French Napoleonic Horse Artillery Battery 1815: Part 1

 

Whilst it's been a while since my last post on this blog, I have not been idle. I've been spending most of this year on my Balaclava passion project and posting on that blog but now I'm switching back to my Papelotte game and it's time for the French Horse Artillery.

I'm doing a three-gun battery: twelve crew, two 6-pdr and a howitzer and a four-horse limber. My limber is a Perry Miniatures affair but it has to be observed that the Perry Limbers are supplied incomplete. They do not come with spreader bars. I compared them to my Front Rank caisson wagon which is in contrast a complete model which do come with spreaders for the centre and leading teams.

You may note from the photo above that I've had to make my own spreader using plastic card (Styrofoam). I've also had to supply my own traces using twisted copper wire. I have used modellers rope in the past but I think copper wire is better. When making the traces I twist three strands and at the end which fixes to the spreader or splitter bars, I can bend the centre wire into a hook to fix to the bars. I drill holes in the draft horses to match the other trace ends with the sculpted harness and both ends are fixed respectively with Superglue.

For the first time I'm including some artillery crew figures mounted and riding alongside the train. I'm using Front Rank train figures and have cut down the plumes, removed some whips and manipulated an arm hear and there. They are fixed on Perry Miniatures plastic light cavalry mounts.

 

I am basing the four-horse train with gun and four escorting crew on a 5mm MDF base 250mm long and 70mm wide - so this will be a substantial model. I will build most of the assembled limber on the base prior to painting but will paint the near side team (with mounted drivers) separate.