Yes I believe he means a highland regiment like that of the 93rd "Sutherland" Highlanders around the time of the Battle of New Orleans. Which yes the cap wearers could be utilised for them which is what I considered too. I still don't think they were armed with shotguns though!!

But the thing is, we are not talking about another set of highlanders for this set, this was meant to be a set of normal belgic shako British/KGL line. Yeah someone could use the cap wearers for that highland regiment....but how many people realistically will want to do that everytime they want to buy a set of these British? Its the same issue with any set with mixed troop types in a box.
How many de-kilted highland regiments actually looked like that anyway? The 73rd didn't. They looked just the same as other line regiments at Waterloo. The 72nd also lost its highland uniform in 1809 as did the 74th & 75th. The 78th I believe kept highland dress along with the 42nd, 79th & 92nd. So that doesn't leave many non-kilted regiments for utilising these figures with the bonnet.
But yes, for the 93rd, it works.

I actually quite like the Emhar set. Now for a set which is firing more independently as companys, I would say that set is better than this set, albeit they are wearing stovepipes not belgic shakos. The guy biting the cartridge is a personal favourite. Only poses I didnt like were the marching pose (as just looks a bit "stiff" & lifeless), & I didnt think we needed 5 of the pose lunging forward. Might of been useful as a man bayonetting a poor Frenchman, but his musket is a little low....unless he intends on making himself a "sausage kebab"!!!😂

Paint won't hide the poor muskets. Detail can be made better but it won't make them gain any length! They are just way too short & look ridiculous. Yes the Airfix Waterloo British figures muskets were bland as anything but.....at least they had a more realistic length to them. As it stands my Airfix Brits will have to continue their long service for a while longer yet. No retirement for them now it seems. Luckily I do have a few Revell figures too.

As for the "Sharpe" TV series, yes it has a lot to answer for, however I think it was still only some of the riflemen who were guilty of wearing the forage caps (such as Harris), not so much the redcoats.

The business of conversions is certainly a possibility, such as fixing the angle of the muskets or gluing on bayonets. But I tend to look at the bigger picture.....not every customer wants to do that.
I too personally would rather concentrate my efforts of conversion on something that really needs it, say, making Dutch Carabiniers. Or more unique individual poses. I don't want to be chopping, doing fiddly gluing or even sourcing better horses everytime a new Strelets Napoleonic set comes out. As I say, I look at the bigger picture. A customer shouldn't have to pay £8+ (here in the UK), and then do half of Strelets work for them just to make a set "useable".
Apart from one French Musketeer set, (which funnily enough had a very similar problem to this one), the WSS sets don't seem to be suffering from all the same issues as Napoleonics, so Strelets are still capable of producing excellent figures. This should not be limited to one era, but any era taken on. If there isn't enough capacity to allow that, you just have to be honest & realise that you are doing more than you can realistically manage.

I am fully convinced Napoleonic infantry (or the British infantry, at the very least), upon coming into sight of the enemy, very much fixed bayonets. I think I remember reading that the Prussian Landwehr even had their bayonets practically fixed all the time, due to lack of a sheath?
This business of not fixing them until when really needed comes, as PSR eluded to, from re-enactors. We have to remember, certain aspects effect just how real these re-enactments can be. After all, there was no health & safety in the Napoleonic era like that of today!! And I believe its that same H&S that controls just what the re-enactor can feasably do.

I am reminded of a phrase well used here in the UK...."trying to make a silk purse out of a pigs ear", which is basically what is being mentioned often in terms of sets such as this.
What worries me, is how many more new sets must be sacrificed before it is clear that there is a research/design, or at times, a sculpting issue with some of the newer 1800 sets? Look what happened with the new Crimean Highlanders.....a total cluster "f". Could such a problem have been prevented if people hadn't just brushed under the carpet some of that particular designer(s)/sculptors mistakes before?
The more people just accept below average sets, the more they will appear, & then, like the Crimean highlanders, it will spread to other era's. Only when people say "enough" & start displaying their displeasure here or spending their money elsewhere will something be done. Otherwise the status quo will continue.....& that for me is worrying.

Don't get me wrong, I am fully capable of doing a lot of work to make these figures "useable". But I won't because enough is enough & I look at the bigger picture. I try to speak up for those out there who are not as skilled at messing about with scalpels or fiddly jobs.
So as PSR ended their review, it's not a set I can recommend.

Hi James
It's been a while since I posted but wanted to also mention apart from the well documented 93rd highlanders in North America in trews and cap, another unit was similarly dressed.
The 1st battalion 91st highlanders officially lost their kilts at the beginning of the Peninsular war, but as the order came through after receiving their tartan cloth they received permission to make it up into trews, and wore this together with the forage cap (not sure what the Scots called this - apologies to Scots from this Sassenach).
They definitely wore this at Walcheren in 1809. They had previously fought at Rolica and Vimiera but I'm not sure if they wore it, although in a book I have has an illustration of it being worn by their light company in 1808.
Cheers
Danny

The 91st lost their highland status in 1809 along with many others. They only regained it in 1820.

For Napoleonic service, you would get away with the hybrid highland dress for the very early Peninsular war under Sir John Moore, assuming they did indeed wear tartan trews and a bonnet, but when they returned to the Peninsular under Wellingtons command, they would have looked like a regular line regiment.
In fact at Corunna, they probably looked in quite a poor, scruffy state along with much of the army. As with the other regiments, those trews may of thus had to be substituted for locally procured cloth instead.

But again, they wouldn't of been using some carbine/shotgun hybrid & very much would of followed the drill of having bayonets fixed.

Roger W: "Luckily I do have a few Revell figures too."

The best british infantry was made by the Germans :laughing: :joy:

Roger W: "As I say, I look at the bigger picture. A customer shouldn't have to pay £8+ (here in the UK), and then do half of Strelets work for them just to make a set "useable". "

Yes, i absolutly agree with you...thats the point...and therfore i only bought one box of the Firing Line-Set, to have more different poses for my Hougoumont Defenders...
They are useful for me, if standing behind a wall or a firing from an window... and thats it.. :wink:

I'm debating on whether to make them a separate unit or mix them with my other regiments and battalions firing where they're differences won't be so glaring. A couple guys without bayonets won't be so out of reason mixed with a regiment. I know from experience even today there's always ONE guy who'd lose his head if it wasn't attached (in combat even that doesn't help sometimes). So a missing bayonet or two wouldn't be unrealistic if you're a stickler.

As I've said before, I'm tolerant to a point; particularly at this scale. Nothing that can't be fixed. If the figures weren't so well-sculpted or wearing Soup-bowl helmets or the officers firing revolvers I might be more upset.

Hopefully, Strelets is reading the critiques (they seem to have a habit of that) and future sets will be corrected before it's too late.

Un petit bonjour de la France ! Je suis très déçu de cette boîte car il manque les baïonnettes aux fusils et des private à genoux dommage car la sculpture respecte très bien l anatomie,c'est un très bon sculpteur
Je constate une baisse côté Napoléonien il y a deux voir trois sculpteurs exemple les premières boîte britanic avec maintenant les chasseurs à chevals de la garde et enfin la ligne de feu ? Et en effet le premier sculpteur est passé sur la WSS .