15-18 -25 -28-30 -40 and all that Jazz

A recent post on one of the Facebook Napoleonic groups set me thinking. A chap opined that Old Glory figures were "a bit smaller" than some more modern figures. Personally I wondered  OG have- to me always been somewhat in the middle of the size range bigger than some smaller than others  but usually not much in it. Now I know some fellas really REALLY obsess about this stuff  "is maker A 25mm or 26.72mm and does it match with maker B's 27.37 mm and are they measured bootlace to nostril  or  kneecap to widows peak? " It is not as if in the great scheme of things it actually matters all that much- a bit yes- sometimes but not a whole lot. 3mm is stylistically and proportionately  more of a difference between 15mm and 18mm  that 25mm is to 28mm - especially when each individual sculptor has different ideas of what actually constitutes measurement.
 However stress not ! I don't- or not about this anyway! Personally I have always though it was more about presentation than mere millimetres . Though you do have to be careful and not all makes automatically look right with all other makes but with a little care you can even put Maker As figures on Maker B's horse- which I have done in both 28mm and 40mm with - speaking personally- some success. Doing that makes you models a little more individual and less like the perryherd which cannot be a bad thing in itself unless  you like your personal collection to be like everyone else's personal collection .....

A selection of 40mm ECW figures by various makers. Sash and Saber, Drabant and Romanoff. With bits mixed up from each to create individual models

Left to right-Romanoff  Sash and Saber--Sash and Saber on Drabant horse then 2 Romanoff with Sash and Saber Scottish heads. All 40mm

2 conversions Sash and Saber  rider on  Drabant horse - but with Romanoff pistol holsters and Drabant on a Sash and Saber Horse.

Some of this I have of course covered in previous posts but it bears repeating when many many figures look just like many many other figures and with plastic it is often worse. All this before I get onto same old same old painting styles, which is of course a bit more of a minefield. Figure painters these days are 10 a penny- though good ones come a lot more expensive and there are some VERY good painters out there but many are beyond those of us who do not have a hugely thick wallet.

28mm now. Perry- I think or perhaps Warlord. Old Glory Old Glory, Elite and last the short dude is a foundry.

Stadden 30mm and Old Glory French Legere. Some chaps seem to think OG are smaller than "modern makes. I think that this selection of shots should lay that one to rest. 

Same Old Glory French Legere next to a rather chunky Front Rank 

Cavalry as always left to right Hichliffe, Old Glory, Front Rank and lastlya Stadden 30mm on a Willie horse- only this last figure looks overly large here

  Esses figure on a Formost horse. Foremost figure on Old Glory horse- again comparing to the 30mm Stadden/Willie combination 

15mm  Blue Moon Napoleonic and Command Decision Moderns. Don't have any other 15mm makes to compare. 

Now as it happens I have used professional painters - and still do- though not nearly as much as I used to. I have to say thant I find some very samey in style - a sort of "3 layered received wisdom" which sometimes works and sometimes does not. This is often merely an apeing of the "magazine style" which in my view helps to create a very samey look when added to the samey look of many of today's perr-a-like figures. Personally I like different styles - both of figures and paintwork. Variety is the spice I have always thought.

What amuses me about the selection of "28mm" pictures is that withthe exception of the Stadden 30mm and the Perry/Warlord  all of these figures were advertised as 25mm if you go back to the 1980s and early 1990s makes a bit of a mockery of all this 3mm angst does it not ?

Arrivals and Departures

Over 20 new packs of figures  available.

So those 14 boxes/grates are now unpacked. A bit slower than I'd like as I did my back in lifting the bloody things. All well now though. I have had a serious re-supply of stock  though needless to say some other items have sold out since I ordered this lot in late August./Early September. Nevertheless  over 60 back orders have already gone out and there are still a few more to do. These will be done in the next day or so. Already my next re-supply order is taking shape and will go off to the factory later this month.

The Arab cavalry - CER201

New stuff abounds ! I have a bundle of the NEW Blue Moon 15/18mm Crusade range now in stock. -Should be up as available on the website as soon as the webmistress does the deed. But in case you can't wait  here are the codes I actually have in hand
 Crusaders
CER 100 101 103  109  110 111 112 114 
which gives you all the troop types for the First Crusade as well as being a very fine collection of 11th and early 12th century European Feudal troops. I can already feel the Stephen and Matilda Civil war  in England coming on .... 

I think these little blokes would look fine in a later Norman style army.

Arabs and Turks 

CER200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210  211 213

 This lot are even more versatile if anything as you can get Fatimid, Syrian,Seljuk and Ayubid armies out of this lot and possibly some others I don't know enough  about .

 For both of these ranges there are more things to come but this little lot should

 keep chaps busy for a while. 

In addition I have a couple of new 28mm ACW packs from Sash and Saber- Cherokee mounted rifles . Packs CS18 and 18 . Lovely figures hung about with shotguns and the like. Theses two new packs in addition to the 4 new Union packs I received last time US34 35 36 37. I'm trying to coax some  photos of these new items from Sand S.

 Other items of news

 In the Blue Moon AWI range pack AMR42 Mortars had finally beed added. My fault this as I simply forgot.Also Raven Banner Flag finial pack will be added to the list of RBG products as I now have stock of these. 

That's all the news that is fit to print.  More when I have it

 Andy OGUK


PS-A few days later ..... Well all the back orders I can do have gone out and all the new stuff is now up on the site- well nearly all . A couple of Raven Banner items need to ne added.
 Andy OGUK