I had pretty well made up my mind to draw my Hinton Hunt collecting days to a close when I was overcome by ebay temptation recently (you all know the feeling!).
Until now my Spanish and Portuguese contingent has been represented by a single battalion of each (Kennington figures) a battery of Spanish artillery (Kennington) some Spanish Hussars (Kennington) and a recently completed Newline Portuguese battery.
I now have enough Portuguese and Spanish infantry figures to represent a couple of Brigades and they will keep me occupied for the rest of the year. First up will be Portuguese 18th Infantry (2nd Oporto) together with a mounted General. I chose the 18th for no other reason than they are illustrated in Philip Haythornwaite's "Uniforms of the Peninsula War" and I like their red with yellow piping facing colour.
The figures appear to be Clayton castings (PTN4) except the officer (PTN1) which looks to be vintage. The General Officer is actually French (FN224) and a reasonably copy but will paint up well as an Iberian counterpart. Incidentally I noticed that the pose of this figure is slightly different compared to others in my collection in that his head is looking distinctly to the right.
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| A 24 figure battalion plus Officer and General ready for their undercoat. |
I checked against my French General and not only is he looking more straight ahead but his horse is looking to its left - strange?
ReplyDeleteI wonder what will tempt you next after these?
I've just looked at the general with a magnifying glass to check whether the head has been moved but it hasn't. I'm also not sure now if this is a copy as the moulding detail is quite crisp.....it will remain one of the great mysteries of my life! As for future temptations who knows but after the Spanish/Portuguese I've already recruited some British Foot Guards (full dress).
ReplyDeleteHow interesting regarding the French General. I do like the modification of the head gaze. I might have to try and copy that! Your PTN 4 castings look very nice and I will be eager to see what you can do with them. I also have the 18th, which Dick Tennant originally painted. I added two mounted officers, one still in his British uniform and one in the standard Portuguese uniform with a shako converted from an SHQ figure - https://miniatureminions.blogspot.com/2021/06/a-miscellany-of-colonels-new-mom-and.html Looking forward to see what you can do with them!
ReplyDeleteNo doubt I'll be dipping into your blog David to compare notes. I may be some time painting mine as I have many distractions during the summer months.
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