More little men

Well there you go . I've now officially started a 15mm Marburian project- don't know where it will end- simply because I'm not one of those tedious chaps who plans out his army to the last button before starting out. Thats no fun - part of the interest is the journey, not merely the destination, actually playing with the little lead monsters is only a very small tip of a much larger intellectual iceberg and often not the most interesting tip at that. So now John has painted me some Bavarian Curassiers and Guns to go with the first infantry and is doing another infatry battalion I have a beginning. Hardly an army yet but enough for the display case at shows - my next gig being Salute in April - and yes this will expand as a chap who never really cottoned to 15mm I do like these little fellas.

More From Les.

As regular readers will know I'm something of a fan of the work of Les Higgins who died almost 40 years ago. This makes his figures hard-ish to come by. His 20mm are available again both the ECW and Marlburians as are the 25mm Naploeonics- or at least some of them . However my favourites were always the 30mm Jason range- Marlburian and ECW. as A sculptor Les could show the modern dudes a thing or 3 though uniform knowledge was not as it is now and production was more difficult then than now as well . So all in all Les'gear was pretty special and back in the day they were far too pricey for me.
However I've now collected a good few both painted and unpainted- and By God were not 1960s painting styles... er well "different" some indeed very good but some of my Jasons will be going in the stripper. I have about 100 figs now perhaps a few less mostly ECW but with a very Few of the Marburians- including Marlborough- already on this blog.
These are one of the very few ranges of figures I can actually paint faster than I can buy!!
The 2 pictures show a couple of Roundhead officer types from the same basic figure and what is almost unit.Painted as the Guards in 1660 which is more or less how they looked despite being "ECW" at the time.As I said uniform knowledge was not then as now.
Nevertheless I love the delicacy of detail and proportion so absent in many of todays models. Also of course like all "proper" figures they are metal not 2nasty plastic" - Yes I'm a metal snob and proud !!
Andy

More From Marlborough Man.

Well its dammned ticklish- just when I thought I'd sorted out how I was going to finally approach Marlboroughs wars I get stymied. I mean you don't expect it do you? A mate of mine John Reidy by name- known to at least 2 folowers of this blg- vpainted a battalion of the new Bluemoon 15mm Marburians for me - for my display case at shows. I ummedd and arred over flagging and basing them but finally did the deed- dammed fiddly it was too but worth it as you can see from the picture - yep those are 15mm. Grand paint job by John I only added the "smoke and Mirrors" but the end result is a bit tasty. Now the problem with 15mm is like any of the shorter dudes you need loads of 'em to get the effect but it has to be said that I've 25mm that didn't look this good so I think I'll have at least a few more units . This won't stop me painting those Drabant 40mm though but these little fellas are dammed tasty all the same.

Uniforms and "accuracy"

Now the New Year is upon us and I'm back at work slaving over a hot casting machine but I did manage to complete a few figures for my personal collection . Mostly 40mm 7YW Brits pictured here. I have- unusually for me based them singly on round bases for Charge type game both in Europe and more approriately in America where marching along they stand a rreasonable chance of getting a right "Braddocking" until their supporting light troops get painted.
However When I recieved these from one of my painters he'd done them in the White smallclothes Braddock had made for his 2 regiments- nothing wrong with that but I re-painted them red so I could use them for other units. This made me think a bit about wargamers and accurate uniforms- where we know them of course- My painter had made several simple errors- no facing colour on the sergeants sash indeed the sashes were closer to purple than red or crimson Officers lace was not consistant- he used both gold and silver seemingly at whim. This kind of stuff is not uncommon I always ask a painter if he has the info he needs but its not always enough. In the past I've had some true corkers- Parrot green ECW "Greencoats" French line infantry of 180 with red lapels and once a mud- brown elephantand an Iron Grey horse with yellow mane and tail . Certainly enough to make you wonder if all painters can actually read. Now most of the painter I use know their stuff or will ask so its not a problem- these 40mm came as part of a deal I did and were a long time coming. I have about another 20 or so hatemen to deal with plus a few others I picked up on ebay to go into the same unit - should be 4 companies when finished - maybe 5 . So while most of the lads I use- Jim the painter Tony Runkee Northumbrian painters etc know what they are about Ido have to keep awake.
Nevertheless making models "accurate to source" is important for my historical soul even if they campaign in fictional scenarios they have to look the part. Anyhow I can always make sure by painting them myself .

not forgettin' the Man Himself....

and finally the les Higgin Marlborough that started off this train of thought.

Marlborough man

And not a ciggie in sight.

One of the periods I've continually looked at but never actually had a proper set of armies for any length of time in is the War of Spanish Succession. I did once have a 15mm collection but sold it on when I suffered from a small bout of T.F.E. I had some nice minifigs 25mm too but never painted 'em sold those too . I've looked at the various available ranges and never really had my skirt blown up by any of them. I like the OG 25mm Infantry but am less keen on the cavalry- mainly because there are several types missing but its still a good basic range. I'm very keen on the new Bliemoon 15mm - well 18mm really but someone else will have to paint them for me also here I can't decide between the WSS or the GNW- the voting is currently going North but you never know.
I know chaps rave about the Front Rank offerings and I can see why but no the coats don't hang right and the muskets are too short they are just too stiff for my taste. As for the new plastic 28mm well less said. I'd lose the will to live building 'em they will fall to bits in the hurly burly of the table- even if careful and the photos I've seen don't convince me anyway so I'll simply pass a veil over that and move on.
So what's a chap to do ? I even have the most perfect little Marlborough to lead the allies. A lovely little Les Higgins 30mm Jason figure one of only about 20 of the range I possesand the only mounted example one of the best 30mm figures I've ever seen put a good bit of the modern stuff to shame and almost 40 years since they were last made. I'll never have an army's worth but perhaps enough to make the couple of OG regiemnt I have raise their game.
Of course there is always Drabant but that is likely to be a bit on the dear side nevertheless its tempting to do at least a small force or two just for the look of the thing. I have about 20 painted and want to do more but its a slowjob along with all the other gazillion projects but here are a few pictures of myfinished figures.
Regt Dorrington.
English Footguards
A French Dragoon
Regt Navarre
All to be added to inthe fullness of time.
Maybe one day I'll even run a Marlburian game you never know....

Russian Magic .

Now it may not have escaped your notice Gentle Reader that I'm a devotee of 40mm size models- in scale terms this works out at about 1/43rd or Railway O guage or 7mm = 1 foot.
I have a fair collection of these figures and a couple of ranges of my own aside from Sash and Saber.
Also I have Drabant Miniatures of Moscow . These are what is known as a bit tasty and I've been importing them into the UK for the last 4 or 5 years or thereabouts.
They are not cheap- about the Same price as Foundry's re-released 40mm ACW BUT IMHO far superior and Remember Moscow is a long way off so they have a way to travel - not just down the road in Nottingham.
For myself I'm slowly building a Marlburian Collection and will get around to some TYW in the fullness of time. I have a few ACW in my largely Sash and Saber Collection and our own line of Ancient Greeks was largely sculpted by the Drabant team.
So when Drabant owner Nick Bokarev sent me these pictures I thought I'd share them .
The first shows Dutch Guards of the very late 17th- early 18th century and the second a Swedish Heavy gun and crew of the Great Northern War period.