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Re: Nearly there

Maybe he is preparing to launch an aubergine?!!

Re: Nearly there

:relaxed:

Re: Nearly there

Just wondering if this mortarman might be Italian and not German as the mortar shell looks similar to an Italian 81mm HE bomb. The water bottle could be either German or Italian as they had a similar shape. The boots and round hat are something of a question mark though, as is the ammo box, which as I understand it for the Germans was longer and flatter or the bombs came in their own handy metal square-shaped brief case. Either way he's an interesting and well sculpted figure. I look forward to finding out which set he belongs to.



Re: Nearly there

by the way, a well known British retailer is expecting these items for Christmas:
M152 French Foreign Legion Heavy Weapons Squad WW2
M153 Italian Infantry in Defence WW2
M154 Italian Desert Patrol WW2
M155 8th Army Australian Infantry in Attack WW2
M156 8th Army Australian Heavy Weapons Squad WW2
M158 AT PzB41 with DAK Crew WW2
251 French Dragoons on the March WSS
252 French Late War Dragoons in Reserve WSS
253 French Dragoons in Attack WSS
255 British Regiment of Horse Late War WSS
279 Highlanders Firing Line Nap
282 Obice da 75/18 Mod35 Howitzer with Italian Crew WW2
287 Highlanders in Square Nap
288 Russian Jaegers in Summer Dress Nap
147 Confederates on the March ACW - Reissue
149 US Infantry of the March ACW - Reissue
...:grinning: :grinning: :grinning:

Re: Nearly there

Im starting to get very dispondent with strelets as of late.
They do not seem to take any of our ideas, wishes and criticisum on any thing hence i have not brought a single box of figures this year from them.
HORSES= complete rubish
MUSKETS= To short n stocky plus lack of detail n bayonets
POSES= How hard is it to give the right poses for a said box most of what we are getting are useless
FLAGS= Either get it the right size for said regiment or just supply a pole we will do the rest
The list just goes on and on, so unless they listen to what the people who buy there products are saying it looks as though i will not be buying any next year aswell
Rant over sorry all.

Re: Nearly there

P.J. Ezard Builders
Im starting to get very dispondent with strelets as of late.
They do not seem to take any of our ideas, wishes and criticisum on any thing hence i have not brought a single box of figures this year from them.
HORSES= complete rubish
MUSKETS= To short n stocky plus lack of detail n bayonets
POSES= How hard is it to give the right poses for a said box most of what we are getting are useless
FLAGS= Either get it the right size for said regiment or just supply a pole we will do the rest
The list just goes on and on, so unless they listen to what the people who buy there products are saying it looks as though i will not be buying any next year aswell
Rant over sorry all.
A tad harsh I feel, Horses, improving with room for further improvement , Muskets , could be better and the only point on that I agree ,bayonets easier to remove than add for us , and they should be fixed. Poses, well I would give strelets 8 or 9 out of 10 on most sets. Flags , clear evidence of listening the Russians have a bare pole as requested. I think we all have to keep in mind the limitations of the two part mould and I suspect the process that seems to struggles with thin detail ie muskets and bayonets. If we all took the not buying route because figures are not perfect for us we would very quickly have no new figures being made , and no manufacturers making them. We must not cut our noses off to spite our face, it`s hobby, grown men playing with toy soldiers, with the best selection in 1/72 ever.

Re: Nearly there

"...the best selection in 1/72 ever"

Each to their own perception, I guess, but I am with you Alan.

Around 25 new offerings a year that are very good to bloody excellent. It's a d@mned golden age on steroids; despite global pandemic, clogged shipping, challenges to value chains, access to plastic manufacturing, and so on and so on...

All lead, by a couple of those beautiful horses' lengths, by Strelets!

The photographed masters or figures give a good indication, but anyone who has bought any of the recent figures will know that they do not do them justice.

I am looking forward immensely to my next batch (unfortunately no. 260 is definitely not amongst them. Ah well, more for next time!!).

Regards,

James

Re: Nearly there

"The list just goes on and on, so unless they listen to what the people who buy there products are saying it looks as though i will not be buying any next year as well"

Oh, ok, then we can buy some - even more - sets, I guess!!
You don't buy, it is your business Mr P.J. but us buying from the best figure producer is ours..

Re: Nearly there

I think with this Russian Jager set, they have left the flagpole bare.
I totally agree with you on the horses & muskets. A musket or rifle of the time was a much more sleek affair than the examples we keep seeing. They just don't have the right look. I notice that at times the weaponry is not quote right for other era's shown. These are often clearly from the same sculptor/team.
We do seem to get some poor pose choices here and there in some sets as you say. Far too many of a similar pose that isn't overly useful or even correct, and not enough of the ones really needed for example. Good poses wasted with silly things like forage caps when none should be present.
The lack of bayonets yet again perhaps indicates they or the sculptor are not listening as you say, or perhaps just not properly. However as mentioned, the new Russians have a bare flagpole which is a better solution.

I have to disagree with Alan about the horses. They haven't improved as its the same ones being "trotted" out as what appeared with the Prussian cavalry.
The WSS horses are far superior yes, but that is a different sculptor.
I also get what Alan is saying about if we all stopped buying these sets etc, but at the same time, they can make as many Napoleonic sets as they want.....but if they do not come up to standard & work out too expensive or too much hassle to get some use out of them, they become pointless sets, to me anyway. I thus end up looking elsewhere or just going without. Something has got to be worth buying.
I mean somebody once thought the Austin Allegro car was worth selling!!! Didn't quite end up as a much loved classic that one!!

I do still harbour hope that they cut out these silly mistakes & poor design decisions, hopefully before any other sets I really want appear!

Re: Nearly there

James I really get what you are saying. If we didnt have Strelets we would be in a bad place within the hobby.

HOWEVER......

Something still has to be worth buying.
Now I can only talk from the perspective of a Napoleonics fan. If Strelets had carried on the promising work of those first newer Napoleonics such as the British/Scots/Polish in marching, attack & at ease, along with the higher quality of the WSS sets, I dare say the vast majority of the Napoleonic sets released over recent times would have made their way into my hands, possibly in multiple numbers. In fact I could quite easily of seen my armies being mostly Strelets.

But then there was the change in sculptor/design team and we ended up with poor choices or mistakes creeping in like forage caps, a rather totally random banjo on a British soldier standing shoulder arms, horses more poor than some of those from the early Crimean sets etc. Bayonets inexplicably left off, a set of "in square" infantry with no where near enough kneeling poses compared to those standing, when at least for British Infantry/Highlanders a much more balanced ratio was required.
A set of Crimean Highlanders wonderfully sculpted......but completely wrong!!! Even though they only had to look at the previous figures to see what they looked like!!
And so on...

Yes the sculpting itself in terms of human form & uniforms has improved drastically, which then makes the mistakes/silly decisions even more infuriating!!

In the case of the British firing line set I bought a box of, out of curiosity, it was every bit as poor as what was previewed. (I have since got rid of it).

But yes, if it wasn't for Strelets we would be in a sorry state of affairs. But if they continue ruining good work to the point of more & more sets becoming undesirable or a pain to fix up correctly, well that will mean people giving up on them as a source of figures anyway. Which I think we can all agree would be a tragedy.
As you rightly point out, the world is in a bad way right now, & Strelets are doing a great job in churning out new sets very quickly (maybe too quickly thus causing the problems??).

But then customers also have to live in this same messed up world & at a time when finances for some of those customers may not stretch as far as they once did. So its thus even more important to produce a product that offers quality & value for money.
Alas, a good few Napoleonic sets of late, for me unfortunately, have not.