Wargames Atlantic's new Plastic French Infantry - Paint and Kit Review [How I Paint Things]

Though the Battle of France was a short and brutal affair for the stalwart French infantryman, they would doggedly hold the line for the sons of other lands to make good their escape in the gruelling early days of the Second World War. Those unable to escape themselves would either spend the next years as compelled labour for German war materiel to feed the growing Reich, hunted mercilessly as members of the French resistance, or simply killed outright.
They held as long as they could when they knew the battle was already lost, with nothing but the slim hope the men whose escape they'd paid for in blood would some day return to take the fight back to all the lands of France and push the hated invaders back across the Rhine. In the long months and years between the fall of France to June 1944, the Free French would seize their chance to grapple with the forces of the Third Reich, fighting under foreign banners on distant lands, always with an eye to the day they would be able to make their way to home to fight for its freedom.
So, yeah. Jokes about white flags and dropped rifles aren't really all that funny, nor borne out by the facts.
The Wargames Atlantic plastic French Infantry kit are suitable for either The Great War or WWII, depending on which conflict you're trying to recreate on the tabletop. The struggles of the early war actually make for a fascinating period to game, and at last there's a plastic option for folks that prefer their bulk infantry not be metal. The kit's pretty good on the whole, with just one or two little things which could have been tweaked to take it from good to great - but maybe I'm just being picky! If you like how they look painted up, then the end result is what matters.
Check them out direct from Wargames Atlantic here: wargamesatlantic.com/collecti...
00:00 - Intro
00:47 - Plastic French Kit Review
08:06 - Time to Paint!
23:22 - The Finished Miniature
Thanks to Producer level Patrons Alan Nuttall, Kyrie Crawford, Trainboy, Fred, and Jimmy - as well as all the other Patrons that made this video possible, and Exit23 Games for recording equipment that helps keep the channel ticking over! Find out more at the following links:
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ko-fi.com/docwholigan
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Grab your own Sonic Sledgehammer mug (or more!) from Redbubble! www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/841... Note that shipping is charged according to where the product is made, so those charges will be higher or lower depending on where you are in the world - this, unfortunately, is something I can't control!
PAINTS USED:
PRIMER:
English Uniform Spray
VALLEJO:
Green Brown
Brown Rose
German Camo Orange Ochre
Mahogany Brown
Khaki (Vallejo Game Color)
Flat Brown
Beige Brown
Brown Violet/US Olive Drab
Black
Gunmetal (Vallejo Air)
Beige Red
Basic Skin Tone
Medium Grey
Red Leather
Green Grey
ARMY PAINTER:
Strong Tone
Quickshade Mixing Medium
CITADEL:
Tallarn Sand (Layer)
Ungor Flesh (Layer)
VARNISHES:
The Army Painter Gloss Varnish
Citadel Munitorum Varnish Spray

[@Oviton]

I like a review that’s more than just ‘I love all of this’ and gives a honest opinion, helping others to decide if it’s for them or not.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

I don't think it does much good to just fluff up a kit for ages - there's always something that isn't perfect! Still, it doesn't mean the overall finish is a poor product, and I hope that balance comes through.

[@TheEccentricMan]

I was in two minds about these but if you wanted a cheaper way to collect a new army they are definitely worth a shout. You also can’t go wrong with this tutorial as a painting guide.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

I think I probably come across as more disdainful of them than intended. It's hard to play up the positives beyond saying, "They're pretty alright, actually!" 😅 I'd definitely start a French platoon with these guys - the price is right, and they scale well against Crusader or Artizan figures for support choices. They're bulkier than the Warlord metal French, but not by so much artillery and such will look strange alongside them.

[@brushmans-guild]

Picked these up on your recommendation, Sledge; I was going to get a couple of boxes of Warlord's metal infantry instead and I'm glad I waited and got these - really great, dynamic poses, so many head options, and you can build Tiralleurs, Foreign Legion and Hellfighters, all from the same box. Brillo! Oh and a blast to paint too.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

The range of extras is what really elevates the kit in my opinion. The number of options on the base frame is nice enough, but the whole extra frame of 'modern' kit and Tirailleurs is just brilliant.

[@brushmans-guild]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio Oh agreed, there's so much extra gubbinz I think my bits box is going to become a bits cupboard by the time I'm finished. Just out of interest: how did you use the VB grenade they included? I noticed what I assumed was one of these (though it could just as easily be a wine bottle) on each sprue, and while I'd love to include one for gaming purposes, I can't help but think it looks a bit... Oversized. Have I completely misread what this part is meant to be?

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

I'm pretty sure it's the VB grenade. I haven't used one yet myself, but they were bloody enormous in reality so I wouldn't worry about it looking too big.

[@donwilliams8357]

Excellent review! I appreciate that you've pointed out both positives and negatives. There could also be a Hotchkiss machine gun, and a light morter. I agree that 5 officers are way too many for wargaming, but perfect ratio for reenactments!

[@276tank]

Nice painting Sonic.

[@russ5838]

I love these WW1 and WW2 figures you are painting you make them look so realistic makes me want to try some British units from WW2, thanks for the video and keep up the good work.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Cheers Russ! There's plenty of places you can pick up a handful of miniatures to have a go if you're only wanting a couple to paint, it doesn't need to be a whole box. :D Crusader Miniatures or Artizan Designs do some neat blisters of British infantry that aren't a small army in their own right.

[@diamondj3509]

Building and painting some of these now along with Warlord US Infantry as Free French for late war BA/Konflikt 47. Wargames Atlantic actually provides (maybe intentionally, likely unintentionally) for using the spare heads on ball and socket torsos. There's a bunch of round stand-off spacers for the sprue trees that make excellent necks once you file them to a thinner oval profile. Then glue your desired head onto the thinned post, snip the head & neck assembly off the sprue, and file the bottom of the neck to a round profile to fit the Warlord torso.

[@rjlarose5271]

These look really good. Both the paint job and the kit. My buddy is definitely going to want some

[@SPD3DPrinting]

thanks for the look inside the box and your "tips & tricks" how to table them as an effective force.

[@Ynffy]

This is beautiful. Very nice work!

[@kitchenwargamers4141]

Another fantastic painting and enjoyed the unboxing at the beginning 😁👍

[@theandf]

Nice video. I agree with your gripes, but I also agree these aren't terrible and the figure ended up looking quite nice after you painted it. On a separate note: I would like to see you paint one of their plastic Afghan warriors, or failing that, one of Perry's Afghans. Both kits look good, really.

[@beaushaver3779]

Fantastic job well done. I'm very happy you are using the green brown for the uniforms, it's very true to the real thing.

[@Denison512]

Nice work sonic! A minor note for french rifles of the period: they typically used a super heavy parkerized or lacquered finish, so those highlights on the gun are a bit to shiny XD the finish did get worn down over time but only ever ended up in a Iron warriors paint level of silver.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Part of it is deliberate. On the table, those little highlights won't appear as much more than blips; Iron Warriors would almost disappear. But if I were to be painting for display I'd just hit the metal again with some Dark Tone, dull it down good and proper. :D

[@mcnab4236]

Love the longer video mate 👍

[@angrypantz87]

Solid video, nice review by the way.

[@justanothercaptain6566]

I enjoyed the product review. That was cool. I like your honest review…and your use of the word “grizzling”! 🤣👍 Cheers 🍻

[@WoodyHaroo]

Excellent! I just finished building my resistance fighters and infantry. I wish there were one more officer head in the kit, as well as binoculars, ammocrates ect to make weapons teams. Perry’s miniatures really does this well in there wwII boxes

[@johnkelley9877]

Great review and painting tutorial! Thanks for sharing this and giving your honest assessment of the kit. The sculpts do have a lot of detail and I can see where the peg for the heads is a disadvantage in posing them. I hope you will do more reviews like this in the future.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

It's something I think might be useful in a few plastic kits as I get to them in the future, yeah. A lot of folks have mentioned it being handy to get a look at the kits before paint, so I'll have to bear it in mind.

[@robisonwells1]

I got the Warlords Atlantic German WWI troops. I'll have to spring for these too.

[@DWilly116]

I am currently painting up 2 platoons of this box as Senegalese Tirailleurs. While the soft caps look cool, they were not worn in combat, so anyone else out there doing the same should largely equip these in the Adrian helmets.

[@Thunderplunk]

Nice one! I picked up a box of these, mainly to use the heads to convert some late-war Senegalese with American kit - the necks are indeed a bit annoying, though nothing some green stuff can't fix. As regards the officer bodies, in my opinion the box is very reasonably priced even for 30 models, and the extra ones are really just a nice bonus, though I can understand being miffed if you're expecting to be able to make 35 riflemen and suddenly can't use 14% of them. Haven't decided yet what to do with the bulk of the kit, but if I do go for some 1940 fellas I'm sure this video will be great to have to hand. Thanks again!

[@Bluecho4]

Many of the Wargames Atlantic kits end up being around 30 models per box, so it's quite on-par with the rest of their output. If anything, you're getting a few officer models for free.

[@sleepsinleaves]

Thanks for the kit review. Learn about other kits out there that aren't Games Workshop. Saw in another comment in here you mentioned their other kits use the ball and socket. Have some of their other models bookmarked for Imperial Guard replacements.

[@Bluecho4]

Their Death Fields line is particularly good for Guard, though I've also had my eye on the Wargames Atlantic Afghan kit as a sort of alt-Tallarn. Been waiting for the Afghan Cavalry kit before committing to a purchase, for use as Rough Riders.

[@loupiscanis9449]

Thank you , Troy

[@joesturn7740]

Totally agree on the necks! Gripping Beast and North Star do the same thing with their plastics and it makes me grumpy for all the same reasons 😄

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

The North Star stuff I've had was socket joint, I thought? The Stargrave plastics are, at any rate.

[@joesturn7740]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio The Frostgrave stuff I've gotten is mostly peg necks. I haven't actually gotten any of the Stargrave kits. That'd be great if their new kits were headed in that direction!

[@SnoddiesHobbies]

I hope wargame atlantic gets a little better at keeping things in stock, I'm sure that distribution in this current environment is a nightmare to maintain and in the grand scope of world problems me having to wait for little plastic men is EXTREMELY low, but your videos gets me so excited for this kit! I agree about the head joints as well.

[@tharkwarrior]

I completely agree about the officer on every sprue being a waste. I am also not fond of kneeling figures. I don't want 1/5 of my guys kneeling.

[@nathanmaxon4692]

I absolutely wanted to get these, if only for the heads, until you mentioned the necks. I love wargames Atlantic sculpts

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

The Grognards have a ball and socket head joint if you're wanting Adrian helmets for something. Otherwise, sure, with a little extra work these would be usable on just about anything; the faces really are rather nice, after all. It's just that extra work is a pain in the neck. Pun only slightly intended. 🤣

[@wolfehoffmann2697]

110% agreed about the neck joint. I also despise the flat plateau joints. Didn't realize that Games workshop did it to the DKOK models though. That's disappointing, but they're steadily forgetting how to do ball joints on anything in favour of more and more monopose crap for twice the price of older, better designed models.

[@itsallpointless6501]

That is fantastic. Any chance you could do a vid of the blue scheme?

[@patrickballinger8537]

My major complaint is the lack of instructions. On the 5 officers. I got creative and made 3 with smgs and 2 w rifles. Giving me several officer options. The only metal ones have pistols only. Getting creative. I was able to add needed officer options.

[@stompie51]

Interesting critique but actually I felt better about this kit after your close ups. The box art made me underrate these.

[@kirill_coh]

Finally, WW2 is back! I'm happy. Thx Sonic. :)

[@benallen2490]

I'd love to see those done with Contrast Paint! Sonic, do you have a contrast paint list that would yield similar results? I absolutely love your tutorials and used both your American and German contrast ones for both of my armies.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

The trouble with Contrast is that there isn't really a middling brown that'll come to near the same colour as either French or British battledress. Wyldwood is way too dark, Cygor Brown is too red, Snakebite Leather too yellow... and so on. You might try thinning Wyldwood with a little medium, but I honestly can't say whether or not that'd work, it's not something I've tried yet.

[@andrewkennedy9134]

Lovely.....nice to see these plastic kits, tho i see warlord has one coming out imminently too. Incidentally....when you say varnish, what varnish have you used? Thanks.

[@Volgan16666]

A bit like the Irish warriors with two hounds per sprue. Seems to be a Wargames Atlantic thing. Still nice to me.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

The hounds I can see working as you might want a 'unit' of them, some kind of mob made up.

[@j453]

Socket and ball joint all the way

[@euansmith3699]

This box looks like a great base for kitbashing in to Sludge style soldiers. Slap some medieval or Napoleonic heads on them, and they'll look spot on. Your review of the kit is very thorough and informative.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

It hadn't occurred to me, but you're not wrong. Especially with the early rifles and bayonets, they'd look proper grim.

[@euansmith3699]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio Those helmeted heads with bulletproof masks could look good on some fantasy/historical bodies.

[@stevepickering5978]

nice one

[@Ben-fk9ey]

These seem great to fill out troops for my Kreig kill team!

[@brianlazouche2015]

well that's a great post , thank you, i am looking to build up some French Foreign legion figures ( march or die type guys :-D ) this box looks like it may be very useful , using the early back packs, of course it looks like i will have to convert the kepis to the covered type, but should not be too big of a task.. can I ask if you feel these figures would be fine for the type I hope to build,, thanks for any reply,,

[@redmist1122]

Another great video and painting techniques! Curious about Wargames Atlantic French box set you bought and how the sized up to other manufactures like Warlord, OG25s, Perry or even Foundry. I bought the Napoleonic Rifles box set and are a bit smaller than 28mm...more like 25mm. Someone told me each box set is sized just a bit different. Thank you if you're able to respond.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

These guys stand just a fraction taller than comparable plastics in the Warlord range, though they're noticeably taller than the older French metal weapons teams. For infantry it's not a huge problem (no pun intended) but since your artillery and such are usually mounted separately to your plastic stuff, it's not likely to stand out terribly on the tabletop when you're actually gaming with them.

[@redmist1122]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio Awesome! Thank you for the look and the fast response.

[@elfbait3774]

I do hope you passed on your feedback to WGA. They are really open to feedback and input.

[@andreaspersson5639]

Very tempted to pick up these for some WW1 action (Blood & Valor, specifically). More tempted now, when I've seen what can be done with them, for all that WGA for some godsforsaken reason are refusing to follow the standard neck connection protocol...

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

I'm quite keen to give these guys a shot for some WWI gaming using the Five Men at Kursk rule set. Minus stuff like panzerfausts and such, it should work fairly well for small raiding and scouting actions.

[@christophernelson4624]

I would like to see how you would paint them as Great War French.

[@tiny_worlds]

The heads annoyed me too. I used the (albeit lovely) French partisan minis alongside Warlord bits to kitbash a load of Volkssturm and had to use greenstuff to make necks for quite a few of them.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Ooh, now that's something I hadn't considered. It might be worth picking up the WA Germans for some rifles and such for Volkssturm, too... Hm.

[@tiny_worlds]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio mine were from Warlord winter Germans and WGA French resistance mostly but the WGA Germans will probably fit a bit better as the Warlord bits are a bit chunkier.

[@cassettecoverage6944]

Im gonna use these for death korp

[@trumpetscall8910]

Ah, The Senegalese. I remember an episode with them, in ww1.

[@miked6335]

I think that I could mess up gluing the arms in a position which will hold a rifle in a natural position.

[@nickdavis5420]

So cool but probably need some mods to gotta use the extra heads

[@oldschoolfrp2326]

I just based some metal Crusader WWII French, so this is timely inspiration for the painting

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

I really like the Crusader range, they're a brilliant set of French miniatures.

[@Mazku89]

I know it is an old video but, how would this box work to kit bash Death Korps of Krieg? I was thinking on using bodies and heads from this box with weapons from the Octarius set to complete 10 more Krieg in order to have all the specialist options.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Not even close, I'm afraid. The Krieg arms would look massive on these bodies, and wouldn't fit across the torsos properly.

[@Mazku89]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio Damn, that was my fear, good to be certain about t. I guess the heroic scale of the Kriegs make the bashing impossible, thank you very much, I love your content and painting tutorials mate!

[@DukeExeter]

oh goodness, no you are spot on with the body and head connection with a peg, who thought that was a great idea? absolutely horrendous, ball and socket joints has always been way superior so this makes no sense whatsoever. even worse is a hindrance to kitbashing now too since ya gotta cut away that whole neck peg to fit on most other heads

[@pippajohnston1810]

Random question, but how would you paint horizon blue? I might get some of these for WW1

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Short answer is that I haven't really a clue. I haven't given it much thought before! Something like Army Painter's Wolf Grey might be a decent starting point, seeing some of the surviving uniforms, but a more saturated blue might work as well. I couldn't say for sure.

[@KimHarderFog]

Its really strange with the neck-solution - as you yourself expressed in the video, why oh why not use the solution that almost every other company uses, the ball joint - oh well

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

It's the fact that other boxes in their ranges use ball and socket joints that just baffles me why they'd do this neck join here.

[@durzod2052]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio Maybe a different sculptor/team? And too much trouble/expense to fix it?

[@wargamesatlantic4740]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio only our sci-fi uses a ball joint. Every other set is neck on the model as it allows for better positioning of the heads and a more natural look

[@thepiratepenguin4465]

8:10 something else which Ironic using Nato black in Russian AFV camouflage

[@jpmangen]

How do these stack up with Warlord games figures? Are the near enough to intermix and use with them?

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

They're a little bit taller than the Warlord metals but it's not really noticeable once they're on the table. If you want, you can trim the puddle bases off their feet to shave a few mm off their height, but as long as your artillery crews and MG teams aren't mixing with the plastic dudes, I'd hardly say it's worth it.

[@chaotictattoo]

are there heads on these sprues that could perhaps french foreign legion? It looked like it had some of those heads on there..or are those "Zouave" heads?

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

The kepi heads are there, but they're not the stiff hats more familiarly associated with the Legion. You could try painting them up to match, but finding third party heads and trimming the neck joint would probably look better in the end.

[@chaotictattoo]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio thanks for the info and tip!

[@furiousv775]

Comment for algorithm.

[@leonleese4919]

What about NCO’s with the SMG?

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

There's a couple of SMGs on each of the WWII-era sprues as well, so there's plenty of options there.

[@adriant1654]

The War to End All Wars? How wrong they were! 😁

[@kaijindono]

I'm not an expert on military uniforms, but something occurs to me. Why not take those "spare" officer bodies, whack on normal infantry heads and arms and just say it's some dude who's not wearing his greatcoat? I know there's a few more differences, but it's better nothing, right?

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

The uniform is quite a lot different. It'd work for making gendarmes or officer cadets, perhaps, but it's waaay different - enough that it'd bug me even at arm's length on the table! 😅

[@kaijindono]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio In that case, I'd be happy to take the other five off your hands. 😁

[@giancarlopaolini7529]

Superb work but ...if one has to paint some 350/400 of these then you should start painting when you're very young 'cause you might finish when you've got a white beard on your face 🙂

[@mcnab4236]

Love the longer video mate 👍