Hesilrigg's Lobsters

The figures below represent one of the few 'Cuirassier' regiments of the ECW.

I've recently been reading a variety of books/ pamphlets on the Battle of Cropredy Bridge 29th June 1644. I decided to paint the cuirassiers as Hesilrigg's 'lobsters' who were present at the said battle. These were so named because of the style of their 3/4 armour.

I find ECW cuirassiers very charismatic figures and have always liked painting them.

 I painted these in 2 parts. Firstly the horses using the oil wipe method. Then the rider (seperately) using a Matt black undercoat. I intended to do a step through for these but I painted them faster than I could photo them! I also wanted to see how they looked before I did  a painting guide. When/if  I find some more cuirassiers I'll hopefully do a guide which I can also use to show how I paint horses (many of you already know and use this method but I've had quite a few requests to show how I paint them!)

What I like, with the finished result, is the way the Brown (horses), black armour and the orange scarfs compliment each other to give the effect I was after.

A few close-ups.

The figures are Bicorne with the odd Renegade. Flag/cornet by GMB Flags.

Royalist High Command 1642



A little vignette to go with my other ECW stuff.

Bicorne Miniatures featuring Charles 1, Edward Walker and Prince Charles. Painted from my usual brown undercoat.
 

 The figures and my colour scheme are based on the illustration in 'The English Civil War - an Illustrated Military History' by Philip Haythornthwaite Plate 2 Page 23.

Horse Guards Complete

Horse Guard Troops are now based and complete.

I'll probably add more to these to make the units slightly larger depending on the remaining figures I have after I've done all the Oxford Blues and Rebel cavalry.

The standard bearer currently has no cornet. I'm happy to wait until 'Flags of War' produce their cavalry flags as I really like their work on the Monmouth Rebellion (as well as their other stuff!)

1st troop complete

3rd Troop complete

All three Horse Guard Troops complete and on the table.

More Sedgemoor Cavalry (and a reference to Claymore Castings!)

Hope you all had a good Easter break. I spent mine up in Northumberland walking the coastal paths and visiting castles. Hence the lack of posts recently.

In Alnwick town, just outside the castle walls, there is a large statue of Henry (Hotspur) Percy in all his armour etc which was erected in 2010. It immediately brought to mind the Claymore Castings range of Scottish medievals. The Claymore Castings project, run by Dave Imrie (see Saxon Dog link) and Andrew Taylor, is fantastic as are the castings by Paul Hicks and the flags by 'Flags of War.' I have to confess that despite my intention of not buying any figs this year I bought a 24 man unit deal from Claymore and the figures are second to none. I hope to paint some up later this year!!

Claymore Castings link: http://www.claymorecastings.co.uk/
Flags Of War link: http://www.flagsofwar.com/

It's been hard to settle recently as the build up to Salute this Saturday is gathering momentum. I can't wait for the day to arrive!

Now where were we? Oh yes. More Sedgemoor cavalry.

King's Horse Guard

Below are some pics of the King's Horse Guards - 1st and 2nd troop - I've been working on. The 1st troop has red saddle cloth and holsters and the 3rd troop has yellow saddle cloth, holsters and carbine belt trim.
Figures are a mix of Dixon and Foundry.

I'm working on the basing as we speak so will hopefully post finished pics later this week.

1st Troop

3rd Troop

The space on one stand is for a standard bearer I'm just finishing.

The 2 Troops together,

Next up - photos of the based troops.

Sedgemoor Cavalry

Here are some pics of the King's Regiment of Horse Guards (Life Guards) as at Sedgemoor in 1685.

The figs represent the 2nd Troop which is identified by the green trim on the holster caps, saddle cloth and carbine belt.

5 figs complete. I found a sixth one and he is shown prepared here.

 6th Figure complete and basing done prior to painting.

Basing complete.

The unit on the table.

The 6 figures (2 bases) should adequately represent the troop at Sedgemoor at a ratio of 1 fig = 10 actual men.

Figures are Foundry.

Some close-ups: