Vintage 20 mm lines Continue to Grow

John Cunningham has provided an update on the various vintage lines he is manufacturing. He is making progress on all fronts.

Les Higgins

Two new Marlburian poses are now available:

MP 38 charging musketeer
MP 39 charging officer

They are joined by one mounted figure from the English Civil War:

EP 16 mounted cavalier bare headed waving sword

Wodensfeld

The Seven Years War French foot figures are now in full production.

Douglas Miniatures

John reports that new variants are in development. In addition, one new Marlburian mounted figure is now available:

MB 5 Horse Grenadier

Cunningham Miniatures

The Wellington in India Sepoy range has now reached 24 variants, which are available for purchase.

In addition there are several brand new offerings for the 1740s, including:

Irish Piquets (Irish troops in French service, who fought in Scotland)
a marching Grenadier
British officers
Arquebusiers de Grassin, (a specially raised force of French light infantry)

Most of these additions will be out in early August, while two poses for the arquebusiers are already available.

Finally, John also promises some Polish troops for the 17th century will be out soon.

Ral Partha vs Zvezda, Japanese Feudal Foot

The photo above compares three figures from Ral Partha (two painted, and one undercoated white) with three samurai from Zvezda (red plastic). Click on the image for a larger version.

Manufacturers’ designations:

The plastic figures come from Zvezda’s box 8017 “Samurai Army – Infantry.”

The Ral Partha models come from their “Momoyama/Tokugawa Samurai” range, and are catalogued as follows (left to right in the picture):
53-751 Ronin with sword
53-768 Samurai with spear or naginata
53-752 Ronin with spear or naginata

These Ral Partha figures are currently manufactured and distributed by Iron Wind. The catalogue numbers used by Iron Wind are as follows:

Left to right:
DH-165 Ronin with Katana
DH 179 Samurai Spearman
DH-166 Ronin Spearman

Height compatibility (measured from sole of foot to eyes):
Zvezda – 20mm.
Ral Partha – 22mm.

Body Build compatibility (from 5 categories):
Zvezda – C (Average)
Ral Partha – are a mix of C (Average) and D (Somewhat Heavy).

Overall conclusions:
The 2mm height difference is enough to make these figures mismatched. This effect is increased with certain Ral Partha sculpts which have larger heads and exaggerated weapons (see the left most metal figure as an example).

Other notes:
The Zvezda figures were traded to me by Eric Yin, along with a large number of other samples.

More Comparisons on Will's Wargames Blog

Will of Will’s Wargames Blog has recently posted a few metal/plastic comparisons for the early eighteenth century.

On his July 8 post, he looked at the Les Higgins Marlburians, some of which have also been featured on this site lately. He compared the Les Higgins cavalry figures to some Strelets mounted troops, and the foot figures to Zvezda.

Something old, something new

On July 18, Will compared Douglas Miniatures sculpts for the War of Spanish Succession, against the same plastic sets.

Douglas Miniatures WSS figures

On the same day, he also took a look at some Wodensfeld figures for the Seven Years War. This time he compared them to Revell’s SYW Austrians, as well as the Zvezda Russian infantry from the Great Northern War.

Wodensfeld Miniatures SYW French

More Marlburian foot figures from Les Higgins

Carrying on through the Les Higgins 20mm Marlburian catalogue, these figures represent some specialist foot.

The top image are all newer additions to the range, and are (left to right):

MP 26 Dismounted Dragoon in cap, kneeling
MP 27 Dismounted Dragoon in tricorne, firing
MP 34 Drummer (alternate coat)
MP 35 Generic figure, no weapon
MP 36 Generic figure, musket on shoulder

The bottom photo includes more of the original Higgins sculpts, with the exception of the last figure. From left to right, the figures are:

MP 20 (three figures) Artillery Crew
MP 18b Grenadier drummer
MP 25 Imperial Grenadier

The range is sold as single figures; orders can be placed at CunnJoh@aol.com

SHQ vs Italeri/Esci, WW2 US Infantry

The photo above compares three SHQ US GIs (unpainted metal) with an equal number of plastic figures from Italeri (originally issued by Esci). Click on the image for a larger version.

Manufacturers’ designations:

The plastic figures came from Italeri set 6063 “WWII US Paratroopers 101st Airborne,” which is a reissue of set 209 from Esci, titled “WWII US Paratroopers 82nd Screaming Eagles".

The SHQ figures come from their “WWII American Infantry, 1942-44” range. The figures come from several of the packs, as follows:

Far left: GI 23 Wounded and Two Medics
Middle: GI 25 Surgeon and Two Orderlies
Far Right: GI 24 Stretcher Party

Height compatibility (measured from sole of foot to eyes):
Italeri/Esci – 21mm.
SHQ – 21mm.

Body Build compatibility (from 5 categories):
Italeri/Esci – C (Average)
SHQ – C (Average)

Overall conclusions:
Although the figures’ height measure out to within a millimeter, it looks like a bigger difference. Up close, the plastic figures seem like bigger men, although part of that comes from slightly thicker bases. Since the metal figures chosen do not carry any weapons, the difference can be explained as natural height discrepancies. In general then, the two ranges do work fine together.