French 1905 uniform - test complete

Australia 35 - Scotland 34...If nothing else this result got me to pour my despondency into my painting! So much so that I actually completed my test painting of my Black Hat 54mm c. 1890 French Infantryman. Every cloud has a silver lining I suppose.

So here's the result (unvarnished)...

There are certain parts of my interpretation of the uniform that I am a bit unsure about - reference material of this exact period being somewhat scarce or ambiguous - but hopefully experts will find my soldier a spirited attempt.

Next I will give it a coat of varnish and then work on completing the construction of the rest of his regiment.

Postscript: About the rifle - The French rifle of the time should have been the Lebel Model 1886 rifle, which this 'toy' soldier clearly doesn't have. I suspect that Black Hat have produced a 'generic' model of a rifle which it uses for all it's late 19th century 54mm soldiers.

I think this model is based on a British Lee-Metford judging by the magazine. Perhaps I should have filed off the magazine and painted a fake receiver to make it look more like a Lebel?