Peninsular War: Frenchies Off eBay

In order to get a fighting force ready for sharp practice I have decided to try something I have never even contemplated before: Buying painted figures on eBay.  After reading an article in Wargames Illustrated on repainting figures bought on eBay, I realised that it might speed things up considerably. I began to scour the store for a bargain, and stumbled on these- some nearly-completely-finished French infantry- obviously someone started the project and ran out of steam before finishing it (that would never happen to me I assure you! lol). From what I could make out in the photo they looked like they had been painted in a similar style to my own. 
And how much did I pay for this little lot? £38 for 36 Crusader Miniatures. Which is less than I would have paid for them unpainted from the Crusader miniatures store. 

This is how they arrived- all well packed in card- all in good condition except for a few chips of paint- and all based on card with plaster filler round their integral bases. 

Crusader miniatures are a bit shorter and a bit chunkier than the Victrix ones I have been painting for the British, but not so much that they look stupid. And for that price...

First things first I had to take them off their bases- mercifully this proved very easy- and once I had scraped off most of the excess plaster then I could stick them to my bases and 'sand' them so they match my British.

These ones are some Elite infantry that I have just re-based but not painted yet- the previous owner painted them as a mix of Light Infantry and Grenadiers, but I will be painting them as a single unit of grenadiers because I like the look  of light infantry in skirmishing poses, and grenadiers marching in nice ordered ranks.
So what needed doing? I didn't like the way the previous owner had painted the trousers, and the gun barrels were too shiny, and the faces too dark, but on the whole they just needed touching up a bit.  Here they are after their treatment...

And here they are- two stands of Grenadiers for my French army- and was it quicker than painting them from scratch? Well, I managed to paint each stand of four in a single evening, and for the British I was pleased to be getting five models per week. And when you take into account the time it would have took to de-flash, remove mould lines and spray them up I think they represent a considerable saving in time and money.