Mounting / Basing FPW Cavalry

Every Gamer's Favorite Pastime - BASING!!

As the basing program continues, I am pleased to report that I've based a full division for each side, enough to run playtests using the latest draft of the rules.

However, there are still over 100 cavalry that are not assembled and based, and need some touch-up painting as well. These were reported MIA at the time the armies were acquired, and then turned up later, for which I'm grateful. Below some French Guides [I think - they are painted as Guides albeit partially incorrectly] are finally saddling up!

My uniform sources indicate that they were [expensively] mounted on bays.  So be it.  From the mass of partially painted horses I selected some lighter brown tones.

To get the superglue to stick better, I scraped the paint off the spots where it'd sit.

That included scraping it off the horse blanket.

To get the rider to fit on the back, I had to cut off a portion of the reigns - this improved fitting as the left hand is snug against the remaining end of the reigns.

I tried a couple of ways to cut, and a rocking motion in the direction of the blade was best.

I'd then continue the cut to take off the paint on the horse's back.

As can be seen, some painting will have to be cleaned up later - for now, I just want to get several more squadrons mounted.

It is a sort of mindless step, requires concentration but no thinking. They look good as they mount up! To the right are the next cavalry - two squadrons of Prussian lancers. Guides and lancers are very FPW unit types.  The lancer fad started in the later Napoleonic wars, and despite plenty of disagreement about their effectiveness in various circumstances, were used by all the major powers of the 19th C.


Once they are all glued, I rinse them gently in warm water to get the dust off them, cleaning them with a very soft cheap paint brush in a closed sink [in case a rider falls off!].

Once dried, they are definitely a bit brighter without dust.

Sculpted with significant moustaches in a dashing pose!

I had some issues getting them off the wood, included a few riders popping off.  These had to be super-glued back on.

But the end result after basing is solid.  Two more squadrons of French Cav.

Hope that seeing some of the techniques used is helpful to the viewing audience.  Any additional suggestions, do comment below!

Next up - Prussian Lancers.