December 8, 2013

Lord Clare's Dragoons

I finally had a chance to take a photo of a unit I finished a few weeks ago, the first unit of my Jacobite army, Lord Clare's Dragoons...
Of course, these are Warfare Miniatures models. There is some controversy about the uniform of this regiment. Most Irish horse and dragoons were clothed in red before 1690. French supplies for the Jacobite army in 1690 eventually saw most units clothes in gris-mesle, a cloth flecked with blue threads that varied in color from white to pale grey. The default color of turn backs in the French army was red unless the colonel of the regiment paid to replace them. The Battle of the Boyne falls in the middle of the transition. Lord Boisseleau's regiment was at the docks when the supplies arrived (they helped unload them) and he outfitted his troops straight away. It is unclear which other units received new uniforms before the Battle of the Boyne. While a case can be made for either coat, I chose to paint Lord Clare's Draoons in their old uniforms because there are a lot of white and grey among the other units I have planned. They would have likely been in a sorry state, but for table top presentation I have chosen to keep them uniform with the addition of a few different hat colors. Lord's Clare's Dragoons are sometimes named as the 'Yellow Dragoons' so it seems safe that their cuffs were yellow.

These models are based in a similar manner to my Dutch Grenadiers. I will be able to use these both for games of Beneath the Lily Banners and Donnybrook. The mounted dragoons are currently being sculpted and as soon as I can get my hands on some I will paint mounted versions of the regiment and include a horse holder vignette.

Speaking of the Dutch and the Williamites, that army is not quite finished - I am very close with only two foot regiments left, but the dragoons were calling to me! I am far more productive painting when inspiration strikes than following a set schedule so the Jacobites jumped the queue! The next unit on the table is Lord Dongan's Dragoons which will be handled in a similar matter. Then maybe I can get back to the army of King Billy!

9 comments:

  1. Looking realy, realy good !!!

    Best regards Michael

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lovely painted figures.
    Cheers
    Dan

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lovely paint job Clarence but as Daniel O'Brien's regiment wasn't part of the established army pre 1689 they probably wouldn't have red uniforms unless the managed to dig up some or were supplied with red ones by the French.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No idea... I just saw where Mike McNally recommend painting I them with red coats when we had the 'yellow coats discussion' on the Fighting Talk forum. I started to paint them all in civilian clothes, but that would ignore the 'Yellow Dragoon' moniker. Again the main reason for my choice in the end was because of the pile of grey and white coats I have on the way...

      Delete
  4. Could you describe how you base your figures- very jealous!
    Mike B

    ReplyDelete
  5. You can see a detailed tutorial here...

    http://www.quindia.com/studioart60.htm

    Those are multi-model stands, but the process is identical. It is very easy and very fast!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much- I've been spreading the word about yours and the leagues sites. 2014 is going to be ECW and napoleon in Italy- I feel inspired!
      Mike B

      Delete