Thursday 29 January 2009

Austrian Hussars (Part 2)

These are more of the Austrian cavalry figures sent to me by Don from the USA. I have given them the same treatment as I did with the squadron of the 6th Blankenstein Regiment. I have re-touched the paintwork where it was needed and painted socks on the legs of the horses to hide the bits of paint I accidentally chipped whilst scraping away the old flock from their bases. The figures have been painted to represent troopers of the 4th Vecsey Regiment.

I am 99% sure that all six of these figures are vintage Hinton Hunt castings of AN81 Austrian Hussar (mounted charging). It’s possible that they are Clayton produced castings but I think this is unlikely given the provenance of the figures. I was unsure about two of the castings in my other squadron and I now believe those to be DK (Der Kreigspieler). DK was a USA maker many of whose figures bore an uncanny resemblance to those of Hinton Hunt.

Those of you who have read back through this blog will know that the objective of this project was to collect and re-paint enough vintage Hinton Hunt castings to create two wargame armies. I have already digressed in a couple of areas by including some pirated figures as well as the more recent Clayton produced ones. To this I must now admit to the odd DK interloper and of course the fact that I have not stripped and re-painted Don’s figures. The thing is that I now have so many unpainted (or poorly painted) castings awaiting attention that it does seem crazy to strip and re-paint figures that are already finished in a style that blends in with my own. So the new rule is – if it ain’t broke don’t fix it!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

They look like they fit in perfectly with your other figures. What will you do with all that "free time"?

Matt

P.s. Austrian hussars..the "snazziest" hussars ever?

Stryker said...

Matt - I'll probably use it to paint the 800 or so castings that do need repainting! The Austrian Hussars are definitely snazzy - with what other force do you get to use Parrot green?

Ian

lewisgunner said...

Strange is it not that their infantry colour scheme is so delightfully simple and yet the hussars are so gaily coloured.

I think that you are absolutely right to keep well painted figures in their existing coat or just to touch them up as necessary. Soimetimes the old painting has real charm. Often though its into the nitromors!

Roy

Sharon said...

Matt
Please don't worry about Ian's 'free time', there are plenty of things for him to do that don't involve painting (or at least not soldiers).
Sharon (Ian's wife)

Stryker said...

Oh Matt - now look what you've done!

Ian

Anonymous said...

Sorreeee!

Matt

WSTKS-FM Worldwide said...

More photos! More photos!

Best Regards,

Stokes