Scad Casting Molds: 40mm Semi-Flats

The Scad casting molds which I purchased recently on German eBay have arrived.  I really don't know much about the history of this company or when they ceased production. Most of the molds I got were used and the one new one was packaged as Zinnbrigade, although most will probably associate Zinnbrigade with the more popular Schildkröt.  The Scads covered Napoleonic and Franco-Prussian War subjects on about a 60/40 ratio.  Here is a listing:
http://www.figuren-modellbau.de/scad.html

The casting went fairly well. The molds are rubber, a little harder than Prince August. They seem pretty well designed with quite a few air channels on one side. The molten metal pour is from the bottom, resulting in the excess material attached to the base as can be seen in the photo at the top of the post.  Hacksaw at the ready then.  The other problem I had to a lesser or greater degree was incomplete casting to the extremities. This was particularly problematic with the French infantryman's rifle.  I ended up cutting extra channels from the base to the weapon to get it to cast fully.  The foot figures are comparable in size with Prince August (just a tad larger), the cavalry scaled a bit smaller.

Now let's take a look at that figure, mold # 112 Französischer Infanterist, stürmend:

It's good, the pose is an active and useful one for massed infantry formations. The real flaw with this guy is the spindly chassepot rifle and bayonet. Props to Scad for getting the proportions right, but from a practical standpoint I foresee a lot of breakage risk with the figure unless you're casting with the best quality model metal.  He is represented here reflecting most illustrations of French line infantry, but you have to wonder about the effectiveness of going into battle encumbered with bulky overcoats and full packs festooned with camping gear. 

Here's # 113 - Französischer Jäger zu Fuß, stehend schießend:

The Chasseur a pied's firing pose has some utitility but not so much as #112. Probably could use them as skirmishers for #112 with the line infantry paint scheme.

On to some cavalry, # 212 - Preußischer Dragoner:

A nice trotting pose with the horse's legs cleverly strengthened by dust clouds, rather in the style of pure flats.  And just how flat are these guys ? Pretty flat:

Why didn't the Scads really take hold with hobbyists and wargamers ?   Hard to say, really. The thinness may not appeal to everyone and the narrow bases as cast may be another detractor as they have to be re-based to avoid the dreaded domino effect.

Another thing is the selection. Holger Eriksson was great at offering effective poses and the command figures to match.  With Scad it seemed more a case of: one of these, one of those. Nothing you could make a complete unit of without resorting to conversions. And a few of the designs aren't so useful, such as the Prussian line infantry posed giving an overhand bayonet stroke.  Why do sculptors do things like that ?   They're pretty decent figures but I think ultimately they lack the charm of Holger Eriksson's Karoliners.