Questionable Carlist cavalry conversion - complete

Here are the completed Carlist cavalry.  A small unit of half a dozen (I'll stick with 12 for infantry and 6 for cavalry units in this era), resplendent in green tunics, red breeches and enormous red berets. 

As usual I found a flag on the internet.  Forgive the hurried photos.

The complete unit - I rather like them.

Questionable Carlist cavalry conversions - commenced

 

I painted a unit of these chaps over 10 years ago as part of my fictional Balkan-style army of Forbodia.

Here they are in action against Martin's comic-opera Prussians back in 2012.

The figures are in fact these - amazing the difference paintwork makes!

Fast forward to a few weeks ago and a conversation with my wargaming friend Diego.  He had asked me about sourcing 54mm figures for the Carlist Wars in Spain.  I explained that there probably aren't any but many exist which can be bodged into figures with a suitable  - or at least tolerable - appearance.  I undertook to produce a couple of units so Diego won't have to carry the entire project.  And I'm easily led.

A bit of research revealed that the government troops had a very 'Napoleonic' appearance.  As I have er, 'some' Napoleonic figures and a few (really this time) I painted as Neapolitan government troops (see here), so I figure that the priority should be on the Carlist forces. As always with 54mm, I find that results are yielded by a combination of looking at pictures of troops and thinking what figures could be suitable bodged and looking at figure ranges wondering what they could be bodged into.  

A painting of Carlist cavalry in the Osprey book sent me off in search of the figures above.

Initial work consisted of trimming off the carbine and cartridge box and cutting off the crown of the hat.

A dab of Milliput was used to add the distinctive shape of the Basque-style beret.

Berets came in different colours but red was popular.  I repainted the trousers red, touched in bits of damaged paintwork on the horse and prepared to repaint and tone down the tunic.