Back in the Refurb Factory - Old Guard

I decided this week that I should have another bash at the refurb backlog. There's plenty to be cracking along with, to be sure. In theory, refurbs should be a time-efficient way of swelling the ranks, and the work is certainly useful for getting rid of some of the boxes of spare figures before they simply take over - or get out of control, and I just lose stuff. I recently was pleasantly surprised by my restoration of a division of old PMD/Higgins cuirassiers, so I am inspired to try more of the same.

All ready for the command figures to slot into the spaces. Les Higgins NF1s.

This week I've been back in the boxes of Les Higgins French figures which I mentioned a while ago in a post called Carlo's Army - I should get two decent battalions of Old Guard out of this instalment. The restoration of the line troops in Carlo's legacy has been stalled for a month or two, so if the Guard goes well it might rekindle my enthusiasm to get back to them.

To be honest, I have been a bit put off Carlo's guardsmen, because old Carlo pulled something of a fast one on me - when he sent me photos, there seems to have been some rather clever choreography, so that the proportion of broken bayonets in the photos was far less than the reality when they arrived. I have been sulking just a little, I admit it, but in the end it doesn't matter a lot - I have enough undamaged rank and file in the NF1 At the Ready pose to make up two battalions. [Experts will be nodding - the Higgins NF1 guardsman must have the most fragile bayonet in wargaming history - only the firing guardsman pose comes close...]

They were rather nicely painted. They certainly needed freshening up, and Carlo's painting style (back in the 1970s) was a little naive, in that he painted the bits very carefully, but sometimes there are glimpses of bare metal between the bits. Whatever, they have come up a treat - not a big job, and my faith in refurbishment is restored (as it were), which might be a dangerous precedent if I'm not careful. For the Guard, bless him, Carlo stuck to the dress regulations rather better than he did for the Line.

As is always necessary, I have counselled myself that these are not going to be as good as if I'd painted them from scratch myself (which is fair enough if you can get your head around it), but that they will be quite good enough, and will give a very fair return on the cost and the effort needed. Anyway - as of this afternoon they are based and ready for the command figures.

As with the cuirassiers, I have bought in some Art Miniaturen figures for the command - they should be splendid, and they are a very good size match, but another intake of breath is required, as I stare at the contents of the packs and try to work out which half-arm fastens on to which officer etc. I have a few more command figures than I need, in fact - for each battalion I'll add two officers on foot, one drummer, one porte-aigle and a mounted colonel - oh, and one of the units will get a sapeur, since I am one private short.

Today's photo is just to prove to myself that it went OK - I'll try to reproduce my successful effort with the cuirassiers, and get the command figures done before my attention starts wandering back to the Bavarians. I'll report on this lot when the command figures are done!