Voluntarios de Seville

[Bill Slavin]

I have been lagging a bit in getting photos and postings of some of my more recent projects up, so I have been playing catch up. These guys started life as HaT Austrian Landwehr but their top hats and uniform were a good match for Spanish militia, so they ended up as the Voluntarios de Seville. This was one of the many, many Spanish regiments raised in 1808 to oust the French invaders, spurred on by the Spanish success at Bailen. Every region in Spain raised their own levies, which gave rise to a myriad of uniforms at this time. The top hat and brown uniform with red facings, however, was fairly common throughout Spain - the red facings being a direct continuation of the the original Spanish militia uniforms that existed prior to 1808.
Here are a few photos, and a few more photos and tiny bit of history (not much was known about many of these regiments that often didn't survive beyond the end of 1808) can be seen here on my blog. https://tinywarsplayedindoors.blogspot.com/2022/03/voluntarios-de-seville.html









They actually made their debut filling in for the 1st Tercio de Torotosa at our recent refight of the Battle of Maria and did surprisingly well for militia! The full batrep can be read here https://tinywarsplayedindoors.blogspot.com/2022/03/battle-of-maria-june-15-1809.html
but here is a shot of them on the high ground prior to Blake's attack.

[Bessiere]

They look great as Spaniards Bill. Good looking unit with a nice flag, did you paint that? I love those figures, some of HaT's best imo. Pabook was looking for HaT Landwehr and I found some at a US retailer but he isn't responding to messages. I hope he see this. Aside from Wagram I don't know that AL actually did much during the wars besides make Francis feel better.

[Bill Slavin]

Thanks, Bessiere,
I agree, they are a very nice set - a bit on the small side but finely sculpted and a pleasure to paint. I do have a fondness for Napoleonic units in top hats.
And no, I didn't paint the flag - my eyes aren't that good! I think I sculpted the bow, however...

[Chariobaude]

just...fantastic !!!

[C M Dodson]

Very nice as always.

Your pictures always seem to convey the ‘feel’ of the period.

Best wishes,

Chris

[sansovino]

Great painted miniatures with interesting uniforms, which I didn´t seen before.

[Bessiere]

I just noticed you used a reloading figure as your flag bearer. I chose the NCO. Your cravats on the flag look great, did you use greenstuff for that?

[Santi Pérez]

Great conversion of these Hät Austrians into one of so many Spanish volunteers unit, Peter.

Santi.

[MABO]

Very good paintjob, again. I really love the shading and highlights on the brown colour.

[Bill Slavin]

Thanks, all, for the kind words of encouragement. You would think I had enough Spanish by now, but as all wargamers know, "enough" is not in our vocabulary!

I just noticed you used a reloading figure as your flag bearer. I chose the NCO. Your cravats on the flag look great, did you use greenstuff for that?

Yes, it was the figure reloading. Technically, as flag bearer, he should be a junior officer but this figure seemed to work best for me. The bit of sculpting is done with a two part epoxy putty made by Tamiya.

[Patrick71]

Interesting idea for conversion, Bill.
And very well painted too. All those different and colourful uniforms is what makes the napoleonic era so fun. Thanks for sharing, it is very inspiring.

[Bluefalchion]

The colors really pop. I wonder if moustaches would be seen more frequently for the Spanish militiamen of that era. Whether or no, they look great!

You claim to be behind schedule, but the quantity and quality of what you do show us are both tremendous!

[Peter]

And that's another fine regiment!

[carlosfaro]

Very beautiful spaniards Bill!!!
Let me just maje a silly point: Seville in spanish is written as Sevilla,
so maybe "Voluntarios de Sevilla" matches most

[Bill Slavin]

Very beautiful spaniards Bill!!!
Let me just maje a silly point: Seville in spanish is written as Sevilla,
so maybe "Voluntarios de Sevilla" matches most

Absolutely not silly! I prefer to use place names as they are in their country of origin, if I can. Sevilla it will be in the future.