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A Call To Arms

Set 65

British Infantry 1775

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All figures are supplied unpainted    (Numbers of each pose in brackets)
Stats
Date Released 2005
Contents 32 figures
Poses 8 poses
Material Plastic (Fairly Hard)
Colours Light Tan
Average Height 23 mm (= 1.66 m)

Review

During the Revolutionary War a British regiment might have one or two battalions, each being made up of eight centre companies, one grenadier company and one of light troops. Of course there were many variations on this arrangement, but the point is that the grenadiers and light infantry were an elite minority within the infantry, yet these troops are all there is in this set rather misleadingly named just 'British Infantry'.

Taking the grenadiers (top row) first, their most obvious distinction is the fur cap with metal plate. Other distinctive features were the wings and the redundant match case on their crossbelt. All this is correctly shown on these figures, although another grenadier symbol, the sword, is absent as although they were entitled to wear this it seems none did during the war (it was withdrawn later). Indeed they do not wear a waistbelt, so it would seem their bayonets hang from the belt over their right shoulder. The uniform is correctly sculpted, and they have been given knee-length gaiters, an item that was sometimes reserved for parades and was phased out as the war progressed, but is not inappropriate here.

The light infantry were a relatively new idea at this time, and while regulations were laid down for their appearance variations were considerable. This applied particularly to the choice of headgear, but the figures here sport a cap much like that of the light dragoons, and as such is perfectly good. The rest of the uniform is like the centre companies but the skirts are correctly shown shorter (to ease movement) as are the gaiters for the same reason. The men have each got a tomahawk or hatchet, which was common issue, and unlike the regular line they also have powder horns. On the other crossbelt they have their bullet pouch (correctly sculpted on their left hip), but they have no cartridge pouch attached to the front of a waistbelt - an item which seems to have been usual if not universal, and is even shown on the box artwork. Finally they have wings to mark their elite status.

All the poses are fine, although having only four for each troop type severely limits their effective use. The grenadiers are scaled down versions of this company's 1/32 set, and are really quite elegant. The light infantry are new for this set (though they later also appeared in 1/32 scale), and while the man ramming his bullet is quite clumsy (as are most poses depicting this important action), the man waving his hatchet is quite dramatic and something a bit different, though he holds his musket in a strange position.

The sculpting of these figures is first class, with beautifully proportioned bodies, realistic faces and good detail. Even subtleties such as the grenadiers being a little taller than the 'light bobs' have been included. However the muskets of the grenadiers, whether the long or short version of the Land pattern musket ('Brown Bess'), are rather too short. If it were the long pattern, which might be expected of grenadiers, then it should be about 23mm long (21mm for the Short pattern), whereas they are actually 16mm long. The light infantry carried shortened muskets, so are reasonable. In addition, there is a fair amount of flash to be removed in some areas.

So, really quite beautiful figures and for the most part entirely authentic. The main gripe is there are so few of them, with only four of each type, and with no other set depicting these men (we will ignore the horrible Airfix Grenadiers) these are little more than representative of their units, which is a real shame.


Ratings

Historical Accuracy 9
Pose Quality 9
Pose Number 2
Sculpting 10
Mould 8

Further Reading
Books
"British Army Uniforms from 1751-1783" - Pen & Sword - Carl Franklin - 9781848846906
"British Infantry Uniforms Since 1660" - Blandford - Michael Barthorp - 9780713711271
"British Redcoat 1740-1793" - Osprey (Warrior Series No.19) - Stuart Reid - 9781855325548
"Don Troiani's Soldiers of the American Revolution" - Stackpole - James Kochan - 9780811733236
"King George's Army 1740-93 (1) Infantry" - Osprey (Men-at-Arms Series No.285) - Stuart Reid - 9781855325159
"Soldier's Accoutrements of the British Army 1750-1900" - The Crowood Press - Pierre Turner - 9781861268839
"The British Army in North America 1775-83" - Osprey (Men-at-Arms Series No.39) - Robin May - 9781855327351
"Uniforms of the American Revolution" - Blandford (Colour Series) - John Mollo - 9780713706291
Magazines
"Military Illustrated" - No.55

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