Napoleonic & ECW wargaming, with a load of old Hooptedoodle on this & that


Saturday 28 October 2017

Bavarians - Paleontology


Very old figures, laid bare. After a rather longer spell in the stripper than I had expected, at last I have some real vintage castings cleaned back to the metal. Interesting. These three chaps are (from L to R): Hinton Hunt BVN4, Bavarian private charging, and then two versions of Der Kriegspieler model No. 175 - Bavarian infantry advancing. The DK models were originally sold in a bag, with a proportional mix of variations for elite (with helmet plume) and battalion (no plume) companies - examples of each being in the picture; HH did not produce an infantryman without a plume, so we are forced to assume that Marcus intended us to remove the plumes if we cared enough. All these figures will work for line or jaeger units, by the way.

That's all good. Let's not have a discussion about the obvious DNA connection between the two makes - it's very clear that one is the inspiration of the other. I am intrigued, though - the HH man has his feet firmly planted at the corners of his base - the DK boys have their feet in the middle of two opposing sides of the base. Considering the fact that the figures are almost indistinguishable, why go to the trouble of having a different base?

My sincere thanks, again, to Stryker and Wellington Man for their generous donations of vintage figures, and to Clive and to Chuck Gibke for consultancy services. All much appreciated. I am still working on obtaining supplies of suitable castings, but at least I now know what I'm looking for. Sometime soon I hope to paint up a unit, though the extra French division which arrived recently probably takes precedence, if only to get it out of the way. No - let's not say that - it may well be that after some heavy sessions retouching the French I'll really fancy doing some Bavarians for a break!

8 comments:

  1. It may be my age (old) but these figures have a style and presence to them that modern-day figures don't.

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  2. These fellows look very much like some dudes I bought at a swap meet several years ago that I painted up as Austrians. OK figures, I built one 'advancing' and one 'marching' 24-figure units out of them. They don't go well with my Minifigs, but they make fine formation of their own.

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  3. If original figures are hard to find one option is to use JCs recast Bavarions. The list has BVN4 as well as a few other codes.

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  4. The Bavarians were some of the best DKs that were ever made, in my opinion. They're a bit flatter than the HHs, but fine figures nonetheless.

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  5. I haven't seen the Kriegsspielers Bavarians before, interesting looking figures. And I have some good news for you, the casting of the missing Falcon is done, I have the first samples.

    cheers
    uwe

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    1. Uwe - that's good news - I'll email you.

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  6. Svejk is quite right there s someting about the proportion, heft and stance if these chaps that looks right compared to more modern figures.

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  7. They look much better stripped and I'm sure their new paint job will do them proud!

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