Friday 1 December 2017

French in Egypt - the first infantry, the generals and a bit of Project Management

Part of the appeal of the French in Egypt project is that this French Army is so un-French for a French Napoleonic army. A shortage of blue cloth in Egypt led to the Kleber ordnance that specified that the various demi brigades would be uniformed in coats of red, crimson, green, blue or brown that were faced with blues, reds, greens, yellows or brown. I chose the  88eme Demi Brigade de Ligne as my first unit for an interesting reason.
 
Originally assigned crimson coats, faced bright green with a blue collar, there was a shortage of crimson cloth and many of the uniforms were made using a violet cloth instead. It seems that there may have been a mix of colours within the Demi Brigade. So I have decided to do one battalion in violet coats, one in crimson coats and one in a mix of violet and red.
 

This first battalion is the all violet unit. It is not quite complete because I still need to add a mounted colonel. The mounted general in this image is just a stand in until the arrival of the colonel who is in transit and may not be here for another week. I have also included the first stand of the second (crimson coated) battalion with this image, just to highlight the difference.
 

Also completed are the two sets of generals. These, combined with the colonels, will provide the basis for the French command, supplemented by a model of Napoleon on a camel.
 


On the project management front, a kink has developed in the plan. After more than a year out of the market Markus at Tsuba miniatures has come back into the fray with a bunch of new Russo-Japanese War releases that I will just “have to have”. These will have to be squeezed into the project plan sometime next year. 

The positive news on the project management front is that the French in Egypt project is progressing at such a pace that it is likely to be completed at the end of January,  a full two months ahead of the original schedule.

11 comments:

  1. Mark, your situation of being ahead of schedule is no surprise at the frenetic pace you keep.

    As for the French in Egypt project, your mounted generals are my favorite of this batch. Simply superb! Great character and first rate painting. Love the extra plumage in their hats. I may need a few of these myself!

    Great job.

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    1. Thank you Jonathan. The French in Egypt range is a great one. I agree that the generals are a great set. The colonels look great too. I finished the command set last night and they are full of character

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  2. Outstanding generals, wonderful painting and fantastic basing...Mark, this project is so tempting, please stop showing us these wonderful realisations!

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    1. Thank you Phil. Believe me when I say that when I say that there are many more temptations to come before this project is complete! The dragoons, whose bases are drying now, are superb.

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  3. Super looking violet clad line infantry but the command rather steals the show!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thank you Iain. I agree the generals are a great set, although the images do not do them justice...I shot them in bright sunlight and it is a bit too harsh. I might try redoing them today with a better light.

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  5. The figures are absolutely lovely. Such a colourful period!

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    1. Thanks Nathan. I have just finished the first unit of dragoons that are equally colourful, and the command stand of the 22e demi Brigade Legere, with light blue coats and crimson facings.

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  6. Lovely work on these, and I love the mix of violet and crimson uniforms. They look very effective.

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    1. Thanks Lawrence. The crimson shows a bit more scarlet in the photo than it does in reality because I did some brightness adjustment.

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