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Airfix 54mm Collector Series - British Grenadier 1776


MisterE

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Hi all,

 

so my return to modelling after a few decades away focuses on figures. I've played a fair bit of Warhammer 40K, so I'm not totally rusty, but wanted something a little larger and more...well, serious!

 

I managed to source from eBay some 54mm Airfix Collector series, which I remember building as a kid. I seem to recall back in the day looking at the piece of plasticard which came packaged with the kit to make belts and straps with and thinking "that's nice, something to rest your glue on to avoid making a mess!"

 

So the first build is a British Grenadier from the American War of Independence - revolutionary activity in the colonies being something of a topical subject at the moment! As I have more money than sense I used to, I also bought a slack handful of Historex heads and some brass rifle slings and horse tack (the horse tack for another kit I found).

 

 

50873425723_344d57101c_k.jpgRedcoat!! by MisterE, on Flickr

 

50874233717_267e4ffdef_k.jpgHeads! by MisterE, on Flickr

 

50874132841_4d364f5e7b_k.jpgAndrea straps, etc by MisterE, on Flickr

 

Far too many heads, but I have choice and upcoming projects, so they will get used I'm sure.

 

I also ordered the excellent British Army Uniforms of the American Revolution 1751-1783 by Carl Franklin as a resource.

 

More to follow...

 

 

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And so, following the 40K gamer's maxim of "leave no figure unconverted" I started planning. My original thought was to cut away the bearskin and stick it on a Historex head, as I remembered that I was never over-enamoured with the Airfix faces. However, the kit head is a front-to-back clamshell with the head and hat connected.  There were also curls of hair at either side. At first believing that British troops at the time wore powdered wigs, I turned to Franklin (and a few internet sources) for reference and found that, unless the soldier suffered from an onset of male-pattern baldness, not only were wigs not uniform, they were actively barred from use. Instead, there were two regulation hairdos - the queue (a pony tail tied up with black ribbon) and the club, where the hair at the back is kind of folded under. Sources note that whilst infantry and dragoons favoured clubbed hair, grenadiers and the light companies tended towards the queue. One of the Historex heads, did, in fact, have a wee pony tail, but it did seem something of a faff to hack away at the Airfix head when they had gone to the trouble of modelling a pretty accurate clubbed hairdo, and the face wasn't actually that bad. And so I ummed and ah'd for a while and eventually decided to use the head from the kit.

 

So the sum total of Day One of the build was to glue two bits of plastic together and then spend 24 hours agonising about 18th Century military hairstyles.

 

I love this hobby!!

 

I did eventually put the legs and torso together - remarkably flash-free and well detailed for a kit of its age! I did, however, have a bit of an issue with the stance. There's a nice little "v" at the bottom of the figure's waistcoat which marries up with a corresponding shape on the legs. At first I thought this was a very neat way to hide the join, but after dry-fitting, it seemed that the torso would be twisted in a slightly unnatural manner. I went with it, thinking the position of the limbs and the head may suggest movement and dynamism.

 

50874133241_23f6c4ac83_k.jpgTorso and legs by MisterE, on Flickr

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Couple of things worth thinking about Steve,

1.) Other Ranks uniform would have been made of heavy weight wool and waistcoats have a mind of their own!

2.) The uniform tunic colour would have been a vegetable dye, so don't stress over the colour TOO much, anywhere between scarlet and a darkish pink! Not forgetting the red running onto the 'white' trousers..........

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Good points both, Paul, and I believe Franklin mentions both inconsistency of reds and colours 'bleeding' in humid atmospheres. I'll be using Citadel paints, purely because I have my own bodyweight in paint in my cupboard!

 

So going through the book, the figure is remarkably accurate - I had a bit of a wobble when I thought I'd got the crossed belts the wrong way round based on some illustrations on the intarwebs, but Franklin assured me that the cartridge belt goes on first, then the bayonet, just as Airfix showed.

 

The only missing bit was a strap across the chest, running between the straps of the knapsack. That area already looks a little busy, and I debated leaving it off, as there were a number of manufacturers supplying the army, but Franklin notes that this strap was uncomfortable and unpopular, so I used some etched brass to model it unfastened - it seems supergluing brass to lead foil is an absolute bugger and the texture suffered, so that will need a dose of sanding to make it look pretty again, and the match case on the cartridge belt looks a little large, but I'm going to go with it. I've already decided to get hold of another one of these, and I have an idea for a display of Coldstream Guards (my uncle's old regiment, gods rest his soul) from inception in the English Civil Wars through to...well, at least the Second World War (decals permitting, but that will be a topic in the "wants" section when I hit my hundred... 

 

Anyways, I've left it a little late in the day to convert this one, as he's all assembled and I'm not fiddling about removing every third lace on his tunic at this stage!  This will be a practice run.

 

So here he is, made and sprayed...

 

50874133156_2b01ea952b_k.jpgPrimed 4 by MisterE, on Flickr

 

50874233907_224dbe1e12_k.jpgPrimed 1 by MisterE, on Flickr

 

50873425608_6de7967e1f_k.jpgPrimed 3 by MisterE, on Flickr

 

50874233887_5647d7ae31_k.jpgPrimed 2 by MisterE, on Flickr

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Okay, paint on the face.  And the biggest lesson I've learned is that the base/wash/highlight 1/highlight 2 that works so well on 32mm wargames figures does not translate to a larger scale!!

 

First attempt was an utter pig's ear, and took a good couple of hours of blending to get back to something that...well, I'm not delighted with, but will suffice without having to apply even more layers of paint.

 

50874233687_e427563b11_k.jpgFace 2 by MisterE, on Flickr

 

50874132866_5717a69fca_k.jpgFace 1 by MisterE, on Flickr

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I remember these as a child and never haviing enough funds to grab one.

Surprisingly well detailed - like what you've done with all the strapping. 

Face looks fine from here

Watching with interest

Rob

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