1:72 French Infantry (Boxer rebellion)

French infantry, 1:72 scale, Red Box

A figure set capturing French infantry in the period of the Boxer Uprising. The 1:72 scale matches the usual scale of vehicles, aircraft and buildings, so the set can be brought into a scene already under construction without recalculating proportions.

What the set captures

Infantry in field dress: a coat or tunic, trousers, a head covering, a belt with equipment, a rifle. Compared with the naval sets of the same line this subject is meant for holding a continuous position: the figures set out well into a skirmish line, behind an obstacle or into an advancing rank, where they work as a whole and the individual pose is lost in the overall impression.

Painting: drybrushing and readability from a distance

A figure in 1:72 is practically never looked at from close up; it is seen from half a meter away through the glass of a display case. What decides, then, is contrast, not the number of details. After the base color and the shadow comes drybrushing: pick up a lighter tone on the brush, wipe the overwhelming majority of the paint off into a paper towel and run the rest across the figure. The paint clings only to the edges, on the shoulders, on the rims of the pouches, on the barrel, on the tops of the folds. It is precisely these edges that make a figure readable from a distance. Choose a tone for drybrushing two or three steps lighter than the base; a smaller difference disappears at a distance and a larger one looks like dust.

Who the set is for

• Builders of dioramas in 1:72 who need infantry for a formation
• Modelers working on colonial scenes of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries
• Players of tabletop games in a small scale
• Modelers who want to master drybrushing on small objects

The figures are supplied unassembled and unpainted. Paints, glue and terrain are not included in the package, unless stated otherwise.