The Irish Legion are slowly taking shape, so to hurry them on a bit I decided to press on and paint their commander, Colonel William Lawless.
Lawless was a professor of anatomy in Dublin and prominent Untited Irishmen. Forced to flee to France following the failure of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, he quickly came to the notice of Napoleon and gained a captaincy in the newly forming Irish Legion. He was a brave and capable officer and was appointed to command the regiment in 1813. After serving with credit at the Battle of Bautzen, poor Lawless lost a leg during the action at Lowenberg. The whole regiment was effectively destroyed just a few days later after it was trapped and cut to pieces by artillery fire. Lawless survived the wars but he died in Paris in 1824 at the comparatively young age of 52.
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How it started. |
My Lawless started out as a recast Hinton Hunt WN 15: Grand Duchy of Warsaw Fusilier Officer marching. I wanted to have a go at converting him because I really fancied a mounted colonel with a bicorne.
He needed a fair amount of leg surgery and whatnot to make him sit nicely on a horse, but he managed it in the end. I find these sorts of conversions a lot easier these days as I finally invested in a decent, variable-power soldering iron. I run this at about 30W, which heats the figure metal up quite quickly, ensuring rapid results and a good bond for the solder. Lawless got a new left leg, an epaulette on his right shoulder and a good straight scabbard for his sword using this method.
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How it finished. |
He towers a bit over his tiny wee DK soldiers, but I'm quite chuffed with him nonetheless.
Have a great weekend everyone
WM