54mm Charge of the Scots Greys

[Neil Merryweather]

I'm going Napoleonic as well-throwing my Shako into the ring with an ambitious 3 figure vignette based on this painting of the Charge of the Scots Greys at Waterloo



They were famously accompanied by members of the Cameron Highlanders(92nd) who held on to their stirrup leathers. This is something I have always wanted to depict and I have just acquired the necessary Airfix figures.

There will be some serious surgery required for the poses- especially the fallen Cuirassier , so that will be fun. I plan to try as far as possible to replicate the painting, unless I need to cheat a bit to hold the highlander in the air.
I will need to alter the highlander's lacing to that of the Cameronians- And then there is the tartan to paint ........not looking forward to that as I haven't done that for well over 40 years :flushed:
I'm not going to start just yet, otherwise I will never get the riflemen finished in my Cosford build, but I thought I would just announce this to commit myself - I should be able to manage it in 6 months............
Cheers
Neil

[papa 695]

Great idea Neil. Really looking forward to seeing this

[Steve Jones]

I will bookmark this and look forward to the start.

[SimonT]

Should be interesting Neil

A length of paperclip drilled into the horse and through the back of his hand should sort the flying Scotsman :smiling2:

He looks to be holding onto the stirrup so all wired together should look ok.....

[Guest]

Gets my vote. Scotland for Ever!

[Fernando N]

Great idea Neil, looking forward to the start. :thumb2:

[Guest]

Oooh, great idea!

[Peter Gillson]

Neil

A great subject, I am sure you will have fun.

One thing to note is that the Scots Grey wore their foul weather covers over their headdresses, unlike the paintings.

Am I right that the set of Highlander infantry is the soft polythene plastic type? If so you may be better getting hold of the Airfix collectors series highlander:



Simon is right about the paperclip. A few years ago i attempted a similar project. Using a Dremel I carved out a channel the whole length of the outside of the infantryman's left arm, including the back of his left hand, I also carved a channel up the cavalryman's leg. The infantryman's arm was positioned holding the stirrup leather so the back of his hand was against the outside of the cavalryman's leg, and a paperclip was glued into the channel going down the cavalryman's leg, turning through 90 degrees and into the channel of the infantryman. It was not as complicated as it sounds! This photo may help - sorry for the rotten quality.


Peter

[Guest]

:nerd: :nerd: A couple of things:
The Highlander in the picture is from the 92nd Gordon Highlanders, yellow facings. The 79th Cameron Highlanders had green facings.
The famous charge attacked French infantry, not cavalry. So more accurate and less work would be downed French infantrymen. It was in this action that Sgt. Ewart of the Greys took the eagle of the French 45th Line infantry.

[rtfoe]

Looking forward to this Neil.

Cheers,
Richard

[Guest]

Should be fun :smiling3:.

[scottie3158]

Count me in for this.

[Guest]

I'm in , looking fwd to the surgery :nerd::smiling3:.
A master class in chopping and hacking, followed by much bending:thumb2::thumb2::thumb2:

[Neil Merryweather]

Thanks for the interest, Chaps
Simon and Peter;- yes wire is in the pipeline- luckily with plastic the weight will not be too much of an issue. I think I can also rest the 'flying scotsman'(like what you did there,Simon
:thumb2 on one of the horse's legs. Looking at it more closely, the Scots Grey's horse is actually flying too, so some fun to be had there.
Peter; it IS the hard plastic highlander, just a later packaging. And I will be doing the foul weather cover for the Scots Grey.
George; you are right. I had a feeling the Camerons weren't the 92nd as I typed, but the picture is called 92nd so I went with that. I now have to decide which to go with -it might come down to which tartan is easier to paint...... :flushed: The 79th ,apparently, did not wear the sporrans on active service, so there's a decision to be made there in the future as well- I might need it to distract from the crappy tartan painting.
As for the cuirassier, he is one of the things that drew me to the painting in the first place. Also, he's the reason the Scotsman is flying , and to my mind the most challenging part of the conversion. So he's staying, accurate or not.
cheers
Neil

[Windy]

I'm in. Looking forward to seeing how this one develops! George is right, the leaping Highlander is from the 92nd Gordon Highlanders. The painting is by Stanley Berkeley and is called Gordons and Greys to the Front. As for tartans, Gordon is a lot easier to paint - basically government (Black Watch) tartan with a yellow overstripe. Cameron of Erracht, as worn by the 79th, is a nightmare!

Edited to add: sporrans were not worn at all on campaign at this period, by any of the Highland regiments. So you can safely leave it off.