Corvus Miniatures were a British wargames figure company that flourished briefly in the 1980s before disappearing without trace sometime after 1987 .
They produced a quite extensive range of 25mm figures that today would be called 28mm being around the same size as Foundry.
The began production in 1983 but the first advert I can find from them is in Miniature Wargames no 12
 |
Corvus advert from no 12 of MW showing 'New Releases'.
|
The company steadily added new items to its listings. Including a Dark Ages range - which I had completely forgotten about - even though I'm sure I had some of the Normans and maybe some ofthe Welsh.
 |
| Another advert- this one from MW13 |
For me the best of their ranges was the ECW- much of it based on the the then very new Haythornthwaite book published I think by Blandford, which I may still have somewhere. The range would in time become quite extensive.
 |
| The advert in MW14 announcing the ECW range. |
The next advert in MW15 shows more releases in different periods The company certainly had some ambition. My own view was that I almost always liked the figures I bought from them and found them of pretty high quality and detail.
 |
| Another ad from MW15 though they missed off the company name ! |
Though as others noted the horses tended to be on the small side.
MW18 had almost a page and a half of figure reviews from Corvus- these are the days before the internet- we used to actually read stuff back then!
 |
| The 2 pages of the review. I note that while Corvus has sunk without trace Trev Dixon is still going strong ! |
This review - also from MW this time no 21 gives a look at the models themselves. I have a couple of the officer with half pike and 10 of the loading musketeer. plus a few Pikemen - all picked up a couple of years ago second hand.
 |
| Some of the Corvus Normans. |
Another review this time from MW27 August 1985- a bundle of ECW personalities- which I never got around to buying.
December 1985 issue of MW has an advert for the 1986 'Corvus Miniatures World Team Championships run by the Derby Wargames Associates- with whom I and Old Glory UK would be happily involved sponsoring the World Team Championships during the mid 1990s and on past the millennium
Corvus' next advert in MW that I have been able to find is May 1986 and the company has moved to a new address but is still making new ranges.
The final mention of the company that I have so far found is from later in 1986 and shows their Franco- Prussian War range. This is a photo- review though the quality is no wonderful
 |
Corvus Franco- Prussian War. I seem to recall seeing some of these at a Durham Wargames Group meeting. I was a member back then!
|
The above is the last mention I have so far found. It might be telling that the address given in the review is for a shop 'The Parade Ground' in Sussex. I have a dim recollection that Corvus may have become 'Sussex Miniatures' but have not so far found any documentary evidence to support this.. The above review appears in MW39 August 1986 . I have found no more mentions of the company in MW though I do have some early issues of WI to check through. and have so far found that Corvus seem to have been taken over by
The Parade Gound, WI no1 has an advert for the Osprey World Championships 1987 which had 'The Parade Ground (Including Corvus and Tin Soldier) listed as attending the show. More info if and when I discover any.
November 8th 2023.
An addendum.
In WI no 2 October 1987. an advert for Sussex miniatures appears 'formerly the Parade Ground' stating that they now manufacture the Corvus range under the trade name of Sussex Miniatures. Now all I have to do is find what happened to Sussex Miniatures. The same Company also manufactured the Tin Soldier range so I wonder how long that connection lasted and if the current 'Tin Solder' range are the same.
I also liked Corvus but they could be a bit stiffly posed. I have been trying to bid for some on eBay today in fact, though looks like I missed out. Dark Ages ranges included Saxons, Vikings, Normans and Welsh.
ReplyDeleteOne of the peculiarities of buying these online is they disappeared so completely sellers fail to identify them as Corvus, so, if you don't know what you are looking at, you'd have difficulty tracking them down. Like many of these lost ranges, you do wonder what happened to all the moulds and masters.
I'd agree that some of the models were a bit stiff but compared to some of the other ranges available at the time they mostly showed up pretty well. I;ve also found that second had ebay sellers sometimes refer to them as 'Foundry' - a lot I bought recently contained some Corvus ECW pikemen but the whole lot was labelled foundry . my guess is that they all ended up in a skip when the Parade Ground closed but still researching that.
DeleteNot much on Lost Miniatures but nice picks of Burgundians and Swiss:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/index.php?title=Corvus_Miniatures_%28UK%29
Moulds and masters - if they don't go in a skip, they might get acquired by other companies, I found Folio Works sci-fi ended up with SHQ, when I ordered however, it turns out they don't have all the moulds......
http://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/index.php?title=Folio_Works
Neil
I checked lost minis and as you say very little in there which is why I did a bit of ferreting and came up with the pics you see. Bit more to do but I think perhaps that the bulk of the surviving info is up here now. But I could be wrong you never know.
DeleteInteresting post, I do remember them but never bought anything by them, the figures look pretty decent, be nice to know if the moulds are still in existence though I doubt it.
ReplyDeleteI had a few and they were very good, I am sure you are right about Sussex Miniatures though I can't remember buying from there.
ReplyDeleteI never bought Corvus Miniatures. But the advertisement for The Guardroom takes me back to when I visited that shop. Almost as nostalgic as visiting MiniFigs in Victoria when I first started wargaming. How sad not to have stores like that these days.
ReplyDelete