1:72 French Light Infantry 1805

HäT 1:72 French Light Infantry 1805

A set of plastic figures in 1:72 scale from the brand HäT. The package contains forty-eight figures in eight poses, supplied unpainted and molded in one piece. The equipment corresponds to French light infantry of roughly 1802 to 1807, so the figures will serve as chasseurs, carabiniers or voltigeurs depending on how you paint them and divide them into units.

The real subject

In Napoleon's army the light infantry differed from the line not only in the cut of the uniform but above all in the way it fought. The regiments were divided into chasseurs as the main element, carabiniers in the role of elite infantry and voltigeurs, who moved ahead of the formation and skirmished. A blue coat with short tails and high gaiters gave the light infantry a distinctly different look from the white trousers of the line regiments.

Building and painting tips

Wash the plastic in lukewarm soapy water, dry it and spray it with a flexible primer. You solve the color distinction between the three elements of the regiment with the plume and the piping: give the carabiniers red, the voltigeurs yellow or green and the chasseurs a more restrained treatment. Small buttons and braid are better merely suggested with a dot of paint; in this scale precise drawing looks unnatural. Seat the figures with a leading foot on a slightly uneven base, and the formation gains movement.

Who the set is for

• for collectors of Napoleonic armies
• for players of wargames who build light infantry
• for builders of dioramas from the start of the Empire
• for adding skirmishers to the line infantry of the same range

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