Tuesday 27 April 2010

Zvezda Grenadiers progress/send in the clowns.





The first company completed. I painted twenty soldiers this time so the next two batches will be of nineteen each.
After I put the yellow and red on my wife commented that they looked like clowns and do you know they did look like clowns to me also.
But intrepidly I pressed on till they were completed with that dreadful song "Send in the Clowns" running through my head.
The flag is one of two colours that this regiment will carry and I chose the star as I believe the zvezda is Russian for star, so although the official title of the unit will be the Eisenburg-Essling Grenadiers they'll be known as the Zvezda Grenadiers for some convoluted reason I haven't thought of yet.


Hands,faces and bases for the next batch tonight.
Vorwarts...

11 comments:

  1. Fine looking lads, your comments on Clowns brought the "Cirque de Soleil" to mind for some reason. Hopefully they will be "stars" on the battlefield.

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  2. Hope these boys can shoot well, because they're going to attract a lot of attention on any battlefield. Looking forward to the rest of them. Well done. - Mike

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  3. Personally, I like this color combination. They look good, sir.


    -- Jeff

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  4. The 'gold and blood' combination is glorious!

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  5. Yes, zvezda is Russian for star. The Krasnii Zvezda was the Soviet Army's newspaper - Red Star.

    Jim

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  6. Ha! Don't the women know how to say just the right thing when it comes to our fierce soldiers!Now I can't help but think of Ronald MacDonald! :(

    I think they look great, too. They are definitely not jaegers to go lurking in woods!

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  7. Historically yellow was indeed rarely used for infantry coats (it was not so uncommon for cavalry), yet there are some venerable examples. before the 'Bourbonization' of the Spanish army, one of the most senior tercios was the Amarillos (by far a more respectable reference than Mac Donalds' association of yellow and red with clowns!).
    And in the 'alternate' 18th C. of Imagi-Nations, one of the Vereinigte Freie Staedte regiments on the cover of 'The War Game' proudly bears yellow coats.

    Besides, yellow is probaly the color matching well with the widest diversity of facing hues -and it looks glamorous.

    According to the photos you posted on OSW, Eisenburg-Essling will also field a regiment of Gelb Husaren?

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  8. Brave & colourful. Just the right combination for a wargames table. Will there be more units like these to come I ask myself? I do hope so.

    - Steve

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  9. Abdul666,
    Unfortunately those Hussars on OSW belong to another chap named Paul, they are very nice though.
    I have got some lancers in the pipeline for the Eisenburg-Essling army however.

    Thanks,

    Paul

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  10. Zvezda Grenadiers... No doubt the company will be flattered... Here's a possible explanation for the popular 'nickname' for the Eisenberg-Essling Grenadiers: at some point in the distant past the Grenadiers put up a superhuman performance at the Battle of Zvezda. Whether the 'superhuman performance' was in terms of rapidity and accuracy of fire, or speed and precision of manoeuvre, or merely ... erm ... headlong velocity, is up to you...

    If the idea is agreeable to you, maybe we could get to see an account of this action sometime...? (Just a thought...)
    Cheers,
    Ion

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  11. Oh, I forgot to say - like me, you are obviously of the 'bright colours' school of military costume. In my view, white and red are the most military of colours, and yellow ought to rank with them. These grenadiers will have no ordinary presence upon the battlefield!

    I like the flag, too: simple and noticeable, as flags ought to be.
    Cheers,
    Ion

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