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Thursday, February 18, 2021

Updated 1/72 British Artillery Model Comparison and WIP

Updating the 1/72 Scale British Artillery Comparison Chart
 
Thanks to one of our readers I have some updated measurements and a description of how they are designated.  The diagrams below specify the length measured A-F.  Thanks to some techno-wizardry in Excel, for which I am not responsible, the cells highlighted in yellow show measurements that are within an accepted tolerance of the prototype, scaled down to 1/72.  Now if only I could get my hands on some Les Higgins artillery...



UPDATED - added Der Kriegspieler, which may be a reasonable proxy for Hinton Hunt, and CinC to the chart.  Many thanks to Rob for providing the CinC specs.  Of interest as well is that while the Airfix gun is provided as part of an RHA set, it actually scales out fairly well as a 9pdr, rather than the more typical 6pdr used by the RHA.  The gun type itself is unspecified by the set.



A comparison shot for axle width and wheel height.  Note the absence of ammunition chests on the DK gun carriages.

From left to right: Der Kriegspieler, Hinchliffe 20mm, SHQ (all 6 pdrs), Hinchliffe 20mm, Hagen, Der Kriegspieler (all 9 pdrs) - of note is that Hagen guns come with both barrel sizes, and as they are heroically scaled, the 9 pounder I have shown here is actually the smaller 6 pounder barrel, so I have taken some license to make a reasonably scaled Hagen artillery piece.


Many thanks to our benefactor who took the time to put this together!  Measuring these little buggers is a bear, so there may be some variability in the measurements presented.  If you note anything egregious let me know and I will correct.

 

Lest you think I have been idle and relying solely on the work of other, below are some works in progress


The Portuguese have finally made their way onto the battlefield at Rolica.  Having never shown up during the battle with Wellington Man, I figured if I ever got them spruced up and on proper bases, we might actually roll for the event that brings them onto the field.  Dick Tennant painted these originally so maybe I am relying on the work of others!

Pictured in the foreground is a regiment of Dragoons with a cavalry brigade commander and aide de camp, as well as the 2nd battalion of the 6th Portuguese infantry.  The 1st Battalion is on my painting desk.

Waiting in the wings for prep work is a regiment of Bavarian Chevau-Leger to accompany the 11th Von Kinkel Infantry Regiment recently completed and featured in my last post.

The aforementioned 1st battalion of the 6th Portuguese infantry getting ready to have their battle scars touched up, a little shading and highlighting, and then a good protective coat of Windsor and Newton Oil Varnish.

36 figures of the Dutch 3rd Grenadiers coming along, but on hold until the weather warms a bit.  Really excited to see how these turn out!

Here's why there hasn't been more progress on the painting front - It's really cold!

Bozie and Darla enjoying the snow.  With so little traffic they got to spend the walk off leash!

This year I decorated one of our small dogwoods with red Christmas lights and my dear one like it so much she asked to leave it up until after Valentines day.  It was beautiful to see reflecting on the falling snow this week.


18 comments:

  1. Hi David. Just a thought, I'm sure you aware that 'Old John' for whom I have painted for many years, is a prolific collector of vintage 20mm wargame figures and owns the rights to several vintage ranges including Les Higgins which he still casts and sells here in the UK? Could he help you with LH guns?

    Lovely images of your Portuguese progress. Not so keen on that snow, although it does look rather beautiful.

    Regards,
    Lee.

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    Replies
    1. Lee, are you referring to John C? He cast up some HH cavalry for me a couple of years back. I had no idea he had the rights to Les Higgins figures. Are his recasts or does he have the moulds (or do you know)? I have an over-abundance of British artillery I am afraid, so probably not an issue really, but I would love a source for a regiment or two of the Les Higgins cavalry!

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    2. Hi David, yes it's John C but he always refers to himself as simply 'Old John' in the model soldier world :) I have been painting for his vast collection for about ten years now and it all gets ploughed back into the hobby. John owns the rights and moulds to many OOP ranges, I paint a lot of Les Higgins for him, mostly War of Spanish Succession. I'll have a word with him and let you know re the Napoleonics.

      Cheers,
      Lee.

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    3. David,

      Further to my earlier comment, this from Old John:

      "Les Higgins Naps moulds and copyrights were sold some years back to a firm in Spain think name was" NapoleoN" they did start making a few then disappeared, i did try to buy moulds etc but never got a reply"

      How sad they are lost.

      Regards,
      Lee.

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    4. Thanks Lee. I used to paint for the gentleman who owned the FAA line of WWII 1/72 scale figures. I did all of his lines for promo pictures, but these days I find I have less time and a bit more income now that I am in my late 50's, so just focus on painting for my own collection. I have toyed with the idea of hiring a painter to help with the backlog of unpainted lead, but suspect I might have to wait until I win the lottery for that.

      Thanks for contacting Old John regarding the Les Higgins figures. I seem to recall reading about NapoleoN and the LH moulds at some point now that you mention it. Hopefully his refusal to sell means he will try again in the future.

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  2. What a set of treats, although if my memory serves me well, Wellington Man won Rolica with just a regiment of Light dragoons. I am a bit spooked by your programme as I am just embarking on my second Bavarian chevaux leger regiment. Rather ropier looking figures than yours, though. And, please forgive my ignorance, why can Dutch grenadiers not be painted in the cold?

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    Replies
    1. Not to worry as it may be 2022 before the Chevau-Leger see a paint brush, though hope does spring eternal! As for the grenadiers, they would be fine in the cold as they are tough old grognards, it is just the painter who is a wimp. My hobby space is in the basement garage, which is unheated and drafty. We have had record cold temperatures well below freezing all week!

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  3. Those chevau legers are nice looking casts, but only 15? Also, who are the 25mm (Hinchliffe?) cavalry behind the Portuguese on your painting bench, Ottomans?
    The artillery data is an overdue reminder that I promised you some measurements - I must go up in the loft and look them out.

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    Replies
    1. Rob, Only 15 - Hah! Beggars can't be choosers. I'm planning a regiment of 12 or 14 with a Colonel.
      The figures lurking in the background are some simply stunning Testudo 28mm(OOP)Russians for the Grunwald battle in the early 15th century. He also did Teuts, Germans, Poles and Lithuanians. There is a guy on TMP who is selling recasts, but I have no idea if he is legit. I did buy a handful of Lithuanians from him as I could not find any other source and they were very well done.
      I need to update the post anyway with some artillery comparison pictures I found as well as the DK measurements, so do please send me any additional model measurements you may have. Thanks!

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    2. I had forgotten all about the old Testudo Tannenberg range - I remember being particularly impressed with some of the Russians on their horse that looked very convincing as steppe ponies.

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  4. Excellent David, a good comparison across the ranges.

    Cheers
    Matt
    French Wargame Holidays

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  5. There are all sorts of goodies in this post, David.
    Those DK Bavarians are interesting. They look a bit like British heavy cavalry with Bavarian heads stuck onto them. I've seen this sort of thing before in the DK range - the DK 'Belgian Carabiniers' spring to mind!

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    Replies
    1. You always have such a great eye for that kind of detail WM. I had assumed they were just copies of the Hinton Hunt with a slightly modified sword. I'll take a closer look and report back. The three at the top of the picture with sword outstretched are Hinton Hunt.

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    2. Well of course you are right WM. I'll be doing a lot of cutting and sculpting to bring these DKs up to a reasonable comparison with the Hinton Hunt castings. The most egregious is the Sabretache, which the Bavarian Chevau-leger didn't even use. More work than I had hoped, but that is what keeps this hobby interesting. Thanks for the heads up!

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  6. For the record I can confirm the diminutive CinC 6pdr & 9pdr have ammunition chests but quite small. Not surprised Airfix guns scale out as 9-pdrs as they are intended for Waterloo and most of the RHA had up-gunned to 9-pdrs. The exception were, Gardiner and Webber-Smith still with 6-pdrs and Whinyates who added rockets to his 6-pdrs and Bull with his howitzers.

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  7. Your artillery pictures are going to be a big help to me when I start to put guns together from the big bag of bits that is sitting in my cupboard....
    They came as a job lot with some other toys.... I get the fear whenever I look at them 😁
    I am looking forward to seeing the finished Bavarian cavalry.

    All the best. Aly

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    Replies
    1. That is enough to strike fear into any man. Artillery bits box, good luck with that....

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