Airfix 54mm Napoleonic French Line Infantry

[Neil Merryweather]

Whatever the composition Neil, I can just see the action you are creating. Yes the facial expressions will be the icing in the cake which most of us struggle unless you have a bunch of Hornets...

Cheers,
Richard

I'm going to give it a try, Richard. So much for this being an easy build as an antidote to the intensity of the last one

 

[Jim R]

Hi Neil
A great deal of thought going into this. I do like the composition and the ideas you have come to. As for facial expression - wonderful if you are prepared to go for it.

So much for this being an easy build as an antidote to the intensity of the last one

Ain't hat so often the way it is but it does make for a very interesting blog.
Jim

 

[Neil Merryweather]

So let's bite the bullet and look at the heads for Fusiliers 1&2

Here’s Fusilier 1 straight out of the box

Very annoyingly at this time Airfix started making the heads in two halves, (and actually sometimes in 3 pieces), attached to the headgear, which makes converting much more painful. It’s a shame because the sculpting is quite refined, but it vastly increases the opportunity to blob the face with glue and leave your fingerprints all over it-especially if you’re 12 years old!

Our boy here suffers from a huge gap behind the ears, both of which are devoid of detail anyway. I HATE sculpting ears but they’ve got to go.

Here's Fusilier 2 before surgery

He is from the Imperial Guard Grenadier, and at least he is in one piece below the headgear, but he needs his ears doing as well

I carved into his brow a bit to create a frown, and sharpened up his lip. I also defined the lines from the nostrils to the corner of the mouth a bit more.
I left the ears to cure at this stage to avoid damaging them when I did the rest of the hair and stuff.
So here they are with their necks, their hair, and a bit of eye enhancement- hopefully- I will have to see how it looks after priming



Not the world's best photographs, sorry.
These two don’t have the extreme expressions of some of the other fellas- they are just getting on with the job like the veterans they are. But hopefully they have a little bit more character than before.
Next stage is the equipment
Thanks for looking

Neil

 

[Si Benson]

Looking mighty fine from here Neil

 

[rtfoe]

Neil...I must get some green putty to sculpt my figure heads. Looks fun.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Tim Marlow]

Nice work Neil. Brings the heads up a notch or two .

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Looking mighty fine from here Neil

cheers Si

Neil...I must get some green putty to sculpt my figure heads. Looks fun.

Cheers,
Richard

It took me along while to get used to it after Milliput, but I quite like it now. It's very good for little things,(like ears) and rolling out like pastry. And it cures slower than Milliput. But I'm not up to Bill Horan's standard with it- he works miracles!

Nice work Neil. Brings the heads up a notch or two .

Thanks a lot Tim , that's the hope!

 

[Neil Merryweather]

So on with the equipment. As I promised myself, Fusilier no 1 is pretty much as Airfix intended…well ALMOST.
When I ordered the Historex spares I included a couple of cartridge pouches but this is where the size discrepancy reared its ugly head again.

Looking at re-enactors I decided to go with the larger Historex size, so I had to scratch a couple more of them, which at least gives me the option of having the flap a bit open.
Also looking at re-enactors, most of them have some form of non-regulation haversack and water bottle over the right shoulder. So in the spirit ‘of out of the box’ I just went with the water bottle for our guy.
Epaulettes were next, and they posed the opposite size problem, Airfix were twice a thick as the Historex ones, so they had to be thinned down -at great cost to my fingerprints!

As I’ve made our boy a bit taller I decided to use the larger Historex pack for him, and I just added the rolled straps- which means I will have to do THAT another five times.

I’ve added the pack straps to the figure but I’m leaving the pack itself off for painting. And he’s got a bayonet as well, which I mustn’t forget.
So here is Fusilier no 1, ready for priming, and we’ll see how well I have disguised the surgery.



I mustn’t forget the chin scales either….

And here is Fusilier no 2, ALMOST 'out of the box' but with one of my scratched cartridge pouches and a non-regulation haversack (looted from an Airfix Coldstream Guardsman, no doubt…)



So it’s on with the paint next- let’s see what a hash I make of them.

Thanks for looking

Neil

 

[Steve Jones]

Late on parade I'm afraid Neil. Lovin your composition and additions. Great input from the guys. Its gonna be another epic grouping. You have just gotta love that banner - did Paul actually hand paint the lettering?? If so thats one steady hand. Keep it comin my friend

 

[JR]

Late , sorry Neil but been gardening so much have been sleeping in the evening and rarely coming on here.
Love them, esp. the straps, the way you mould them to the body shape and the packs.

 

[Ian M]

This is going to be another epic scene Neil. The effort put in so far is worth a medal.

 

[JayCee]

You are up to your usual excellent standard Neil. Brilliant work.
John.

 

[Jim R]

Hi Neil
Brave to take on the alterations but it certainl seems to have paid off.
Jim

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Late on parade I'm afraid Neil. Lovin your composition and additions. Great input from the guys. Its gonna be another epic grouping. You have just gotta love that banner - did Paul actually hand paint the lettering?? If so thats one steady hand. Keep it comin my friend

Always welcome, Steve, however late you show up!
As for the banner, Paul couldn't remember painting it, thinks he might have got it with some other stuff. Whoever did paint it was an absolute genius, though. I'm very lucky to have it. Just got to make sure my own painting is up to the same standard .....


I'll get my coat

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Late , sorry Neil but been gardening so much have been sleeping in the evening and rarely coming on here.
Love them, esp. the straps, the way you mould them to the body shape and the packs.

Welcome John, glad you can spare the time
thanks for the kind comment

 

[Neil Merryweather]

This is going to be another epic scene Neil. The effort put in so far is worth a medal.

Cheers Ian. As for effort, this is the fun part; it's the dreaded paining that requires the effort for me.

You are up to your usual excellent standard Neil. Brilliant work.
John.

Many thanks John

Hi Neil
Brave to take on the alterations but it certainl seems to have paid off.
Jim

Thanks Jim, this is my favourite aspect- as we have seen, I couldn't even make one of these unaltered, out of the box!

 

[Tim Marlow]

You don’t need to get your coat Neil, your puns flag themselves..........and did you notice the Freudian slip in your reply to Ian? All jokes aside, this is going to be another epic!

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Well I’ve been cracking on with the painting of Fusilier 1. As I’ve said before painting doesn’t come so naturally to me, and every time I have a break from it I end up having to relearn stuff. I’ve started keeping a few notes now, because my poor memory is really frustrating. BUT I can still remember who had various obscure hit records in the seventies, much to my wife’s annoyance (and I bet I'm not alone!)

Anyway, here he is, for better or worse. Having made such a big deal about the faces I’m really not happy with this one, but not so unhappy I’m going to do it again! He still needs a coat of matt lacquer and a few little touch-ups. I really struggled with painting under all the equipment, so I’m going to see if I can get away with leaving it all off till after painting next time. Hopefully by the time I get to the last one I’ll have my eye in a bit more.
At least I’ve got that Eagle Standard to distract the eye…..




Thanks for looking in

Neil

 

[Tim Marlow]

He looks good Neil. What is it you are not happy with?

 

[JR]

Yes Neil what's amiss, looks good to me, the kit is too notch really fine work .