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Re: SUGGESTION FOR REQUESTING COLLECTORS

Dear all

I enjoy the pics at Benno's forum which is not based on any particular manufacturer's products. Medieval and WW2 seem popular on that forum as well as Nap.Wars. HaT's gallery section reflects their product ranges so Colonial, Nap. etc are well represented. How these tie in with actual purchases is anybody's guess.
A lot of my recent pics have been done using a flat bed scanner which is quick and convenient but not very good for gargantuan dioramas or any diorama. Would it be heinous to "construct" an army using Photoshop? One box would probably do and they use similar techniques in films now and no problem with depth of field. Most 3D programs have haze and depth of field effects and similar can be done with Photoshop so the ropey close up lens effect, if you want it, can still be emulated.

I suppose with a small scale the detail gets lost but the parade side seems to be neglected as most figure sets have "at battle" poses. The French WWI Cavalry uniforms were certainly paraded a lot and the argument, rightly or wrongly, is if they were not in the thick of fighting then they are not worth doing.
A parade or "battalion photograph" would occupy less space but use more figures than a battle. A higher density of figures per square inch could be achieved. If I wanted to do a 1918 victory parade I would be hard pushed to find suitable figures except for Airfix one of the WWI British and my French would have to be one handed cyclists. A correct parade or on the march set should have different human types but the poses could be similar. Because of the quadruplication of poses one or two sets suffices for a diorama using the standard format of current "battler" sets especially with WWI and WWII and post war. It must be the same with war gamers because troops cover larger areas so the packed density is not needed. Kursk would be a good diorama but it would probably occupy a space the size of Devon in 1/72nd scale- OK maybe Rutland without the water then.
As a child my local toy shop used to sell out of the Britains plastic "shooters" and have a tray full of shoulder arms remaining -ugh. Maybe there is an intense dislike of marching or parade figures now but Britains figures saw it as their staple c 1900.

So French WWI cavalry on the march (or parade) - yes but not with those extravagant sabre brandishing (x poses*), lance prodding poses. To me the attraction of this period is the flamboyance and colour of the early cavalry uniforms and these are best shown off in the parade mode.

David

*the legs and arms make a letter x