that took the town. Batterie des hommes sans peur In preparation or his attack, a series of artillery batteries had been placed to bombard the town. The most elevated battery, with the best firing position, was also the most vulnerable; indeed, it was considered a suicide posting. Ordering men to serve those guns would lead to a severe loss of morale and, likely, desertions. The officer spotted a printer in the French camp, which gave him an idea. He created a placard in order to name the battery. The following morning, the men saw the placard naming the suicidal battery: Batterie des hommes sans peur (battery of fearless men) The men thought about that name, and soon they were fighting each other to sign up to man it. They all wanted to be members of the band of men lucky enough to earn the honour of operating that cannon: it was manned day and night. The officer? His career took him from revolutionary to emperor of France: Napoleon Bonaparte References: https://www.britannica.com/event/Siege-of-Toulon https://medium.com/@kirkjbarbera/the-battery-of-the-men-without-fear-5e4c505a28f6 The kit for this build is in the post as I write, and should arrive tomorrow or Thursday. It is by Historex, and consists of a Gribeauval 8-pounder cannon together with five artillery crewmen. * Vice Admiral Lord Hood: Two of the three ships of the Royal Navy named HMS Hood were named after him (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Hood,_1st_Viscount_Hood )

Hi there Here are some pictures of the small group of figures that were shown in the WIP section 2 years ago. There figures were grouped closely together on a small specially made base to draw the eye to the cannon muzzle where the action is happening after reading Shep Paine’s book about making diaramas. To animate the figures some surgery was required to the arms, legs and heads and some spare part torso’s were used. The cannon woodwork was apinted using Humbrol Authentic French Artilery Green and the barrel with Alclad brass and bronze. The figures were painted using the Vallajo acrylic Napoleonic set. And here are some close ups. At the muzzle we can see the the new shot being carried forward to the gunner positioned to take the shot ready for loading, while the third gunner is ready with the ramrod. At the breech end of the cannon one gunner has his thumb over the vent hole to prevent unburnt powder from igniting. On the opposite side is the gunner with the match keeping out of the way until the loading is complete. Also present is another gunner with the primer tube to be inserted once the shot is rammed home. A drummer is present to help keep time and 2 Voltigeurs stand by to re-position the cannon after firing. I was fortunate enough to collect a Commended award at the 2019 SMW at Telford for this. Regards Toby

Hi there This is my first WIP posting on BM. I always wanted one of these sets from when I was 8 years old so I went and bought one last year. So far I have assembled the bodies of the gun crew. To provide the impression of movement, most of the figures have needed some surgery to the arms, legs and hands as the basic Historex figure is made to be ´at attention’. The next step is to tidy up the joints and prime ready for paint. Also in this set is a limber with 2 horses. I think I will get 2 more horses as it was normal to tow the gun with either a 4 or 6 horse team. The base the diorama is undecided. Something simple with sand and rocks will probably the way to go.

Hi there After completing the very spotty B-24 Assembly Ship I needed a change. I made some Historex figures when I was kid as my dad was very interested in Napoleonic. These are my first figures in 40 years. Painting was using Vallheljo acrylics, which were a big change from airbrushing planes with enamels. I have started a Friedland cannon set which can be found over on the WIP section. From left to right we have a Dragoon officer, Foot Chasseur officer and an Iniskillin Dragoon trooper.

The 23rd Regiment of Foot was raised in 1689 by the regimentation of some existing companies; its title of Royal Welsh Fusileers (sic – Fuzileers was also used in the Army List of the time, now Welch Fusiliers) originated in 1714. It served in San Domingo, in the expedition to North Holland in 1799, and in Egypt. A second Battalion was formed and served in the Corunna and Walcheren campaigns, but the first Battalion’s service was more extensive, including Copenhagen (1807), Martinique (1809) and from July 1810 in the Peninsula, originally with the first Division but from that October with the 4th, perhaps most notably at Albuera, though it won eight other Peninsula battle honours. It also fought at Waterloo.

This arrived this morning ... No wings, no wheels ... but light infantry Packaging Historex was a French company, based in Paris. I believe the original company went out of business, but the product continues as Historex Nemrod (website: http://www.historex.com). I got this through eb*y but you can also get them from Historex Agents in Dover (link: http://www.historexagents.com/ ). The parts Six arms, six legs, two bodies and one head ... so a bit of flexibility 'OOB' (out of the bag ) This is what I'll be making, I have a choice of headgear (and torso) which means he can be any time between 1804 and 1815. I'm tempted by the 3e Legre, who's sapeurs wore red tunics rather than the conventional blue - I also want to check whether any light infantry sappers wore white uniforms.

I picked these up last month, cheaply because the set was incomplete. Some google searching revealed the origin of the figures and I painted them up for around the turn of the 18th to 19th Century. I'm not really sure of the dates for the actual fashions they're wearing... Missing/additional pieces were taken from my Airfix 54mm spares.

Hi everybody, this is a 54 mm drummer from the First Grenadier regiment serving under Napoleon 1st... I have had this figurine since the mid seventies, in its little plastic bag, and I have suddenly decided to do something about it. I want to depict a drummer during the 1804-1807 period, so the uniform colours will be markedly different from the later years. These Historex figures are great, albeit sometimes a bit too stilted for my liking, But the detail is very good. The drummer is made of 18 pieces, some damn small, the bear bonnet is made of only 9 pieces and the drum of a paltry 4... The haversack is a single piece. Pheeew! This is the figure after a coat of enamel paint as primer (the plastic is white), and before painting with artists' oils. If anybody is a boffin of this period, please share any tips you may have! Cheers JR