Damn that rifle is well done, did you use any pics for reference?

I used to have several military muskets. (repros- originals are beyond my means...) and from black powder gunsmithing I know the various models inside and out- I drew this one from memory. (And managed to forget to draw in the hammer...D'oh!)

I think he's holding his gun the wrong way.

Nope- pose is taken straight from the bayonet manual of arms for the french army of the time.

There are a lot of weird looking postures in those manuals- but they were intended to standardize maneuvers for musketry and bayonet drill for masses of closely packed men who all had to move in unison to respond to threats from any direction.

Ok Now this is weird I've been reading the Sharpe series of book which are set during the Napolonic War. Last night I had a dream where I was on of the Sharpshooters that Sharpe commanded and blasted one of those guys.

It's a great pose.

My impression is that up to, say, the US Civil War, infantrymen were spear carriers. The fact their spears could shoot lead balls was secondary in the minds of their officers, and in their training.

I also get the impression that this mindset continued long after the time rifled muskets made the average battlefield firearm deadly out to hundreds of yards. And that the soldiers' training continued to be bayonet-centered until the officers trained in the smoothbore era died off, and beyond. Although (popular drawings of battlefield scenes to the contrary) the soldiers generally had the sense to take cover once in actual battle.

True? False? Maybe?

Your period-piece work is interesting. Nice job on the uniform. Have you thought of bringing some of that over to your pinups and adult work? Having different and interesting clothing the characters are discarding would make for a nice flavor to a piece.

Thats no imperial guard. He does'nt wear purple and black, and he is using a gun, not a flail.

Hey I'm planning on doing a historical fiction comic set in the Napoleonic era, the Peninsular War in particular.