Airfix vs Ral Partha, Colonial Indian

Today's wide choice of 1/72 figures is certainly something like a golden age. But there was a time when the only plastic figures in this scale came from Airfix. The three figures on the right in this image come from that period. They are conversions of the Airfix Japanese infantry set (01718), with turbans made from plasticene, hardened by nail polish. (I think I got the idea from an issue of Airfix Magazine.) The turbans have settled a bit in the intervening years, and I didn't do a great job to start with; however they do let me provide this comparison, in case anyone is trying to supplement an army of such conversions.

The Ral Partha figure (second from left) is from the Indian Command Group (88-103), currently available from Great Endeavours.

The final figure in the picture (far left) is from Esci (reviewed in other posts). Both the Esci and Ral Partha figures were painted by Chuck Turnitsa. Click on the image for a larger version.

HaT vs B&B, Franco-Prussian French Infantry

The HaT figures (in grey above) come from HaT's set 8004 - ACW Union Zouaves. Although clearly envisioned as an American Civil War set originally, HaT tweaked this set so that it included several packs as separate items. This made it even more useful as a way to depict French Zouaves or Tirailleurs.

The metal B&B figures interspersed with them are again from set FPFI-14 (French Marines Advancing).

In this case, the two types of figures match very closely on height, but almost look like two different species otherwise. The HaT poses are remarkable slender - they look slight beside other plastic figures as well.

Click on the image for a larger version.

Revell vs Irregular, Napoleonic Mounted

Revell is one of the veteran manufacturers in the plastic soldier field. Several of their sets are highly sought after by collectors.

The figures in this photo come from set 02576 – French Mounted Guard Chasseurs. This is a very useful set for plastic gamers, as it is a source for riders in hussar gear who are not wearing the pelisse.

The picture shows that the Irregular figure (in the middle) is substantially smaller than the Revell figures. Click on the image for a larger version.

Ral Partha vs Strelets, Mounted

Following on from yesterday's posting, here is a selection of mounted Ral Partha troops, compared to a couple of plastic Strelets figures. The figures are as follows (in both pictures) left to right:

• Ral Partha, Moorish Cavalry with Spear, 42-176, from the 1200 AD range
• Strelets Scots Grey
• Ral Partha, Mounted Pathan, from the Colonial range
• Strelets Cossack
• Ral Partha, Turkish Mounted Command, 54-619, from the Condottieri range

As the pictures illustrate, the first and last RP figures are a pretty close match to the Strelets. On the other hand, the Pathan in the middle position is smaller than both the Strelets and the other Ral Partha sculpts.

(Click on the pictures for a larger image - much larger this time)

Special - Strelets v Ral Partha

There is a thread on the Strelets forum asking about some metal/plastic comparisons, and specifically, about the compatability of Strelets with old Ral Partha. Since I won't be doing any specific comparisons between these two manufacturers for a while, I thought I would post this general comparison now.


The figures illustrated are (left to right).

• Strelets officer from Crimean French Light Infantry
• Ral Partha trumpeter from Colonial British Infantry Command set (88-003)
• Strelets British Crimean Infantry
• Ral Partha Medieval Turk (probably 54-610)
• Strelets Streltsi bonus figure
• Another RP Medieval Turk (54-609)
• Another Strelets bonus figure
• Two Ral Partha Colonial Egyptian figures from the command set (88-205)
• Strelets Crimean Highlander
  

For those looking for new Ral Partha figures, the colonial range can be bought from Great Endeavours, while the ancients and medievals are now being manufactured by Iron Wind. (Links to the relevant catalogues are below.)

Iron Wind Ral Partha Catalogue

Great Endeavours Colonials List

I will post a comparison of mounted figures tomorrow. As always, click on the picture for a larger version.

B&B Franco-Prussian French Marines

B&B Miniatures is a British firm that offers 20mm ranges covering several interesting conflicts, including the Franco-Prussian War. Their coverage of that war is extensive, and figures are sold in packs with a variety of poses, some of which include head variants. The B&B website can be found here:

B&B Miniatures

The B&B troops do fit in well with some common plastic ranges, as far as height goes. However, the sculpting style is an exaggerated one, similar to what can be seen in many metal ranges in other scales. It does give the B&B troops character, but will cause some wargamers to resist mixing them into plastic armies. (I think it can be seen most clearly in the figure third from the left above.)

The image above compares some figures from B&B's "French Marines advancing" (FPFI-14) with a number of other sources for figures. More detailed comparisons will follow for the plastic figures included. The figures in the picture are (from left to right):

• Two figures from Airfix's French Foreign Legion (reissued by HaT)
• One of the B&B figures
• A HaT Zouave (nominally for the ACW, but useful for French forces as well)
• The officer from the B&B pack
• A Guard figure from Scruby
• A French Light Infantry figure from Strelets
• Another marine from B&B

As always, click on the picture for a larger version.

Esci vs Ral Partha, Colonial Indian Infantry

For the longest time, Esci was the only source for colonial troops from the Anglo-Indian army. The company only released three poses (two firing, and one running), in a set that was mainly just a re-issue of their Zulu British regular infantry. With the demise of Esci, this small source of plastic Indian troops dried up.

The situation changed in 2008 with the release of a set from RedBox. However, that set received fairly poor reviews; it is the upcoming release from HaT which is really anticipated. Previews of that set can currently be seen on the HaT website, including here:

Hat test shots

As can be seen from the picture above, supplementing the Esci figures with Ral Partha does require some flexibility on size. The Ral Partha figures dominate the smaller plastic troops.

Credit for painting all the figures in this picture goes to Chuck Turnitsa. Click on the picture for a larger version.

Strelets v Irregular, Crimean Mounted

Strelets-R produces one of the larger-sized figure ranges within the nominal 1/72nd scale family. Their figures are sculpted in a style that is more similar to typical metal ranges, then to their plastic forerunners. The majority of their boxes feature no duplicated poses.

Strelets is the first producer to take a serious run at the Crimean War. The figures here are from set 030 (Scots Greys) and 026 (Terek Cossacks). These subjects will no doubt work their way into some Napoleonic battles too.

The comparison here is pretty clear - the Irregular figure does not fit at all with the Strelets ones.

Click the picture for a larger image - and excuse the unfinished appearance of the plastic figures. I have just started to work on them.

Ral Partha Colonial Indian Infantry

To support their British regulars on the Northwest frontier, Ral Partha produced a few Indian types. Two poses of regular Indian infantry were released - standing firing, and advancing. A third pose could be found in the command group: walking with the rifle held at the hip. In the picture above, the first and last poses are shown, with an Esci figure for comparison. The final figure in the line is an Airfix Japanese infantry figure, converted by adding a turban.

In addition to Indian regulars, Ral Partha also produced Ghurkas. At this time, I do not believe that Ghurka troops for the nineteenth century are in the plans of any plastic manufacturer, so these figures are important for any plastic colonial gamer.

Again, two poses were released - an advancing pose, and a figure brandishing a khukri (the distinctive Nepalese knife). These poses are shown below (click on the pictures for bigger images).

Ral Partha did not provide new officers for these troops, so the British regular officer was the standard leader. In the image below however, there is a Jacklex officer wearing a turban. Jacklex is another metal range; I will provide a more full set of Jacklex images in future postings.

The Ral Partha figures in this post were part of the nicely-painted lot I bought from Chuck Turnitsa, while the painting of the Ghurkas is still unfinished.

Irregular vs Airfix, Napoleonic Mounted

Airfix is the founding company as far as 1/72 scale plastic troops are concerned. Their figures are still being manufactured today, and over the years have also been manufactured by other companies including Heller, AMC, IMEX and HaT. (The figures shown in this post are currently distributed by IMEX, under the Accurate brand). However, no new Airfix figures have appeared in a very long time.

The picture above compares the Irregular mounted British general with the two Airfix mounted releases: British hussars and French cuirassiers. The image illustrates the problem with assuming that even figures from the same manufacturer will be compatible. The discrepency in size between the hussars and cuirassiers is well-known. Ironically, the cuirassiers were heavy cavalry, so if anything those figures should be larger than the hussars.

Since both sets tower over the Irregular general, I have added a second image, which puts the Irregular figure on a thicker base. As you can see, even this is not enough to disguise the differences.

Incidently, I don't know who to credit for the paint job on the hussars. They are from a batch I picked up on eBay several years ago. I believe they are painted to represent the King's German Legion. Click on the pictures to get a closer look.

Irregular v HaT, Napoleonic Mounted

This image shows the Irregular general compared to an old set from HaT - their Napoleonic Cossacks. I really like the look of the Irregular figure, he seems a bit bowed down by the weight of command. However, his horse still looks like a pony compared to the plastic steeds.

I have labelled this post for the Crimean War as well as Napoleonic. Although intended for the earlier conflict, both the HaT cossacks and the Irregular general fit well in games set during the Crimea.

Though it is not my intention to showcase my painting, I can't help but be conscious of the flaws that these images reveal. In this case the bare bases really stand out. Hopefully they will be dealt with soon.

(For a closer look, click on the image.)

Irregular Miniatures Napoleonic Mounted General

Irregular Miniatures is a 20mm line currently in production. They cover historical periods from ancient times to the present, all available through their site: http://www.irregularminiatures.co.uk/

Irregular Miniatures are true 20mm, which makes them smaller than many of the other lines considered here. The picture above compares the Irregular figure with a sample of plastic cavalry figures. Click on the picture for a larger version. More detailed comparisons will follow in later posts.

The figures shown are (left to right):

• Revell (02576: French Mounted Guard Chasseurs)
• Airfix (01743: Waterloo British Cavalry - Hussars)
• Hat (8006: Napoleonic Russian Cossacks)
• the Irregular figure (BNC-1, Mounted British General)
• Strelets (030: Crimean War Scots Greys)
• Esci (218: Napoleonic "Polish Lancers" French Cavalry)

The diminutive size of the Irregular figure does make you wonder if it is closer to 15mm than to the plastic ranges above. The following photo does make a comparison to a 15mm figure (of unknown make, to me at least). Clearly Irregular is larger.

More comparisons at the Trading Department

Following up from my previous post, there is one other photo currently up at the Trading Department showing Napoleonic metal and plastic figures together. This time it is a Zvezda Russian infantry officer up against figures from SHQ and Newline Designs. (I will provide some additional other comparisons featuring these makers at a future date.)

Russians (Zvezda, SHQ, Newline)

Once again, the image was posted by Michael Epting. The Zvezda figure comes from their set #8022, "Russian Foot Artillery."

Napoleonic Comparisons at the Trading Department

The Trading Department is one of the sites that I frequent. It was established as a Yahoo group for 1/72 scale wargamers wanting to trade figures. It doesn't get a lot of traffic, since discussion takes place on other fora, but it is the best place to go if you want to trade.

Among the resources at Trading Department, is a small album of comparison photos. (At present there are ten images posted.)

You may need to obtain a membership before you can see the photos. If so, I recommend it.

Today I want to point out the four images that feature Qualiticast comparisons. They were all posted by Michael Epting - the host of the group. They are as follows:

• Qualiticast v Hat, Chausseurs a Cheval
• Qualiticast v Hat, Brunswick Infantry
• Qualiticast v Revell, Prussian Officers
• Qualiticast v Italeri, French Dragoons

In general, the pictures show that Qualiticast figures fit in with their plastic cohorts.

Ral Partha British Colonial Poses

This photo shows several of the poses available if you choose to use RPH to fill out your plastic colonial army. This group all works together as an advancing unit. There are several riflemen shown, plus a bugler and officer (with sun helmet). The second officer (in glengarry) is also from Ral Partha, but I think came from a different range.

The painted figures also come from Chuck Turnitsa.

Advancing figures were a staple for RPH, as we will see when we turn our attention to other groups. For the British regulars though, the only other poses are the standing firing pose (seen in other comparison posts in this blog), and a mounted officer (to be reviewed later).

While Ral Partha no longer produces figures, the Colonial ranges have been bought by Great Endeavours, and you can purchase them here: Great Endeavours