He has been photographed in front of an appropriate illustration to bring the Hussar ‘to life’.

The pistol has been painted in shades of ‘wood’ with iron coloured barrel and brass side fittings. Also the butt has been painted partially in brass as this could be used as a club when empty. The area around the flint has been blackened too in order to show that it has already been fired.

As can be seen from the pictures I have not dirtied his trousers very much. Had the hussar been in this battle depicted in the background no doubt he would have been filthy, but I wanted to paint a cleaner model for a change. It has been suggested that I at least dirty his boots, but for the moment he will be kept as he is.
So, what is going to be the next model or project?

My wife has something in the modelling line for me to unwrap on the 25th – and I have no idea what model it will be – so watch this space.

Later in the year I really would like to have a go at carving my own model from scratch and then casting it in metal.

I also have some ideas for a diarama from the Napoleonic period as well as, unusually for me, from WW 1.

Some of the nations fielded mounted troops including lancers. Not very successfully, but an interesting subject to model.

May I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and see you again soon here in my blog.

The hussar is now attached to the base but there are still lots of things that need completing:
His pistol needs painting.
Shadows to be added to his trousers, jacket and dolman.
Both hands need darkening to match his face and the shadows painted between his fingers in order to highlight them.
A few minor scratches to cover.
The addition of a little brown mud and grey dust to the boots too.

And finally, sign the base.

The Hussar now has his sword and sabretache attached, just leaving the pistol to be painted. I am not too happy with the angle of the pistol as it looks as though the hussar is aiming towards the ground not far away. So that will need taking off and refixing, not a difficult job because it has not been painted.

As I was preparing to upload the hussar I realised it might be nice to leave one of the photos uncropped, so you can see my paint pots, brushes and general rubbish !

The room can get very crowded as not only do we have all my military modelling ‘junk’ but we also have my wife’s ‘artists’ junk too! When both of us are working every horizontal surface is covered in clutter.

And here is a question for fellow modellers or artists. “Why is it, if you have 4 large jars full of water on the table, plus one cup of coffee, it is ALWAYS the coffee that you dip your brush into ?”

In reality it would have been more sensible to fix the sabretache and sword to the waist belt and then add the dolman (blue jacket) over everything. But I got carried away painting all the white button lacings. Which means now I have to afix the sword belt etc in a small gap underneath the dolman. Not a disaster, but a reminder to myself plan and think ahead and then stick to the plan. Easier said than done, sometimes !

His open eye, sighting along the pistol still needs a bit of work doing to it. But coming along well. The small details on this model of a Hussar – such as the belt clip, the plume – really make a difference.

His riding boots are black with silver spurs. I suspect that I will dirty these with a little brown to simulate mud and a little bit of grey as he will be standing in stone when finally finished.

Note the outstretched arm – no, I have not missed a bit just inside the hussar’s sleeve. That is bare metal so that when his hand (holding a pistol) is glued on the end of the arm it will be a secure joint and hold well. If you glue straight onto paint sometimes the hand falls off later taking a patch of dried paint with it.

The hussar’s trousers are plain white. To make then more interesting I have ‘dirtied’ the seat from, presumably, where he was sitting in his saddle. The crests and troughs of the creases will need highlights to emphasise the shadows.

The Hussar’s left hand can be seen. This too has just been given an even coat of ‘flesh’ colour. Dirt and shadows will be added to make it more life like.

I have put this to one side as I now concentrate on painting the main part of the Hussar.

The original base that comes with the figure is square and I did not think it ‘fitted’ in with the scene I had in mind, nor with the round wooden base that I preferred.

First of all I carefully cut of the corners of the square, whitemetal base, to leave an irregular edge. This was cleaned and primed with white primer and then stuck down onto the wooden plinth.

Using a modelling compound I then cast and made my own ‘paving stones’ to extend the area that the hussar was standing on until they reached the edge of the wooden plinth. The gaps between the stones were enhanced by making deeper and the surface roughened and weathered.

On the original casting there was a raised area of stones. Using more modelling compound I created a ‘raised flowerbed’ effect and placed some tall plants in one spot.

Once all the carving and modelling was completed the whole was given a number of different coloured greyish washes. Earth was created by scenic scatter and the mould or moss between the slabs by diluted acrylic paints.