A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to win an auction of old Mignot cavalry. Yesterday I arrived home from visiting the grandkids to find them waiting for me. As there was considerable paint loss and lots of dirt, I popped about half of them in Simple Green cleaning agent and lo, within 24 hrs the paint had been mostly stripped off. (Incidentally, white is by far the hardest color to strip.) To my surprise, they appear to be quite different than other Mignots I have . . . the saddle was not molded on, but a separate piece; lances, swords, and other accoutrement had been either soldered on or were cast with the rider, and the riders had a conical hole in the body from the butt up. My guess is that they must be several decades old and not readily available today. The riders differed widely; German Ulan, Spahis, French Napoleonic, et cetera. It'd have been nice to leave the original paint on, but that really wasn't an option owing to their condition and overpainting. Will paint the horses using acrylics with a semi-gloss finish. I'm not sure as yet what I'll do for riders, but am leaning towards casting some converted WW1 French cavalry in resin using pewter arms, heads, and weapons from various makers.
Anyway, I'm feeling very lucky to have the lot.
Bosun Al
Anyway, I'm feeling very lucky to have the lot.
Bosun Al
