Painting 3mm Napoleonic Uhlans

 Well, what a few weeks it's been! Two deaths in the family from Covid, a lot of work and a general icy feeling outside has meant that I haven't done half of what I wanted.

Still, this week I grabbed a half hour to spray my models, and got set on painting Uhlans. These particular ones are part of Regiment 3. Archduke Charles, and are Polish Uhlans in the employ of the Austrians as part of the 1809 campaign. If you are painting Uhlans, or any lancers, then you can follow this guide for a bit of help:

Once again, I'm starting from a black basecoat. At some point I might try grey, wash in Nuln Oil and then base from there, but I'm aiming for speed. I got three squadrons (45 men) painted in a single evening, so I'm confident of this working fast!

Firstly, drybrush with brown. I use Gorthor Brown, from Citadel, and this time the lances are an integral part of the unit, so drybrush the whole model. You'll be painting over anything that isn't brown anyway, so make your life easy. If you want, you can use a different colour for the horses, or even vary the colours if you're looking to lavish some time on them, but in Et Sans Résultat, cavalry is more of a one shot weapon, so I'm happy with speed.

Drybrushed. My models are always slightly variable when drybrushed, but I like the horses to be slightly darker

Next is the uniform. You'll want to research your colours, but in my case I've already looked them up - the Uhlans of the Audtrians wore dark green uniforms, with their hats (czapka) denoting the different regiments. The pennon echoes the Austrian Flag, with black and yellow, so that's nice and easy. As I've mentioned (and learnt through hard experience) choose brighter colours than reality. My uniform colour will then be Skarsnik Green from Citadel, as it's nice and bright. Paint the legs, back and arms. Don't worry about the front, as it's impossible to see.

You can see the green standing out. The black basecoat really helps here to define the figures. Most are two brush strokes at most

Next, paint the Czapka (hats remember!). As I'm doing Regiment 3. I need red, so a nice bright red is called for. I'm using Mephiston Red from Citadel. This is nice and easy, and really adds a lot of colour to the unit. In order to not take away anything from the model, I use Rakarth Flesh on the scabbards, but you could vary this if you wanted to.

The czapka look bright, but I think that's the point! At this point, I felt the models really start to come together.

The model is actually nearly completed. The rest is very much touching up. Use a bright silver for the lance tip (I use Runefang Steel), paint a yellow stripe on the Pennon and add the flesh. With the Uhlans, I think it is important to do the hands, but it's not vital. Blobs of paint on faces and hands gives a very good impression. At this point, you may be tempted to touch up the lances, but I would not, unless you've slipped with your flesh or yellow. The focal point for your unit will be the pennon and czapka, certainly if you're painting Austrians, so why waste time?

The final steps took very little time, but they elevate the model. You can see the "hands" and hopefully appreciate how they add a lot to the models. Also, it's a blurry picture, but horses are fast - it's not that I'm incompetent with a phone camera...

Finally, paint the flag and base to match your army. I haven't based mine properly on the photo below, but I'm going to do a mass basing at some point, so that's my excuse.

Ignore the blu-tack... Hopefully this gives you a great idea of the squadron.

I'm really happy with how they turned out. Once I base them, I have a hard hitting cavalry core, than is only slightly hampered by the Austrian decision to have infantry in the same formation. Ultimately though, they add a dash of colour to the army, much like the Hussars!

So add some colour and sweep away those cavalry that would dare challenge the might of Austria - even if you are actually employing Poles to show the might of the Austrians!!