Base picture was a British Redcoat, which I took the design from and recoloured it to a Russian soldier.

Article on Russian Musketeers:
"Streltsy (Russian: Стрельцы) were the units of Russian guardsmen (sl. starlets,стрелец. literally "shooter"; often translated as "musketeer," but more properly "harquebuses") from the 16th to the early 18th centuries, armed with firearms and halberds. They are also collectively known as Strelets Troops (Стрелецкое Войско).

The first streltsy units were created by Ivan the Terrible sometime between 1545 and 1550 and armed with the arquebus. They first saw combat at the Siege of Kazan in 1552. Military service in this unit became lifelong and hereditary. The bearded strelsty were organized into regiments, each with a long coat (kaftans) and pointed cloth hat of a distinctive colour. By 1680 there were 20 regiments of Moscow streltsy totaling 20,048 men and comprising about 12 per cent of the total army (along with cossacks, militia and an increasing number of regular soldiers). In addition there were significant numbers of frontier and garrison streltsy serving outside Moscow, although these were less formally drilled and equipped.

The Muscovite government was chronically short of cash so that the streltsy were often not paid well. While 'entitled' to something like four rubles a year in the 1550s, they were often allowed to farm or trade in order to supplement their incomes. Textiles for clothing and foodstuffs were sometimes issued as part of their pay. A commander of one hundred musketeers (sotnik) received up to 20 roubles a year and a regimental head (streletski golova) between 30 and 60.




In the late 17th century, the Streltsy of Moscow began to actively participate in a struggle for power between different government groups,supporting the dissidents and showing hostility towards any foreign innovations.

After the fall of Sophia Alekseyevna in 1689, the government of Peter the Great engaged in a process of gradual limitation of the streltsy’s military and political influence. In order to counter their power Peter began to raise a new regular army, still armed with muskets but disciplined, uniformed and organised along West European lines. In spite of these measures, the streltsy revolted yet again while Peter was on his Great Embassy in Europe. The four regiments involved were disbanded and 1,200 of the mutineers were executed. The remainder were exiled, had their property confiscated and were banned from future military employment. The entire corps was technically abolished in1689; however, after having suffered a defeat at Narva in 1700, the government retained some streltsy units in service.
Gradually, the streltsy were incorporated into the regular army. At the same time, they started to disband the Municipal Streltsy. Liquidation of the streltsy units was finally finished only in the 1720s, however, the Municipal Strel'tsy were kept in some cities until the late 18th century.

The Preobrazhensky and Izmailovsky regiments of Imperial Guards replaced the streltsy as the tsar's bodyguards."


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