Lazylimey's Wargaming Place

Some Of My Neglected ECW Period Figures

2010-11-03T11:26:00.000-07:00

I was digging out some ECW and Thirty Years War Minifigs (and others) figures to photograph and send to Clive Smithers for inclusion on his 'The Lone S Ranger' blog.

It struck me that I really liked the Thirty Years War figures and they brought back many memories so I thought I would add some pictures to the blog.

They are actually painted up to represent an ECW trained band.

In this case this is the fictitious Colchester trained band - which is where I lived when I painted it - years ago!

ECW - Colchester Trained Band

TYW 1s - Musketeer Advancing

TYW 2s - Pikeman Receiving

TYW 3s - Officer

TYW 6s - Halberdier

TYW My Drummer Conversion

TYW 5s - (actual)Drummer

ECWA 2s - Galloper/H1 -Horse

TYWC 1s - Reiter

My drummer conversion was made prior to the release of the TYW 5s - Drummer and I never every did see a TYW 4s - Standard Bearer.
My standard bearers are just Pikemen with 'old toothpaste tube' aluminum flags attached.
I also have a second of these regiments painted up as the fictitious 'Halstead' trained band!

Organized?

2010-08-13T07:50:00.000-07:00

Ok I had to make this post - I was accused of being organized!! I was fairly organized prior to moving but now - well!
These are some pictures of my messy work room which has been taken over by model soldiers. I hope this disproves the 'organized' rumor once and for all! In fact I don't think I can ever organize over 10,000 figures anytime in what remains of my life! - but I'm working on it.

Looking into workroom with work bench in the center and the right side with modeling bench. Green thing underneath the illuminated magnifier is my photograph background as used for the Hinton Compatibles

Panning right around room

Panning left around room - bottom right picture shows French Cavalry in display cabinet above red toolbox. I didn't do closeups of these since there are so many still to sort out.

Modeling Bench - Cabinet contains almost all French - each shelf is (or will be) comprised of one division. Left unit is Guard and middle and right units are Line divisions. Figures are mostly all Hinton and Alberken - a few Minifig and DK - if units are in the cabinet then they are complete. By complete I mean has all its troops - of course many units still have to be painted.
The figures covering the bench top are all in various stages of sorting or awaiting recruits to complete - or in some cases to be sold.

Almost all units are 2 battalion regiments - each battalion is 1 Officer and 12 troops - each division has 4 regiments plus 2 massed Grenadier and 2 massed Voltigeur battalions (each again of 1 Officer and 12 troops).
Thus each division totals (12 btns x 13) 156 figures plus the mounted Divisional General.
When complete the divisional artillery (2 batteries of 2 guns + 8 crew each) is stuffed in between the regiments for safe keeping.
I now have (almost completed) 12 French Line Infantry Divisions - some may be sold!

Left hand storage shelves contain various units or spares for Allies and French Infantry, Calvalry and Artillery - Top shelves is where I store my neglected English Civil War figures

Here is where I store the Hinton Compatibles - Prototypes, Masters and stock - I'm still in the stages of sorting this out to be more efficient. Loads of open boxes partially sorted and being emptied. The British Light Division is in a box on top shelf - right end - just in view here. Also some out of place guitar pedals showing up on a pink stand!

Storage shelves on end of modeling bench contains various complete units for allies Cavalry and Infantry. Last image shows more boxes being opened and sorted

Right shelves stores all my spares and the 7 British Infantry Divisions - mainly Hinton and Pheonix(Les Higgins) figures. Also there is a Polish, Saxon and Bavarian Corp (2 Divisions) and a Wurttemburg, Hessian and Brunswick division - all with associated cavalry. There is also not shown a great deal of other manufacturers and miscellaneous stuff all jumbled in various boxes which may get sorted and sold one day!

Finally because I am really old school - here's a couple of closeups of some of my favorite units to prove it - Alberken (with HH drummers and standards) - these were the early ready painted types - they may well be repainted since they are not all from same units.

So hopefully this post will indeed show that I am far from organized and really quite insane when it comes to wargames figure collecting

Hinton Compatriots New Blog

2010-02-15T10:23:00.000-08:00

I needed to get control of my blog back from the Hinton Compatriots posts which had taken it over - so I have now created a new blog dedicated to this range.
Click on the image on top left to visit the blog - for all the latest news and to order figures.
All previous Hinton Compatriot posts on here have been exported to the new blog.
See you there!

Beware Shill bidding on Ebay

2010-01-05T10:43:00.001-08:00

I am reporting this here in an attempt to help other friends and fellow 'Ebayers' from being scammed. This one has a happier ending due to the vigilance of Paul Fahey who pointed this out and warned me - and I must say I am very grateful to him for this act of friendship.

Because of the manner in which it ends I will not publish the sellers name - but here is the sequence of emails

1. Received from Paul this morning:

Ron,

I realize you're probably asleep, but I suspect there is a shill on those Hintons your bidding on, the bidder has no score at all and has bid on 27 items, from clothes to swings and now toy soldiers,, ALL from the one vendor !!! and nobody else. i have reported these obvious shills before and Ebay can't or won't do anything.

in any case I cant abide shills, so all I can do is notify you, and you can decide for yourself

Paul

2. Sent to the seller by me immediately upon receipt of Paul's email:

Dear Seller (Name not disclosed)

I regret to say that I believe I have been the victim of SHILL bidding on this item and on at least one other item in this last set of figures - In fact a friend has just emailed me to point this out and has advised that I should contact Ebay.

It is fairly obvious when you look at the bidder that pushed the price up - he has no previous bid score or record and has only ever bid on your items! - 100% of his total Ebay bids have been on your items!

I offer you two choices - please give me the name of the bidder so I can send it to Ebay - or I will refuse to pay and will report this matter to Ebay - which is against their policies - for them to investigate. I pay well enough for items without being scammed also.

If you want to avoid this and agree that this is Shill bidding then I expect to pay a price that doesn't includes the Shill bidding on all the last set of items.

Ron

3. Response received from the seller within 1 hour:

Hi Ron

I can't apologise enough. I've looked into each item and yes it was my father in law who was panicking and didn't want to let them go.
It is honestly no scam - i have just spoken to him and he asked a friend to bid who we know from the local market and has bought from us before. He agrees with me to recalculate the winning total as you suggest - i have looked at the 3 items he bid on - and will invoice you at the prices below his first bid.
The (item 1) will be £4.99 , the (item 2) £35.99 and (item 3) £4.99.
I leave it up to you what you want to do next - and have warned my father in law of the rules he has broken.
I realise you pay enough and thanks for contacting me.
Awaiting your reply before I invoice.

Best regards and sincere apologies.

Seller (Name withheld)

And so a better ending then most I would think - I expect this type of Shill bidding happens more than we realize.

In view of the immediate response and acceptance of the situation I am inclined to believe this seller who has always seemed sincere in our correspondence - so I will proceed with these purchases at the new pricing and will bid again on other items offered by the seller.

Again thanks Paul and to all out there be a little more vigilant then I was!

Lack of new posts

2009-05-13T08:28:00.000-07:00

I am currently in the middle of moving house - so I have not had time to post new items here - hopefully will all be completed by mid June. I am sick of packing boxes and lugging them all over! - I can't believe the number of soldier and book boxes I have!! - Not a normal move at all! - My wife thinks I am crazy!

Lamming (Early) 20mm - British Mounted Personality Figures

2009-04-20T09:05:00.001-07:00

British Personality figures shown arrayed and ready for painting.

This completes the Lamming British Cavalry figure postings - any further figures were the later and larger figures.

Lamming (Early) 20mm - British Mounted Personality Figures - Duke Of Wellington

2009-04-20T09:02:00.001-07:00

Lamming (Early) 20mm - British Mounted Personality Figures - Duke Of York

2009-04-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

Lamming (Early) 20mm - British Mounted Personality Figures - Earl of Uxbridge

2009-04-20T08:57:00.000-07:00

Lamming (Early) 20mm - British Mounted Personality Figures - Mounted General

2009-04-20T08:54:00.001-07:00

Lamming (Early) 20mm - British Light Dragoons

2009-04-17T12:56:00.000-07:00

The top two images show front and back views of the British Light Dragoon figures.
From left to right - top row: BC13-Light Dragoon Trooper, BC14-Hussar Officer. bottom row: LD British Light Dragoon Horse and BOH British Officers Horse.
To the best of my knowledge Lamming never got around to making a Light Dragoon Trumpeter and if they did it was almost certainly a 'more robust' and therefore to0 large for me to use. If you click and enlarge the first image and look closely you can see the 'scale creep' of the Officer (which figure was made some time later) compared to the Trooper!

The bottom two images shows two Light Dragoon regiments (with two squadrons each)
lined up awaiting their paint job!

Lamming (Early) 20mm - British Hussars

2009-04-16T21:56:00.001-07:00

The top two images show front and back views of the British Hussar figures.
From left to right - top row: BC1-Hussar Trooper, BC2-Hussar Officer and BC5 Hussar Trumpeter. bottom row: H3 British Light Cavalry Horse and H2 British Light Cavalry Horse.

The bottom two images shows two regiments (with two squadrons) brigaded and led by Uxbridge. The paint fairy needs to get to work!

Lamming (Early) 20mm - British Heavy Dragoons - Royal Scots Greys

2009-04-15T16:46:00.001-07:00

The top two images show front and back views of the Royal Scots Greys figures.
From left to right - top row: BC2-Scots Grey Trooper, BC6-Scots Grey Officer and BC7-Scots Grey Trumpeter. bottom row: BOH Officers Horse and RSC British Scots Grey Horse.

The bottom two images shows the regiment (with two squadrons) brigaded for comparison purposes with a similar regiment of Minifigs S Type figures.

Lamming (Early) 20mm - British Heavy Dragoons

2009-04-14T15:04:00.000-07:00

Lamming British Heavy Dragoons could be painted as either Dragoon Guards or Line Dragoons. (They are depicted as the Kings Dragoon Guards in the previous post)

The top two images show front and back views of theses figures.
From left to right - top row: BC10-Heavy Dragoon Trooper, BC11-Heavy Dragoon Officer and BC12-Heavy Dragoon Trumpeter. bottom row: BOH Officers Horse and BD British Heavy Dragoon Horse.

The bottom two images show two of the three regiments of the Union Brigade - Ist Heavy Dragoons, The Royals(English) and 6th Heavy Dragoons, Inniskilling(Irish) each with two squadrons. to these two regiments was added the 2nd Heavy Dragoons, Scots Greys(Scottish)-(featured in the next post). The Union Brigade was so called because it was made up of these three different national(ethnic or regional) regiments of the United Kingdom.

Lamming (Early) 20mm - British Life Guards and Horse Guards

2009-04-14T13:52:00.001-07:00

Lamming British Life Guard Cavalry figures were produced to be painted either as Life Guards or Horse Guards.

The top two images show front and back views of theses figures.
From left to right - top row: BC3-Life Guard Trooper, BC8-Life Guard Officer and BC9-Life Guard Trumpeter. bottom row: BOH Officers Horse and BLG British Life Guards Horse.

The bottom two images shows the British Guards Cavalry Division (known also as the Household Brigade)(2 Brigades of 2 Regiments each of 2 Squadrons). The Regiments are the 1st and 2nd Life Guards, The Royal Horse Guards (The Blues) and the Ist Kings Dragoon Guards (figures featured in the next post). All awaiting the illusive paint job!

Old Soldiers Never Die....They Just Trade Away

2009-04-09T12:37:00.000-07:00

New Miniature Figure Trading Blog

Hi All,

For some time now I have been sorting out lots of redundant figures that I have with an intent to either sell them on Ebay or trade away.

It seems to me to be more desirable to offer the figures for consideration to friends and aquaintances first in an attempt to save some of the costs associated with fees and bidding up on Ebay and other places.

Therefore I have decided to make a new blog: Old Soldiers Never Die They Just Trade Away
that will enable folks to post figures for trade, sale and wanted.

There are no restrictions on scale, size, type, period or material (plastic/metal etc). Although I would prefer it to be mainly vintage or reproduced or compatible wargame figures and associated material only.

Therefore I will remove non wargame posts from the site. Otherwise the only moderation will be for appropriateness of language, decency and civility. I may also add labels if the poster forgets them to enable ease of searching.

I welcome and desire all and any interested participants. Please feel free to post away - simple instructions are at top of blog.

Makers/Manufacturers of figures please feel free also to post on the blog if you wish.

I have posted a first trade as an example (it is a genuine trade). I will also be posting more of my available figures and also my own wants list later.

There is no 'owner' of the blog per see and nobody gets 'first dibs' or will be able to skim of the top - thats why the posts go on immediately without moderation for all to see - only moderated, as above, afterwards if necessary - which will not, I hope, normally be the case.

I leave all pricing, bartering and trading to be completed privately by email by the participants - although again there are no rules against using the post and or comments as you wish - it's entirely up to you.

I welcome all comments, suggestions and feedback.

Good Trading,

Ron

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm Napoleonic Personalities - Marshall Ney

2009-04-06T13:28:00.000-07:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm Napoleonic Personalities - Marshall Murat

2009-04-06T13:24:00.000-07:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm Napoleonic Personalities - Prince Eugene

2009-04-06T13:19:00.001-07:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm Napoleonic Personalities - Napoleon

2009-04-06T13:16:00.001-07:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm Napoleonic Personalities - General 'Top Hat' Picton

2009-04-06T13:13:00.000-07:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm Napoleonic Personalities - General 'Daddy' Hill

2009-04-06T13:10:00.000-07:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm Napoleonic Personalities - Earl of Uxbridge

2009-04-06T13:03:00.001-07:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm Napoleonic Personalities - Duke of Wellington

2009-04-06T12:56:00.001-07:00

There were eight personality figures in this range - four British and four French.
These sample figures were all painted many years ago by a very dear friend now unfortunately no longer with us - which is why I am loath to strip them down!
I should also point out that many of the so called Alberken figures were not actually in the range until after Minifigs took it over and that strictly speaking are therefore not Alberkens but are Early Minifigs. However I have retained the title in the post headings for consistency over the Alberken and/or Early Minifig range that I display.

From My Sample Box (7) - Hinton Hunt - Early French Napoleonic Infantry (1798-1806)

2009-04-03T10:02:00.001-07:00

It's a pity Hinton never developed this range further - there's lots of good Republican/pre-Imperial era battles to fight! These were the only figures he produced in this range for this period. Also, unfortunately, he never made any early Austrians wearing helmets for these figures to fight! Alberken/Minifig did however.
(As Roy points out they can fight the 'Stove-Pipe Shako' British figures that HH made for Penisular battles - which again was another limited figure range)

From Left to right: FN 271 - Officer Charging, FN 274 - Private Charging, FN 275 - Private Firing, FN 276 - Officer Marching and FN 277 - Private marching

20mm French Napoleonic 8/9 pdr Field Gun - Comparisons of different manufacturer's model

2009-03-16T23:16:00.001-07:00

Without doubt my first choice for artillery for this period would always be the Hinchcliffe 20mm products - clean good looking - scale correct and a good range of different pieces. Alas they are no more and trying to find any nowadays is almost impossible. So I sorted out all the different samples I had - bought some I didn't have - and compared the French 8/9 pdr offerings from all the manufacturers I managed to collect/obtain.

The images shows on the top row - from left to right:-

RSM - Currently available but a little too small in my opinion given that Hinton Hunt are the figures I need the artillery to match.

Hinton Hunt - No longer obtainable - untidy casting - always seemed too small to me - Even if it was obtainable I wouldn't use it!

Alberken - Oversize wheels and barrel - shows its vintage and of course no longer available.

Minifig S Range - Quite a good casting - a little coarse by today's standards and again no longer available.

Hinchliffe - The ideal product in my opinion - all others have to be compared to this standard - Sadly no longer available.

Bottom row left to right:-

Lamming - No Longer available - nice clean square casting - a little thick in the wheel but if it were available it might be a contender - because of its clean square and neat casting - although some of the others are better scale and more accurate.

Rose - Available again from Greenwood and Ball - Really nice clean square casting - Scale feels right - proportions look right - except wheel hubs which are too small and no outward cant to spokes.

NapoleoN - Currently available - also a nice clean casting - probably the best wheels of all the models - a very accurate representation of the field gun - I am not sure I like the one piece casting of the barrel and the carriage - it just doesn't feel right - Nevertheless it is a model that is well worth using.

Kennington(SHQ) - Currently available - it also is a good clean casting if a little unsquare and slightly misformed - at least the ones I got were - but again it looks reasonably accurate but the trail side view doesn't ring true to the scale drawings. Wheels and axles are a very sloppy fit - I would certainly use in the absence of a couple others here.

Les Higgins(Phoenix) - Not sure if NapoleoN will re-issure these guns - I didn't have a French one so I had to resort to the British one that I had to show the scale and quality. Clean casting little plain - If NapoleoN reissue it then I need to get a French gun for better comparison. Though I cannot see why they would reissue it given the quality of their own gun.

So who wins? - For my money in the absence of Hinchliffe - I will use the Rose and/or The NapoleoN. I love the clean square uniform castings of the Rose product - but I also really like the wheels on the NapoleoN gun. If it's barrel was not cast to the carriage then I would use that model solely

Now I want them both to make the howitzer and the 12pdr and also the limbers!!

I used the drawings in Osprey's New Vanguard - Napoleons Guns 1792-1815 as a guide when looking for scale and accuracy.

From My Sample Box (6) - Hinton Hunt - French Napoleonic Dis-mountable Line Cavalry

2009-03-09T13:41:00.000-07:00

The images above show all the French line cavalry dis-mountable series from left to right:
Top row: FN310 Cuirassier (FNH5), FN311 Carabinier (FNH5), FN313 Lancer-Gendarme 1811 (FNH3), FN315 Elite Hussar (FNH7), FN315a Elite Hussar holding carbine (FNH7). Middle row: FN315b Elite Hussar firing carbine (FNH7), FN316 Hussar Trooper (FNH7), FN317 Hussar in Merliton Cap (FNH7), FN318 Elite Chasseur a Cheval Trooper (FNH7), FN319 Chasseur a Cheval Trooper in Shako (FNH7), FN320 Light Horse Lancer (FNH7).
Bottom row: Horses FNH3, FNH5 & FNH7. Red paint remnants are from aborted attempt at recasting!
Not shown FN148 Dragoon - which is included in Line Dragoon numbering series.

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

2009-02-26T09:05:00.001-08:00

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

2009-02-26T08:04:00.001-08:00

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.

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

2009-02-24T09:57:00.001-08:00

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

2009-02-24T08:59:00.001-08:00

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

2009-02-24T08:21:00.000-08:00

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.

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

2009-02-20T22:51:00.001-08:00

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!

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

2009-02-19T16:32:00.001-08:00

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!

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

2009-02-15T12:41:00.000-08:00

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.

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

2009-02-14T19:30:00.001-08:00

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

2009-02-14T17:25:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-14T14:16:00.000-08:00

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!

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

2009-02-09T22:58:00.001-08:00

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

2009-02-09T20:43:00.001-08:00

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!

Newly Recuited 2nd Hussar Regiment (Lamming) brigaded with Veteran 1st Hussar Regiment

2009-01-15T21:55:00.000-08:00

Recruiting the 2nd French Hussar Regiment (Lamming)

2009-01-15T20:57:00.000-08:00

Time to move on to another project - Recruitment of the 2nd French Hussar Regiment from the Lamming range of figures. By the time I had saved enough money to purchase cavalry to go with my French Napoleonic army - the Hinton figures were beginning to show master breakdown and had large amounts of flash which I was not fond of cleaning off them. At this time Lamming figures were beginning to appear with enough variations to make them worth consideration to be used instead of Hinton. The scales were not exact Lamming was a bit larger - particularly the horses - but they were close enough so I decided to purchase a large number while they were available. This was at least thirty years ago! Now the earlier figures were referred to as 20mm and the later upgraded ones were referred to as 25mm - besides the stated reason of making them "more robust" the upgraded ones were presumably also made with compatibility to the Minifigs S range which was coming on strong at the time.

I had already decided on the 33:1 ratio for troop numbers to castings and this together with an average sized French Line Light Cavalry regiment meant I needed 3 figures per company (troop) - or 6 figures per squadron. I had also decided on 3 squadrons per regiment in the case of the hussars. This meant I required 18 total cavalry figures.

Lamming produced the hussars in elite colpacks and also in shakos. I therefore took advantage of this and decided to form the first squadron as the elite company and use the colpack Figures. The first squadron comprised: one FC/15 Officer in Colpack with Horse LTs, one FC/14 Trumpeter in Colpack with Horse FH and four FC/13 Trooper's in Colpack with Horse FH.
The second and third squadrons would use the shako wearers and the second squadron was distinguished from the third by having a trumpeteer. So the second squadron was formed from: one FC/11 Officer in Shako with horse LTs, one FC/12 Trumpeter in Shako with horse FH and 4 FC/10 Trooper in Shako with horse FH. The third squadron had an extra trooper instead of the trumpeter.

Light Cavalry regiments in my armies don't take their standards on campaign which relieved me of the task of converting a figure!

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN44 Line Fusilier Kneeling

2009-01-09T20:00:00.001-08:00

This was the last figure in the Early Minifig French Napoleonic range and the subsequent figures made were all in the 'S' range.

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN43 Line Sapper

2009-01-09T19:55:00.001-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN42 Old Guard Sapper

2009-01-09T19:50:00.001-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN41 Line Infantry Drummer

2009-01-09T19:34:00.001-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN40 Line Horse Artilleryman Firing Gun

2009-01-09T19:28:00.000-08:00

Same as FN37 Guard Horse Figure with plume cut off.

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN39 Line Horse Artilleryman Holding Rammer

2009-01-09T19:23:00.001-08:00

Same as FN36 Guard Horse Figure with plume cut off.

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN38 Line Horse Artilleryman Carrying Canister

2009-01-09T19:16:00.000-08:00

Same as FN35 Guard Horse Figure with plume cut off.

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN37 Old Guard Horse Artilleryman Firing Gun

2009-01-09T19:10:00.001-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN36 Old Guard Horse Artilleryman Holding Rammer

2009-01-09T19:06:00.001-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN35 Old Guard Horse Artilleryman Carrying Canister

2009-01-09T18:55:00.000-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN34 Old Guard Foot Artilleryman Holding Rammer

2009-01-09T18:15:00.001-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN33 Old Guard Foot Artilleryman Carrying Ball

2009-01-09T18:09:00.001-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN32 Old Guard Foot Artilleryman Firing Gun

2009-01-09T18:00:00.001-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN31 Old Guard Foot Artilleryman Holding Trail Spike

2009-01-09T10:38:00.001-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN30 Line Fusilier Advancing

2009-01-09T10:27:00.000-08:00

Hinton Hunt FN5 anybody?

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN29 Line Fusilier On Guard

2009-01-09T10:21:00.000-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN28 Line Grenadier Firing

2009-01-08T10:12:00.001-08:00

Could easily be used as a Voltigeur also.

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN27 Line Voltigeur Officer Charging

2009-01-06T14:08:00.001-08:00

Note the similarity to the equivalent Hinton Hunt FN1 figure!

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN26 Line Infantry Eagle Bearer

2009-01-06T14:00:00.001-08:00

Again a good use of a basic master plus addition of flag pole instead of a pistol (FN27)

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN25 Line Voltigeur Officer Charging

2009-01-06T13:26:00.000-08:00

This figure is Identical to FN27 Line Grenadier Officer with the plume cut off - see that picture - another example of efficient use of masters!

First Minifig 20mm catalogue which incorporated Alberken figures

2009-01-06T11:56:00.000-08:00

To be continued.................

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN24 Line Fusilier Officer in Cocked Hat Charging

2008-12-23T13:52:00.001-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN23 Young Guard Tirailleur Officer Charging

2008-12-23T13:46:00.001-08:00

Exactly the same as FN22 without plume - also bend the arms to wherever you want them

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN22 Young Guard Voltigeur Officer Charging

2008-12-23T13:40:00.000-08:00

Arms could be bent as desired

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN21 Young Guard Tirailleur Advancing

2008-12-23T13:35:00.001-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN20 Young Guard Voltigeur Advancing

2008-12-23T13:19:00.000-08:00

This is interchangeable with FN20 and vice versa.

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN19 Old Guard Grenadier Officier Charging

2008-12-23T13:09:00.000-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN18 Old Guard Grenadier Advancing

2008-12-23T13:06:00.001-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN17 Old Guard Grenadier On Guard

2008-12-23T13:00:00.000-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN16 - Line Voltigeur Advancing

2008-12-20T11:30:00.001-08:00

This figure can easily be interchanged with FN15.

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN15 - Line Grenadier Advancing

2008-12-20T11:27:00.001-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN14 - Line Polish Voltigeur Officer

2008-12-20T11:01:00.001-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN13 - Line Foot Artilleryman Holding Rammer

2008-12-20T10:19:00.000-08:00

Another prepainted figure bought all those years ago from John Tunstill's shop.

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN12 - Line Foot Artilleryman Holding Bucket

2008-12-20T10:06:00.000-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN11 - Line Foot Artilleryman Firing Gun

2008-12-20T09:58:00.000-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN10 - Line Foot Artilleryman Holding Trail Spike

2008-12-20T09:48:00.000-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN09 - Line Polish Voltigeur Advancing

2008-12-18T14:10:00.000-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN08 - Line Fusilier Advancing

2008-12-18T10:46:00.000-08:00

This was probably the most commonly used Minifig figure for early wargamers in their French Armies.

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FN07 - Line Chasseur Advancing

2008-12-18T10:37:00.001-08:00

Note the sword which helps to Identify the figure from the other similar Alberken figures.

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm NFA06 - French Gun Limber

2008-12-18T00:16:00.001-08:00

Sample not currently available. but the casting was almost identical to the corresponding Hinton casting.

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm NFA03 - French 24 pdr Seige Howitzer

2008-12-18T00:08:00.000-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm NFA02 - French 5.5" Howitzer

2008-12-17T22:55:00.001-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm NFA01 - French 9pdr Field Gun

2008-12-17T22:32:00.000-08:00

From my Sample Box (3) Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm French Napoleonic Artillery

2008-12-17T21:33:00.000-08:00

This is how you bought the Alberken(Early Minifig) Artillery. On the left is NFA 2 - 5.5" Howitzer, Top is NFA 1 - 9pdr Field Gun , On the right is NFA 3 - 24pdr Siege Howitzer. Not Showm is NFA 6 - French Limber which I am trying to find among my various storage places!.
They were typical 20mm artillery pieces and overscale in the barrels but definitely usable. It wasn't until much later that we saw better scale pieces such as the superb Hinchliffe products.
These were pirated by the hundreds - one mould made all the parts - and often could not be distinguished from the originals! They also bore a great similarity to the Hinton Hunt pieces!

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FNC13 - Guard Chasseur a Cheval Charging

2008-12-17T20:59:00.001-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FNC12 - Line Hussar (Bell Top Shako) Charging

2008-12-17T20:54:00.000-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FNC11 - Dutch Guard Lancer Advancing

2008-12-17T20:53:00.001-08:00

At this time I have mislaid this figure! - when I find it I will update here.

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FNC10 - Line Infantry Mounted Colonel

2008-12-17T20:51:00.000-08:00

At this time I have mislaid this figure! - when I find it I will update here

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FNC09 - Line Light Horse Lancer Charging

2008-12-17T19:37:00.000-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FNC08 - Polish Guard Lancer Advancing

2008-12-17T19:27:00.000-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FNC07 - Line Dragoon Charging

2008-12-17T19:20:00.001-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FNC06 - Guard Mameluke Charging

2008-12-17T19:14:00.000-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FNC05 - Line Hussar (Stove Pipe Shako) Charging

2008-12-16T01:31:00.000-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FNC04 - Guard Scout Lancer Charging

2008-12-16T00:57:00.000-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FNC03 - Cuirassier Charging

2008-12-16T00:26:00.001-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FNC02 - Guard Horse Grenadier Charging

2008-12-16T00:23:00.000-08:00

Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm FNC01 - Line Chassuer a Cheval Charging

2008-12-15T23:57:00.000-08:00

From my sample box (2) Alberken(Early Minifig) 20mm French Napoleonic Cavalry

2008-12-15T23:28:00.000-08:00

These were not all Alberken but up to FNC06 was supposed to have been - it is hard to be really positive after all these years - suffice to say that as per the other Alberken figures they were all incorporated into the Minifig 20mm range. For their time I believe they were some of the nicest Cavalry around. Once again I do not have many British samples but I do have all the French that were available - there were 13 in total - I am just having a little trouble locating 2 of them at the moment - The Dutch Lancer and the Mounted General

I can be positive about the identification - even though some are obvious - because I scratched the numbers on the bases when I bought them - once again over 40 years ago!

BeJeesass I feel old!!