This is an Algerian Spahi in 1/16th scale using a heavily modified Verlinden horse, a kit head and hands and boots. Most of it was sculpted with Magic Sculpt in brown and grey and Kneadatite. The carbine was made using a modified Lebel rifle from a kit. The German pickelhaube (Trophy) is from a kit. I added the interior bits of the helmet. Probably you can't see this from the photos. The pickelhaube is just positioned in the Spahi's hand, not glued down; this should give the painter better access. The Spahi figure is likewise not glued down. The model does not show the reins or stirrup straps. Those are made of lead strip and will be added later by the painter.

The pose comes from the illustration by the French painter Hingre. I should point out that Hingre's beautiful illustration contains a couple 'artist license' type errors in the bridle and ammunition holder. Note the very unusual stirrups. I thought at first they must also be an error, but they aren't.

The head dress is called a quenhour and the cloak a burnouse. There are actually two burnouse, a red one on the exterior and a white woolen one interior. The white one is shown on the third photo titled Parade dress burnouse. The Spahi is wearing a blue and black vest with a red and black short coat over it. I don't know the names for those articles of clothing, so if anyone does, let me know. I'm including several photos of the unique clothing.

I can see about a half dozen things that need fixing on the model, and it needs a thorough cleaning so back to work.

Hope you like it!

All the best,
Dan

Very nice indeed. I was just looking at that illustration this morning!
To my eyes the Spahi looks a little large in relation to the horse, however having said that he does in the illustration and there is nothing to say big men didn't ride small horses.

Serendipity or whatever, right? The horseman is large, but pretty much in proportion. Works out to be about 115mm give or take. Maybe part of what makes him look taller is that he's stretching up one arm to hold the "Trophy" as high as possible. I also wonder if the burnouse makes him look taller?

All the best,
Dan

A beautiful figurine inspired by a beautiful painting of Leon Hingre.
Others WWI Leon Hingre paints

I think that's probably what it is Dan.

Zastrow many thanks and thanks for the Hingre illustrations!!

Roger - I went back and measured length from head to waist - roughly 47mm, waist to bottom of feet - roughly 65mm. So 112mm, not 115mm and he's a bit short-waisted and has longish legs.

All the best,
Dan

We come in all shapes and sizes but funnily enough expect our miniatures to be perfect specimens of humankind.

They're great, saved, thank you Luc.

As part of a general cleaning, I noticed that the grey Magic Sculpt used to make the burnouse was rougher in places than I would like and had "leached" in other places making unsightly gaps. I added thin layers of Kneadatite and MS mixed to improve them. Also fixed the gap at the right wrist.

All the best,
Dan

Some breed of horses were indeed smaller and the breed depended on the regiments and time periods etc. I read that somewhere and since the illustration shows a smaller horse then it is probably correct for the research the artist did for the painting. It seems I have seem some mongals that were on smaller horses also. It looks an excellent sculpting and very detailed. You have come a long way in the short time I have known you. Congratulations
Cheers
John

Thanks so much John!

All the best,
Dan

Great work Dan,
Fare to say you have really got the knack for the nags. Yet another super conversion.
A very interesting discussion on the horse to jockey proportions. I have seen this in a lot of paintings and even if you look to the horse rider combinations in the background of your illustration the artist has echoed these proportions. I have a few figures in my GA that look to suffer the same imbalance.
If I had a theory on the subject I would say that the real old masters tend to get it spot on. Maybe because they will prepare a good number of sketches of the rider and horse as one subject. Most of these preparation pieces are presentable as paintings in their own right.
If I use the word illustrator it is purely to encapsulate all other artists and not detriment to any of them. These guys, me included, tend to paint a horse and a rider as two different subjects, giving the possibility to small differences in scale. Just my take on it.
Any way I didn't come on to pontificate but to say the this piece is a fantastic display of your talents Dan.
Well done,
Keith

Great work, Dan!

Military miniatures painted by Eduardo Garcia

Many thanks Keith and Eduardo!

Keith - since I'm making so many of these horse and rider combinations, I'm going to go back and check all the rider proportions again, just to be certain. I don't have any problem making scale models of 'non-standard' size humans. I did that with the 8 figures of my Gassed scene intentionally and it worked OK.

I'm hoping to get this one finished and ready for painting within a couple weeks.

All the best,
Dan

I totally agree Dan, it added a realism to the Gassed project which for me was outstanding. As for horses, there were somewhere around eight million sent from the UK in WW1 and I guess that they didn't all meet the same profile.
Good luck with the circa 2 weeks target, will you be painting these beauties yourself?
Looking forward to seeing them all together before the paint.
Best wishes
Keith

Thanks Keith! The 2 weeks to finish just this horse and rider is flexible. Hey, I'm retired - everything is flexible! I'm continuing to try to fix the leached out putty bits and lines that shouldn't be showing. If I can ever finish those and get a smooth finish everywhere, then it's mostly cleaning up and maybe a minor repair. I don't paint, but have a painter selected for this one. The Spahi will probably be the most colorful of the bunch, so should be fun.

All the best,
Dan

I know everyone says it but retirement is: a very time consuming occupation.
Keep up the good work Dan
All the best
Keith

Strangely it is I did far more figures when I was Working,then it was a form of stress relief after the working day

In my case, I've been able to find more time to make figures. Call me a contrarian.

All the best,
Dan

Something wasn't quite right about one side of the burnouse. Couldn't put my finger on it but it didn't look right. So portions of the burnouse have been redone 3 times since I last posted photos of the Spahi. What was wrong? The folds on the side of the burnouse with the raised arm. They should have been rolled up, falling on the shoulder and not much on the lower part of the raised arm. Otherwise I'm OK with the Spahi. As always no reins or stirrups fitted to allow the painter to paint each separately. The Spahi is pinned and can be removed for separate painting.

So - I'm calling this one done!

Hope you like it!

All the best,
Dan