With the Americans out of the way, it was time to get to the Mexicans. I did all the out of the box figures from Gajo earlier. Now it was time to pick up the paint brush and start working on paint conversions for the backlog of Mexicans I had to work on.
I started with working on some cavalry, as the two units I got were not used in the early northern battles. Unfortunately, there was nothing to work with in the Mexican American line…. I had to turn to the Napoleonic line and see if there was anything I could use that was not too far off…..
My first match was some Prussian Lancers in shako. The shako was more of the earlier straight style, but I figured that was fine for these units. These were close enough for some Active regiments, so I grabbed enough for two units. All I needed to do was add some red to the front facings, change the cockade, adjust the pompoms and pennant colors. I also added some white trim to the shakos and painted the plate in silver. One of the units also had the trim on their saddle cloths changed. That gave me two units!
Next I picked up a unit of French Chasseurs that looked about right. These needed a lot of white piping on the facing and sleeves. I had to paint repaint the cockades and change the front plate color. That gives me the 7th Line cavalry, so at least I have one of these regiments!
Finally, I came across the elite companies of the chasers and thought they would work perfectly for the Mexican Chasseur regiment. All they needed was some white piping and a front plate and a change to the trim on their saddle cloth.
I based these up with the same Muddy Paw mix and they are ready to go (except the flag that I forgot to put on the Chasseurs…). Now, on to all that Mexican Infantry…..
- Manteuffel