Review Dupin de Francueil from HF Sigilla

[Nap]

Hi everyone

If you ask most in the hobby for the name of a french modeller then Eric Coulon's one will be right up there .....we are also lucky in that he is also a member of PF using Tazz as his name

The man himself in action at a show:​

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In addition he also is involved in the french hobby scene as well as with the company​

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The company supply many different manufacturers releases of all types but he also commissions releases as well using top sculptors amongst them Greg Girault

One of the commissions recently advised by Eric here on PF :

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/maurice-dupin-de-francueil-1808-hf-sigilla.114917/

and also on social media was this :

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Maurice Dupin de Francueil​

As you can see its a Napoleonic Cavalry officer.......... so why did Eric commission this quite simply he lives near the house of the subjects daughter Aurore Dupin (1804 - 1876)

who later became famous writing under the pseudo name of George Sands who is in France the next best selling author next to Victor Hugo ....indeed in esteemed company.

The sculpt is based on this picture which is currently at the Chateau de Nohant​

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Thank you to fellow PF member Zastrow Cuirassier for this information which I have slightly reworded for the review

Born in 1778

Maurice Dupin's grandfather was Maurice de Saxe, the famous marshal.

He was captain of the 1st regiment of Hussars since 30 Frimaire year 14 (December 21, 1805)

Awarded Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, March 14, 1806.

Fought at the battle of Eylau on 7 and 8 February 1807.

During the horrific winter of 1807 he suffered a frozen foot but somehow survives.

When a squadron leader on March 21, 1807, and was called to serve with Prince Joachim Murat, Grand Duke of Berg, as aide-de-camp

On April 4 he accompanies Murat who goes to the famous Tilsit raft conference on July 7, 1807, after the Battle of Friedland.

Returning to Italy with Murat and Napoleon in Venice in September and Milan in December 1807.

At the beginning of the year 1808, Murat was appointed lieutenant-general of the Emperor and received the command of an army that entered Spain. Maurice arrived at Bayonne on February 27, 1808, and in March he was in Madrid. He lives in the same palace as the Marshal of the Empire.

The population of Madrid rises May 2, 1808 and is violently repressed by Murat the next day. This is the beginning of the Spanish War of Independence.

Murat took possession of the throne of Naples by order of the Emperor and leaves Spain in July.

Maurice returns to France with his family to care for his son who was born blind arriving at Nohant at the end of August 1808.

On September 16, 1808, Maurice Dupin died accidentally as a result of a fall from a horse

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This miniature of Maurice circa 1807 is on ivory but the artist is unknown​

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Another image of Maurice​

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His Signature​

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Being a Napoleonic subject books are many here are a few I have:​

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Continued in next post​

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Nap​

 

[Nap]

Lets Look at the release:

Title: Maurice Dupin de Francueil

Reference: N/A

Scale: 1/10th

Material: Gray Resin

No of pieces: 1

Sculptor: Greg Girault

Box Art: N/A ( Note the painted version above was painted by Eric after release )

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The review item was received well packed in a good strong cardboard box with the resin itself in bubble wrap

On the top of the box are 2 small pictures one of the inspiration and the other a unpainted picture of the resin , also included was a business card



Prep

The release as stated consists of just a single casting so I was not expecting much in the way of prep ...was I correct ....most certainly , on the review item ...a small amount of filler underneath and a couple of tiny air holes ...all easy to do, then its just a matter of washing the resin , selecting the base and then prime and away you go.

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The resin itself is high quality and casts details well so well done to the HF team .

Of course we have the dashing hussar in his full glory , pelise hanging over his left shoulder held in place across his back

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The challenge here was to get the facial features correct and in my opinion Greg has done a really good job , working no doubt close with the painting to get the details right , the nose , ears and mouth are all accurate in look , the jowls are softly done with the eyes being well formed , both upper and lower eyelids

The eyes themselves are sculpted to the left a with the pupil being a small hole so you might want to fill this in , but looking at Eric's painted version it does not show.

Hair is flamboyant with the textures being very well done , the style sweeping over to the left

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I particularly like the facial hair in the form of side burns , with strands reaching forward on the side of the face

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At the neck we see the cravat in place under which there is the collar which comes out at the top , the undercuts on this are very good , the shirt is seen at the lower edge of the cravat under the dolman.

The collar itself is plan with lace edging again this is plain , the surface is smooth and sharply cast.

Maurice wears his pelise over the dolman the pelise itself sits very naturally onto his left shoulder being pulled round the rear of the torso to sit at the rear of the right arm , the pelise is held in place by cords and tassels than sit across the chest ending in nicely formed tassels.

Being a hussar of course we have mass of lacework , on both the pelise and the dolman this is sculpted well with in pairs ending in trefoils, suffice to say all are spot on both in scale and positioning , all lacework has texture lines worked into each pair .

Buttons are in place with the lacework ones are flat and smaller with larger demi round ones at the centre of the torso opening the dolman up to expose the shirt.

The pelise is sculpted showing parts of the lining both at the edges and behind the neck , the edging to it is of course textured all the way round sitting very naturally around the shoulders.



Final thoughts

A dashing hussar who served a very dashing senior officer , a great subject to choose , well sculpted with a tiny amount of prep , the painting will be a enjoyable experience for sure , the challenge being bringing out the textures of the lace and hair and of course the white of the uniform colour

Highly recommended


It's available from here:

https://www.achat-indre.com/pro16679-Maurice-Dupin-de-Francueil-HF-SIGILLA.htm

FB: www.facebook.com/HF-Sigilla-Figurines

Website: www.hfsigilla.fr

Email: [email protected]

Or by PM here on PF to Tazz

Plenty to look at on the website

Thanks to Eric for the review piece

And also to you all for looking in Enjoy the benchtime

Nap

 

[Nap]

Lets have some views of the painted version ....

but first the unpainted resin from website at

and the painted version...

Enjoy

Nap

 

[Jaybo]

I love the history in our hobby. To me it is crucial. I would very much like to know the technique that was used to do the gold lace. By the looks of it, no metallic paint was used except on the buttons. Am I correct?

 

[Wings5797]

Another superb review Kev.
Thank for pulling it all together and sharing it here.
All the very best
Keith

 

[Nap]

I love the history in our hobby. To me it is crucial. I would very much like to know the technique that was used to do the gold lace. By the looks of it, no metallic paint was used except on the buttons. Am I correct?

Hi thanks for comments , I think you are correct but drop a message to Eric to confirm

Nap