This is a beautiful sculpture by the late Richard Almond, one of the best sculptors of military miniatures of all times.

I dedicate this step by step to the memory of Richard Almond.

Lord Cardigan. Col. 11th Hussars, 1855.
90mm. metal figure.
the kit contains 11 parts.









Cheers

Roc.

Roc,my dear friend,I'll certainly be looking forward to this one ! Cheers.
Kenneth :lol:

James Brudenell, 7th Lord Cardigan



Very much to the manor born was James Thomas Brudenell, the Seventh Earl of Cardigan. In his early adulthood, Cardigan was a striking figure; tall, blond-haired, blue-eyed. He had a reputation as a daring horseman, excelled at swordsmanship, and was a fine shot. He was, much of the time, every bit the martinet Flashman describes; he was also a reasonably complex human being who didn't quite fit the Lord Haw-Haw image. (In fact, photographs of Cardigan in his prime are remarkably similar to Barbosa's dustjacket paintings of Flashman himself.)
Woodham-Smith describes his early childhood; "He was brought up at home among his sisters, and he grew up as such boys do, spoilt, domineering, and headstrong. No arm was stronger than his. No rude voice contradicted him, no rough shoulder pushed him. From his earliest consciousness he was the most important, the most interesting, the most influential person in the world." A legend grew that, at age fourteen, Cardigan had been thrown from a horse and struck his head on a gate: emerging from a weeks-long recuperation, his disposition had changed to a far more harsh, domineering style, and he was subject to flights of extraordinary rage.

However, Donald Thomas sketches a man apparently betrayed by time. The Battle of Waterloo (1815) stamped an impression on England that lasted for generations: for years afterwards, Britain would look to the generals of that battle for leadership and guidance. But James Brudenell was eighteen at the time, and safely camped in an undistinguished schooling at Oxford. By the time he'd graduated, and done the Grand Tour of Europe, Brudenell had decided upon a military career-- with the ambition of distinguishing himself in a battle of Waterloo's importance.

His own father, the 6th Earl, was not enthusiastic. He feared for his son's life should war come. But if peace continued, a military career would be an extravagant waste of money. The career Cardigan desired would require massive amounts of cash to support; beyond the cost of a commission, Brudenell would spend thousands on maintaining horses, servants, uniforms, entertainments, and much, much more. A political career-- marked in those days by the expenses of buying seats in Parlaiment-- would be cheaper, at least.

Kenneth, my friend,I'm looking forward to this one also.



Cheers

Roc.

Wow, Roc, he's a beaut! I've never seen a metal kit figure that color before: what type of metal is that? I especially like the chair, though - what a simple yet appropriate prop! This should be a fun sbs to watch. Thanks for posting!

And hey, don't forget to post some more pics of that wild-eyed Roman of yours, if you please! My last exam is Wed (joyful civil procedure) and then I'm free! Well, until Jan 3, that is. But that's enough time to do my own version of that wild-eyed Roman! :lol:

Thanks again - your postings are much fun
Nancy
aka Hyades

I also look forward for this sbs Roc. I really enjoyed the janissary one. Keep up the good work my friend.

Hi Nancy, It's an old metal figure ,the strange color of the metal in the picture is just a terrible pic,I was to lazy to take better pictures.

I aplogize for the delay of the closeup pictures of the Roman that I promised you,
I'll try to take some pictures tonight and post them,thanks for your patience.


Ciao

Roc.

Xenofon, my friend, thanks for the words of encouragement and I'm happy to hear you enjoyed the Janissary.

Ciao

Roc.

I'm almost certain that Richard Almond is the sculpter, but even he is not,I still dedicate it to him.


Cheers

Roc.

Cardigan's First Marriage
The marriage of Brudenell to Elizabeth Johnstone was a spectacular failure. Elizabeth's family was violent, passionate, and and jealous, and she was no exception: she'd married one Captain Johnstone, and that had lasted three months before he begged for release. Still, Elizabeth fled to Paris, met Cardigan, and eloped to Versailles. Johnstone later described Elizabeth as "the most damned bad-tempered and extravagant bitch in the kingdom." When Cardigan offered Johnstone the chance to fight a duel to obtain satisfaction, Johnstone replied that by taking Elizabeth off his hands he'd performed the greatest service one man could do for another. (See our note on the "Baldwin affair" to learn how this phrase turned up years later in Cardigan's life.)
Friends of Cardigan's regard this marriage, which ended in 1846, as the most decisive misfortune of his life. Both were known for extramarital affairs, high-handedness, and being demanding of others. The fact is, she and Cardigan were too similar. But the marriage did have one saving grace. Cardigan's father, the 6th Earl, decided that maybe some military discipline would be good for the boy, and let him enlist.

As captain in the 8th Hussars, he became known for his stridency on protocol and appearance. He was also probably regarded as a dangerous lunatic, in that was he was notorious for his willingness to duel over even minor provocations. But it should be said that in those days before the Reform Bill, the military regiment was "like a mobile estate, in which the lietenant-colonel was lord of the manor, the major was his agent, while the captains and subalterns were his principal tenants and heirs. The private soldiers were the workers And those shots on the duelling fields were the only shots most British officers heard for thirty years.

Oke Rocco,,
Here we go again. Sitting every day a couple off hours at the PC the follow the SBS.
At work they asked me: Why don't you go to the fellow. Than you didn't had to wait for the next steps. You are on top of it.

So Rocco, that's what i am gonna do. sit wright on top of this SBS.

Learning, Learning, Learning and more and always learning.

Hoping the next is coming soon.

Marc

Geoff,

In terms of the face, it does look like a Horton. I didn't even know Richard didn't do all of the Almond pieces. But you may be right since it looks nothing like his other works (alot of his faces shared a common look to them). Some of the best kits on the market and compare well even by today's standards. I love finding old kits-it's become a sort of "sideline" to painting, I seem to be collecting old kits!

In either case, I'm share Roc will do a great job on it and his dedication is a nice thing to do.

Lou

I know what you mean Lou....it seems like I buy more older kits than I do new ones.

Cardigan Assumes Command
In 1832, Cardigan bought the lieutenant-colonelcy of the 15th King's Hussars. Ther previous commander, Sir Joseph Thackwell, was a military historian and respected soldier (he'd lost an arm and had two horses shot from under him at Waterloo), and his command was notable for his humaneness and the rare incidence of insubordinate behavior. All that changed under Cardigan, who suddenly demanded higher standards of formation, parades, uniform maintenance and appearance. Underlings who differed with Cardigan's insistence on discipline and protocol were punished; one Captain Augustus Wathen was nearly court-martialled, mainly because he alerted superiors to Cardigan's overpurchasing of new uniforms. It was the acquittal of Wathen that prompted the army to take the 8th Hussars away from Cardigan.
Cardigan had come in to command men who had fought alongside of Wellington at Waterloo, and who had been majors when he had entered the military. That was also the year when the threats of riots and revolution spurred the passage of the Reform Bill-- which Cardigan, one of the more reactionary Tories of the time, opposed. In short, Cardigan was a man who felt the divine right of kings in the marrow of his bones, and who was deeply at odds with the current reshaping of society.

Cardigan could not believe that he would not have a command. He lobbied the Duke of Wellington (who was amazed at Cardigan's single-mindedness and apparent inability to realize how badly he'd embarassed himself). Only through the influence of relations-- his brother-in-law was the Queen's chamberlain-- and another purchase of rank was Cardigan able to secure the command of the 11th Light Dragoons in 1837-38. (Another factor was Sir William Molesworth, reformer, radical, professed atheist, advocate of the secret ballot and the abolition of flogging. He denounced Cardigan's reassignment, so the military closed ranks to smite Molesworth the upstart. Thus, Cardigan was reinstated by an act of Parlaiment.)

Give us more Roc! This is one of the things I enjoy about your post...I learn so much.

Roc, I agree with Jason. In addition to seeing the in progress painting you go above and beyond to provide background information on the subject. Thanks for taking the time to put together such a presentation.~Gary

Interesting subject and maybe I'll start a new thread so as not to hijack Roc's excellent SBS.

I totally agree with Jason on this point;you certainly take the time to add on alot of interesting details to your SBS postings.Thanks,Roc,for edifying the rest of us here on the "planet". Cheers !
Kenneth

Hello Jason, we are learning together, there will be a lot more coming.


Cheers

Roc.

Gary, thanks, it's my pleasure.

Cheers

Roc.