Joseph/Jourdan and the Royal Guard at Vitoria (June 1813)
figures
I started my involvement in the hobby around 1980. At this time, in
Spain, metal figures were rare and mainly in 25 mm so the little
plastic Airfix figures were almost the only viable choosing. Thus, my
first units were composed from the classic French, British and Scottish infantry, French Cuirassiers and British Hussars and French
and British artillery. The sets were not always easliy available and I still
remember the hunting of Airfix figures in all towns and
countries visited during
work or holidays trips.
Almost from the start I also cast metal figures by making moulds from
plaster of Paris (Spanish 'escayola') or silicone rubber and using
lead balls (from fishing!)
and tin (buyed in chemical stores).
The results were crude but allowed me to
incorporate several hundreds of heavy-weighted
figures mainly French infantry.
Those heroic times vanished, and today we assist to a renaissance of 1/72 plastic figures. There is a great number of old
and new firms, and almost each historical period is covered, being the
Napoleonic one of the more favoured.
However the many different unit types marketed, in many occasions our
preferred or necessary unit will be not one of them. In that case a
simple painting or a conversion is mandatory. This is the case of many
of the units shown in the right menu of this page. By clicking in the
chosen link, a new page will appear showing a little history of the
painting or conversion carried out, as well as some pictures of the
final result.
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