Raise high ze black flags my children! - The Prussian Army of 1813-1815

One of the units I find myself needing is one of the Prussian Grenadier battalions.  These where formed by combining the Grenadier companies of the various line regiments across the Prussian army. Generally these where organised in the same way, there being a battalion for each province, in this particular case I’m interested in the Silesian Grenadier Battalion.

These wore the same uniform as their line infantry counter parts with one exception a plumed shako, in Russian style was worn by Grenadiers, however on campaign this was covered in a oilskin just like everyone else. On one hand this is great for gamers, no need for specialised miniatures, on the other hand its a bit of a problem as there’s no easy way to distinguish them on the table. Its also quite nice as a hobbyist to paint something a bit different that has the added benefit of working on the table top.

Armed with an example image and a desire to do something different I then got thinking how this could be done.

No manufacturer that I know of makes either the grenadier head or a specific set except possibly elite figures.

With the Prussian uniform being effectively a copy of the Russian uniform a source of parts was pretty easy to find. Enter the Perry Russian Infantry kit, which conveniently I had three sprues laying around for and a nice made in Sheffield Swann-Morton scalpel.

Now the downsides, each sprue only comes with two of the older pattern grenadier heads that would work for this kitbash, for a full battalion i’ll need 16 sprues worth!

The Russian plume is quite a bit taller in appearance so I’ll have to cut these down and reduce the height.

I’ll also have to remove the various coverings on the shako, cords etc. and paint on the brass plate on the front.

Overall though I think this first attempt works rather well?