Having failed to deliver a completed Field Battalion Bremen as promised last week, this week's post comes with a bonus Hanoverian general. He is Hinton Hunt BN 254: Lieut-Gen. Charles. Count von Alten, in General's full dress uniform, on horse BNH 11. Both figures are David Clayton castings, I believe, but are very fine.
Marcus Hinton clearly based him on the magnificent portrait of Alten that hangs in the Bomann Museum in Celle. The painting even provides an intriguing little peek at the decoration in the corner of his general officer's shabraque, which one only very rarely gets to see as paintings from the era always seem to show just the plain blue-grey shabraque cover used by British general officers on campaign. I liked this detail so much that I even had a go at incorporating it on my figure.
Alten is to command the now completed Field Battalion Bremen, with whom I am really quite chuffed, having wanted a 'thin red line' of my own for about as long as I can remember. Less successful, however, is the new shade of green I've been trialling for my tabletop. As in previous attempts, it's played havoc with the colour balance on my camera. The last shot, taken with the flash turned on, is the closest I could get to capturing anything like the actual tones. It may pay to invest in some whiter light bulbs, perhaps.
In other news, I'd like to say a big "hello" to David C, who has now embarked on his grand design to refurbish an army of Der Kriegspielers and Hinton Hunts. If you haven't seen them already, do take a look at the splendid first results on David's Miniature Minions blog.
Even more Hinton Hunt goodness is also now on show on Mark Dudley's Ilkley Old School blog. Mark's Austrians are simply stunning.
Finally, Rob G has sent me some photos of his absolutely spiffy Spencer Smiffies in action during a recent game. Further photos and one of Rob's uproariously entertaining write ups of the game should be appearing in a forthcoming addition of the Wargamers' Notebook.
Happy Easter everyone!
WM
Edit: I've added an extra shot of Alten to show his nearside. The resemblance to the painting is a lot clearer from this angle!
