Swedish Infantry of the Thirty Years’ War, 1630–1648
Revell 1:72 Scale Figure Review
The Swedish Infantry are among the best 1:72 scale figures made by Revell to date. In fact, Revell‘s entire Thirty Years’ War range of miniatures is historically accurate, very well made, fun to paint, and highly suitable for wargames or dioramas.
Contents
47 Figures in 15 Poses – 24 mm equal 173 cm Height
- Officer with Partisan (2)
- Ensign (1)
- Drummer (2)
- Pikeman, Pike at Rest (1)
- Pikeman, Pike horizontal, ready to thrust (1)
- Pikeman, Pike diagonal, ready to thrust (1)
- Pikeman, Pike grounded, defending against Horse (2)
- Pikeman, Pike grounded, defending against Horse (2)
- Musketeer with Matchlock Musket and Musket Rest, advancing (6)
- Musketeer, ramming the Charge (6)
- Musketeer, blowing on Match (6)
- Musketeer, firing (6)
- Musketeer in Melee, clubbing with Musket (3)
- Musketeer in Melee, defending (2)
- Musketeer mit Snaplock Musket (6)
Evaluation
Excellent choice of subject, these figures may be painted as Imperial, Protestant, or Swedish infantry of the Thirty Years‘ War.
The various historic poses, are equally suitable for wargames und dioramas. The Swedish Infantry are among the best figures Revell has produced in this scale to date.
This set offers too few pikemen. A company of Swedish infantry consisted of 16 officers and sergeants, and 126 rank and file, of whom 54 were pikemen and 72 musketeers. If we wanted to recreate this ration with miniatures from this set, we would need to convert eight musketeers into pikemen, as is shown in our tutorial “Converting Musketeers into Pikemen”.
The pikes are much too short, measuring just 3.53 m. In fact, pikes were between 4.2 and 5.1 m long, to defend against horse and be effective against enemy infantry. The mistake may be corrected by cutting the pikes off and replacing them with longer plastic bristles from a road broom, as is shown in the tutorial above. Anyone not wanting to go to this length, might console themselves with the fact that pikemen frequently shortened their pikes in the course of a campaign simply to reduce the weight. As a result, pikes of a unit may well be of different lengths.
Prominent mould lines on clothing, arms and equipment need to be removed prior to painting. Our tutorial “Removing Mould Lines” explains how this is done most effectively.
The ensign carries the Swedish sovereign‘s colour on a short stave, which would normally be replaced by a longer stave on campaign. The colour may be removed, a plastic broom bristle placed into the ensigns hands, and a paper flag attached to it.
The grey plastic of the first edition Swedish Infantry figures, released in 1990, tends to brittle. Scabbards, ankles and similar parts with a narrow cross-section may break when bent. While damaged parts may be soldered back on, s. “Soldering Broken Plastic Miniatures”, the brittling as such is irreversible.
Historical Employment
- Imperial Infantry, 1618–1648
- Protestant Infantry, 1618–1648
- Swedish Infantry, 1630–1648
Revell‘s Swedish Infantry is an exceptionally beautiful and diverse figure set, the musketeers of which are easily converted to pikemen.