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Caesar

Set H059

Modern French Army & Chinese PLA

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All figures are supplied unpainted    (Numbers of each pose in brackets)
Stats
Date Released 2009
Contents 37 figures
Poses 13 poses
Material Plastic (Medium Consistency)
Colours Grey
Average Height 23 mm (= 1.66 m)

Review

First things first. The question on everyone’s lips when this set was announced was ‘Why are these two subjects together in one box?’ The official Caesar explanation is that both France and China have sent troops to Somalia in the light of the recent piracy problems.

Reviewing very modern sets always presents many problems. By their very nature there has not been time for books or other authoritative commentary to be written on the subject, although on the other hand there are many living witnesses that can provide expert opinion. In the past we have managed to review modern subjects by gaining the input of serving members of those forces, and therefore have excellent information on which to form an opinion. Sadly we have no contacts with any member of either the French or Chinese armed forces, so this option is not available. Naturally there are no books yet written on them, and since neither army is currently or recently committed to any significant actions there is little reason to suppose that such publications will appear in the future, while for the same reason news media have provided no particular coverage apart, presumably, from the national media of the countries in question. In short then we have far too little information to assess the accuracy of these figures, and are therefore unable to comment.

What we can say is that the top two rows represent the French while the bottom row shows the PLA. The most obvious difference is that the five PLA figures all hold the QBZ-95 rifle, while the French have a variety of weapons including the FAMAS rifle.

From various opinions expressed to us by readers the general consensus seems to be that the Chinese figures are very accurate and up-to-date while the French soldiers reflect fashions and weapons of anything between 10 and 40 years ago, and are therefore completely inaccurate (at least for the tag 'modern').

Accuracy may be uncertain but the quality of these figures is very clear. As usual the sculpting is excellent, and the usual Casear use of the multi-part mould has helped make lots of vibrant and well-rounded poses that look both natural and believable. None of the figures require any assembly, yet such difficult subjects as the shoulder-mounted weapons are done very well indeed with no loss of detail from any angle. In fact the detail is impressive throughout, and there is no flash anywhere, although a couple of poses do still have some excess plastic between weapon and body.

We thought the Frenchman wearing the kepi was a nice touch (although apparently such dress code disappeared in the 1960s), but all the figures are attractive and useful. Mixing subjects is not something we approve of however, and even with slightly more than the usual 12 poses there are still only eight French and five Chinese poses. Perhaps this is a case of better a half set than none at all, and maybe fans of either of these subjects should be grateful that they have been made at all.


Ratings

Historical Accuracy
Pose Quality 10
Pose Number 6
Sculpting 10
Mould 9

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