ECW Madness (Off Topic #40)

It was all going so well - 89 Hinton Hunt's painted so far this year and only 5 acquired. Then I saw a couple of lots of Minifigs S-range ECW figures come up at a bargain price...

ECW1s Royalist Musketeer Firing - this is such a great figure!

ECW20s Royalist Musketeer Carrying Musket - I have quite a few of these

ECW25s Royalist Pikeman Advancing - I just love the cast-on pikes

ECW5s Royalist Officer with Sword - what's not to like about this figure?

ECW5 Royalist Officer (Sword). This is not S-range but probably from the 'intermediate' range that followed it being slightly bigger and chunkier

ECW28s Royalist Officer Attacking or Advancing - I remember this figure well as I painted 5 or 6 of them back in the early 70s

ECWC3s Cuirassier - this is a OPC that has been converted to a standard bearer with a horse that needs some TLC

This is S-range (as the saddle is attached to the rider) and the horse is marked LCH2. It could be from the Thirty Years War range or could be a remodelled ECWC3 (this is the conclusion that Clive came to on his Lone S Ranger blog).

TYW3s Thirty Years War Officer - I had one of these way back when

TYW4s Thirty Years War Standard Bearer

TYW5s Thirty Years War Drummer

Technically, as these are not Hinton Hunt castings they don't count towards the lead-pile reduction target, but in reality they are a bit of a distraction. However, this is not a major project but rather some light relief from Napoleonics and something to put in the display cabinet - honest!

Strike up the Band

A few weeks back I came across the Miniature Figurines S-range Imperial Guard Band that Tony kindly gave me a couple of years ago. Looking at the figures again it struck me it was a shame that they were hidden away in a box as they are a really charming little set and the painter had done a good job.

Now, of course, these are not Hinton Hunt but they are contemporary being from the period when Miniature Figurines produced 20mm figures. I vaguely remember seeing listings for the band set in 1970c but back then I would never have invested pocket money in non-combatants. I have no catalogue now, but the code numbers are clearly stamped on the top of the bases. This is what I have:

2 x No1 Bassoon

2 x No2 French Horn

2 x No3 Trombone

2 x No4 Serpent Horn

1 x No5 Trumpet

3 x No6 Oboe

2 x No7 Flute

1 x No8 Drum

1 x No9 Drum

1 x No10 Bass Drum

2 x No11 Cymbals

1 x No12 Triangle

1 x No13 Jingling Johnny

1 x No15 Bandmaster

Percussion section

Brass section

Woodwind section

As far as I can find out the complete band should be in three ranks of seven (percussion, brass, woodwind) plus the bandmaster. I’m a bit puzzled as to what the missing number 14 would have been – any ideas?

I didn’t repaint these as that would have been a diversion too far, so I just jazzed them up (no pun intended) by touching up the white then giving them a couple of coats of gloss varnish and basing in my house style.

Order of Battle – I have added a new page to the blog listing all my units together with links to their debut appearances. This has been useful to me in focussing my mind on gaps in the OOB’s and hopefully you’ll like perusing them too. There is a link under the ‘pages’ heading on the sidebar or just click here.