A couple of weeks back Tony gave me two rather
unusual castings that had originally been in the Eric Knowles collection. They
are figures believed to have been converted by none other than Peter Gilder for
the famous 1965 refight of the Battle of Waterloo at the Duke of York’s
Headquarters in Chelsea.
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| As far as I can make out they are two-piece castings and meant to represent Royal Horse artillery officers. |
These are not Hinton Hunt and Tony believes they may be converted from Alberken figures. I confess that I know very little about figure types other than Hinton Hunt available in the 60s and the only Alberken horse I have does look cruder than these. I have some other horses that I think are Rose, but they don’t seem a good match either. Any ideas?
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| The famous 1965 refight of Waterloo at the Duke of York's Headquarters. All the figures here appear to be Hinton Hunt. I do like to see wargamers in formal attire. |
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| This photo from the same event is tantalising. There are two British limbers in the background and possibly some mounted figures with them but even zoomed-in it's not very clear but I like to think they may be there! |
The conversion is clever as wire reins and sword have been carefully added together with what I assume is a plasticine blanket roll (possibly hardened with the mysterious ‘banana oil’). The painting however is frankly pretty basic which is not what I would associate with Peter Gilder judging by the photos of his superb Hinchliffe figures in the early 70s. However, Matt G told me that, having seen some of Gilders ACW figures from the same era, his painting at that time was minimal. It may be that speed and quantity was the aim rather than quality.
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| "I say Mercer, haven't seen you since 65!" "Ah Ramsay, good to see you looking so well!" |
I couldn’t work out if the figures are meant to be RHA officers or just mounted RHA gunners but as a sword has been added to each, I have assumed the former. I didn’t strip them (they may well have fallen apart in the bleach) and have just repainted them sticking to the original colour scheme. Hopefully this refurbishment will see them through for the next 58 years and allow them a few more outings on a wargame table.
18 comments:
A very interesting topic IAN- yes, conversions with Plasticine and Banana Oil was indeed well before Milliput and now Green Stuff. Way back I use to use chewing gum sealed with nail polish- didn't someone say "Scarcity is the mother of invention"....all the best. KEV.
A quick retouch, a good coat of gloss varnish and voila! A couple of little gems. Who'd have thought it. As for what they are, the basic style and lack of reins makes me wonder if they might be Scruby figures but there's nothing in the catalogue like them.
Has Colenso been fought? Keeping an eye open for the AAR.
Kev, chewing gum - never heard that one before but a great idea!
Rob, Scruby is a possibility I hadn't thought of - could be.
Colenso is still on the table ready to go but it may have to wait a couple of weeks more!
Don't look like Rose horses - Rose horses are baseless two piece castings and are 'bare' in the sense they don't have moulded on reins or straps.
No idea about the figures, but the chap to the right of Tony Bath in the photo is Carl (Charles) Reavely, who co-wrote the RETASOL rules with Lionel Tarr. I had the mixed fortune of meeting Carl when I was with the Staines club, ‘refighting’ Waterloo in 1985 or thereabouts: really nice chap until he started rolling dice and Mr Hyde took over. That was his last game with us, but to his credit he sent a written apology to the club secretary. Hard to believe that was nearly 40 years ago.
Rob Y - thanks that's very helpful!
Jeffers, that's a great story and love the idea of a wargamer issuing a written apology for his mode of play!
Tastefully done, young sir - they look great!
I had wondered whether they might have once been Rose Light dragoons, but I agree with Rob Y that they don't look like Rose horses. Excellent to think they have a chance to resume active service - thanks for doing this!
Peter Gilder was a bugger for creating 'knock offs' when he first started sculpting figures. Neville Dickenson and Gilder took over the Alberken range with the express intention of selling ready painted Napoleonic units using figures that Gilder sculpted and cast. The partnership didnt last long unfortunately, the ready painted units were pretty basic, but were better than most efforts of that time, ie. the early 1960's.I think the partnership lapsed due to Peter Gilder's inability to produce enough sculpted figures.But of course both were quite fiery personalities.Could these two figures be from the range they started? If so, you are a very lucky chap.
Tony, I do think that the base figure must be a British light dragoon because of the cropped horse tail. The mystery continues!
Robbie, fascinating stuff, I didn’t know that about the ready-painted range!
You have certainly brought life back to these old timers…
Suits, sports jackets and ties… it should be the wargamers uniform 😁
All the best. Aly
He's a generous man, that Tony. I suspect I may have some of the figures in those photos, from the same source. So, is it lounge suits or black tie for battles now? Or should I just bring my pith helmet?
Thanks Aly, it was fun giving them some TLC. Yes, ties are surely a must?
Nigel, I’ll let you off with smart casual!
Crikey, I missed this post. What a fabby prezzie, and very nicely tidied up too.
Peter Gilder's factory-painted HH knock-offs came in natty red boxes labelled "Battles of Yesteryear", and the range seems to have been quite extensibe. You can still find them sometimes.
All the best
WM
What a fabulous piece of wargaming history to add to your collection. Thanks for the history lesson as well as a peek at some interesting conversions. Dick did that a lot with his figures too, and it is always challenging and fun to try a tease out what the originals were and how they were converted. You have done a great job preserving the figures and making them ready for gaming once again!
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