Converting Hussars 3

In some recent blogs, I’ve been discussing my conversion of the Warlord French Hussars into their Russian counterparts, covering the various challenges I’ve encountered in converting the horses and choosing the right colours for them. Now we are finally reaching the end, getting those Hussars painted and onto the tabletop. 

I chose to do the Pavlograd Hussars based on War and Peace, as they play a significant role in the book. However with hindsight, there are a number of equally interesting Russian Hussar regiments (such as the Grodno Hussars) I could have chosen. The basic conversion of the Hussar was pretty simple, just use a Perry Miniatures Napoleonic Russian head on a Warlord Hussar body. Of course, I’m never just happy there, so I’m using a mix of Perry and Warlord pelisses and converting some of the Perry arms to the Warlord bodies as well.

Painting is using the ‘block and wash’ method I’ve described before (block colours, then wash, then highlight). The colours used were similar to the ones I used in my Napoleonic Russian infantry blog, except I added a turquoise for the cuffs and pelisse. 

The horses are painted in a similar fashion to my Mongols using the ’block and wash’ method. I used a fine lining pen for the ‘zig zag’ pattern on the saddle blanket.

The results are fairly reasonable and it means I can get another unit on the table. I love Christy’s work (see the WSS YouTube channel) and would love the time or the skill to paint an army to her standard, it gets armies done and in a reasonable time. I will probably mix the plastics in with metal Hussars from the Perrys and Foundry, as I love variety in a unit, to the point that each model in a unit will be unique.