I decided to work on the box of Victrix French Infantry. I thought it might be therapeutic - the gluing together of the parts, and all. They seemed to go together faster than the British set I worked on a few months before. Or, maybe it's that I now know what to expect.
I opted for using the bearskins for the grenadiers & the longer plumed shakos for the voltigeurs. As most know, Victrix sets have enough spare/extra heads & arms for swap outs.
From the several posts of completed figures by other folks, I had thought there would be a lot of marching poses - that is, arms for marching poses. As it turned out I had to purposefully remember to add a few marching poses to ensure I had a bit of variety. There are enough parts to make most of them in firing and advancing poses - which is what I wanted & why I chose Victrix for my Napoleonics. If I wanted purely marching poses, I would've just ordered Old Glory figures - they look nice enough on the website.
A couple of the figures were modified a little using a hot knife to alter leg & arms poses - just a couple of the officers. I used my Dremel to sand down the bases a bit - for a lower appearance on the 20mm (approx.) round washers.
Anyway, I next will give them a quick clean-up wash & add some caulking to blend in the bases. After that, an undercoat of while; and then on to painting. Not sure when I'll actually get around to that - as my mom will be visiting with us for a few weeks soon. Until then, Vive le Empereur!
Hi Dean! I was inspired by your spectacular job with the Victrix French to order a box of their 1804-1807 figures for use as revolutionary volunteers. Now, the poses are beautiful in person, but several of the bodies and heads have pretty significant sinkholes (I don't know how else to describe them) from the casting process. Did your notice any of these holes with your set?
ReplyDeleteHello Andrew:
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment. As far as the holes in the shakos - yes, there were a few like that - I dropped some modelling glue (same type to put them together) in the holes as best I could. It was a quick fix - good enough I think; not very noticeable once painted. You could put some kind of putty in if you want, but that would take a bit longer to do. Dean
Thanks a lot Dean! Yeah, I guess they had to re-arrange the holes for my set - since I purchased the early-french, with Bicornes, the sink-holes got moved from the shako tops to the pant-leg juncture or, in some cases, the figures' navels! I sent Victrix an email to see if they had any insight to offer. I'll probably end up using green stuff to fix it - I'm worried glue might get everywhere, and right in the front of the models too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the help, and keep up the awesome paint jobs - seeing your stuff helped me take the plunge into historical minis!
Andrew:
ReplyDeleteI completely forgot that yours didn't come with shakos when I responded - sorry. But that is good to know, as I was "toying" with the idea of getting that set for an Egyptian/Syrian campaign. Maybe Victrix will send you a new box with better casting. They're pretty customer-service oriented. Best, Dean