The officer is FN/27 Officer (marching), a nice solid little figure and a genuine vintage Hinton Hunt casting to boot.
The drummer is FN/25 Old Guard Drummer, this figure wasn’t listed in my Hinton Hunt catalogue circa 1974 but does appear on ‘Additions Sheet III’. A bit weedy looking – would they have had drummer boys in the Old Guard or men? Actually, come to think of it this one is sporting a moustache!
The standard bearer is FN/24 Old Guard Standard Bearer, this figure is also listed on the later additions sheet. A bit of a disappointing figure and hard to believe this was actually sculpted by Marcus Hinton (I suspect not). The figure is almost flat in profile and the left arm holding the flag is so long that it makes him resemble Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four. I included this figure for completeness but my preferred option would have been to convert a charging officer figure if I’d had enough of them.
Really nice painting, as always - lovely job.
ReplyDeleteI'm interested to read that the drummer wasn't on the original 1974 list - I have a couple of these chaps (not as well painted as yours) that I must have bought around that date, so I wonder when it was introduced. I was unaware of additional sheets to the catalogue, and I guess i just ordered mine from the catalogue I had, but - even though I was a bit late on the HH scene - that must have been around 1974/75 at the latest.
The porte-aigle isn't bad at all - I guess this is a Clayton addition, since the ones I have are marching figures (naturally, I trimmed the flags off and used paper ones - 2000 Hail Mary's?). I've never seen one of these fellows before.
Cheers - Tony
Nicely done Ian,
ReplyDeleteI picked up some AB Old Guard myself recently.
Cheers
Paul
Great models. I did never see one of the drummers. So great to know that they exist
ReplyDeleteTony - There were 3 "additions" sheets included in the last catalogue I received from Hinton Hunt (which I think was 1974). Your comment about a marching Guard porte-aigle is intriguing. I have never seen one and the figure I have is identical to the one Clive has posted on the Hinton Hunter so I assumed this one is the original HH version (albeit mine is a later Clayton casting). Any chance you could email me a photo?
ReplyDeletePaul - can't wait to see how your AB Old Guard figures turn out!
Excellent - just what the Emperor needs!
ReplyDeleteI strongly suspect that he is a Clayton conversion of an HH officer. There was an original Old Guard flagbearer , but I do not think that his standard pole reached the ground as that would be inaccurate and Marcus Hinton would not have done that.
ReplyDeleteRoy
OK I went and looked in my boxes and found an original HH Old Guard flagbearer. He is marching with the flag held on his right side. The staff is the accurate length and does not reach the ground.
ReplyDeleteI think that this means that the figure that the Hinton Hunter site shows is wrong too?
This the figure that you have there, Ian is either a Clayton or a DK figure.
That might mean that you could happily replace the staff and cut down the arm on your figure?
Roy
Roy - Tony has just sent me a photo of one of the original OG standard bearers so you are right that mine is a Clayton version!
ReplyDeleteI don't think the flag bearer is Clayton. I bought my first charging version figure from Hinton probably around 1974 and the next from Clayton in 1997. Regards, Simon
ReplyDeleteSimon - that's very interesting, I was already coming around to thinking the figure is more likely to be DK. Thanks for the comment!
ReplyDeleteAlthough, interestingly, Marcus was prone to extend an arm and enlarge a hand to make a position fit. You can see how the original dollies were made like the 54mm figures standing with legs a little apart and arms out a little at the sides. These were then animated and if the position required it (say to grip a musket) the arm would be lengthened.
ReplyDeleteA master making friend explained to me that all you had to do was pinch the arm with pliers to extend it and then thicken up the pinched bit.
This was particularly prevalent with the Ancient ranges so the Huscarl with spear had his arm extended to grip a spear in an overhead position and then the hand increased in size to hold the spear, His left arm inside the shield is the rather weedy individual length. This led to a figure with one huge arm that could have ripped Norman knights from their saddles. For some reason the necks of the Norman knights were also extended which is strange, because I have seen Hinton's original master figure and it is in perfect proportion!
I still wonder whether the figure that you have for the OG standard bearer is a DK or a Clayton. If it is a 'new' Clayton it should have HH under the base, but done in that rather crude punched style that Clayton used?
Roy
It is strange, I have a charging version too!! He just does not look like an original HH piece.
ReplyDeleteThe clincher for me is the long pole. That is just not Hinton. He made things with short poles even if it made balance and casting more difficult.
Roy