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British Infantry

The thin red line defended British territory throughout the heyday of Great Britain's imperial power.  During the Napoleonic Wars, the redcoats, along with the Royal Navy, may have saved Europe from Napoleon.  Many French generals have left comments to the effect that the British infantry were the best in the world.  Not surprisingly, many manufacturers have devoted sets to these famous fighting men.


The Airfix set was procduced first, and has more of a "toy soldier" look than the rest, but the raised detail on these figures is excellent, making them very easy to paint.  This scan shows well one of the hazards of plastic figures: some paint has flaked off of many of the figures, revealing the bright red plastic beneath.  The standardbearer is a conversion, using a paper flag from warflag.
 


The Revell British Line is a decent set.  Figure poses are very nice and equipment is consistent throughout the set.  All figures are in full pack with bayonet fixed, an attractive wargaming pose.  The set comes with one mounted and one dismounted officer, an NCO, drummer, color bearer, and pioneer.  I converted three of the soldiers loading their muskets to colorbearers.  The figures did not paint up as nicely as the other sets, as the detail was not raised enough for easy painting.
 


HaT Industries has just released a set of light infantry for the Hundred Days campaign.  The uniform is nearly identical to that of light companies of the line regiments until the adoption of the Belgic shako.  A careful modeler may remove the wings with a hobby knife to create center company men for the Peninsular Wars.

The figures are clean, crisp, and have a great deal of raised detail.  The lace on the front of the men's jackets is the best defined of any range.  The only complaints are the mix of poses and the lack of detail on the shakos.  This is a fine set, and will prove useful to modelers and wargamers alike.

These figures are painted as the 51st Light Infantry at Waterloo.
 

Last updated 08 August, 2002
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