Painting My First Unit Of The War Of The Spanish Succession: D'Arco's Regiment of Bavarian Cuirassiers

I'm preparing an army to play the Black Powder scenario, The Battle of Elixheim. This was an early battle leading up to Blenheim a few months later. The French had built a defensive barrier in the Netherlands to keep the Dutch and English from attacking them. Although not manned all the time it had fences, trenches, and earthworks dug up to prevent an attack. John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, had to find a weak spot in this line to get his army around. He found it at Elixheim.

Duke Maximillian Emmanuel of Bavaria was more afraid of the Austrians taking over his kingdom than of the French so he allied with Louis XIV. He gave soldiers to the French cause and a lot of them, if not most of them, were at Elixheim. 

The Bavarians had 4 regiments of cuirassiers. A cuirassier is a cavalry soldier with a suit of chest armor and a helmet. They were heavy cavalry and could ride down an enemy in a fight. The first unit that I decided to make was the Comte D'Arco's Cuirassiers. Here are the ones I painted.

This regiment was lead by the Comte (Count) d'Arco who served in both the Austrian and Bavarian Armies at different times. His unit saw action in both the Great Turkish War when the Turks invaded Austria and besieged Vienna in 1689. It distinguished itself in that war. It was also in the War of the Spanish Succession and took part in the Battle of Blenheim.

Credits: 

My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ: 

• For blessing me with the ability to perform and enjoy this hobby.

Warlord Games: Link www.warlordgames.com 

• Minatures are "Sun King Cavalry"
• Rules for play: Black Powder, Scenario: Battle of Elixheim

Ace Hardware in Hurst, TX: 

•     Rust-oleum painters touch 2x ultracover paint-primer, color: satin eden to prime the miniature bases

HobbyTown in Hurst, TX: 

• Tamiya Extra Thin Cement (this was the first glue I tried to make my models. It didn't hold strong enough but I had to disassemble the figures when I couldn't properly paint them completely assembled. Perhaps doing this weakened the future coats I added)
• HobbyTown Extra Thick Glue, Maxi-Cure. This stuff did the trick the second time around and will use it again on future models. Makes a good strong bond.
• Exacto knife, sprue cutter, and brushes
• Woodland Scenes Blended Turf: great for covering bases to make them look grassy.
• Model Masters
• Brass (4672): ammo pouches, cuirrass clasps, trumpet
• Gun Metal (4681): gun and pistol barrels.
• Gold (4671): officer buttons and officer trim.
• Tamiya acrylic paints
• Flat Black (XF-1): horse manes and tails, barding, boots, ammo pouches, sword scabbards, saddle bundle ties
• Buff (XF-57): belts
• Flat Flesh (XF-15): faces and hands
• Flat White (XF-2): saddle cloth and holsters trim, neckerchiefs, cuirrass trim, horse blazes and socks
• Metallic Grey (XF-56):lobster pot helmets, cuirrasses. 
• Sky Grey (XF-19): cavalry trooper coats, saddle bundles
• Chrome Silver (XF-11): sabres, scabbard tips, trooper buttons, officer sash
• Hull Red (XF-9): rifle and pistol wood
• Brown (X-9): horses
• Sky Blue (X-14): cavalry trooper coat cuffs, saddle cloths and holsters, officer sash

Hobby Lobby in Hurst, TX

• Helping Hands magnifying glass, weight and clamps all on one device. Makes holding the miniatures still and removes a lot of frustration gluing miniatures and keeping it hands-free.
• Model Masters: gray primer to prime the miniatures

"BasilBarfly" at blogspot.com:

• Has an excellent website on the Bavarians during the War of the Spanish Succession with information regarding units, uniforms, company composition, army organization, battles that they took part in, flags, and more. Link: http://wssbavarians.blogspot.com/

My wife and my son:  

• For putting up with my fuming when things are frustrating me and getting me to mature up and calm down when they do. Also for supporting and encouraging me along as I built them.