When Italeri first started releasing 1/72 figures, they began with two subjects that had been done before - Scots Greys and French Infantry. Indeed there was speculation that they might be simply reissues of the Esci sets, and at first glance you would be forgiven for thinking that they were, but in fact they were the start of a large and well produced original range.

The Scots Greys do seem very similar to the Esci set, and look rather like they may have shared the same sculptor. However a closer inspection reveals some important differences. Here we get a healthy nine poses, which include an officer, a trumpeter, a trooper with a pistol and two more with carbines. One of these last is actually firing his from the saddle, which is fine, although naturally not really appropriate for the famous charge at Waterloo. The Esci-style sculpting is very good, with nice clear detail and no flash, and the men fit very comfortably on their horses with a good firm grip that means they do not require gluing. The horses too are nicely done, although not all the gaits are as natural as we would have liked - the last horse, which seems to be standing or walking, yet has one leg very high in the air, is very difficult to understand. There are twice the number of horse poses compared to the Esci set, with galloping, rearing and stopped examples, the latter being particularly useful for the man firing his carbine. Strategically placed tufts of grass mean all are well attached to their base despite being in mid step, thus avoiding the need to assemble horse with base that you get with the Esci set.

The uniform is accurately portrayed for these troops. They all wear the waterproof cover on their bearskins, which has caused some to complain as they are less impressive than the full bearskins, but the waterproofs were worn for the famous charge at Waterloo. The main gripe is with the swords, which look too short. In fact the blades scale up to just over 70 centimetres, whereas the real thing had a blade length of 89 centimetres. It's a pity, since they would look more fearsome with the full size sword that would be about half the height of the man. Equally the carbines which each man is carrying are much too short - about 12 mm in total when they should be about 14.5 mm. As regards the horses, the various straps etc. look good, but the main problem is that the horse furniture is missing the rolled cloak that was carried across the front of the saddle. Also, British dragoon regiments had the tails of their horses docked, or shortened, which is not reflected here.

Unlike some, Italeri got the quality sorted right from the very beginning, and these are nice figures, which makes the lapses in accuracy all the more annoying. One curious feature of this set however is that some of the figures are noticeably larger than the rest. The Scots Greys adopted this uniform from 1812, so as advertised this set is good for the Waterloo campaign, and by sharing a sculptor it works perfectly with the older Esci set. Despite its faults this product set a high standard for cavalry sets, and in general is to be commended.