As I was painting figures for my painting list’s biggest regiment – IR2 with emperor
yellow facings – I couldn’t resist the temptation to paint some Hungarian grenadier
test figures and paint them with the same yellow facings. As I mentioned in Post 120,
four battalions of Austrian grenadiers would make a fine addition to my painting list
and I had been wanting for what seemed like ages to have a go at painting some of the
iconic fur-capped elite troops of the Habsburgs.
The Pendraken Hungarian grenadiers came in the same Pendraken stock poses but
with the welcome addition of a loading figure. The sculpts included the match case on
the cartridge pouch strap – a nice detail. The match
case was symbolic of the days
when the grenadiers carried a match to light
their grenades. A good period detail because
the match case was replaced by a grenade
badge after 1809. Shame, though, that the
cartridge pouches didn’t have any
indication, no matter how slight, of their
grenade badges.
I was looking forward to having a shot at
painting the colourful ‘bags’ on the backs of
the grenadiers’ fur caps. However, the
Pendraken sculpts were sadly lacking the
iconic shape of the Austrian fur cap, instead
their caps were flat with only a small
circular cap bag. Not at all the distinctive
shape that the French nicknamed fauteuil,
meaning ‘armchair’.
Pendraken Hungarian Grenadiers
POST 122
122
