1:72 El Cid Spanish Infantry

HäT 1:72 - Spanish infantry of the time of El Cid

A set of unpainted figures of eleventh-century Christian Spanish infantry in 1:72 scale. It belongs to a range devoted to the time of the Reconquista, from which both sides of the conflict can be put together, that is, the Christian kingdoms as well as the Muslim bands. The figures are in soft plastic, on which ordinary polystyrene cement and paint do not hold without preparation. That is not a flaw but a property of the material.

The real subject

Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, known as El Cid, was an eleventh-century Castilian magnate who served Christian and Muslim rulers alike and in the end took control of Valencia. The age he lived in was not a simple clash of two religions: kingdoms allied across faiths according to the advantage of the moment. The infantry of the time only rarely wore mail armor; a quilted gambeson, a spear and a large kite shield were more usual.

Building and painting tips

First wash the figures in lukewarm soapy water and let them dry out completely. Then apply a primer intended for soft plastics, or the paint will crack once dry. They are glued with cyanoacrylate glue (super glue). It pays to paint the shields separately and add your own devices to them; it is they that give a unit the color the uniformity of the age would not.

Who the figures are for

• For players of tabletop wargames in 1:72 scale.
• For collectors of medieval Spain.
• For dioramas from the time of the Reconquista.

The figures are supplied unassembled and unpainted. Glue, paints and accessories are not included in the package, unless stated otherwise.