It's a great looking figure and I hope it does well. As someone who is trying to up his sculpting game, I try to be meticulous about references, but as stated above, references are often in conflict. What was appropriate one year may not be so the next. Supply lines are often interupted and what should be worn according to the latest dress regulations may be delayed by circumstances (hence the 28th Foot wearing the stovepipe shako at Waterloo). I am also a great fan of adjusting and converting figures to correct or change pose and equipment. We are meant to be modellers after all. If you like it, buy it, if not, don't. If you have a valid point to make about details then we should all take such comments in good humour, as educational and informative.

Mike

I was actually watching The Duellists today and the figure looks remarkably similar to Harvey Keitels character. Superb facial rendering and will be on my list of figgies to do. I've nearly finished the Chasseur figure and this was an absolute pleasure to do.
Cheers
Paul

I hope Graham is gonna put one aside for me.

Marc

Graham, Wow superb choice and Moz's sculpting is at its best.

Absolutely superb, being a fan of the film, this is definitely on my Euro purchase list.

Malc

I go along with what Mike is saying, we can never be absolutely sure. In my limited Service experience, I know of quite a number of cases in the last 50 + years, where things especially items of Dress have changed, not officially as laid down in QAs &RIs, or RM Dress Regulations, but on the whim of the Colonel/ Adjutant and even the Drum Major, only to revert at a later date, but then again not always. This was most apparent with Units returning from Foreign Service, but also it did occur even in this country , where the RM Divisions, ie Chatham Portsmouth,Plymouth, all had their own little differences and tried to cling onto them, untill being finally brought back into line by Directives from the RM Depot Deal. If I was to produce a sculpt of a Royal Marine Drum Major wearing a full Guards Style Bearskin, I bet there would be a number of people that would seriously question it, but the fact is it did happen, and it was recorded in official photos.But then again not every thing was documented or sanctioned, one case being Sea Service RMs wearing Naval ORs Blue Burburries with RM numerals in the epaulettes worn over full dress blues for shore leave. We had to buy it from Naval Slops, but it was easier for wear then the full Khaki Greatcoat that we should have worn. Just don't walk into a RM Barracks wearing it, your feet wouldn't touch the ground. My point is everything is a grey area with time, you can never say never.

It's right enough for me. I am going to have this spectaular figure.

Is this a 'Waterloo' period Hussar? Forgive me if this has already been answered in a previous post and I missed it or I am sidelining the thread.
Cheers
Mat

I would put him 1805 - 11810-ish hussar based on an eye ball. After the 1812 regs came out, they went to the cylindrical shako and buttoned overalls more....at least for some regiments. The uniformed portion of the plot of the Duelists film generally falls in the period I allude to.

Colin

From my references there seemed to be a certain amount of anarchy with regards to dress regulations within the French cavalry with the Hussars being on the top of the list of serial offenders so i would say there is a fair bit of latitude. I'm an ex tanky so certain items of our dress would change on the whim of new RSM's or C.O's.
Regards
Paul

Fine discussion here as usual. There seems to be two camps here: 1-it is a cool figure so let's buy it and 2-it has real, historical discrepancies which detract from it. Fine, each to there own. But put me in the latter camp. If it is wrong, it is wrong. Period. One of the delightful aspects of this hobby is its intermingling with history. For some that is not a big deal. C'est la vie.
I have studied this period since I was a little boy (I'm 60) and although I'm not the curator of the Musee da l'armee, I think that Ivo's points are spot on. By the way, the 5th Hussars (which are a pet study of mine) had 3 rows of buttons early on and later in the Empire adopted 5 rows. It also appears to be the case that the 5th never used the diamond lozenge on their shakos.

Now if really want to start a firestorm lets talk about what was the 'exact' shade of blue field fonce that the 5th used!

That is bleu ciel fonce. Damn spell check! It doesn't recognize French!

From rivet counters to button counters....I think this is a great and well sculpted piece.And at 120 mm,...I think this is on my list.....What a shame the nit picking goes on regarding details....It's as if you guys are competing against each other in regards to historical knowledge....Do you think one button or two is going to make a difference in the eyes of your asshole brother in law when you show him......let it go and just enjoy painting a great sculpt.....Just an opinion...........Wayne

As my Mom used to say....."If you convince me and I convince you, won't we still have two points of view?"

Both positions are respectable, defensible and not mutually exclusive IMO.

Colin

........But in the end......I guess Mom always wins...............At least we let her win........or let her think she does................a mutual agreement most always ends in a happy ending..............Regards

Gra superb,
What sort of price band are you anticipating on this one please, and when will you be taking advance orders please

Paul

Reading this all, I find it fascinating how a rigid polarity has firmly set on PF.
As soon as some one dares to ask a sensible question about historical accuracy (bad thing) there will be instant accusations of rivet counting and protect the model/sculptor/manufacturer from criticism (good thing).
I am for one getting fed up with this "she is a witch!" constant accusations and attempts to shut people up and dismiss when it is actually useful discussion.

Lets reverse this for a second -hypothetically (deliberately with a lost performative, I am not singling any one out).
Consider this - being curious about history is good and stimulating healthy discussion is good. If you don't like rivet counting, move on! If you don't have enough interest in history to get best out of it? Don't get involved. Show how averse you are to nit picking by staying out of the discussion all together! Less of this "I am not a sculptor, but it looks alright to me.."

Just try it on for a second. How does this feel?

Hmmmmm....

That sounds about right to me.

Andrew

As mentioned this is a preview for Euro .
After consulting my references the figure will be released as 1st regiment
That just requires a different sabretache and change of number on lozenge which I will be doing before release.
That then is correct for shako and button layout.
That said, a set of different head and headress and blank sabretaches will be released at the same time.
It won't cover every regiment due to the finer details that have been pointed out, but it will enable a variety and also if inclined with little changes nearly every regiment . The head set will include cylindrical shako, colpack, shako with eagle plate and a bare head with plaits.for example the 4th regiment below can be depicted, although if you read the text it contradicts the plate in the button layout (Osprey)
The heads are also scaled exactly to the Chasseur Cheval figure again giving other option

Beautiful figure Graham and some good options.Here's a print of an Hussar,albeit Prussian,wearing the pelisse over the dolman.
Jon