French Napoleonic Cuirassier

At first glance this figure looks like a standard Ros cavalry figure but after closer inspection the seeds of doubt were sown. First off, I could not find any references to a Cuirassier in the Ros range - although I remember buying some back in the 70s. Second; the horse looked a bit odd. Most telling was the lack of reins, common to all other Ros figures that I have. The figure itself looks right though and comparisons with others convince me that he is OK, but that horse? The base of the horse had been filed and was covered in old glue, but I could make out the letters N1 - but not in the Ros style. Here is the figure:

Fortunately I have samples of Ros French heavy cavalry horses and was able to do a comparison. When the two were put together it is clear, that although there are similarities in the pose, that this horse is not made by Ros, noting the size of the tail, larger rump and presence of reins:

After some research on line my conclusion is that my Ros Cuirassier is mounted on a horse probably made by Lamming. Makes you wonder if Ros used the Lamming horse as a model?

French Napoleonic Carabinier

I thought I would take a closer look at the French Carabinier figure recently purchased off Ebay. He sits in the pose used by all of the Ros 25mm figures that I have seen, upright with his sword resting upon his right shoulder.  He wears the typical Ros enlarged helmet, in a similar style to the lancer figure.

As can be seen from the picture the French heavy cavalry horse is of a different pose to those used on the Prussian and British cavalry, and indeed the French Lancer. I suspect that this was the first moulding used and was later revised for subsequent figures. A shot of the base gives the code number H1 and the date 1975.

When I get the time I will paint him to see how he turns out.