Saturday, 15 July 2017

Lovely Lützowers and the Mysteries of the Ancients

I have two things to talk about this week. They are: "what to do when hiding from hussars"; and an honest-to-goodness ancient mystery.

Estorff Evasion

 There are still no hussars to parade, I'm afraid to say, and a large part of the reason for this is depicted below.

As Rob G instantly guessed, the other reason I'd been fooling about with litewka conversions was my secret plan to paint the Königlich Preußisches Freikorps von Lützow. Well, you couldn't really paint Wallmoden's Corps and then leave them out, could you?

My converted DK 125 Prussian Foot Guards officer reveals his true colours
What made this possible was the arrival of a battalion of recast Hinton Hunt Lützower infantry conversions. These absolutely splendid bespoke castings were supplied by a Mr A. Gentleman, who wishes to remain anonymous, so if you can guess who he is please don't say so in the comments!

A recast Hinton Hunt Lützower conversion. PN 21, anyone?
My guess it that he was converted from a Hinton Hunt PN 21: Prussian Landwehr Infantry 1812-15, Landwehr Private (marching).

My own conversions of the conversions are depicted below. I've broken with precendent a bit here in that I've converted and painted the standard bearer before making the flag. I just couldn't resist painting them up to see what they'd look like.

Wellington Man recast Hinton Hunt Lützower conversion conversions.
The drummer is carrying an example of the really lovely 20mm drums made by Musket Miniatures. This is the only one I have at the moment, but I've been in touch with Kris K, the proprietor, and he's promised to send me a few more. Once again I've had a go at soldering the drum to the figure and I'm starting to get quite confident with this technique. The secret is to create the two ends of a solder "bridge" on each of the parts to be joined, and then heating them up again until they melt and fuse.

I will, I promise, get back to the Estorff Hussars eventually, but they may have to stay on the back burner for a while yet.

An Ancient Mystery

 Not content with exposing my ludicrously feeble attempts to maintain an air of mystery about what I was planning to do next, Rob G has also sent me a proper mystery, and an ancient one at that:




Rob told me they are vintage "small" 25mm figures of some description, and asked me if I could indentify the make. I didn't have a clue, but if you do, please say so in the comments.

Toodle Pip

WM

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12 comments :

  1. Neil Patterson15 July 2017 at 18:14

    Garrison. Such splendid fellows can be seen marching across the pages of Charles Grant's "Ancient Wargaming".

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  2. Phil15 July 2017 at 19:25

    Great job, love the Prussian Foot Guards figure...

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  3. Stryker15 July 2017 at 19:33

    Your Prussian conversion conversions are excellent and I look forward to seeing the whole unit in due course, well done Mr A Gentleman as well!

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  4. Rob15 July 2017 at 19:49

    In love with the Lutzow private, a really nice well proportioned and posed yet simple - elegant is what I mean - figure. The paint job is similarly elegant and precise - the white circles are scary. These little black numbers have class and style, your friend is missing out by staying anonymous as I suspect all Hinton collectors will want some.
    Thanks for the hoplite post - I though it was Garrison but none of my web searched proved fruitful.

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  5. the Archduke15 July 2017 at 20:28

    My favourite unit in the whole world, and a great lead in. Agree with everything Rob says. Those white cockades are beyond scary. They are hypnotic......

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  6. The Good Soldier Svjek15 July 2017 at 21:37

    Yes I also believe it's a Garrison figure

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  7. WSTKS-FM Worldwide16 July 2017 at 00:29

    Always a pleasure coming to your blog to see what you are up on your hobby table. The Lutzowers look great, and the Garrison (???) figure is charming. Almost enough to make lead me down the ancients path myself.

    Best Regards,

    Stokes

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  8. Wellington Man16 July 2017 at 08:22

    Thank you for you very kind comments and very expert identifications, chaps.

    I couldn't have been more delighted with Mr A. Gentleman's figures. They're tempting me to paint the Lützower Uhlan Regiment too. The Haythornthwaite "Uniforms of Waterloo" depiction of them is one of the best in the book. I may even have a go at von Lützow himself.

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  9. Matt16 July 2017 at 08:29

    Lovely work on the Prussians to the both of you! The Ancient figure is a Garrison 20mm figure {they also used to do 25mm but I think he is one of the original 20's}.

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    Replies
    1. Wellington Man16 July 2017 at 08:40

      I don't claim any credit, Matt. They were such a doddle to paint. What makes them work is the beautiful casting, the excellence of the PN 21 originals (my favourite figure, I think), and the very expert and sympathetically handled conversion work.

      Delete
    2. lewisgunner16 July 2017 at 08:58

      Its a Garrison 25mm Greek. The original 20mm Garrisons are thinner and even more 'in line!'

      Delete

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