Rivoli (1 Viewer)

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Now on a nostalgic phase, I was flipping thru my old culled mags and came across this article in Military History. A quick read brought out all the excitement of Nap's early Italian campaigns and that Philippoteaux painting helped a lot. In fact, I dug out a lot of discarded bits from failed projects and am embarking on yet another improbable quest.

 

[Obee]

Victor,

and just how many figures are you planning on making ???

all of them ???



John

 

[Obee]

Del Prado made Napoleon at Rivoli as part of their Napoleonic Cavalry series.



So you can tick one off

John

 

[blaster]

Victor,

and just how many figures are you planning on making ???

all of them ???

Hi John,

you’re not helping

probably not all of them.

 

[blaster]

Del Prado made Napoleon at Rivoli as part of their Napoleonic Cavalry series.

View attachment 266050

So you can tick one off

John

I most definitely have to sculpt Nap on his horse. I trying to do an exact replica of the scene. This seems a natural extension of my chasseur project.

 

[blaster]

And away we go!

The first two horses have been converted. These are Nap's mount and the red chasseur mount. I have no qualms about cutting up parts from failed projects but it is a lot of work as I am cutting thru hardened putty, wire and cured epoxy resin.

I have added an Airfix left hind leg to Nap's horse as this was the correct pose. Although Airfix horses are proportionately larger than Historex beasties, this left hind leg is mostly hidden. Anyway, I sanded down the slight oversize.

 

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I worked more on the horses. Raised the rump on Nap's horse. Found a suitable sheepskin shabraque for the red hussar horse.

 

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I managed to do quite a bit on this project.

Nap's horse has been finalised as to its form. The horse rump has been raised to conform to the painting. Nap was made from a discarded face, torso and Goerge Washington legs

 

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The red hussar horse pose has been finalised. The red hussar was made from a failed Mokarex Marceau figure conversion. I'll be changing the hussar legs to leggings.

The wounded horse pose has been finalised. Mostly made from discarded parts.

 

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These two foreground figures are being made now from a scavenged spares collection.

 

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I sawed thru the torso of the red hussar figure. I had made a resin casting of part of a pelisse and decided to use this on the figure. The part was trimmed and fitted to the red hussar. Two arms were added.

 

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Added more putty to the wounded horse.

 

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With most of Samson & Delilah sculpted and awaiting for the paint to dry, I've started working again on Rivoli.

Started with adding arms to Napoleon and further adjusting the arms for the striding hussar, I moved on to adding proper legs for the mounted hussar.

Nap has been considerably reworked from the Historex casting. What I have learned from past projects is to treat the commercial castings as armatures, not as an end in itself. That way, you move away from the familiarity of the origin of the castings. It is easier if you use castoffs from failed project - less traumatic to the senses and wallet hahaha.

Nap's shabraque is being considerably reworked as well. Note how I gradually modify the original Airfix George Washington lets and boots.
Notice the flowing mane on his horse. This is done in stages, allowing some of the underlying putty to act as mechanical support for further detailing.

Notice the mounted hussar's mirliton. It is completely fabricated from putty to conform to the mirlitons in the painting. They differ considerrably from the Historex parts. The torso was taken from a Cafe Storme/Mokarex casting. The fur shabraque is also modified.

Other figures such as the mounted dragoons are being added. I used some pristine Historex parts for these as I didn't have any failed spares to scavenge from.

 

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Delving more into the details of the painting, I decided to model the horse ears accordingly. Hence the original Historex ears were cut up and repositioned.

The horse manes were then further sculpted and horse tails were added

The legs of the mounted hussar were repositioned and details such as belts and pouches were added to the figure.

Finally a spray of matt undercoat clarifies areas that need to be further detailed.

 

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The back of the shabraque was trimmed to be nearer the portmanteau. Other minor details were sculpted.

 

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More details were added to the hussar, including a gun. The hussar and Nap were given an undercoat of paint.


The other figures are being fleshed out.

 

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The mounted hussar and Nap are being painted in oils.

A lot of rework was done to the striding and standing hussars.

 

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Now starting to details the two striding hussars. After the main sculpting is done, the fun part is in adding Historex and other bits to the figures to detail them.

 

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I added a left hand to the mtd hussar and this is completed for sculpting.

Now detailing the two striding hussars. Fiddly work but strangely pleasant...

 

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Here's the final sculpted version of one of the striding hussars. I only detail the parts which can be seen.

I've tilted the left hand holding the sword and all the straps are in place. Most of the details including cords and tassels have been added and I will be doing a test painting on this figure.