… be careful what you buy!
I spent a small fortune on a ‘showcase’ quality late 17th century regiment of infantry. The figures represent the Scots Foot Guards, or possibly Dumbarton’s (the Royal Scots) though Scottish regiments invariably had white facings and I bought them to represent the Scots Foot Guards.
The figures looked lovely in the photos on eBay, ‘showcase’ standard painting, gloss and then matt varnished…
When the figures arrived I was sorely disappointed! There was loads of damage on them and it couldn’t possibly just be the packaging. The pikes had pinged off and muskets had been bent. The bright metal revealed by the chipped and flaked paint made me doubt that the figures had been varnished or indeed undercoated!
And the dust (?) on them! Yikes. I gave serious consideration to sending them back…
Instead I smoothed out my disappointment by leaving ‘neutral’ feedback. The damage was fixable, the dust or whatever it was was brush off-able and the flesh work was very nice.
So this was my starting point. The five bases of figures would need the dust removed, damage repaired and rebasing to match my collection. I would end up with two or three command bases, a regiment of Scots Foot Guards and a casualty marker. The two photos above show the figures cleaned and repaired, but still on their original bases. The standards arrived loose and the pikes had pinged off in the post.
Above photos show the figures rebased and texture applied. I’ve gone for maximum command bases with the mounted figures. The regiment is a bit thin on the ground, but I can live with that. Once flags are attached, that’s the main thing you see on the tabletop and the number of minis in the regiment won’t make the slightest difference to playing with the regiment. The bloke getting shot has been dropped out of the unit to be the casualty marker. Even before I had settled on a rule set, I had decided that each unit in the collection would have a dedicated Warbases casualty marker.
Close up of one of the mounted officers shows the tremendous painting of the face!
The base work complete, these are the minis just waiting for a warmer day to get varnished. I’ll attach the standards after the varnishing as I’m never sure how paper copes with spray varnish.
The photos have loaded in a bit of a random order, darn my tech’ abilities! I think the commanders look cracking in combo with my own base work. I’m still conscious of the regiment being thin on the ground, but it’ll be reet once the standards are added. I forgot to photograph the casualty figure, but trust me he looks fine. I do like that the drummer has a bonnet which reinforces their Scottish-ness, but unlikely that bonnets were worn in one of the few regular regiment on the Scottish establishment (remember this is pre-Union). Especially in the Foot Guards.
These chaps will see service in Ireland and Scotland. And considering the price, they had best sweep away all opposition!
Thanks for reading.
Cheers
Chris
Oh dear!-I'm sure you'll have done a good job on them and that they will take pride of place in your army!-BTW I've just received over 700 15mm plus 16 guns 7YW figures from Lancashire games,and they are great-very little flash etc-probably be painted in a couple of weeks(just kidding!)
ReplyDeletejohnc
Not sure you’re kidding at all! I know you can get minis on the table in no time flat. Look forward to seeing those. Be posting about my late 17thc collection soon :-) cheers, Chris
ReplyDeleteYou've done a great job with them regardless of the issues but you're right that they need now to earn their keep!
ReplyDeleteThanks Stryker. They should hopefully get many years of service putting down Jacobites, Covenanters and Whigs! Lol
ReplyDeleteProblems that can be fixed aren't problems at all, just a bit of bother. Well done that man!
ReplyDeleteCheers Herkybird. Once I’d gotten over the shock/disappointment I figured that for the quality of the faces alone, they were worth keeping. I knew I needed to rebase them anyway. No great shakes in the end. I’m being very careful handling them until they’re properly varnished! Cheers :-)
ReplyDeleteChris you need to wise up when E Bayers describe something as 'showcase.' What you and I know by the term is rarely what is on show. Avoid them. Personally I will buy up battered but painted units from E Bay and use them as basically the undercoat for the unit. It makes it quicker to get them on the table and now and again you will pick up some really well painted figures. But if you want to pay lots of money for a unit then direct the cash my way, Ill do a 'job' on them especially if they are a period Im interested in.
ReplyDeleteHey Robbie. Thanks for the advice. I continue to live and learn! Sure I can find something in my lead pile you’d enjoy painting ;-)
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