Wednesday, December 19, 2012

A Christmas Gift for Max - 40mm French Fusilier, La Sarre Infantrie Regiment


My general dislike of children is legend to those who know me. The muted loathing I have of the little creatures is only exceeded by the dread certainty of what they'll become: teenagers (shudder). Not that I can claim innocence by any means. Quite the contrary; I'm sure I was a perfectly horrific child, even though my mother swears that angels tipped their halos in deference to me - I suspect otherwise. (Mothers are blessedly and  wonderfully myopic when it comes to memories of their own children.)

Anyway, there is an exception to every rule and the point is proven here in my nephew Max. Truth be told I've not spent a lot of time with Max (he and his parents live across the country from us), but in the time we've hung out he demonstrated to be a thoroughgoingly nice little chap: smart, clean, well behaved and yet suitably precocious.

A face even I can't deny.
Max is now 6 years old and I thought it high time he be introduced to the wonderful world of toy soldiers. We have to be clear now: This is not the plastic rubbish that passes for toy soldiers today, but the proper you-could-get-quite-ill-if-you-chewed-on-this toy soldiers made from nasty toxin-saturated, slag-heap lead. So with this in mind I turned to the great Old School models sculpted and cast by my friend John Bertolini.

Below is a figure from his 40mm Horse & Musket range (apologies for the slightly blurry shots - it was late). The sculpts are semi-round (or 'demi-ronde' for those anorak-wearing pedants out there) and have been purposefully designed to be generic in their uniform and kit. This way they can be easily adapted to fit pretty much any army of the period. I decided to paint this fellow as a fusilier of the La Sarre Infantrie regiment which saw hard service on Montcalm's right wing at the First Battle of Quebec (Plains of Abraham) in 1759. 


If he likes this fellow I'll follow up in the New Year with another eleven so he has a battalion. Just as insurance I'm also sending along a good stout Dwarf, as I suspect he'll have seen 'The Hobbit' by the 25th...


Max's birthday is in July so my thinking is that I'll keep sending him toy soldiers like this twice a year until he discovers cars, girls and becomes one of those vile teenagers that I shake my fist at. 

10 comments:

  1. Nice one Curt, I'm sure he'll love it!! Gotta get at them while there still young!

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  2. Be careful Curt - it's a slippery slope once you start liking interacting with one of the blighters well it's not too long before you want one of your own.

    Four Word for you when it comes to young Master Max
    "Thomas the Tank Engine"
    Just saying....

    I think he'll love the soldiers cause grumpy old Uncle Curt made them - this story has "Hallmark Christmas Movie" all over it.

    Merry Christmas
    Miles

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    1. I hope he likes them - it would be fun to make this a regular thing for the next few years.

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  3. Very nice, Curt, and a very good present for him!

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  4. Well done Curt and very clever way to recruit a new generation of players!

    Christopher

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    1. His father's a history prof so he's either going to get into it with both feet or think its completely daft.

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  5. Very nice, Curt. I am sure Max will be delighted. I recall getting a box of Britains toy soldiers when I was a little older than Max and it started me on my long journey of decline and degradation, so with luck your nephew will go the same way. If it is any consolation, I am not too fond of little people either.

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    1. You're a good man, Padre (even taking into account your decline and degradation).

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Thanks for your comment! As long as you're not a spam droid I'll have it up on the blog soon. :)