.....50+ years of hoarding metal and not enough painting........a site dedicated to vintage 20/25mm wargame figures ........and yes they are old school, mainly all one pose per unit and definitely shiney!......

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Lamming (Early) 20mm - Size Comparison with the 'more robust' or 'upgraded' figures



Hopefully this will illustrate the difference in size between the early Lamming and the later 'upgraded' figures. Left to right: top is the British dragoon and under him the upgraded version. Next is the French Guard Chasseur and again underneath the upgraded version. Next is a Hinton Hunt Hussar to show comparison size - I was prepared to live with the difference here. The top left horse is a Hinton Hunt (which I always felt was a bit too small - particularly for heavy cavalry), Next to that is an early Lamming horse with the upgraded version underneath it. Finally bottom left is newer Lamming French Hussar which appears to be midway between the two Lamming sizes!
I think you might be able to see why the early Lamming were acceptable to me and the later ones were not. You can see it better when you click and enlarge the image.
Finally to respond to a question received as to why not just use Hinton Hunt Cavalry - which is of course a good question - the fact is that at the time I got around to and could afford to buy cavalry - unfortunately the Hinton Hunt Cavalry moulds had deteriorated and were generating badly flashed lumps of metal!

Lamming (Early) 20mm - French Mounted Personality Figures






Here are the three French mounted personality figures made by Lamming for this range - they were nice clean castings and each with their own unique horse.

In the top two images (left to right and front and back): French General, Napoleon and Murat with their respective horses underneath them.
On the Bottom: a view of them mounted and awaiting the illusive painter!

That concludes the Lamming French Mounted figures (Except limber riders which will be included with the artillery when shown). After this the Lamming range was to my dismay 'upgraded' into 'more robust' figures - to use their words - or using mine 'into new larger Minifig size lookalikes' and lost all their appeal to me. They always were larger then Hinton Hunt figures but in my opinion manageable and acceptable - the changes made the new versions useless for my use.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Lamming (Early) 20mm - French Carabiniers of the Line






The The top two images show front/back and left/right views of the Carabiniers of the Line.
Top row left to right: FC21-Carabinier Trooper, FC22-Carabinier Officer and a conversion Carabinier Trumpeter since Lamming didn't get around to making one. It uses the Cuirassier Trumpeter with an available Cheveau-Leger Lancer head.
Bottom Row: Horse FCH for the troopers and (Unmarked) Heavy Cavalry Officers Horse.
The bottom two images show the 2nd Heavy Cavalry Division - 2 Regiments of 2 Squadrons each of Carabinier and the 2 Regiments of 2 Squadrons each of Line Dragoons (mentioned in the Empress Dragoon posting) - commanded by a Carabinier Divisional General.

Lamming (Early) 20mm - French Cuirassiers of the Line






The The top two images show front/back and left/right views of the Cuirassiers of the Line.
Top row left to right: FC3-Cuirassier Trooper, FC8-Cuirassier Officer and FC9-Cuirassier Trumpeter.
Bottom Row: Horse FCH for the troopers and (Unmarked) Heavy Cavalry Officers Horse.
The bottom two images show the 1st Heavy Cavalry Division (Cuirassiers) - 4 Regiments of 2 Squadrons each commanded by a (seconded) Minifigs Cuirassier General.
More painting - Sigh!

Lamming (Early) 20mm Conversions - French Chasseurs a Cheval of the Line






Unfortunately Lamming didn't get around to making Line Chasseurs or Dragoons prior to moving to the larger 'more robust' 25mm figures - and in fact may not have done at all. So I used the Cheveau Leger Lancer and put the head from the Hussars on them, removed lances and added the swords to make a conversion regiment of Chasseurs a Cheval shown here. I made the first squadron elites as for the Hussars also.
The top two images show left to right the Chasseur Trooper, Officer and Trumpeter front and back views together with the Horses which are the same ones used for the Hussars.
The bottom two images show the 3 squadron regiment lined up ready for painting.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Lamming (Early) 20mm - French Hussars of the Line





These were featured previously but I added them to this current list for completeness. The The top two images show front/back and left/right views of the Hussars of the Line
Top row left to right: FC10-Hussar Trooper, FC11-Hussar Officer and FC12-Hussar Trumpeter.
Middle row left to right: FC13-Elite Trooper, FC14-Elite Officer and FC15-Elite Trumpeter.
Bottom Row: Horse LtS and Horse FH
The bottom two images shows a 3 squadron (each of 6 figures) regiment arrayed and awaiting paint. Led by an Elite Officer Brigadier!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Lamming (Early) 20mm - French Cheveau-Leger Lancers of the Line





The top two images show front/back and left/right views of the Cheveau-Leger Lancers of the Line
Top row left to right: FC23-Lancer, FC24-Lancer Officer and a conversion Trumpeter (Lamming never made a Cheveau-Leger trumpeter in the early range)made from the Officer and the trumpet from a Curassier Trumpeter.
On the bottom: Horses H3 and FH which the appropriate horses for the Officer and Lancer.
The bottom two images show the Cheveau-Leger Lancer Regiment of 3 (six figure)Squadrons brigaded with two squadrons of spare Polish Lancers which will be painted as French Line Lancers - under command of a Polish Brigadier - arrayed and awaiting paint! I have bent down the lance holding arm and will probably replace the lances with plastic or metal ones when I find where to purchase them from!

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Lamming (Early) 20mm - Polish or Dutch Lancers of the Guard






In the normal efficient manner of maximizing the use of masters and moulds these figures were provided to be used as Polish or Dutch Lancers of the Guard.

The top two images show front/back and left/right views of the Lancers of the Guard
Top row left to right: FC19-Lancer, FC20-Lancer Officer and FC25-Lancer Trumpeter.
On the bottom: H2 and H3 Light Cavalry Horses which were the appropriate horses for the Lancers.
The bottom two images show the Polish Lancer Regiment brigaded with the Dutch Lancer Regiment each of 4 (six figure)Squadrons arrayed and awaiting paint!

Each squadron consists of an officer and 5 lancers - except that the first squadron of each regiment boasts a trumpeter replacing one of the lancers.
Not shown - I have two more squadrons which will become Lancers of the Vistula with some suitable minor changes. also for all three regiments I will replace all lances with hand made straight wire ones and will repose the arm/lance positions prior to painting.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Lamming (Early) 20mm - French Horse Grenadiers of the Guard





The top two images show front/back - left/right views of the Lamming Horse Grenadiers of the Guard figures.
Left to right: FC17-Grenadier Trooper, FC16-Grenadier Officer, FC18-Grenadier Trumpeter.
On the bottom: (Unnumbered) Officers Horse and (Unnumbered)-Dragoon Troopers's Horse.
The bottom two images show the 3 Squadron (each of 6 figures)Regiment arrayed and awaiting paint! One of the officers in the front rank will be converted to a Standard Bearer.

Lamming (Early) 20mm - French Empress Dragoons of the Guard





The top two images show front/back - left/right views of the Lamming Empress Dragoons of the Guard figures.
Left to right: FC2-Dragoon Trooper, FC6 Dragoon Officer, FC7-Dragoon Trumpeter.
On the bottom: ED-Dragoon Trooper's Horse and (Unnumbered) Officers Horse.
The bottom two images show the 3 Squadron (each of 6 figures)Regiment arrayed and awaiting paint! One of the officers in the front rank will be converted to a Standard Bearer.

These figures can easily be painted as Line Dragoons and using the horses as per the Carabiniers and Cuirassiers. I have a couple of regiments organized this way - again awaiting paint!


Lamming (Early) 20mm - French Chasseur a Cheval of the Guard




The top images show front/back - left/right views of the Lamming French Guard Chasseur a Cheval figures.
Left to right: FC1-Trooper, FC4-Officer and FC5-Trumpeter.
On the bottom: LtS-Officers Horse and H3-Troopers Horse.
The bottom two images shows the full 3 Squadron (each of 6 figures) Regiment arrayed and awaiting paint!

Monday, February 9, 2009

From My Sample Box (5) - Hinton Hunt - French Napoleonic Dis-mountable General Staff





Left Image:
Top Row: FN350 Napoleon, FN351 Prince Murat, FN352 Eugene de Beauharnais, FN353 Marshall Bessieres, FN354 Marshall Ney, FN355 Marshall Davout, FN356 Marshall Massena.
Middle Row: FN357 Marshall Soult, FN358 Marshall General Junot, FN359 General Lasalle, FN360 General Dorsenne, FN361 General Nansouty, FN362 General Baraguay d'Hilliers, FN371 ADC.
Bottom Row: FNH10, FNH11, FNH13

Right Image:
Scan of page 5 of the same Hinton catalogue.

Ok - I received a complaint from the French Ambassador about unfair treatment - So here is the same deal for the French as the British received in the previous blog.
All the dis-mountable General Staff figures as a complete set. The only one I didn't purchase at the store is the last one - the ADC and I haven't yet stripped the paint of him! - unfortunately there were a few empty compartments in the drawers at the store when I visited it.

From My Sample Box (4) - Hinton Hunt - British Napoleonic Dis-mountable General Staff




Left Image:
Top Row: BN250 Wellington, BN251 Leut-Gen. Lord Hill, BN252 Leut-Gen. Earl of Uxbridge, BN253 Leut-Gen. Sir Thomas Picton, BN254 Leut-Gen. Count von Alten.
Second Row: BN255 Maj-Gen. Sir Stapleton Cotton, BN256 Maj-Gen. General Cooke, BN257 Maj-Gen. Ponsonby, BN261 ADC, BN264 Cavalry Staff Corp Officer.
Third Row: BNH10, BNH11, BNH12 Bottom Row: BNH13, BNH4.

Right Image:
Scan of Page 8 of the Hinton catalog at the time showing these figures and which horse to use. Has my tick marks that I made as I found the items in the drawers - which were not all that tidy!

I was sorting out different sample figures to photograph to send to Clive for inclusion in his great 'The Hinton Hunter Blog'. I couldn't resist photographing all the British General Staff dis-mountable figures since these are a complete set along with the appropriate horses which I picked up myself at Hintons shop in London many years ago! I will always remember going there and being allowed to rummaged all through the many drawer cabinets gathering a vast array of single figures to keep as samples both to order from later and also in case I ever got good at casting! Of course I didn't mention that - nor did I get any good at casting! I left there hardly able to walk under the weight of the lead but luckily I was a few pounds sterling lighter! How I wish I could still go and visit that store now!