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All figures are supplied unpainted (Numbers of each pose in brackets)
| Date Released |
1971 |
| Contents |
39 foot figures, 1 mounted figure and 1 horse |
| Poses |
14 poses, 1 horse pose |
| Material |
Plastic (Medium Consistency) |
| Colours |
Cream, Light Blue, Pale Grey/Brown |
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Average Height
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22 mm (= 1.58 m)
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Money and supply were always a problem in the Continental Army, and as a result no completely uniform appearance was achieved before the war's end. In the early years the usual form of dress was a hunting shirt, but all the figures in this set wear the standard coat and tricorn, so they are mostly relevant to the later war period.
This set has long been in the affections of many collectors, and one reason is the interesting and unusual choice of poses. As well as the standard firing, loaded, etc., there are a number of stand-out figures that deserve special mention. The only advancing figure is doing so in an odd way, with his musket held across his throat. This looks very odd and does not seem a likely stance under any circumstances (unless perhaps he is crossing a deep river!). There is a crawling figure, which is very unusual for a pre-twentieth century subject, and a man firing while prone. This is also a poor choice as he would have to rise to load his weapon and the constant upping and downing would seem more trouble than it was worth - certainly an unusual pose that we would prefer to see replaced with something more typical. The standard bearer has removed his hat and allowed his flag to drag on the ground - hardly a wise or respectful action for the article that represents the regiment. However this may be intended to represent the flag-bearer saluting by lowering the colours. The drummer is very nice, with a full-sized drum, and there is a private carrying a barrel. This could contain anything from gunpowder to ale and is a perfectly common activity for soldiers, but it is very unusual to see such activity depicted in a set. However this man suffers from a quite unnecessarily small base, making him inclined to topple forwards at the least provocation - a design fault that seems totally inexplicable. The two officers in the set are well done, with the mounted one sometimes cited as representing Washington himself. Finally, the most unusual of all is the group of two men evacuating a casualty. They are carrying him with the aid of a musket that they are using to support his legs, which was a very common form of moving the wounded at the time. Once again this is a normal and useful pose, yet it is unique to this most imaginative of sets.
The costume of these men represents the standard uniform of most infantry of the time. It is reasonably well sculpted, though the sculptor has failed to line up the cartridge box with its shoulder belt on many of the figures. Also the bayonet that some carry is poorly realised. Many also carry a powder horn, the strap of which seems to perch precariously on the shoulder. The tricorn hat is always a challenging piece to mould, and it has been done well here. The drummer has a canteen on a cord over his left shoulder, and on the front of the figure he also has another shoulder strap on this shoulder. However on the back of the figure this strap disappears, which is a pretty fundamental error.
The sculpting on these figures is not particularly pleasing. Most are squat and rather hunchbacked, somewhat in the same vein as the Waterloo French Infantry set. The detail is adequate and was considered good in its day, but sets produced today would expect to achieve a higher standard. There was almost no flash on our review copy, but it is known that some pressings have produced figures with a great deal of flash.
This is a set with a lot of good ideas, but one that is let down by the ugly anatomy of the men and some quite basic errors in the design. For a long time this was the only set of standard 18th century infantry available, so these figures must have served in many wars over the years. However now there are much better sets such as the Accurate/Revell/IMEX British Infantry available, competition which this elderly set will find very difficult to overcome.
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Historical Accuracy
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 9
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Pose Quality
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 7
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Pose Number
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 8
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Sculpting
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 6
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Mould
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8
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