Tuesday 6 November 2018

Village idiot

For some reason I couldn’t resist the urge to re-base the buildings in my village. This involved removing the models from their single A4 size base and putting them on individual bases which was in line with my original concept (click here). I must admit that this work was carried out without planning permission or any consultation with the residents.


The three buildings can still be arranged together as a single built-up-area, but it gives me the flexibility to use them individually as well.


Something else I couldn’t resist recently was splashing out and buying 96 French infantry from the 1807-12 range. This was a bit of a punt as I couldn’t be sure from the photos if they were vintage Hinton Hunt or not as the seller had miscaptioned them. For once I got lucky as all the figures turned out to be vintage castings in good condition except for a dozen or so broken bayonets.

The bulk of the figures are FN244 fusilier (charging) but there
are some others which I didn't already have in my collection
such as FN16 Voltigeur (marching) in greatcoat, although the
plumes have been cut down, and also marching/charging line
grenadiers.

At a stroke this gives me a full division (three units in my organisation) of French infantry but also undoes all my progress this year - figures painted vs figures acquired. However, vintage stuff doesn’t come along all that often and certainly not at a half decent price and these reinforcements do sort of fit into my long-term plan for this project.

14 comments:

Mark Dudley said...

Part of the fun of searching for these figures is trying to find something that has been incorrectly described and then hoping no one else spots the item.

Trouble is everyone else is doing the same and I end up being outbid.

Although I did get a Hinchcliffe British Spare wheel limber and French Caisson cheaply as they were described as Hinchcliffe 4mm scale.

Excellent acquisition and good to see you have some more FN244s

Stryker said...

Mark - I was really lucky with this one as nobody else bid, that sort of thing doesn't happen very often! I really like the FN244 figure which is the one I acquired from you some years back. I have enough for 2 units so possibly another battalion of Swiss?

Ross Mac rmacfa@gmail.com said...

A good catch! (and that bit at the end didn't come across at all like a wargamer trying to rationalize and justify a purchase of figures)

Stryker said...

Ross - thanks, gosh was I really trying to do that!

Wellington Man said...

This was clearly an essential purchase and you are not rationalising at all, Ian. The French 1807-09s are simply too attractive to resist. What a brilliant find.
Best regards
WM

Stryker said...

WM - yes I was fortunate, I thought the days of such finds were long gone but it shows there's hope for us all!

Matt said...

Result!

Stryker said...

Cheers Matt!

MSFoy said...

Excellent catch - very nice indeed. You can never have too many Frenchmen - I can't remember who said that, but it's true.

The Archduke said...

Congratulations, Ian, I recently made a similar punt and found myself buying very poor copies. Fortunes of war. At least I now have a supply of replacement bayonets....

Stryker said...

Tony - yes, the Brits must have something to shoot at!

Stryker said...

Nigel - a great example of turning a negative into a positive! I've still not recovered from buying those 600 Swedes (actually turnips) 10 years ago...

lewisgunner said...

Lucky you Ian, but you deserve it!

Stryker said...

Cheers Roy!