Polish Drummer – 2

Last night I took the plunge and had a go at converting a Hinton Hunt Polish Fusilier into a drummer. I was inspired by Steve’s lovely conversion (click here) and also by Roy’s gentle nudging to “embrace the possibilities of converting”.

So I snipped off the musket from a casting of WN.13 Fusilier, advancing and glued on a drum from a Prussian drummer then added two brass rod drumsticks. Amazingly it all went very well and I’m very pleased with the result.

Now I wouldn’t normally advocate the butchering of Hinton Hunt castings but the Prussian drummer was already missing his head (someone had previously converted him into a Nassau drummer by a bit of cut and paste) and the Fusilier wasn’t actually a vintage figure – so I think it’s all o.k.

I can see all sorts of possibilities opening up now…

Polish Voltigeur

The first of my Polish Voltigeur figures is completed at last. I’ve enjoyed painting this one, in part because it’s an excellent little model, but also because I’ve been able to explore my feminine side by finally getting to use my Foundry Shadow Pink.

I seem to be in possession of a ridiculous number of pots of Foundry paint many of which remain unopened - will I ever get to use Nipple Pink or Royal Purple? The situation is not helped by the fact that I don’t use the three-shade system when painting the Hinton Hunts, I only block paint with a single shade. However, I do get almost as much pleasure from lining up my paint pots as I do from lining up the toy soldiers, so I guess it doesn’t matter.

The remaining five figures that make up the Voltigeur Company of the 8th Regiment are almost finished as well. This is good because there are ominous rumours that a large Hinton Hunt Russian force is gathering on the east banks of the Rhine and the Emperor is anxious to have the Grand Armee up to strength.

British ADC

This is the figure that Iain sent me a while back (click here to see him in his flashy state) Hinton Hunt British A.D.C – BN/261 A.D.C in cocked hat, holding letter on Horse BNH/4. You can’t actually see the letter from this angle but I’m sure it contains some vital despatch for the Duke.

I’ve had my usual problems varnishing this one and he now has so many coats of protection that a 12pdr cannonball would bounce straight off him. This is ironic because I had planned to use him to represent William DeLancey who was fatally injured at the battle of Waterloo by just such a missile.

DeLancey was actually Wellington’s deputy quartermaster-general during the hundred days campaign and not an aide-de-camp but I wanted a figure to represent him on the Duke’s staff. However, as Hinton Hunt never produced such a model, this one will be standing in for him.

Wargames with my Brother

A few months back I started a separate blog Brother Against Brother to record the latest series of wargames between my brother and myself. We started playing with toy soldiers as kids in the early 60s with Airfix Union and Confederate troops and games were played on the carpet using dressing gowns for hills. These games were occasionally interrupted by of one of our parent’s five dogs crossing the battlefield but despite this we had a lot of fun.

Our games tend to be predominately American Civil War ones fought in 1/300th scale but there are other things in the pipeline. We fight them now on a proper wargame table (which is an improvement on the floor) but spookily we’re still interrupted occasionally by my own dog Snuff who resents the intrusion into the garage (we have to walk past her bed to get there) and does like to chip in with the odd bark during a game.

Now I know 1/300th isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but please take a look and if you like what you see remember to follow the blog (click here) because there’s a very good chance that the Hinton Hunts may show up there before too long. Right now though we’re halfway through a re-fight of Chancellorsville and things are just starting to get interesting…

Polish Drummer

Roy suggested that I add a drummer to the Polish command group by converting a French drummer. This would involved a head graft which I think I could just about manage but I’d worry about him losing his head in the heat of battle.

But then, this morning, Steve sent me this picture of a Polish drummer he converted from an advancing Polish voltigeur (WN.23). I quite like this idea as no head graft is required but it looks a bit fiddly all the same.

To be honest, I wasn’t going to bother with a drummer at all but now I feel slightly under pressure.

Mystery Poles - continued

Don sent me this picture of some of his David Clayton Poles. As you can see these ones look pretty much like regular Hinton Hunt so, as I suspected, my mystery Poles are probably not Clayton ones.

That still leaves either DK or the possibility that they are home-cast conversions. Does anyone have any photos of DK (Der Kreigspielers) Poles?

Flag Pole

Hinton Hunt never produced a standard-bearer figure for their Duchy of Warsaw range so I’m having another stab at a conversion to provide one for the 8th Regiment. I’m fortunate enough to have two officer figures WN.10 Officer charging so one of these has been sacrificed for the greater good of the regiment and had his sword removed to make way for a flagpole.

I feel a little bit guilty about cutting up a vintage figure in this way, especially as very few of the other figures in this unit will be genuine vintage ones. However, I really do like to have a flag with each unit to provide that extra splash of colour on the tabletop.

In due course I will provide him with a green-stuff hand and a suitable topping to the flagpole.