The Hinton Hunter

British Stovepipe Infantry

2012-01-11T18:17:00.003Z

Not a great picture, but I have finished all my early war British infantry with this two-and-a-half-battalion brigade.

Peninsular early war cavalry

2011-12-28T15:11:00.002Z

A long time following the last post, here is my completed Peninsular early war cavalry division (minus artillery and command, yet to be assigned - the Heavies will be Ponsonby's, I'm undecided about the lights - probably it will have to be Stapleton Cotton.

The Heavies are missing plumes, which seems right for campaigning, and the Spanish Dragoons are I think a conversion of the Austrian Chevauleger with a bicorned head, which have then been cast up.

I have always wondered why the rule for British Napoleonic ranges has been for them almost always to be in Belgic shakoes for the infantry and foot gunners, bell topped shakoes for light dragoons, and helmets for heavy cavalry. This tends to mean even where earlier war figures were produced, they have far fewer poses or variations, and are far harder to come by.

Stovepipe infantry, tarletoned light dragoons and bicorned heavies are far more versatile, so I am glad to have been able to add these early cavalry. I have two and a half battalions of stovepipe infantry which are the next in line for painting - that will give me 6 battalions in stovepipe, plus a battalion of marines and a naval landing party, supported by four battalions of sepoys, for my early war expeditionary forces. they also have access to vast numbers of horse artillery plus

BN 213 British Light Dragoon in Tarleton

2011-10-04T00:33:00.003+01:00

My first Napoleonics completed in a while, and the picture was not helped by needing to use the flash.

I am hopeful of eventually being able to field three regiments of these light dragoons and two of their heavy counterparts in bicornes. These will then provide the cavalry element for my early war British. I have a division's worth of line infantry in stovepipe shakos and at least a division's worth of light infantry and rifles. Just need to properly organise my French Line into pre Bardin and post Bardin divisions.

Don't use this at home...

2011-10-01T17:32:00.004+01:00

Don't be tempted to try printing these off and see if any figures arrive...

Old Shop New Shop

2011-09-24T15:43:00.002+01:00

From the oldest Hinton Hunt catalogue I have seen to date:

original contact details for the first shop
announcement of the new premises

Hinton Hunt Painting Instructions: and 1001 posts

2011-09-21T19:51:00.006+01:00

Today I have mostly been adding around 60 sets of original Hinton Hunt painting instructions to the blog. The catalogue described these a "for the collector who likes to paint his own figures" and were typescript single sheets of paper. A recent joint purchase of a big Hinton Hunt collection included a large number of these - thanks to John C for scanning these. This is the kind of ephemera which can easily disappear so I am very happy to be able to make them generally available through the blog.

After a little thought I have decided the best thing to do was to add them to individual figure posts. There are now (I think) 139 posts including these instructions - some covered four or five different figures - eg all the foot artillery poses, or 1812 fusiliers.

Searching using the "painting instructions" label will show you which posts now include these. However, I also thought it might be useful to have a list of which figures are covered so I have produced one and attached it below. It goes without saying that if anyone has copies of any further sets of these which are not represented here, I would be very glad to receive them or scans of them for inclusion here.

Although the painting instructions date back to the 1960s Marcus Hinton was a thorough uniform researcher, not least because for his 54mm collectors figures. This is also apparent from his scrapbook. The painting noted for Napoleon, his marshals and generals are particularly interesting.

While going through this exercise I also realised I needed to add a post for FN 304, French Imperial Guard Red Lancer. What I failed to realise was that this made post 1000. So I have missed the millennium, but only just.

FN 304 French Imperial Guard Cavalry Red Lancer of the Guard

2011-09-21T17:45:00.002+01:00

No picture of this figure is currently available

Coming soon...

2011-09-10T02:19:00.002+01:00

I realise it is quite a time since the last post on this blog. This is partly because most of the figures in the Hinton Hunt ranges have now been posted, so this has become more a site of record than a developing one. However, a recent joint purchase of a long standing Hinton Hunt collections has provided access to more than 60 of the original painting instruction sheets. By far the largest group are for French figures - in particular the personality figures are well covered - but there are also significant numbers of Prussian, Austrian and Russian ones, and only two British

The next set of posts will therefore be of these painting instructions, as and when I receive scans of them. The preservation of some of this ephemeral information has always been one purpose of this blog so this is a very welcome development.

I will be giving some thought over how best to present these.

The next post will also be something of a landmark anyway, as it will be the 1000th post on the Hinton Hunter. Watch this space for those painting instructions.

Napoleonic Units: Hesse Darmstadt Regiment Gross und Erbprinz, second battalion

2011-07-01T15:54:00.005+01:00

This second battalion of Gross und Erbprinz has taken an age to complete. This time I remembered to use the original Hinton Hunt painting instructions. I also used Vallejo Dark Prussian Blue to distinguish them from the first battalion (Vallejo Prussian Blue).The rank and file are Der Kriegspielers (thanks George) and command are vintage Hinton Hunts. I think I may do a mounted colonel using one of my vintage Garrison Wellington figures. The flag needs redoing now I have changed the ink cartridges in my printer.

The plan will be to brigade these together with the first battalion and the Badeners (who are still waiting for their officers). They may also find themselves operating together with the Bavarians - thanks to the generosity of Paul in Oz these now stretch to three small battalions.

Reinforcements

2011-06-08T19:14:00.004+01:00

Thanks to Paul in Oz for a number of reinforcements - first, and most marvellously, 6BN 213 British Light Dragoons in tarleton helmets - top of my list of wanted figures - if anyone has any BN 206 Heavy Dragoons in cocked hat they want to send me that would be wonderful too! I know have 6 battalions of British infantry in stovepipe shakos so having some of the earlier British cavalry gives me an reasonably sized accurate British early war/Peninsular force.

Only marginally less marvellous are 16 marching Bavarians plus officer, which will bring my Bavarians up to full Regimental (brigade) strength. I know I had an idea of painting up a spare Prussian adc as a Bavarian general, I will have to have another look at Knotel to see if this is feasible.

Equally valuable are some Russian gunners and three very nice pairs of French artillery horses. All are very valuable items in bringing some of my national contingents up to strength and I am very grateful to Paul.

I have also added the picture to the previous post for BN 213.

Pictures added - Medieval/Hundred Years war

2011-06-08T18:59:00.003+01:00

Thanks to Jim I have been able to add these pictures to the posts for three of the medieval figures:

MY 21 knight on foot with lance
MY 23 knight on foot wielding mace
MY 24 knoght on foot wielding battle axe

Marcus Hinton at work and play

2011-05-23T12:29:00.000+01:00

MILITARY MINIATURES

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Priceless Pathe newsreel footage of Marcus Hinton, tipped off to this by Paul in Oz, and beaten to putting it up by Ian at Hinton Hunt Vintage Wargames Figures blog

Click on the picture to view.

Can you ever have enough artillery?

2011-05-09T00:46:00.004+01:00

After the last three weeks, my answer is yes, especially if you have to paint them all.

Things have been quiet here on the posting front as I have been conducingd a major audit of my French and British artillery, sorting into crews, allocating guns, and painting and basing the unpainted and unbased. The results are posted below.

I had thought I had finished, but have found one extra painted British gun, for which I will paint up one further RHA crew, and also I need to paint up a small number of extra French artillery drivers.

Though I wouldn't swear to it, I think the final tally is in the region of:

French

23 guns and 3 howitzers
4 caissons
6 limbers
around 30 horses

British

24 guns and three howitzers
Siege train of 2 18 pounders and a 10" howitzer
A rocket troop in light order (pack horses rather than rocket carts)
1 ammunition limber
12 limbers
around 50 horses

Guns are a mixture of Hinchliffe 20mm, Hinton Hunt, Der Kriegspieler and Newline Designs. There are also a couple of Fine Scale factory siege guns

It has to be said that Marcus Hinton was not at his best with artillery guns and equipment - managing to get them looking chunky and underscale at the same time.

The old Hinchliffe 20mm pieces are miniature masterpieces. The best currently available substitute for Hinton Hunt guns and limbers are those from Newline Designs - a big range, and as they are small 20mm pleasingly recall the slightly undersize look of Hinton Hunt ones, while being considerably more detailed.

My French artillery arm suffers from the usual over-representation of Guard units and the absence of line horse artillery from the Hinton Hunt range. I am intending to second some Guard horse artillery units to support of my Grand Duchy of Warsaw forces.

The acquisition of 30 or so Der Kriegspieler Royal Artillery gunners helped achieve a better balance between foot and horse artillery units for the British. I am also pleased with the siege train - I will sort out some trains for these, as I have considerable numbers of Jacklex oxen which serve a bridging train and colonial artillery units, and which can easily do double duty for the Napoleonic period.

Next task is a second (Der Kriegspieler) Hesse Darmstadt battalion. This will leave me with some new Russian and Prussian acquisitions to complete; and audit of my Austrians; and then facing up to around 100 battalions of French and British infantry - and then the cavalry.... I think in the circumstances the approach of completing national contingents has worked quite well

British Artillery - Royal Horse Artillery

2011-05-09T00:42:00.003+01:00

Eleven RHA crews, all Hinton Hunt figures, serving a mixture of Hinton Hunt and Newline guns.

British Artillery - Royal Artillery

2011-05-09T00:32:00.006+01:00

Thirteen Royal Artillery crews - a mixture of Hinton Hunt and Der Kriegspieler figures - with Newline guns, including 2 howitzers (can you spot the deliberate mistake in the first photograph?)

Finally, a third howitzer crew, this time Alberken/Minifigs 20mm figures, also serving a Newline gun

British Artillery - Royal Artillery siege train

2011-05-09T00:21:00.003+01:00

Produced for the siege warfare try out with Tony over at the Prometheus in Aspic blog, the gus are a Hinchliffe 20mm British 10" howitzer and two Fine Scale Factory 18 pounders. The crews are a mixture of Hinton Hunt and Der Kriegspieler figures, and the gun emplacements are from the Italeri plastic artillery sets - these come in both the Napoleonic French and American Civil War large sets.

Bases are some of the emergency MDF sabots I had cut at my local timber merchants for our Command & Colours Napoleonic excursion. I am not sure yet whether to leave these as they are or to try to add some landscaping to the bases. I rather like them as they are.

British Artillery - Rocket troop conversions

2011-05-09T00:19:00.004+01:00

Bought on ebay a while ago, I think these may have been from Pete Bateman, but I am not sure

British Artillery - Royal Horse Artillery Limbers

2011-05-09T00:10:00.002+01:00

Eleven British Limbers and a single British Ammunition limber (on the left hand side of the front row.

Four of the limbers (two of which are on flocked, two on unflocked bases) are Hinchliffe 20mm models, the rest are Hinton Hunt. I am not sure about the ammunition limber, I suspect it is also the Hinchliffe 20mm one rather than the Hinton Hunt AL2A, as it is a much better and finer model than other Hinton Hunt artillery equipment.

British Artillery - Royal Artillery Limber

2011-05-09T00:03:00.002+01:00

A Hinchlifee 20mm limber, ridden by S Range Royal Artillery limber twins (Hinton Hunt didn't do such figures), with a Hinton Hunt driver and horses. As these are my only RA limber riders, I have only one RA limber.

British Artillery - Limbers and horse-saving system

2011-05-08T23:54:00.003+01:00

As mentioned elsewhere, because I am better supplied with limbers than horses, I have a modular system designed to stretch a limited number of horses as far as possible. Each limber has a two horse team; I then also have some extra pairs and four horse teams on separate bases, which can be added to limbers as required. My idea is that perhaps when guns are being moved this will be marked by the use of these extra teams.

The two pictures show the modular system with the teams and limbers, first separated and then closed up.

Additionally some of my limbers have longer bases to accommodate guns being towed behind them.

French Artillery - Guard Horse artillery

2011-05-08T23:43:00.001+01:00

Eight crews with Hinton Hunt guns

French Artillery - Guard Foot artillery

2011-05-08T23:39:00.006+01:00

Six Hinton Hunt crews, with Hinchliffe 20mm guns and a single howitzer, on the extreme left of the line. This crew contains one Minifigs 20mm gunner. The Guard Foot artillery have recived my best gun models, the majority of the long guns are 12 pounders.

An Alberken/Minifigs 20mm crew serving a Newline Gribeuval 8 pounder.

French Artillery - Line Foot artillery

2011-05-08T23:35:00.003+01:00

10 French line foot artillery crews mostly with Newline guns, and an 11th crew with a Der Kriegspieler howitzer (this is on the left hand side of the line).

The final picture is of an Alberken/Minifigs 20mm French Line crew, also with a Newline Designs gun

French Artillery - Caissons and Limbers

2011-05-08T23:29:00.003+01:00

Horses, drivers, and most of the limbers are Hinton Hunt.

Caissons are Hinton Hunt but are rough castings. Some of the wheels are replacements from Newline. There is also one Hinchliffe 20mm limber.

A couple of the drivers (on the extra teams for the caissons) are Guard, the others are Line. I probably need to paint up a few extra drivers so each caisson has one.

Stock Take

2011-05-04T15:01:00.002+01:00

This blog now has postings for all Hinton Hunt figures, with the exception of the very small Restoration range, and the Ancient ranges, of which I have few examples.

I have also just been through the blog to make sure all figures without pictures have been tagged with the "missing picture" label. This means you can now use this label to identify thoose figures for which I have no pictures - if you can then send me photos (or even examples of these figures!) that would help make the coverage of the blog more complete.

I also intend to continue to add pictures of painted units as I complete them - these should include Napoleonics and Medievals.

However, the cataloguing function of the blog is now as near as complete as I can get it, barring further assistance with missing pictures as above. I remain surprised and pleased how well blogger has worked to do something for which it is not designed - providing a catalogue.

The old and the new: Command&Colors: Napoleonics with vintage figures

2011-03-08T19:46:00.000Z

I'm not really sure which blog to put this on, so I'm posting it here and on Vintage Wargaming.

This weekend saw a visit almost to the Kingdom of Fife, to join Tony of Prometheus in Aspic in test playing Richard Berg's new Command&Colors Napoleonics with vintage figures - Tony's Peninsular French against my Hinton Hunt and Der Kriegspieler Russians and Prussians.

An emergency visit to my local timber merchants on Thursday morning equipped me with around 40 120mm square sabots made from 4mm MDF (£6 the lot); with these and three trays of figure we were good to go.

Others have been playing C&C: Napoleonics with figures (see Conrad Kinch's recent excursion on Joy and Forgetfulness) but the combination of Tony's hex based set up, and the vintage figures we used, made for an interesting spectacle. We played three games - the Rolica first French position and second French position scenarios to a conclusion, all within one day including lunch out and an Indian takeaway. The Russians and Prussians stood in for the British in these scenarios, using French (rather than British) unit characteristics.

The game worked well, was easy to pick up, thoroughly enjoyable and somehow seemed appropriate to the figures. Along with Tony, I wouldn't want it to be the only Napoleonic rules I ever played, but it was thoroughly enjoyable and refreshing to get three games played right through in such a short time. Plenty of surprises to keep you on the toes, and of course Tony had done all the hard work of customising the dice and cards from the game.

Here are two slideshows, one for each of the scenarios (we played the second one twice.

Battle of Rolica: French first position

Battle of Rolica: French second position

Napoleonic Units: Der Kriegspieler Baden infantry

2011-02-24T19:17:00.003Z

A bit of a curiosity, I didn't see pictures of these figures before they arrived. I was hoping, I suspect, for figures in the kasket rather than the shako; also the single breasted tunic bears no relation to any plates of Baden uniforms I have found. So I have painted as generic German State infantry in campaign mode.

Bavarian National Contingent

2011-02-08T13:20:00.002Z

A very small contingent of one and a half battalions of infantry (the charging figures are Der Kriegspieler, the rest Hinton Hunt) and a squadron of 4 chevauleger. I think I may have a spare Prussian ADC who may get pressed into service as a Bavarian General, if I can find him.

At the moment they are destined to be brigaded with Hesse Darmstadt and Baden units in a generic German formation, once the other battalions have been completed.

Saxon Zastrow Cuirassiers

2011-01-30T14:58:00.004Z

Here are pictures of the completed Saxon Cuirassiers. These are two piece castings, SXN 33 on horse SXN1. The horses in particular needed a lot of work to remove flash, but I think they have turned out ok.

Grand Duchy of Warsaw National Contingent

2011-01-30T00:46:00.003Z

Once I have worked out how to do composite pictures in photoshop, I will hope to combine these two photos into one. I think they are worth posting as they are to try to give a better impression of these units together.

The latest National Contingent is that for the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. Assembled from a number of different sources this contingent poses a few problems. These figures were already painted, to an extent, and based, in a number of different ways. They then needed to be reorganised into units and I painted around 30, mainly vintage, castings with a high proportion of officers, to complete these units, as far as possible matching the style of the other figures.

Also many of the figures are Alberken (later Minifigs 20mm). I decided to include them here to give a better impression of the whole contingent.

In theory it is based on Poniatowski's Corps in the Grand Armee of 1812, with associated units (Vistula Legion and Cavalry Reserve Corps units). I am fully aware that the consistency of basing, painting and finishing is not what I would want and at some point may revisit this, but for now i will look on this as a job done.

If I was starting again with all the figures unpainted and unbased (and I'm glad I'm not) I would maybe make sure I had all the units in the 5th Corps and forget the Vistula Legion. However, the Vistula Legion units also offer Peninsular service, which is a big plus.

I would particularly like to mention excellent service from Graham at Flags for the Lads, who acknowledged an e-mail order on a Sunday and posted it on Monday, so I received it on the Tuesday. My flags of choice are normally Rofur, but this option wasn't open for these units. Polish flags were generally tiny, so I went for Grahams large 25mm/28mm ones rather than their 15mm versions. I reduced the Vistula Legion ones (which are larger) but used the others as supplied - and am very happy with them.

I also thought it might be useful to post a picture of how I store Hinton Hunt figures. These trays are IKEA wardrobe inserts (sadly no longer available). If you want to stack them they won't work for some cavalry figures (too tall) and standards etc need to be laid on their side.

I'm also (finally) working on a cataloguing system for my Hinton Hunt units, using a spreadsheet, and unit identifiers using the stickers you can see in the tray partitions.

Grand Duchy of Warsaw National Contingent: Commander and Staff Officer

2011-01-30T00:38:00.003Z

Poniatowski and an ADC. At some point Poniatowski has lost his plume (shot away, perhaps). The staff officer is yet another repaint of the very old Rose Wellington personality figure, which has also so far provided Spanish commanders and a mounted Royal Navy officer to command landing parties.

Grand Duchy of Warsaw National Contingent: Infantry Units 1

2011-01-30T00:33:00.002Z

The first three battalions are probably the best painted units in the contingent.

Grand Duchy of Warsaw National Contingent: Infantry Units 2

2011-01-30T00:29:00.003Z

A bit of a hybrid battalion, followed by a voltigeur unit.

Grand Duchy of Warsaw National Contingent: Infantry Units 3

2011-01-30T00:24:00.002Z

Two Alberken battalions. The first one has a Hinton Hunt officer and converetd standard bearer, grenadiers and voltigeurs. The second has one Hinton Hunt officer and grenadier company.

Grand Duchy of Warsaw National Contingent: Infantry Units 4

2011-01-30T00:04:00.003Z

The first unit are Alberken Voltigeurs. This includes a good illustration of the officer - in some of the other units standard bearers are conversions of this figure.

This is a slightly understrength battalion using up the figures left over from the other units.

The only white uniformed Polish infantry unit was the 13th Infantry Regiment. I have wondered about overhauling and repainting these as another unit, but as the figures are fairly rough castings and already based, so far I have resisted the temptation'

The officer and standard bearer are converted infantrymen. The unbit also currently boasts three drummers (two of them Alberken). None of the other units have drummers - perhaps this is a reason to redo this unit and redistributre these figures. However, as this would mean at most three units with drummers, perhaps it is as strong an argument for leaving them be.

Grand Duchy of Warsaw National Contingent: Vistula Legion infantry regiments

2011-01-29T23:43:00.003Z

The majority of the rank and file of these units (with the exception of the first battalion below, and on the right of the first picture) are Alberken/Minifigs 20mm figures.

This marching battalion is entirely Hinton Hunt.

The officer is Hinton Hunt and the standard bearer is made from a charging Hinton Hunt figure.

The officer on the right hand side of the picture, the grenadier company, the standard bearer and two supporting infantry are Hinton Hunt figures, while the rest are Alberken.

The officer, converted standard bearer and two voltigeurs are Hinton Hunt figures.

Grand Duchy of Warsaw National Contingent: Artillery

2011-01-29T23:39:00.002Z

Posted for completeness of the contingent, as there is no Hinton Hunt element here - the gunners are Art Miniaturen and the gun is a Newline Austrian field piece. The Polish artillery (with the exception of the Vistula Legion, with mainly French materiel) was equipped primarily with captured Prussian and Austrian equipment generously sold to the Grand Duchy by the Emperor.

Grand Duchy of Warsaw National Contingent:Cuirassiers

2011-01-29T23:34:00.003Z

I had originally intended to use Alberken figures for the Polish 14th Cuirassiers, but instead decided to use this unit of Hinton Hunt one piece castings FN 102.

These served in the 4th Cavalry Corps, rather than Poniatowski's Corps, so I intend to brigade them with the Sazon Zastrow Cuirssiers, which are ready and will be posted here soon.

Grand Duchy of Warsaw National Contingent: Chasseurs a Cheval

2011-01-29T23:31:00.002Z

These 5th Chasseurs are FN 122 one piece castings, with plumes removed.

Grand Duchy of Warsaw National Contingent: Lancers

2011-01-29T23:22:00.004Z

These figures are not Hinton Hunt but Alberken (later Minifigs 20mm). I have a small number of separate arm Hinton Hunt Lanvers which may join the colours at some point in the future.

Russian National Contingent finished: Pavlov Grenadiers

2011-01-08T16:43:00.002Z

The last of my Russian contingent, almost two battalions of Pavlov Grenadiers. The marching figures are all nice early Hinton Hunt original castings; the charging battalion are also originals. The standard bearer is one of the conversions issued by David Clayton.

Possibly they could do with one more gun crew (they only have one, and a three man crew at that) but I now regard my Russian contingent as painted, and even catalogued. Total strength is 215 foot and 66 mounted figures, with two guns and limbers (which are Newline Designs).

Next up will be the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. These are mostly painted, I need to paint around 20-30 remaining figures and allocate them to complete units. The infantry include some Alberken/Minifigs 20mm figures. At present the cavalry resources are two regiments of lancers and one of cuirassiers, all Alberken/Minifigs 20mm figs (though I have a few Hinton Hunt separate arm lancers who I may add to this force). I am also considering transferring a Hinton Hunt Chasseur regiment.

Hinton Hunt infills

2011-01-01T15:18:00.003Z

Although one of the striking things about Hinton Hunt wargames figures was the sheer depth of the range, inevitably there were some troop types which were not covered. Over the years some collectors have developed their own converted figures which have then been cast to fill in some of these gaps.

The pictures show three types of these figures in my possession: an American Civil War officer converted from a Napoleonic French officer in greatcoat; some early Napoleonic Spanish light infantry in hussar dress; and Spanish Lancers de Cremona. The horses on these last seem to be based on medieval horses and are straight out of Bueno.

David Clayton also added figures from conversions while he was producing the range. These can be a little strange - Russian light infantry from Swedes - or in fact very poor (marching British marines made from marching French infantry with Swedish head swaps - maybe left over from the previous conversion?)

Anyway, I like these Spanish figures particularly. Other approaches have included the commissioning of compatible figures - eg the Indian Sepoys shown elswehere here, or even whole ranges, such as Ron's Hinton Compatibles here.

Hinton Hunt and Der Kriegspieler cavalry comparisons

2011-01-01T15:09:00.004Z

I was struck by a comment on Ian's post of his Battle of the Crossroads part 2 on his Hinton Hunt Vintage Wargames Figures blog, about DK cavalry's general thinness and weediness and half-starved horses. Here are two comparison pictures, of Hinton Hunt and Der Kriegspieler Russia Hussars and Cossacks, taken from the front which illustrate the almost semi-flat nature of the Der Kriegspieler figures

Russian National Contingent reinforcements: Der Kriegspieler Hussars

2011-01-01T15:04:00.003Z

Eight Der Kriegspieler Russian Hussars, painted as the Izioumski Hussars.

Russian National Contingent reinforcements: Der Kriegspieler Cossacks

2011-01-01T14:58:00.003Z

A small unit of the Der Kriegspieler Cossacks, showing the three types in each pack, two Don Cossacks leading four Bug Cossacks, in their high and smurf hats.

Russian National Contingent reinforcements: artillery team

2011-01-01T14:51:00.003Z

A bit of a mixture - Newline gun and limber, Hinton Hunt limber horses, Der Kriegspieler or Hinton Hunt artillery drivers. The two part base system accommodates a pair of horses and driver, limber and room for the gun on tow on the main base, with a second pair of horses with driver on a second base. This is the system I adopted for my British artillery, mainly as a way to stretch a limited number of horses further. Here each limber has a pair of horses, while I also have a number of additional 2- and 4- horse bases to add to the teams as required.

I have a few more Russian artillery drivers which I would be happy to swap for Russian gunners, if anyone has any spare - I would like to stretch to a second gun crew for the Russians.

Russian National Contingent reinforcements: another Der Kriegspieler infantry battalion

2011-01-01T14:46:00.002Z

Awaiting an officer and their plastidip spray coat, a second Der Kriegspieler battalion in greatcoat and soft cap.

Der Kriegspieler Brunswick Oels

2011-01-01T14:27:00.004Z

Finally painted up as the Brunswick Oels for the Peninsula, these Der Kriegspielers Brunsickers are joined by Hinton Hunt original officers and marching, charging and firing figures (the five figure from the left on the ront row).

The weather has meant it has been impossible to complete figures with their usual spray of plastidip, but some painting has been going on in the mean time.

These have the potential to become one large battalion or two normal sized battalions with the addition of the shrarpshooter companies, some of which I bought painted from the late Terry Wise.

Hinton Hunt/Der Kriegspieler Brunswick comparison

2010-11-17T17:28:00.003Z

Here for comparison are Hinton Hunt (left) and Der Kriegspieler (right) advancing Brunswick infantry. The Der Kriegspieler is slightly smaller and slighter, and has his head turned so he is looking over his right shoulder.

Brunswick National Contingent

2010-11-11T20:51:00.007Z

I've brought my Brunswickers down from the loft to photograph the national contingent and here are the Hinton Hunt ones - the S Range, Douglas, Kirk and other figures will appear on the Lone S Ranger and Old Metal Detector blogs.

My regret about the Hinton Hunt Brunswickers are that they are for the Hunrded Days Campaign - not really suitable for my preference of the Peninsula, where the earlier Polrock is preferable - this is where the figures from other manufacturers come into their own. Also Marcus Hinton made Leib Battalion (Guard) and Avant Garde but not line battalion figures.

Moving down the pictures, we have the Duke of Brusnwick, and with infantry, then the Avant Garde (not a Cubist in sight), then more infantry, the hussars, and some pictures of the massed Hinton Hunt forces.

Some of the hussars and some of the firing infantry I bought painted from Terry Wise, so they have a poignant feel to them.

I have a third battalion of unpainted der Kriegspielers waiting to reinforce this contingent.

Napoleonic Units: Nassau Battalion

2010-10-08T01:33:00.002+01:00

A picture of one of my (currently three) 20 man Nassau battalions - I have just sold a fourth on e-bay. I have had the officer in bicorn off the unit base to try to work out whether this is the Nassau Fusilier Officer or not - it is possible it might be Grand Duchy of Warsaw figure. The grenadier officer, second from left on the front row, is of course an FN 80 French Light Infantry Voltigeur officer - they get everywhere.

Napoleonic Units: Hesse Darmstadt Regiment Gross und Erbprinz

2010-09-20T18:00:00.003+01:00

This unit is made up of Der Kriegspieler rank and file, with two original (early) Hinton Hunt officer castings, together with a David Clayton figure converted to carry the standard. The two singly-based officer figures are also Clayton castings. The flag is the home brewed one from Tony's Prometheus in Aspic blog, which turned up on the day I was completing the command group.

More predictably, I painted these figures without remembering I had previously posted Marcus Hinton's painting instructions for officers and men, and the Almark Modelworld uniform article here.

Let's not be precious, my preciouses...

2010-09-19T05:04:00.007+01:00

Over on his new Prometheus in Aspic blog, Tony has posted with some trepidation what seem to me to be some entirely realistic views and experiences with Hinton Hunt figures.

Lest we get too precious about them in their current vogue, it is good to remember some words of John G Garrett from his World Encyclopedia of Model Soldiers, published by Frederick Muller Limited in 1981.

With a certain charming dryness (and writing as a model soldier collector, rather than wargamer) Garratt wrote:

"He was one of the earliest makers of wargame figures, which are still in great demand, and are of good quality when properly cast, but unfortunately many are issued that are so heavy with flash as to be unacceptable to the collector...Hinton himself is one of the characters of the trade, and in this his whimseys are aided and abetted by his wife"

Russian National Contingent: more reinforcements

2010-09-10T01:43:00.004+01:00

I don't know why but these seem to have taken a long time to finish. They are Der Kriegspieler 54 - Line Battalion 1812 in shako, on guard.

The officers are David Clayton castings (one needs his sword replacing). The standard bearer is one of David Clayton's additional figures. These standard bearers are not very aesthetically pleasing but are very ueful - I have several for other units to complete.

Crimean War Units: Russian Infantry

2010-09-03T18:28:00.002+01:00

Specially for John, here are two units of Hinton Hunt Crimean Russian infantry who could not be used as Napoleonic units.

I thought I had already posted pictures of these units - I remember taking the photos - but I can't find them anywhere.

Of course the timewarp works both ways and I expect my Napoleonic Russians in hat and greatcoats (the Der Krigspielers posted below) to appear in the Crimean ranks in return.

Russian National Contingent reinforcements

2010-09-03T16:58:00.004+01:00

A bit of lateral thinking means that these Hinton Hunt Crimean Russian infantry in greatcoat and cap (RC 14 and RC 15) will now do double duty and serve as a reinforcement battalion to my Napoleonic Russian contingent. The officer, as with the Der Kriegspieler unit posted below, is a David Clayton conversion figure.

My Russian contingent is awaiting the painting of a second Der Kriegspieler Line battalion (the figures in the first photo here), a further battalion of Pavlov Grenadiers, and squadrons of Der Kriegspieler hussars and cossacks.

Napoleonic Units: Der Kriegspieler DK66 Russian Line infantry in greatcoat

2010-09-03T16:45:00.003+01:00

Helping me take a second run at my Napoleonic Russian contingent is this Der Kriegspieler battalion, with a David Clayton conversion officer figure. Rather worryingly, after painting each man in the battalion appears to be being played by Peter Bowles...

Der Kriegspielers

2010-08-26T14:23:00.002+01:00

My Russian, Brunswick, and Portuguese contingents have recently received reinforcements in the shape of der Kriegspieler units: I have also acquired a battalion of Hesse-Darmsdadt infantry. Know I need to try to work out whether I really did keep hold of one HD officer when I sold off the few figures I had for this unit - and if so where is the safe place I put him.

Some of these are identical to Hinton Hunt figures, others are in other poses or configurations. Identifications to go with the pictures, and a few extra notes, are available over on The Old Metal Detector.

Their imminent arrival persuaded me to finally get round to painting up a typically colourful Der K unit I already had, a battalion bag of Serbian Freikorps. The officer is a David Clayton casting of a Hungarian infantry officer. Uniform is from Knotel, although there are some differences in the trouser department with these DK figures. I couldn't find a uniform reference for officers so this is a compromise based on the figure I had available and some guesswork. The infantry's coats look to be the same as Portuguese Cacadore jackets. My one regret is many of the Aladdin pointy toes had broken on these figures.

The pictures show the unit painted: the figures from a number of angles before painting; the listing for Austrian special volunteer units from a catalogue; and what a bagged Der Kriegspieler unit looks like.

Der Kriegspieler reinforcements: Russian line infantry, hussars and cossacks

2010-08-26T14:19:00.002+01:00

My Russians have been reinforced by two line battalions, and squadrons of hussars and cossacks.

Der Kriegspieler reinforcements: Austrian Jager command, Brunswick Line infantry, Portuguese Cacadores

2010-08-26T14:14:00.004+01:00

Wargames Holiday Centre: Hinton Hunt Units

2010-08-07T00:26:00.002+01:00

Mike Ingham has let me know that all the Hinton Hunt units have been sold. Should any other WHC vintage units by other manufacturers become available, they will be flagged up on The Old Metal Detector.

Painted Vintage Hinton Hunt units for sale from the Wargames Holiday Centre collection

2010-06-23T09:07:00.004+01:00

Mike Ingham has sent through the list of units he has for sale from the Wargames Holiday Centre collections and this is posted below. It contains descriptions of the units and instructions on how to bid on them if interested - please note that the sale closes on 31st July 2010 at 1800 hrs BST.

Some of the units have already been pictured on the Hinton Hunter - these posts can be found here. Mike will be taking some further pictures over this coming weekend.

The Battle of the Bernebeu

2010-06-22T14:30:00.004+01:00

This last weekend saw among other things (see siege warfare posts on Vintage Wargaming here) an outing for my Spanish and Portuguese Hinton Hunts (along with ox-drawn horse artillery, mules and ox carts). We were using Tony's hex based and computer managed Napoleonic rules, and Italian, Spanish, French, Brunswick and British units from Tony's army.

A slideshow from the battle is posted on the Old Metal Detector here.

This last weekend saw among other things (see siege warfare posts on Vintage Wargaming here) an outing for my Spanish and Portuguese Hinton Hunts (along with ox-drawn horse artillery, mules and ox carts). We were using Tony's hex based and computer managed Napoleonic rules, and Italian, Spanish, French, Brunswick and British units from Tony's army.

A slideshow from the battle is posted on the Old Metal Detector here.

Wargames Holiday Centre: original 20mm armies

2010-05-27T17:58:00.004+01:00

Mike Ingham, who bought the Wargames Holiday Centre in Scarborough from Peter Gilder, has been in touch with some photographs of the original Napoleonic units used at the Centre, before they were replaced by Hinchliffe and Connoisseur figures. Peter Gilder did buy painted figures and also had figures painted by others for the Centre. My own feeling, from comparisons with the figures I have from Peter Gilder's own Hinton Hunt French army, are that the British and Hanoverians, along with possibly the Russian and Austrian Hussars shown below, may be Peter Gilder's own work.

Mike has also sent me pictures of other units which use figures from other manufacturers - these will appear in due course on the Old Metal Detector and Lone S Ranger blogs.

The photograph shows Don Featherstone visiting Peter Gilder (or is it the young John Peel?) from Wargamer's Newsletter in 1974.

Wargames Holiday Centre: Austrian Units: Archduke Ferdinand Karl Hussars

2010-05-27T17:56:00.001+01:00

Wargames Holiday Centre: Austrian Units: Jagers

2010-05-27T17:55:00.002+01:00

Wargames Holiday Centre: British Units: 1st Foot (Royal Scots)

2010-05-27T17:51:00.002+01:00

The sergeant looks to be a conversion of an Alberken/Minigigs 20mm British infantryman with the addition of an outsize poke.

Wargames Holiday Centre: British Units: 40th Foot (2nd Somersetshire)

2010-05-27T17:47:00.003+01:00

The officers seem to have been given over-length replacement wire swords.

Wargames Holiday Centre: Dutch Belgians

2010-05-27T17:42:00.003+01:00

British infantry figures painted as Dutch Belgians, with I think a Belgian officer figure.

Wargames Holiday Centre:Hanoverians

2010-05-27T17:39:00.003+01:00

The figures are the early (1801-11) British Infantry figures. The standard bearer is a conversion of the officer figure; the other officers seem to have had replacement wire swords.

Wargames Holiday Centre: Nassau units

2010-05-27T17:33:00.004+01:00

The 1st Nassau are (I think) Austrian line infantry, with an Alberken French standard bearer, and I think a French drummer and sergeant.

The 2nd Nassau are Prussioan figures.

Wargames Holiday Centre: Prussian units - Landwehr

2010-05-27T17:31:00.003+01:00

The 2nd and 3rd Silesian Landwehr

Wargames Holiday Centre: Prussian units - Line Infantry

2010-05-27T17:29:00.001+01:00

Wargames Holiday Centre: Russian units - Line infantry

2010-05-27T17:26:00.001+01:00

Wargames Holiday Centre: Russian units - Artillery

2010-05-27T17:24:00.001+01:00

Wargames Holiday Centre: Russian units - Cossacks

2010-05-27T17:22:00.003+01:00

The original cast lances have been removed and replaced by wire ones. These units have seen 25 years' continuous action at the Wargames Holiday Centre.

Wargames Holiday Centre: Russian units - Soum Hussars

2010-05-27T17:18:00.002+01:00

Painting your Hesse-Darmstadt Infantry

2010-05-21T12:22:00.003+01:00

This article by Robert C Gibson is from Almark Modelworld magazine, October 1973

Identity Crisis

2010-03-25T18:35:00.005Z

A few weeks ago I discovered an ECW Parliamentarian dismounted general in a batch of figures I had thought were all S Range.

For the last 9 months or so I have been wearing a knee length plastic aircast boot on my left foot because of a condition called Charcot's Foot. This has always sounded like it should be an ECW regiment so in celebration of starting to gradually getting out of the cast and back to shoes over the next four weeks or so, I decided to paint up my (very small) total of Hinton Hunt ECW figures - four Parliamentarian dragoons, three Parliamentarian and one Royalist musketeers, and three gunners with one master gunner.

A flying visit by Tony led to the suggestion that the general might also provide a potential command figure for my massed Spanish guerrillas, so here he is in both contexts. What do you think?

Der Kriegspieler British Light Infantry drummer

2010-03-22T20:44:00.003Z

Though I have mostly been posting information about Der Kriegspieler figures over on The Old Metal Detector I thought this oddity was of enough Hinton Hunt interest to post here. I don't really recall any British Light Infantry drummer figures from any manufacturer (I'm sure someone will know of any there are out there). Der Kriegspieler did a number of command sets and this figure must be part of 825-154, British Light Infantry Command Group. Looks like a standard BN 12 drummer figure with a replacement Light Infantry head.

The figure has a fair amount of flash on his right arm, which should clean up nicely, and a very thin base.

Prussians on Parade

2010-03-06T18:02:00.003Z

I'm afraid I haven't got the right space and facilities to photograph large bodies of troops together. These pictures are of my completed Prussian contingent, including line, guard. landwehr and jager infantry; cuirassiers, Garde du Corp, dragoons, line and landwehr lancers, and hussars; artillery (mainly equipped with Newline guns); command and general staff; and my favourites, engineers and pontonniers equipped with HaT plastic pontoon wagons, with S Range draught horses.

The Prussians: finishing touches

2010-03-05T00:22:00.002Z

Almost the finishing touches to the Prussians - 2 more ADCs (I have one more of these but I have to find him a replacement horse) and some David Clayton castings of PN 39 Landwehr Lancer charging. This finally meets my shortage of Prussian light cavalry.

In the picture of the lancers you can see how some of the bases have not been completely formed. Six of these lancers (which came in an original pack) suffered from the back end of the lance having been bent in the mould and therefore cast on to the valise at the back of the figure. It wasn't possible to separate these so I opted for clipping them off with a pair of side cutters - this leaves the lances short and unbalanced at the rear, but this seemed preferable to mis-shapen lumps of lead attached to their lower backs.

I have now received some replacement cast arms for my separate-arm line lancers and I have to decide whether to replace the temporary solution of plastic arms from the Emhar charge of the light brigade set I used as a temporary solution on these figures. They are certainly daintier than the metal arms but I may keep them as they are for a while to see if they stand up to handling.

I feel a Prussian contingent parade and review may be coming on this weekend.

French train

2010-02-25T11:32:00.004Z

I finished these pieces of French artillery equipment for my Gilders' recent first outing. The horses, limbers, caisson and drivers are Hinton Hunt; the gun is Newline (actually the one from my Spanish "horse" artillery); and the howitzer is a Hinchliffe 20mm model, from the Peter Gilder collection.

They show the technique of leaving enough room on the base to accommodate the gun hitched behind the limber. For my British RHA I have used a variant, with limbers having a two horse team, but then having some extra bases of two- and four horse "add ons". This is partly because basing a six horse team and limber and having space for a limbered gun is unwieldy; partly because I don't have enough horses for all my British limbers at four or six horses each.

I have some Hinchliffe 25mm British baggage wagons I bought from Terry Wise once. These have teams of Jacklex oxen; the wagon is on one base, the team on another, and there is a single long sabot base they can both be placed on. The wagon's base is permanently glued to the sabot, the team is not. This would also give you the option to swap horse for oxen draught if you prefer.

As ever the usual disclainmer - this is not a painting blog, I know I am not a good painter and my style is limited to achieving as neat a block painted finish as I can manage. The idea is just to show the toys....

Russian Artillery

2010-02-21T15:53:00.005Z

The gunners are orihginal Hinton Hunt castings, the gun is a Newline Designs 20 pdr Unicorn.

I have some Russian artillery drivers and the Hinton Hunt catalogue recommended the use of the British limber horses. I have no Russian limber so have to choose between either using a Prussian or Austrian one, or seeing what the Newline one looks like and whether it would "go".

(P)Russian generals

2010-02-21T15:46:00.003Z

Here are two one piece casting generals, one RN 85 Russian General, and one PN 64 Prussian General. I have had a small exchange scheme, painting one Prussian General as Russian, and one Russian as Prussian, to give some variety to my staff figures for these two contingents. A couple of the Prussian generals are featured in a previous post, including one with a simple conversion to remove his spy-glass and replace it with a sword.

The Russians are coming

2010-02-21T15:38:00.004Z

Here are the completed RN 45 Russian Light Infantry. They are some of the extra figures produced by David Clayton; he did these by putting Russian heads on charging Swedish infantry SWN 4. While this looks slightly odd on bare castings (eg the Swedish sash), they look quite acceptable when painted. The officers are both Clayton castings too ; the one on the left of the picture is RN 34, the Clayton "extra" figure of officer in greatcoat and cap.

Prussian Command

2010-02-21T15:28:00.002Z

Some recently completed Prussian command figures for the Prussian contingent. I have some more ADCs and some David Clayton castings of Landwehr Lancers still to paint up. The figures here are all David Clayton castings. L to R PN 65 Prussian ADC; PN 60 Blucher; PN 61 Gneisenau; and for variety an RN 85 One Piece Casting Russian General, painted as Prussian, to add variety to the other Prussian OPC generals I already have.

Norman Conquest: another new picture

2010-02-21T15:25:00.003Z

Another new picture, this time of NCN 10, unarmoured Norman archer reaching for arrow in quiver. Again this is a David Clayton casting, and the picture has been added to the original post.

Norman Conquest: new pictures posted

2010-02-16T23:05:00.005Z

I have added pictures of some David Clayton castings of Norman Conquest figures - King Harold, and unarmoured fyrdmen with axe and cudgel.

These pictures have also been added to the original posts.

My Gilders' first outing...

2010-02-03T23:25:00.003Z

My Peter Gilder French cavalry had their first outing on the table this weekend, as part of a visit to Scotland play-testing Tony's computer driven hex based system for large Napoleonic actions. After a small practice encounter, the battle of San Tigre saw the British 1st Division, most of the 7th Division, Le Marchant, Anson's and von Bock's cavalry brigades fighting a defensive battle against the French 1st Division, King Joseph's Guard and a German Brigade, supported by heavy and light cavalry brigades. My Gilder Carabiniers and Chevauxleger Lancers formed part of the French forces, commanded by Tony, as did the Empress Dragoons and a Provisional Cuirassier regiment.

Inevitably, these Gilder troops miserably failed to make their presence felt on the battle: the Dragoons and Cuirassiers remained on a hill crest throughout, held in check by the threat of British cavalry action on their flank, while the Carabiniers and Lancers both suffered near 50% casualties and routed from the field.

Anson's Hussar Brigade advanced quickly and purposefully to seize the main defensive position, which was then occupied by the Foot Guards Brigade. The Hussars thereupon charged King Joseph's Guard and promptly routed off the field. My standout units were the Scots Guards, who held the village of San Tigre against all comers from two divisions, and most of all the mighty Chasseurs Brittaniques, who held off all comers from the 1st Division. Rather appropriately a unit of Ros figures, the Chasseurs belied their lowly reputation.

We had to call a halt to the action with plenty still to play for, with massed Allied (French, Spanish and German) infantry lacking room for manoeuvre and unable to crack the central defensive position, while strong British infantry reinforcements were moving up to form a second defensive line.

A cameo performance saw the Brunswick Oels occupying a wood throughout the action, and the 1st Light Battalion KGL spending the whole action in square receiving artillery fire and just one casualty.

In total the French and Allied force lost 44 figures with General de Brigade Cheminau killed and 6 units eliminated; British losses were 41 figures with 4 units eliminated. The situation was left well balanced and plenty of hard fighting would have taken place before any conclusion would have been reached. It was deja vu all over again for M Cheminau who had also perished in the morning engagement.

Thanks to Tony for a thoroughly enjoyable weekend. The rules were fascinating and my first experience of the use of blinds, which really added to the challenge and uncertainty of the game. Seeing Tony's set up has given me some inspiration to look at organising my large French and British infantry forces into a divisional structure and order of battle, to allocate commanders to the resulting brigades and divisions, to give individual units identities within this structure, and therefore to have a long term painting plan for them.

Unfortunately I forgot to take a camera so no pictures are available (perhaps just as well in the light of the performance of the Hinton Hunt units on display). A large proportion of Tony's forces were Les Higgins figures, but other manufacturers represented included Minifigs S Range and intermediate figures; Kennington; NapoleoN, Ros; and others.

Apart from the Gilders, the other other Hinton Hunt presence on the field was courtesy of two French limbers and a Caisson, which I had painted up for the occasion. Tony's 9th Cacadores, which are also Hintons, were one of the two units of the British forces not to make it on to the table.

Spanish Horse Artillery

2010-01-27T15:05:00.003Z

Long story here - I wanted a Spanish gun crew to support my (growing) Spanish Brigade. I had a spare Minifigs 20mm Austrian gun crew in bicorns and a generic Scruby officer to hand. As the Spanish artillery went over to French-style shakos by regulation of 1812 this seemed the best option - I may cobble together a crew in shakos later - as I aim generally for 1812 as this gives the option of using pre- and post- 1812 uniforms together, allowing for difficulties in supply.

The Austrians have short tailed coats, which make them more suitable as horse rather than foot artillery for the Spanish. However, I wanted a suitably chaotic extemporised limber and team, so have ended up with two Hinton Hunt oxen (H41 Portuguese long horned oxen) pulling a Hinton Hunt French limber AL 3, using a Jacklex oxen yoke. The gun is from Newline (French 6-pdr) and has been done, like the limber, as unpainted wood.The whole thing is topped off by a SN 51 muleteer (the Spanish used civilian drivers). The oxen are David Clayton castings and the muleteer is an original Hinton Hunt one.

The whole set up is a bit impressionistic but I hope is suitably characterful.

Spanish Reinforcements

2010-01-10T13:39:00.004Z

Recent reinforcements have arrived which will bring my Spanish regulars up to full brigade strength, with two line battalions and a light battalion.

The pictures are of the reinforcements fresh from painting. The light infantry are Der Kriegspieler 240 Light Infantry Battalion firing - otherwise Hinton Hunt SN 5 line infantry firing sans bayonets; the officer is a PTN 6 Portuguese Officer marching painted to match.

The line infantry figures are David Clayton castings of SN 7 Private marching.

I am also waiting reinforcements for my guerillas, which will bring them up to around 50 strong, plus my 9 muleteers with carts and mules. I have three general officers and a colonel from Rose Wellington figures (previously posted) and I am wondering about using some Minifigs 20mm Austrian artillerymen to approximate Spanish gunners to provide a supporting battery - not sure what guns to use, maybe Newline British or French 6 pounders. I do have two NapoleoN Spanish gun crews, they are nice figures but I am not 100% happy with the match, so maybe less accurate uniform detail but more compatible build may be preferable.

I have some Der K Portuguese Cacadores reinforcements too, more of these later when finished.

Looking for Austrian Cuirassiers...

2010-01-10T02:55:00.003Z

An audit of my Austrians has revealed a shortage of heavy cavalry. The only option really is the one piece casting AN 73 Austrian Cuirassier. If anyne has any spare, I have French Empress Dragoons One Piece Castings FN 60, Royal Scots Greys One Piece Castings BN 49, or British Household Cavalry One Piece Castings BN 60 to trade.

Der Kriegspieler Dismounted French Dragoon

2010-01-03T23:33:00.002Z

These thirteen figures are Der Kriegspieler foot dragoons, which clearly have been mastered from a Hinton Hunt FN 147 dragoon horseholder with the addition of a musket. They come from the DK pack code 825-45, dismountable dragoons.

They have come out looking a lot better than I expected, and will join my odds and ends of Hinton Hunt foot dragoons to form a full unit.

Swedish General

2010-01-02T13:58:00.004Z

Following Stryker's lead on Vintage Hinton Hunt Wargame Figures I have provided a General for my Swedish forces by using an Austrian General AN102. For quite a while the only one of these I had was one which someone had enthusiastically painted in enamels with a red coat. Having acquired a few more recently I decided I could spare this figure to use as the basis for a repaint job to Swedish General, and I am pleased with the results. I have also located 12 stray David Clayton castings of SWN 7 Swedish Infantryman marching, which I had forgotten I had. When these are painted up that will give me pretty much a three battalion force, so he also gets a decent command.

I have also acquired some extra Prussian personality and command figures, along with the Austrians and two Russian Generals. I plan to use one of the Russians as Prussian, to add variety, and in return paint my last Prussian General as Russian. I have also picked up some British and Prussian ADCs, and even some British Staff Corps Troopers, so I think there will soon need to be a push on command figures.

Missing Pictures: MY 32 and MY 37

2009-12-30T17:36:00.003Z

Thanks to Jim I now have these photos of these two figures. I have also added Jim's pictures to the original posts.

Some Peter Gilder Hinton Hunt items for sale

2009-12-23T01:29:00.004Z

With some regret I have decided to list a few of my Peter Gilder Hinton Hunt items on e-bay. These include 6 French one piece casting hussars FN 114, a French Old Guard Foot Artillery crew with Hinchliffe 20mm 12 pounder Gribeuval gun, and two one piece casting Guard Chasseurs a Cheval. These are a real slice of wargames history and the auctions will close on Friday 1st January 2010. I have listed them as the ultimate Hinton Hunt wargames figures and I think this is not overstating the case.

Callan: Peter Gilder Hinton Hunt figure pictures on Wargaming Miscellany

2009-12-21T19:51:00.005Z

Bob Cordery has posted some nice stills from an Act of Kindness, an episode of the Callan TV series, over on his Wargaming Miscellany blog.

These may not actually be Peter Gilder's figures, but as PG supplied the figures for the Callan film it seems at least possible, if not definitely likely. I particularly like the first picture Bob has posted, of Hinton Hunt RHA crewing what may be a Hinchliffe 20mm gun - it is certainly not a Hinton Hunt artillery piece, far too nice for that.

Having just looked at it again though I am not too sure - not quite nice enough for Hinclliffe 20mm artillery piece, maybe, and it has a limber pulled by what looks like an Airfix Indians horse. The Hinchliffe 20mm limbers, however, had no teams, so this could help support that interpretation).

The angle of the photos doesn't allow for a definite identification. I do know, from the Peter Gilder figures in my possession, that he preferred to use Hinton Hunt crews with Hinchliffe 20mm artillery pieces.

I would encourage you to use the link above to view Bob's post.

Bob has kindly sent me these pictures - I've added two to the post but still recommend you check out his interesting blog. Thanks Bob!

Next up

2009-12-15T22:12:00.005Z

Next in the queue are these Russian Chasseurs (RN 45). These are David Clayton figures . Thanks to Roy for pointing out that David Clayton produced these by converting the charging Swedish infantryman SWN 4 - the clues are the belt across the chest, and particularly the Swedish sash, which can still be seen on the Clayton Russian. The second picture shows some Swedes for comparison.

Bessieres and Soult transposed

2009-12-10T13:23:00.002Z

I have been reminded that the pictures of figures Bessieres (FN 353) and Soult (FN 357) had been transposed. I have now (finally) corrected this, although the illustration for Soult is still captioned Bessieres on the photograph. I will correct this when I am able to find the original photograph to repost.