Mini Art 17th Century French Guardsman 1:16

Short Feature Article with Steve Noble
Kit No. 16009

When it is complete, the above kit, produces a figure that evokes Alexander Dumas’s swashbuckling adventure of the Four Musketeers. For anyone unfamiliar with the tale, it set in the 17th Century with the political and military power of France dominating Europe. The villain of the piece, France’s first minister Cardinal Richelieu tries to manipulate the King. His aim is to increase his influence over the king to the detriment of France’s Queen. A small group of the Musketeers come to the aid of the Queen whilst Richelieu’s Guards and spies run interference. The tale is based on historical details and characters.

Mini Art released two kits representing the two opposing sides of the period; the Musketeer supporting the King/Queen and the guardsman supporting Richelieu.

Based on the box-art, the figures appear in different poses with different weaponry. Once opened, the box contains all of the plastic components necessary to build a single figure in either pose with a choice from two character faces. The kits differ only in decal sheet, assembly diagram and painting guide.

All body parts were made up of two halves giving a large number of joints to make. Combined with a fair quantity of flash leaking along the seams the preparation and clean up was tedious. Once done, the detail was acceptable/good.

The notable feature of the uniform is the Tabard (cloak). Underneath this was a wealth of detail that could be painted to represent a leather jacket. At the joint between the jacket and the trousers, there was little or no overlap giving the figure unnaturally slim hips and body shape. This resolved itself when the tabard was fitted covering a multitude of sins and unnecessary paintwork.

The posture chosen was that of the Guardsman holding his rapier in his hands while including the musket, support and powder flasks along with the figure. The main decoration of the Guard’s uniform is a basic set of crosses on the Tabard.

Rather than complete the figure as a Guard, it was finished in the Kings colour of blue for the Tabard and with much more elaborate decoration on the cross with Fleur de Lys. In the absence of a kit decal sheet, parts of decals from Warhammer Knights were cut and trimmed to provide the Fleur de Lys and other embellishments to build a new decal close to that of the Musketeer.

A lack of detail on how the powder flasks attached to the figure was worked around by tucking them under the tabard as far as possible while still left in part view.

Overall

For anyone building a Mini Art kit, it is worth persevering to complete it given its age. The plastic used is soft and is prone to being broken or gouged if not using very sharp side cutters. A craft or scalpel blade offers a better option.

The rapier blade broke 3 times before being replaced by a sewing needle filed on 2 faces to provide a flat narrow blade.
Steve N.

You can download a pdf of the Full Article here.