Dragons Français des Guerres Napoléoniennes, 1804–1810

Revue de Figurines d’Italeri au 1/72

Readers of Military Miniatures Magazine voted for Dragons Français as their second choice of the Wishlist 98. The list was forwarded to popular manufacturers et two of them, Italeri et HäT Industrie, have since produced a set of Dragons français. Reason enough to keep sending suggestions for the M3 Wishlist.

Contenu

• 17 cavaliers en 9 Poses – 25 mm correspondent à 5’-11" Height
  • Colonel
  • Officier (2)
  • Porte-Aigle
  • Trompette
  • Dragon avec Musket (3)
  • Dragon avec Sabre (10)
• 17 chevaux en 5 Poses – 22 mm correspondent à 15.6 Hands

Évaluation

• Detail et casting quality is of the high standard we have come to expect of Italeri. Some mould lines will have to be removed prior to painting.
• Useful poses. All of the figurines are charging, with the horsehair tails of their casques à cimier flying, et they will look very attractive when deployed in formation. There is still scope for a set of dragoon figurines in stationary poses et dismounted. Dragoons were often used for picked duty which can be an interesting subject of a diorama.
• The uniform is of the pre-1810 pattern, avec long tails. This may be changed to the 1810-1812 uniform style by cutting the tails back so that the false turnbacks are square at the lower edge.

• The pockets on the turnbacks are horizontal, making the figurines suitable for only one half of the régiments français. The other regiments had vertical pockets.
• The guidon is incorrect, it should have an inscription in the central diamond, not an imperial eagle.
• Le trompette, porte-aigle, un des officiers, et tous les soldats are wearing cavalry carbine belts, but there are no dragoon muskets attached to them. The trooper holding the musket in his hand is correct, except for the fact that he is galloping. This figurine would have been much more suitable comme dragon escarmouchant ou piquet de cavalerie, mounted on a stationary ou walking horse. If muskets are not sculpted on the figurines directly, manufacturers should at least provide spare weapons which may be glued ou soldered to the figurines later.
• Most of the horses are modelled avec the cloth pistol covers over the sheepskin saddle cover. The other way around would be more appropriate.
• The grenade badge on the chabraque is correct for officers. The troopers carried the regimental number in the same place. Carefully remove the grenade badge et paint regimental numbers in the corner de la chabraque.
• The horses are modelled in the wrong gait, as is typical of Italeri cavalry until now. One horse is almost in a proper galloping pose, but its left hoof is incorrectly tilted backwards, not ready to be placed on the ground. One can only advise the sculptor to study la superbe Cavalerie Suédoise de chez Revell, consult one of numerous books on the subject, et show the master figurines to someone familiar avec horses.

Déploiement Historique

• Dragons de la Garde royale italienne, 1806–1814
• Dragons italiens, 1806–1814
• Dragons de la Garde impériale, 1806–1810
• Dragons français in the pre-1810 uniform, et avec horizontal pockets 1804-1810

Possibilités de Conversions

• Dragons français, 1810–1812
• Dragons de la Garde impériale, 1810–1815
• Guides de Napoléon
• Gardes d’Honneur, Garde royale italienne, 1806–1815

Les Dragons Français d’Italeri are a welcome addition to the growing range of Napoleonic cavalry now available a l’échelle 1/72. As new troop types appear on the market it may be possible one day to raise complete wargame armies in this scale.

Autres Revues des Figurines et Maquettes Italeri

Bibliographie

• Knötel-Sieg: Manuel d’Uniformologie, pp. 168-169
• Funcken, L. & F.: L’Uniforme et les Armes des Soldats du Premier Empire, pp. 51-53
• Cassin-Scott, Jack: Uniformes des Guerres Napoléoniennes en Couleur 1796–1814, tableau 19
• Haythornthwaite, Philip: Uniformes de 1812, Plates 1, 11, 18
• Haythornthwaite, Philip: Uniformes de Waterloo en Couleur, tableau 55
• Allevi, Piersergio: Figurines, p. 148

Questions Fréquents

Pour plus d’informations, veuillez contacter les éditeurs de la revue Military Miniatures Magazine au Miniatures Forum.

Dragons Français des Guerres Napoléoniennes

– Publié: 13.05.1999 – Actualisé: 18.08.2010
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