Austrian Officer, 1800 & French Carabinier, 1796

I just primed these two but here is the "raw" version. I like the expression on the Austrian, as it really fits the pose. Both heads are from Historex.

The pistol on the officer is my first totally scratch built firearm. Just bent brass rod and putty body.
It turned out better than I thought and am satisfied.

The reference for both figures is Osprey's "Napoleon's Campaigns in Italy". I wanted to do something different with the officer and give him a "on campaign" look. All the illustrations of Austrian officers, be him a company or field offcer, all looked smart without any burden other than his sword and or pistol holster. I find this hard to believe. While, I know there was a class system and officers tended to seperate themselves from the lowley ranks, they where still soldiers and shared the same privations on the march like the men the lead. This means carrying their own gear and such. I doubt highly the company grade officers had a special wagon for their bed-roll/ knapsack. For this figure I chose a bed-roll style arrangement with his greatcoat folded in the same manner as the men's. I found an illustration of an Austrian artilleryman with a similiar set up. The cane attached to his greatcoat roll is something I thought would be a practical place for it. All officers and even NCO's carried these "sticks". It was really just a symbol of rank and was carried on campaign.

Some coats of Austrian officers had no turnbacks. To save money and yet look smart, some coats were made without this embelishment.

The French carabinier was a fun sculpt. Much more character than his Austrian adversary. I really liked how the bi-corn hat turned out. From what I read, the men turned their hats in this fashion so as not to interfere with the loading motion. I added a pipe to add to that character.

Now, for the next two weeks, I'm going to be a painting fool!!

Thanks for following.