Coming back from holiday I was pretty excited to see the following announcement on the The Miniatures Page (click here):
http://theminiaturespage.com/news/236073/ (click here)
...it's not every day you get to hear about a brand new range coming out, and it's even rarer to find that it will be in a scale and period that matches one of your own projects. As you can imagine then, I contacted Mike at Black Hat pretty quickly to find out how soon the figures would be available, and how they'd fit with other ranges size'wise.
The up and down of this (pleasant) conversation was that Mike sent me some samples of the new range to have a look at, so that I could see how they fitted with other examples from the range.
Well.... a nicely packaged box of samples thumped on to the front door-mat yesterday (and that's possibly the finest sound in the known world with the possible exception of either the opening chords of a Led Zeppelin concert, or perhaps the sound of a freshly drawn pint of "Pitchfork" hitting the bottom of a fresh glass!)
So - let me share some pictures with you (please click on any of them for a much bigger view)... first the infantry - front & back:
I don't have any unpainted examples from Essex at the moment, but initial impressions are that the figure does not strike me as being significantly different to these samples - certainly in it's own unit (which I always do anyway) it wouldn't stand out. He's slightly shorter than the Minifigs figure, but has a more solid presence - I particularly like the stance - very pugnacious!
I can very easily see a couple of regiments of these guys joining the ranks - and more if the painting experience is good...
Next the drummers - a significant size difference here - I neglected to compare the drummer with the other figures but will report separately on that. Of the samples provided, this is the one I like the least (NB. 5th Sept.: I've since heard from Mike that he is having this figure re-sculpted.. bodes well for a quality approach to this range of figures!)
I hadn't noticed that the Dixon figure is such a nice sculpt....
Lastly the officers & what a fine pair of characters these are! I think I'd probably trim the spear and replace it with piano wire (or similar) but these are lovely figures... I really like the fact that they're both shouting... :o)
http://theminiaturespage.com/news/236073/ (click here)
...it's not every day you get to hear about a brand new range coming out, and it's even rarer to find that it will be in a scale and period that matches one of your own projects. As you can imagine then, I contacted Mike at Black Hat pretty quickly to find out how soon the figures would be available, and how they'd fit with other ranges size'wise.
The up and down of this (pleasant) conversation was that Mike sent me some samples of the new range to have a look at, so that I could see how they fitted with other examples from the range.
Well.... a nicely packaged box of samples thumped on to the front door-mat yesterday (and that's possibly the finest sound in the known world with the possible exception of either the opening chords of a Led Zeppelin concert, or perhaps the sound of a freshly drawn pint of "Pitchfork" hitting the bottom of a fresh glass!)
So - let me share some pictures with you (please click on any of them for a much bigger view)... first the infantry - front & back:
I don't have any unpainted examples from Essex at the moment, but initial impressions are that the figure does not strike me as being significantly different to these samples - certainly in it's own unit (which I always do anyway) it wouldn't stand out. He's slightly shorter than the Minifigs figure, but has a more solid presence - I particularly like the stance - very pugnacious!
I can very easily see a couple of regiments of these guys joining the ranks - and more if the painting experience is good...Next the drummers - a significant size difference here - I neglected to compare the drummer with the other figures but will report separately on that. Of the samples provided, this is the one I like the least (NB. 5th Sept.: I've since heard from Mike that he is having this figure re-sculpted.. bodes well for a quality approach to this range of figures!)
I hadn't noticed that the Dixon figure is such a nice sculpt....Lastly the officers & what a fine pair of characters these are! I think I'd probably trim the spear and replace it with piano wire (or similar) but these are lovely figures... I really like the fact that they're both shouting... :o)
V useful post. It's interesting how well the Minifigs and Dixon figures measure up against their newer competitors...
ReplyDeleteBest wishes
Giles
Last year I painted a number of the dixon figures as a fund raising project and found them to be very nice figures. By comparison the Lancashire Games figures I'm now painting look unimpressive if not downright awkward in their nude state. however when painted and assembled enmasse they do have a certain charm.
ReplyDeleteBut I do like the look of the Black Hat line figures although I think I'd find alternative command figures for them based on the above.
good post Steve and well presented.
Cheers guys..
ReplyDelete...to "answer" Giles comment I'd say they stack up very well - there's no doubt the BlackHat infantry is a nice figure, and I'll definitely be adding some to the forces, but the Minifigs figure is very "elegant"...
Paul - the officers are very nice - it's the drummer, he's way out of scale with the others, and also with his brethren....!
Thanks for the hint on the Lancashire games figures I'll check them out - I've used these guys before as a catalyst for the Sudan project so I know what you mean about "nude state"... :o)