French Line Voltigeurs
I sized up Old Glory and Pendraken French skirmishers back on page 3 of Post 24. The Old Glory figures come in a pack of 50 French skirmishers. There are only four poses but I take my replica Napoleon’s hat off to Old Glory because the voltigeurs really look like they have broken out of the line and are able to form a convincing skirmish screen. They do attempt more detail than the Pendraken figures – shako cords, for example – but unfortunately with less of the texture of the Pendraken sculpts that is such a pleasure to paint. Pendraken French line voltigeurs come from their elite companies packs – as seen in Post 76 as line grenadiers. They come in the same figure poses used throughout the range for the French and Austrians – and also for upcoming releases. The poses work when the figures are in line alongside the centre companies but lack the mix of poses required to form a typical skirmish screen. As to painting the figures, the Old Glory sculpts are smaller and slighter than the Pendraken figures and I got the feeling that some of the detail they attempted was intentionally notional which sometimes made it difficult to realise in paint where to draw the line, quite literally. To do them justice, they might be better served with a different painting technique than the one I’ve acquired painting Pendraken figures – perhaps an ‘en masse’ style using washes and a dip.
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