"New French Infantry for Marengo." Topic

Very nice!
1/72

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Amicalement
Armand

Are they plastic though?

No they are all metals

Us plastic fans normally give Armand a pass on metals if they are 1/72 scale as a reflection of the history of the plastics board, which before the Perry and Victrix explosion, was mostly just for us soft plastic aficionados

Nice figures

impressive, who cares if metal or plastic?

Me – if they are plastic they might appear in a model shop near me at some point – if not they will remain mail order from Europe and thus unaffordable…

Postage from Germany to the USA is much cheaper then otherwise. A parcel up to one kg of figures (and this is a lot) is around 15 Euros.

and you do not pay the European taxes of course which saves money. The snag is import duties I would imagine when they get to the US.

Figures coming from US to UK (well until late March anyway) can be hit by taxes. The real snag is the postal service will not deliver until paid and then inflict an additional handing charge. But very inconsistent.

I do understand the difficulties in setting up a local agent to trade one's products………..but it would surely massively increase sales between US and EU.

and yes, they are superbly modelled in human proportions

Good point- flip side for a British business is that there's no VAT on exports- so when I buy from a British seller, I just have to get sufficient volume to make the postage worthwhile.

I keep an eye on the exchange rates, too- over the past twenty years, the dollar, pound, and euro have fluctuated against one another so much that real price to the buyer can vary dramatically from year to year.

Forgot to add, DH, there is no import duty that I'm aware of from the UK on books, miniatures, or model trains (my principal British purchases). It's not charged as part for the transaction, and there isn't a mention on the customs slip that comes with the package, or a requirement to go to the post office to pay prior to delivery.

That makes an enormous difference. No VAT to pay and no import duty or local tax. Saves a lot and current weak Pound Sterling against the Dollar helps further.

Tricky in the UK and even more complicated I fear in two months time! I'll get my Black Hussar figures in before then or pray that you-know-what never happens.

Yes, the dollar, euro and the pound have been all over the map against one another over the past eighteen years. The pound never used to be less than $1.50 USD, and the euro was about that strong against the dollar during the Iraq war.

It's getting to be a little hard to predict what's going to happen next…..funny to think that people once said we would miss the Cold War days, when change was so slow and incremental.

I spent 6 months in Michigan, in 1983, trying to survive with an exchange rate where the dollar/pound exchange rate almost dropped to parity, give or take a few cents. Now that really hurt.

Exemption from VAT makes huge difference if you are ordering a bunch of Perry figures for an example. OK the postage, but it is still a significant extra even within the UK. Perry figures do come very carefully boxed and packed after all. It is not just the postage one pays for. Who knows what will happen by the start of April in UK trade with the world?

Yeah, big unknown: my guess would be that you see some additional exports to the US, but hard to see how that can offset the loss of EU exports. To say nothing of the impact on small businesses, like miniatures manufacturing.

For a 15mm US gamer, you pretty much have to go to the UK for some items. OG15s has a lot, and I buy from them, but the US just doesn't have the same domestic demand for 15mm Napoleonics as the UK. So while it's nice to get a stronger dollar, I am guessing miniatures manufacturing is a low-margin labor of love, and even the best lines are pretty vulnerable to economic shocks. I can't buy from somebody who's gone out of business.

But you're right about the bite the VAT takes- most US sales tax is ten percent or less, even when the locality charges it on top of the state. That's still only about half the VAT.

And now… the Artillery….
WIP

Amicalement
Armand

>>and yes, they are superbly modelled in human proportions
They just look overly lanky and tall…
is all i will say.
d

Or realistic in other words, not 28mm oddities with pumpkin heads and catcher mitt hands 😉

I like them

I saw Frank in action at the Dioramica, he is a genius.

It was like watching a magic show as his beautiful figures grew before your eyes.

My limited understanding is fat army fellows were very scare during the wars and especially so during the early Austrian/ Italian campaigns.

Best wishes,

Chris

Happy you like them boys!.

Amicalement
Armand

Nice! Don't know much about Marengo. I usually consider to to be a French Revolutionary battle more than Napoleonic, even though Napoleon commanded the French there so it is a Napoleonic battle. I need to read more about it.

It's good to see so many different yet consistent Artillery figures, in convincing and – as far as I can judge – accurate postures.

Glad you like them too my friend!

Historydude18… you are right… you have to read more about it… (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

I agree with Robert de diable, Frank Ziegler took great care to chose the poses and did apparently excellent research in dress and equipment, ah yes – don't read only about Marengo but the decisive battle – Hohenlinden.