SPECIAL THANKS. I would like to thank Paul Watson for his sponsorship of several lead figure collections on this blog. Having decided to clear his spare/surplus figures, he generously forwarded them on with no other requirement than they deserved to be restored. I would also like to mention George S. Mills, who kindly furnished a quantity of plastic figures which allowed me to complete another five or six military units, serving in several collections.

Thursday 25 February 2021

FRENCH ARTILLERY c.1900

My French army has gained some additional figures. Alan Gruber contacted me with a kind offer to send some spare French Foreign Legion soldiers. These were original plastic figures produced by Timpo. Some oxidisation having occurred, he thought they might still be useful as spares. In addition to these figures, there was also a few plastic Desert Rats. I decided to combine the two contingents to produce my first artillery crew for the French army, having cut and pinned the rolled-up sleeves of the Desert Rats to the more fragile Legionaries. I think its worked rather well. My plan now is to convert the remaining eight or so figures into pioneers, ordnance, signals, etc. Fun projects!

MGB





12 comments:

  1. Very smart and a good use of spare figures.

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    1. Hi George, got to work carefully with these, yours were de facto new. But with some calculating, these will provide useful and interesting extras to the French battalions. These artillerymen look very nice next to the battalion you kindly supplied.
      Michael

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  2. A splendid job Michael! They have turned out very well indeed. I look forward to seeing more of these fellows in action.

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    1. Hi Alan, I'm in the same boat, I would like to use some of the new additions, but I am still keen to clear projects, and completed projects make space. Unfortunately, the table is covered again, lol.
      Michael

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  3. Another excellent unit Michael! Great conversions too! Artillerymen are a very scarce commodity and are so valuable on the wargame table!

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    1. Very true Brad, I'm now thinking another artillery crew would be a wise move. Not sure anyone actually sells 54mm French artillerymen for the late 19th or early 20th centuries, place a bet they would be costly if they did. Have seen some 54mm 'French' collections and I suspect they are converted ACW gun crews.
      Michael

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  4. Nicely done!
    Given that the French arty wore kepi's but didn't wear greatcoats, ACW sounds like a good start. esp for horse artillery who probably wore the booted overalls at some point.

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    1. Yes, Ross, I'm thinking ACW is a logical alternative. On the positive side, this Franco-Spanish army will be very generic, whatever uniforms look interesting from 1870 to 1930 will be included. I see several 28mm manufacturers produce French Foreign Legion gun crews, so no problem if I do the same. As my 54mm armies are strictly Toy Soldier collections it will be fun to see what the end result looks like.
      Michael

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    2. Some Matelots with a gun landed from a ship is another possibility.

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    3. Ross, I haven't ruled out having some French naval forces, but I won't convert any British figures to do it. For the moment, a few more converted legionnaire gunners will help, and I also have six Spanish gunners. I noticed Brian Carrick has a fair collection of actual French-made plastic naval figures, perhaps that's a possible direction.
      Michael

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  5. Clever conversions - Some of the Quiralu 54mm French troops including Naval troops and bands have been recast by Andrew Stevenson at Replica Toy soldiers.

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    1. Thanks for that Mark, I think Paul has some contact with Andrew, I was thinking of getting some spares, did not know they were producing old Quiraly figures...... interesting. I would only need to get a handful.
      Michael

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