Post
by Arthur » Sat Sep 24, 2011 6:40 pm
This has more to do with Alec Brown's sculpting style than a reflection of historical reality, Ray.
Fine figures though they may be, one of the reasons I never went for the Front Rank WSS range is the size of their weapons. Now I understand that most sculptors have to exaggerate the thickness of muskets and carbines to ensure the bloody things survive the vagaries of mould-making and casting - not to mention the less than delicate handling of the finished product by some of their proud owners. Accurately-scaled weapons in 28mm are fragile to the extreme and anyone who has handled Conquest Miniatures FIW figures will know what I'm talking about.
The problem with Front Rank is that Alec went a little too far in his quest for sturdiness and solidity. Now don't get me wrong, I think the man is a highly talented designer and for my money he sculpts the best faces in the hobby bar none, save perhaps Mark Copplestone. I'd rate him even higher than the Perry twins in that respect, and that is extremely high praise in my book. I'm a little more skeptical about his anatomy, particularly the legs/groin/lower body junction, which seems a little off to me on some of his dollies, but there's no doubt the man can push putty.
His WSS weapons are just absurd, however : his cavalrymen's carbines do indeed look like muskets, whereas the infantry are all proudly toting flintlock Stinger missile launchers. I bought some French dragoons a few years ago because.. I well, I just love French dragoons, but while I liked a lot of things about the figures, the proportions of the weapons were a definite no-no for me.
So Nick's figures are definitely more correct in terms of scale accuracy. If I wanted to be finicky about it, I'd say the weapons could even be slimmer still, though that would be at the expense of solidity and ease of casting as explained above.
One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I'll never know.
