The Buffs and a Proper Comparison

After a lot of sidetracking, and some delays, I finally knuckled down over the Bank-Holiday to finishing another unit of Napoleonics. Here we have the 3rd East Kent, or Buffs, as I consider them to have appeared in 1809-10:

It's my now standard layout of 24 figures, with four 40mm square stands for Fusiliers and Grenadiers, two 40x20mm stands for command figures; and four 20mm square stands for the Light Company.

Sadly, during the process of painting these guys, one of my better brushes expired so the very finest details are compromised. Still they look OK en-masse. I experimented with not doing a highlight for some of the fiddliest details, notably the cuff and coat lacing; it saved some frustration and doesn't really affect the finish, but I think everything else remains essential. I reckon this lot took around 16 hours all in.

And so here is where the army stands so far. A total of 78 figures:

Now, I am in a position to give a direct comparison of like for like on the Victrix and Perry models. My definitive word on the matter. To this end I photographed a sample of each:

Victrix on Left, Perry on Right

I opted for basically similar poses to give a reasonable comparison. As I've mentioned before, the Victrix are more diverse, and therefore, flexible pose wise. The detailing of both is good, and so far as I can see reasonably accurate. If anything the Victrix has more detail sculpted onto the models. However, the Perry miniature is clearly a lot more proportioned, and where detail is missed it is because it would look out of scale if included.

Look for example at the muskets, particularly the size of the stock and the consequent size of the hand holding it.

(At this point a quick word on assembly, as I've touched on this in odler posts. The Victrix moulds cram more pieces onto them and as a result use more attachment points to getthe plastic around to every part. Some of their pieces are fixed to the sprue in five places. The enginerring of the Victrix is generally good, but the ambitious posing sometimes suffers. The Perry win out by keeping it simple.)

Round the back of the figure there are similar issues, and here the Victrix figure loses out a bit more to the Perry. The moulded-on canteen on the Victrix seems too large and although more detailed, does not look as nice as the Perry one, which is fixed to the knapsack instead. The Victrix pack moreover is very slim compared to the Perry one. Both may be right, but aesthetically the Perry pack looks nicer, and is easier to paint too.

The worst feature of the Victrix model must be the bread bag though, which looks more like a 70's hand bag, and covers an often enormous looking bayonet sheath. Incidentally, the Victrix figure here, happens to have one of the least caricatured heads. Most are hairy monsters and painting in the eyes was an impossibility. By comparison the Perry heads lack a bit of character, but are easier again, to paint.

In summary, both models are good, but the Perries are on an individual basis, better.

If you can stand to have every line infantry unit in your army look the same, then they are the ones to go for. If you want variety though, you will need Victrix.

Or metal, I suppose...