Marx West Point Cadets, The Long And the Short Of It
For me no 'ceremonial toy soldiers' are relegated chiefly for that purpose. They are meant to fight my wars and this they do. The West Point cadets can serve as the following: Americans in the War Of 1812 against the British (Napoleonic types); although the hat is not exactly correct grey uniforms were worn by some American units, early ACW Confederate volunteers or perhaps even Union ones as grey and blue were worn on both sides, Ruritanians for late 19th century to early 20th century 'Funny Little Wars' and Confederates for the late nineteenth century fictitious continued Confederacy. The tailed coat is certainly outmoded for the last examples but who is to say you can't use them if the countries are fictitious? On the other hand the rifles are too short for the earlier musket examples yet they are lacking in mechanism detail so one can overlook such details if in search of reinforcements.
Now, getting to the actual models, one series was 60mm and the other 52mm. ( Measure from where the top of the head should be, not the hat). When placed next to each other the smaller ones look like little boys.
The figures I have among the 60mm include the hard plastic originals and the soft plastic reissues. My 52 mm figures are all soft plastic. The hard plastic ones came in a basic but charming paint scheme with black dots for eyes, red lips ans unpainted white gloves and trousers.
Most of the hard plastic figures I had had damaged rifles and plumes which I repaired or replaced. Most of the original figures I just added some sprucing up and maintained the original style, The others I painted in a more detailed and naturalistic style.
The basing of the taller figures was kept basic to match the original figures but the small figures I gave flocked bases.
Size difference is very apparent and would have been less so if the smaller figures were 54 mm instead of 52 mm.
Now, getting to the actual models, one series was 60mm and the other 52mm. ( Measure from where the top of the head should be, not the hat). When placed next to each other the smaller ones look like little boys.
The figures I have among the 60mm include the hard plastic originals and the soft plastic reissues. My 52 mm figures are all soft plastic. The hard plastic ones came in a basic but charming paint scheme with black dots for eyes, red lips ans unpainted white gloves and trousers.
Most of the hard plastic figures I had had damaged rifles and plumes which I repaired or replaced. Most of the original figures I just added some sprucing up and maintained the original style, The others I painted in a more detailed and naturalistic style.
The basing of the taller figures was kept basic to match the original figures but the small figures I gave flocked bases.
James, Really like what you have done with those larger greycoats, and they would look great in any traditional wargame with larger scale figures. (Regrettably, I only have a single figure in my collection but now you have tempted me to paint it, as a display piece.)
ReplyDeleteMichael
Thanks for the praise. The smaller figures I am thinking of selling or swapping. I need another half dozen of the taller figures. I should be acquiring some more next month and might have some left over to sell or swap. I will probably keep the drummer as he can be a drummer boy. I don't know if one was made in the larger scale. I would prefer if the figures were 54 or 56 mm but having to pick between the two sizes I have gone for the larger ones as I had more of them and the small ones are too small for my tastes, although they could be boy cadets.
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