Decided to have a go at repairing some old Britains Arab cavalry. This casting always had a design flaw with a very flimsy right arm. Its rare to find any with their original sword and occasionally half the arm is missing. No point trying to restore this state, have made my own right arm using steel wire drilled into the casting and looped round a metal lance. Miliput was then applied to reconstruct the arm and supplement the wire hand. These are now very strong. The first four are painted up as 'Regulares' cavalry, or colonial North Africans recruited into the Spanish Army. Those completed are General Franco's horse guards. Paint stripping the originals was well worthwhile, just overpainting was not an option.
The French Army has also gained some new recruits. a small unit of Colonial Marines, and a few WW1 infantry too, most of these figures kindly supplied by Paul Watson.
Lovely additions to the collection. Superb work as always.
ReplyDeleteThanks George, I'm quite enjoying this sub-project, raising a Franco-Spanish allied army.
DeleteMichael
That's absolutely amazing work, mon brave. I've never really seen the potential in them - turning them into lancers was a superb and striking move. They're a superb addition to your table. Also nice to see the Prince August pith helmet finally used in a way that has a spot on use with those French Marines :) Your world spanning collection is something VERY special.
ReplyDeleteThank you Paul, the lance has visually added so much more to this simple casting, as has some uniformity. Have potentially two more units. I would have liked one of them to be a French Spahi regiment but there are some issues if they are to be uniform-correct.
DeleteMichael
Oh never thought of French Marines - the basic Prince August mold with the pith helmet would make a passable one , Hmm time to get casting !?
ReplyDeleteTony, the French army does have some interesting colonial uniforms which add to their wargaming potential, and very exotic. I was lucky, Paul furnished about thirty actual French line infantry to start the collection.
DeleteMichael
Excellent work once again. The mounted figures look particularly spectacular.
ReplyDeleteThank you Alan, as conversions go it was an interesting project, and I'm pleased with the results. Will certainly use the wire-arm system again for securing weaponry.
DeleteMichael
Another beautiful job of restoration Michael! Franco's horse guard and the Colonial Marines are magnificent. It makes you wonder why Britains never produced them! I especially enjoy your before and after pictures as well as your reference illustrations. They are educational and in many cases, true works of art! I always look forward to your next post! Thank you!!
ReplyDeleteThats great Brad, I upload a photo of the original state to boost my resolve to complete another project, if this works for others too thats a bonus. My morale and health is presently fair but it can falter so I'm striving to clear as many projects as I can, if only to clear my wargames table lol. We are so lucky to have the internet for researching history!
DeleteMichael
Well done Sir!
ReplyDeleteBeing a lazy sod, I would probably have replaced the arm then modified it but scratch building a new one has worked superbly well.
Hi Ross, that is the usual method for me, but these figures come with half-sleeve garments which were thick and partly hidden by the cloak, so it was easier to extend the half-sleeve. I was also keen to do something more than glue the lance to an open hand. They really are very solid, and the steel lance has little flexibility too.
DeleteMichael