WIP Perry French Revolutionary Hussars

[ARKOUDAKI]

Hi all, I have been (very) slowly working on a project of making French Revolutionary period Hussars using the Perry plastics box. Since I like variety, I have been cross cutting some heads to have different faces as well as changing the arms. I just hate looking at the same faces over and over, and since you only get four (4) heads for each period and the arms are fixed, well, some work needed doing. Of course, in the process I also managed to break that carbine bit off on a few, so that needed fixing. I think I like the fix, and might just break them all off!

My goal for this project is to make around 20 or so French Revolutionary Hussars (2 command and 8 troopers) for two regiments/units. I still have some more troopers to do and a lot of work on the horses to get them where I want. Actually I have 10 boxes of Perry Hussars (one of the Perry's best plastic offering to be sure!!!!!!!!!!), so I have a load more to do, but these will mostly be Napoleon's boys!

Of course, this is just one of the far too many projects I have on the go, including Nap French in Egypt; Nap French Chasseurs a Cheval; ACW; 1/72 plastic figs from a variety of periods; WW2 in 20mm and 1/48; Nap Austrians; Nap Russians; 1/48 AFVs; 1/72 AFVs; a friend bought me 'Star Wars Legion' so that will be my first foray into Sci-Fi in gaming for many moons; and of course my most important project is my son's Lego Star Wars decal conversions for his Clone troopers! As they say, variety is the spice of life!

Enough talk, here are some photos that can give you some insight into my efforts thus far.

[ARKOUDAKI]

As you can see from the photos above, I get pretty AR about detail, drilling out the arms on the pelisses, refining details here and there, etc. I added reins to the riders using aluminum foil, which I think turned out okay. I need to do the same for the horses, but using putty. Takes a bit more time but how else does the rider suppose to steer his mount??? 

For me, I really enjoy the 'build' part of things, as that is what seems to relax me. And with all of life's stress, you need to relax. I think I am an okay painter - well, in the past I have won some awards for painting and such (and not for the blind or anything) - but I just like building things. And if you do a good build, you at least have hopes of making a good finished model....well, that's at least what I keep telling myself! 

Here are a few more pics of the WIP.

[ARKOUDAKI]

Oh, and one more tip for anyone who likes cutting models up, invest in a good razor saw and in my opinion, the one by Platz (Japanese) is absolutely superb!!!!!!!!!! Not cheap but the best razor saw you will ever use.

[Peter d]

Lovely looking work.  I do love the kit bashing potential of the Perry kits.  What box set did you use to get the Mirlitons?  Did you consider using the Perry metal French Hussards from their AWI range?  I'm ni where near as AR as you, so used a paint conversion to backdate them as French SYW Hussards.

[Antonio J Carrasco]

Lovely looking work.  I do love the kit bashing potential of the Perry kits.  What box set did you use to get the Mirlitons?  Did you consider using the Perry metal French Hussards from their AWI range?  I'm ni where near as AR as you, so used a paint conversion to backdate them as French SYW Hussards.

I believe that the Hussar's box has three heads with Mirliton per sprue...

[ARKOUDAKI]

@Peter d and Antonio, actually you get 5 different Mirliton heads in the Perry box, and if you take the ones in campaign shako and cut them up you have more variety. I chose the plastic Perry Hussars for this reason, as it is an easy material to work with. I never considered using the Perry's metal range, as I prefer working with plastic where possible. Plus, I have 10 boxes of the French Hussars, so some were destined to be made-up for the Revolutionary period. I had hoped I could use the sword arms from the Perry's more recent plastic Chasseurs a Cheval set but it is a later pattern sword, so it doesn't work for this period. Still, with razor saw and putty it is easy to cut the arms off the plastics and reposition. All fun stuff. 

[Littlearmies]

@Peter d and Antonio, actually you get 5 different Mirliton heads in the Perry box, and if you take the ones in campaign shako and cut them up you have more variety. I chose the plastic Perry Hussars for this reason, as it is an easy material to work with. I never considered using the Perry's metal range, as I prefer working with plastic where possible. Plus, I have 10 boxes of the French Hussars, so some were destined to be made-up for the Revolutionary period. I had hoped I could use the sword arms from the Perry's more recent plastic Chasseurs a Cheval set but it is a later pattern sword, so it doesn't work for this period. Still, with razor saw and putty it is easy to cut the arms off the plastics and reposition. All fun stuff. 

Could you cut the Hussar sword arms you need off at the wrist and attach them to the Chasseur sleeve? Or are the poses not really compatible with that? Sorry I'm not really familiar with either box so can'y be more help.

[ARKOUDAKI]

On the Hussar box the arms are fixed to the torso, and are of three (3) types...so rather boring. On the Chasseurs-a-Cheval box you get a variety of arms. However, as I said, the sword types were different, so you can't cross them over. So best to just cut off the arms on the Hussars and have fun. With saw, file, and putty, the world is your oyster! 

[Peter d]

Good to know on the headgear, it could be useful...
I haven't picked up a box of Hussards in plastic yet.  Really looking forward to the end result.
Cheers
Peter

[AdamPHayes]

Great detail work, I admire your patience! You are so right about the razor saw, it makes really light work of conversions(which is exactly the point of plastic figures...)