Hi to everyone ,

The big weekend looms and the manufacturer's have been busy, among them is of course our Mr Scollick aka Gra30 , and he has done it again for Euro this time releasing another bust from his French Napoleonic range , a good companion piece to his previous Foot Dragoon as here:

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads...-9th-scale-cgs-miniatures.62338/watch-confirm

The chosen subject from Graham ....an Officer of the Empress Dragoons:




Of course there are many books available here are just a few with great information in:
As always lets have some background on this elite unit:

The Regiment of Guard Dragoons was established in April 1806. In each of the 30 dragoon regiments was made a list of 6 NCOs and privates as candidates to the Guard.
Requirements:
- - - - - 10 years of service
- - - - - citations for bravery
- - - - - at least 2 campaigns
- - - - - at least 173 cm tall

General Ornano described the Guard Dragoons: "The men are very handsome, the horses fine, strong, and well cared for. The officers, NCOs, and soldiers are animated by an excellent spirit, perfect discipline, and have a splendid appearance."

The Guard dragoons wore dark green coats with white lapels, aiguilettes, and fine helmets with long black horsehair. The fur band around the helmet's base was of simulated panther skin. The helmets were slightly modified in 1810 by shifting towards the rear of the crest the point at which the horsehair emerged.

The dragoons were never issued the stiff boots worn in parade by the Grenadiers. Consequently, their officers wore the semi-rigid type with stiff knee section only.

The men in squadrons of Young Guard wore grey breeches and no aiguilettes.


Napoleon intended to mount the dragoons on black horses but Bessieres, commander of Guard cavalry, pointed out that blacks were designated only for the Horse Grenadiers and for the Elite Gendarmes. He instructed the commander of dragoons to procure chestnuts. Originally the first two squadrons rode on catured Prussian Gendarmes' horses, the other two squadrons were still on foot. Later on all dragoons were mounted on French, Prussian and Austrian chestnuts (there were also some bays).


Continued in next post:

Nap

Now then let us have a look inside:

The model was received with the usual efficiency from CGS ,well packed to combat the PO!! In a strong box with the contents being held in bags surrounded by bubble wrap.

Details of the model:

Title: Officer of Empress Dragoons

Scale: 200mm (half figure)

Material: Resin

No of parts: 15 Resin, plus lead sheet and 2 inserts

Sculptor: Maurice Corry

Box Art: N/A

This is a bust but in the latest style namely a half figure (to make a full figure only the legs etc are needed)

This is a large model and a lot of resin for the money so a very good value purchase.....in addition we have 2 inserts , one advising on building the model the other giving painting details .

Starting with the the main chunk of resin we will look at the torso ,prep needed was just the removal of casting plugs from the base of the coat tails, our officer is wearing the long tailed coat with the white turned back plastron under the coat we see the waistcoat with the belt holding everything in !!

There is also a legion d'honneur medal on the chest so he has been honoured for bravery by the Emperor .


We also see the buttons that are seen on originals on the inside of the coat tails with some nice work also on the grenade emblems on the turnbacks ..good work guys.

The coat itself is really nicely sculpted and extremely well cast, the undercuts on the turnbacks and the pockets are very clean and sharp , buttons are well represented , the clothing folds are in keeping with the body position , well formed , the same comment goes for the waistcoat as well ......

....this piece Oooozes quality, nice one Gra and Moz.

The belt plate has the design as in the last plate (No 7) in the previous post , a lovely surface to paint this emblem on.

The medal (I love them!!) has fine details that will benefit careful painting (see reference)

On the shoulder we have the aguilette , again nicely detailed , looking at the plates and originals possibly a little thin but it will paint up beautifully, adding that bit more interest to the subject.

The other shoulder has a plain epaulette ready for the remaining part , both epaulettes are again well sculpted and cast .

Initial thoughts ...this is well up there in the quality stakes particularly in respect of casting ...great start.


Continued in next post

Nap

Its on its way Barrie!!!!

Nap

On now to the remaining parts:

Now to the arms both have casting plugs to remove from the shoulder area , carefully done
will ensure a really good fit with just a smidgen of filler needed. the folds have been wonderfully worked , clothing seams are shown , both shoulders have the end pieces of the epaulettes , these are good area's , on the left we have the top of the gauntlet. the ends are ready to receive the hands .

The hands have a casting plug to remove and both are well sculpted the left being just a hand ready to hold the scabbard the right has the gauntlet in full , the hand holding onto the sword hilt the basket of the hilt protecting the hand . The sword knot is opened up with the hand going through to stop him loosing his sword....


The detail of this sword hilt is brilliant , the basket guard is a gem of work in resin , the knot tassel being well detailed , it is a real nice part of this model .

Now to the head ...he wears the helmet as detailed above the pantherskin being distinctive of tohe Empress Dragoons , the helmet itself needs 2 small plugs to remove , these are well positioned as the horsehair mane will hide anything . The fine details are particularly noted on the helmet the "N" and crown above , the fluting decoration on either side of the comb .
The chinscales are tied up resting in the peak , each scale well sculpted and detailed, the te tassles sitting well , this method is often seen in references , the rosette at each side is another part of fine sculpting ,there were many variations including a star design.

The head is positioned looking to the right with strong facial features , great work on the eyes and ears as expected , nice side whiskers , he has the look of a leader well aware of what he has to face in battle.

The collar are is another lovely area the stock underneath ( no doubt a fine material) shows good folds with his shirt collar peeking out from under this .

After removing the casting plug from under the collar fit is excellent into the torso.

The plume now is a real cracking piece of work and great casting , very fine details throughout , of course I advise pinning this to the holder on the helmet .

The same comments go for the horsehair mane , fit is good after removing the casting plug from the top really bringing the helmet to life

The small plume at the front of the helmet is nicely done as is the holder , possibly a little fiddly to fit together but the end result will be worth the effort.

The sword scabbard has small plugs to remove from the top and bottom and from the belt connections , nice work is seen on the design , fit will need to be dry tested first before committing to the glue ..I would suggest pinning as well if you can .
I have looked closely at this and scaled it from originals and it comes pretty dammed close to the correct size in width .

We have 2 sword belts with good buckle details , in addition we have lead sheeting provided to use if needed .

Finally the base , due to the length of the tails we have a very long vesion of rod ...I will commit mine to the spares box and get the favoured brass rod in use.

Final thoughts:

This is a very imposing piece from CGS ,extremely well sculpted and with casting to match , careful prep is needed and do think the way you will approach this to get the best out of it .
Well presented as usual it is a lovely addition to the CGS range , full of character and it will provide value for money and hours of enjoyment when painting , you have the distinctive colour the coat tails details , lovely work on the helmet ....what more can you ask for .

CGS will of course be at Euro so take your wallet , meet Graham and his Resin masterpieces available ...or if you can't get there (like me ... ) why not visit the website at :

www.cgsmilitaryfigures.co.uk

or to contact by email: contact@cgsmilitaryfigures.co.uk

or PM via PF!!

or see CGS on F/B

Thanks for looking in

Nap