1st (2nd West Prussian) Dragoons (von Ziethen's Own)

Actually I don't know for sure that the 1st (2nd West Prussian) Dragoons retained the honorific 'von Ziethen's Own', and one runs into all sorts of difficulties when officiously anglicising a  German regimental title, but it has a bit of a ring to it. (When a youngster serving in 'A' Company 2 Wessex, we were pretty sniffy towards non 'A' Coy. types because A Coy was 'The Duke of Connaught's Own', so where's the harm, Eh?) Suffice it to say that the 1807 No. 6 Regt Ziethen Dragoons became the 1st West Prussian Dragoons in 1808, and then in turn were renumbered as the 2nd (1st West Prussian) Dragoon Regiment...Alles Klar?



The Regiment rehearsing charges, Lunenberger Heide, March 1813

 Anyhow these 28mm Prussian Dragoon figures are from the delectable range of Prussians produced by Calpe Minatures, http://www.calpeminiatures.co.uk/index.html which in my opinion produces absolutely the finest range of 28mm figures around, and certainly boasts the most comprehensive range of Napoleonic 'Late War' Befreiungskriege Prussians.

 They come out of the pack needing a minimum of de flashing, but of course benefit from a good brass brushing as much as any miniature.

These will be  used primarily for Black Powder rules, so I want to base the regiment of 18 in 2 ranks of 9, and so chose to use the charging figures for the front rank and 'at rest' figures for the rear rank. The charging figures come with seperate sword arms, which allows a great deal of flexibility in posing, although purists would no doubt have them all giving point....

I am wedded to using a black undercoat, and despite always being informed by those whose painting I admire that its because they undercoat in white, I simply cannot get away from it. I am however undecided whether to use a flat black primer out of a spray can, or paint on matt black gesso. These were sprayed and the undercoats covered with black cheapo craft acylic...


Now the Peter F who pretty much is Calpe Miniature has provided ample painting and uniform notes on his site for all of his Prussians, and the Dragoons are no exception: http://www.calpeminiatures.co.uk/prussian_dragoons.html and if I may quote the great man:

The dragoon's coat was of a distinctive mid blue shade sometimes described as light blue. In my opinion it was of a stronger hue than that. Vallejo's range of Model Colour paints make a medium blue that is perfect for the Job (no.963).

Now Peter's meticulous attention to detail throughout his ranges suggest that he is a man not to be taken lightly when painting his figures, so I duly invested in a bottle of said paint.

Frankly, whilst I completely accept that the hue is accurate, I really couldn't live with the sheer glossiness of the end result, no matter how long and hard I shook the bottle and thinned it down with Vallejo 540 matt medium! Must have got a duff bottle!

So after a few attempts, and after deciding to leave the Trumpeter in the Vallejo coat of shining cloth, I hit upon using one of my cheapo craft paints,  Copenhagen Blue', which though very thin, does have the advantage of drying to a lovely flat matt shade. Now I understand from Peter Hofschroer's informative MAA172 Prussian Cavalry of the Napoleonic Wars that this regiment had white facings, and Peter's notes referred to above not only confirms this but suggests that all bright work should be in white metal. For some reason I prefer yellow metal, as I think it shows up better, particularly for chin scales and webbing reinforcements, so whilst I have painted some figures authentically, I have take liberties with others, which if challenged I shall ascribe to the exigencies of campaigning... 

The flag finials are by Front Rank, and the Flag itself is an old REVO stick 25mm scale Infantry Colour, so may be inauthentic, but so far as my limited research has discovered, this regiments Colour would have been predominantly white, so close enough for government work...

Once again, its not clear if this Regiment's ranks were padded out with a detachment of Volunteer Yeomen, or 'Freiwilligen Jager', middle class youths whose means matched their nationalistic ardour to the point where they could afford to provide their own arms and accoutrements and horseflesh. If they did it seems reasonable to assume they would have ordered uniforms of holly green, as their better documented comrades in other Regiments wore, but faced with the Regimental white facing. I have added one of these young gentlemen just to raise the class of the outfit, after all, what is the use of Cavalry if not to add a little tone to what might otherwise be a vulgar brawl...

So a second Prussian mounted regiment is added to my collection, I shall have to extract the old digit if I am to provide the Allies with sufficient horseflesh to historically outnumber the French cavalry for our Bicenntennial refights of 1813 and 1814...unfortunately all my friends have large and well painted collections of French cavalry, so I have my work cut out. Oh well:

Immer Vorwarts!