French Line Infantry

EIGHT French Foreign Legionnaires from my Armies In Plastic Franco-Prussian War special set will be painted as generic French line infantry.

The eight legionnaires unpainted

By now I am getting into a routine of washing the figures in soapy water, lightly scrubbing with the rough side of a "magic" fibre cleaning cloth, rinsing under a hot tap and covering with PVA glue, followed by black primer.
I like to paint the largest and easiest bits first, so the order goes something like: green base; blue coat and the bottom of the kepi; red trousers, top of the kepi, tunic buttons and epaulettes; black backpack, boots, cartridge box, etc; brown rifle; 'silver' bayonet; flesh; white gaiters; black/brown eyes, hair, moustache/beard, chin strap.
Finally I coat in gloss, partly for protection but more to give something of a shiny toy-soldier look.

The finished line infantry … best viewed from a distance