Dan Morton
A Fixture
This is a Verlinden 120mm resin kit of a Napoleonic French 5th Hussars trumpeter. I don’t know the name of the sculptor and Verlinden does not identify him. Since the Napoleonic period is not my cup of tea, I have no ability to determine the historical accuracy. It’s an attractive piece, very good sculpting – the facial features and head, boots and tunic are particularly nice. The soldier is standing on pavement engrossed in reading a letter or a dispatch, holding his sword with the other hand.
In terms of scale it’s a little shaky. I believe Verlinden uses 120mm = 1/16th scale. Probably should be 1/15th scale. The error of this is explained very capably on the Colorado Miniatures web site. Check out the site if you don’t understand. I haven’t assembled the figure but by laying the pieces out carefully, I’d estimate total figure height at about 5 and 4/16ths inches from bottom of boots to top of head (not hat). At 1/15th that would be about 78.8 inches or 6 feet, 6 inches. Pretty tall for men of that time. This is not to say there weren’t some men that tall, but that’s well above the normal height.
The kit comes in the box shown. Parts are in one plastic zipper bag with packing material around the bag. Unlike the other 4 or 5 Verlinden kits I’ve bought, this one had a few broken small parts. No serious crisis – all look repairable. My guess would be the parts were broken during shipping and handling and the damage could have been prevented with some packing material in the bag or some separate bags. Of the companies I’ve purchased figures from, Jon Smith Modellbau does the best job of protecting small parts. He uses hard card stock or sheet plastic to reinforce a separate smaller bag holding small parts. I wish more companies would do that.
The parts have some flash and visible seams, but nothing was warped or misshapen. They dry fit together nicely with minimum adjustment.
The instructions. As in there aren’t any. None of the Verlinden kits I’ve bought had instructions.
The photos on the box show a front and back view in two different paint schemes. Probably most modelers could flummox through assembly of the figure, but why put your customer through that?
I think some Verlinden kits are a bit over-priced. This one is no exception. I paid $32.00, but some retailers are offering it for more than that. Overall, an attractive and colorful figure with a nice human pose. A bit too tall. With a set of instructions, slight improvement in packaging and a painting guide it would be worth $32.00. Again folks – just my opinions. For those of you who think Verlinden kits are the greatest thing since Limburger cheese, I hope I haven’t stepped too forcefully on your toes.
In terms of scale it’s a little shaky. I believe Verlinden uses 120mm = 1/16th scale. Probably should be 1/15th scale. The error of this is explained very capably on the Colorado Miniatures web site. Check out the site if you don’t understand. I haven’t assembled the figure but by laying the pieces out carefully, I’d estimate total figure height at about 5 and 4/16ths inches from bottom of boots to top of head (not hat). At 1/15th that would be about 78.8 inches or 6 feet, 6 inches. Pretty tall for men of that time. This is not to say there weren’t some men that tall, but that’s well above the normal height.
The kit comes in the box shown. Parts are in one plastic zipper bag with packing material around the bag. Unlike the other 4 or 5 Verlinden kits I’ve bought, this one had a few broken small parts. No serious crisis – all look repairable. My guess would be the parts were broken during shipping and handling and the damage could have been prevented with some packing material in the bag or some separate bags. Of the companies I’ve purchased figures from, Jon Smith Modellbau does the best job of protecting small parts. He uses hard card stock or sheet plastic to reinforce a separate smaller bag holding small parts. I wish more companies would do that.
The parts have some flash and visible seams, but nothing was warped or misshapen. They dry fit together nicely with minimum adjustment.
The instructions. As in there aren’t any. None of the Verlinden kits I’ve bought had instructions.
The photos on the box show a front and back view in two different paint schemes. Probably most modelers could flummox through assembly of the figure, but why put your customer through that?
I think some Verlinden kits are a bit over-priced. This one is no exception. I paid $32.00, but some retailers are offering it for more than that. Overall, an attractive and colorful figure with a nice human pose. A bit too tall. With a set of instructions, slight improvement in packaging and a painting guide it would be worth $32.00. Again folks – just my opinions. For those of you who think Verlinden kits are the greatest thing since Limburger cheese, I hope I haven’t stepped too forcefully on your toes.
