Mustering the Troops, Part I

Now that the house is empty once again, I was able to break out the WSS infantry and begin the assembly process.

 

Here is my temporary work area. It is large, but not nearly well lit enough, nor is it something I can leave out. However, I hope to rectify this situation, once I get my storage sorted.

The most fiddly bit of assembly, thus far, has been to attach the hangers properly. Except, I did notice that the belt on the hanger bit is sculpted in such a way as to properly conform to the curves on the coat. So, one should glue the inside of the belt, it is a smooth area about 1/8" long and maybe 1/32" wide. Gluing anywhere else is apt to get glue where you don't want it.

This pic shows the approximate location of the hanger when glued to the correct spot on the coat. ... and I mean coat, not the belt across the model's waist.

A little bit of work with a pair of snips and a knife easily removes the socket bayonet. I will do up a few battalions like this as, after looking at all the metal WSS models out there, most did not have fixed bayonets. Be careful, do not just snip off the bayonet below the socket, else you will end up with a carbine. Make any snip/cut at the base of the bayonet blade, above the socket. Use a knife to remove/smooth the knobby bit left on the end of the barrel.

 

After I assembled this chap, I realized I did not like the look of him. The sash obscures the very nice detail of the lower part of the coat. For future officers, I am going to use the torso and sash shown below.

I also noticed that there is no empty scabbard bit to go on the officer. May be just an oversight by the sculptor who put this sprue together. Oh, yes, those upside down heads to the left are two of the five styles of grenadier headgear that are on each sprue.