54mm cavalry

Aren’t Details figures painted?

How do other companies make 54mm cav? Does AIP use different horses, they make a lot of cav sets, don’t they? Another company makes generic horses with separate saddles.

Thanks to Rahway for a pretty comprehensive assessment where those of us who operate in 54mm stand at the moment regarding Napoleonic and SYW cavalry with the dearth of anything (yet - we all hope!) from HAT in these realms.  I have made do with what other manufacturers have been able to offer which at the moment is better for Napoleonics than SYW.

On Napoleonics I have relied largely on Expeditionary Force for British and French cavalry sets which are well sculpted and give you plenty of control over the arm and position options.  They don't stray far from this Anglo French formula though.  I have relied on Italeri in the past where the French hussar set allowed paint conversions and a few head swaps to create Russian and Austrian Hussars.  I did have a lot of lot of fun doing some conversions from Exp Force French Chevau Leger lancers to become Polish lancers, Red lancers and Vistula lancers with a replacement metal casted head with an improved helmet capska with a large plume on the top from Alexanders Toy Soldiers in the UK who obligingly supplied me with enough for 15 replacements.  From Hat's Napoleonic Russian command set I created an Austrian mounted officer with a few clippings of plastic to create a suitable crest of feathers on the bicorne for an Austrian officer.  But I needed to find a replacement horse from Britains to provide the horse.  I guess we will all need to do the same when the SYW Austrian command set emerges.  I already have some ideas for officers for HAT painted SYW armies of Prussians, Austrians, Russians, Saxons, Bavarians, Swedes I have done already.  The HAT Prussian infantry sets have been a life blood to keep any interest in SYW alive.  

On the SYW cavalry front there is very little.  The AIP I am not very convinced by because of poor sculpts of the horses and figures and the rather wooden unrealistic postures of the figures.  Although I have bought some of their infantry and artillery options which are generally a bit better - especially in the Napoleonic sets.  Which is why something from Hat in SYW cavalry and artillery would be so crucial.  I would accept what was offer from HAT for most of the main armies as dragoons, curassiers, , mounted grenadiers, hussars.  Even if not all the offerings are completely right for making conversions jobs across armies at least it would give some options to begin with which is what I have done with the Prussian SYW sets for several years.  I realise their is a lot of diversity in uniforms and horse furniture across the armies which is maybe why HAT has been so slow committing itself to cavalry sets here.  But that argument doesn't really apply to not doing much at all in artillery for either Napoleonics or SYW. I guess we just have to be patient and keep plugging away on making the case to HAT to do something.  Let's just keep at it and keep ourselves enthused about the possibilities.

May I suggest that you check out Helmet Soldiers based in Surrey, England. The kits originate from 1969 and still available. The website has over 30 x different cavalry kits in 54mm(or 1/32nd scale),mainly Napoleonic plus a few from the Crimean War plus spare parts list from a French basket hilt sabre to a Russian cuirassier combed helmet 1812. They also have British, Dutch and Belgian infantry from the battle of Waterloo period.

Great potential for any Napoleonic cavalry regiment desired with easy conversions the kits are mainly polythene that is best glued together with superglue type adhesives. I just made a Bavarian Chevaux legere light horse cavalry trooper 4th Regiment 1812 using Helmet spare parts plus a hat Bavarian infantry ruppenhelm. If you havent seen these kits before then take a look might just answer your desires, check out the website:

www.helmetsoldiers.co.uk

cheers
Dave

In addition to what others have said, for 1/32 Napoleonic period;

A call to arms makes several excellently sculpted period sets;
-French Cuirassiers
-French (post 1810) Carabiners (convert to Aust. Kuirassier)
-French Dragoons
-British Life Guard (convert to Austrian Dragoon & ChevauLeger)
-Scots Greys (Convert to French pre-1810 Carabiniers)

They are on the smaller end of the scale size-wise, but certainly 1/32 scale appropriate (especially considering even heavy cavalrymen were smaller than typical infantrymen).

Armies in Plastic’s AWI cav can be early Saxon heavy & light cav.

Armies in plastic lancers are good for Czapka-hatted lancers of all period factions/types.

Dulcop & Reamsa French cav sets (while more expensive & harder to find) also help fill out units.

Waterloo1815 French dragoons (same as Italeri) can be found at some sellers.

Timpo recasts are great for certain units & available at Toy Soldier Co

Cheers

Hi Dave (UK).  I note your comments about the Helmet figures.  I tried a few of their model kits a few years back.  I found it quite difficult to create the fluid poses I was looking for.  Getting the arm postures right by splicing through the arms and re-assembling didn't work well for me and was a nightmare gluing and setting. The same was true for the torso positions. The figures also remained very fragile and prone to coming apart.  So for me they were a bit of as failed experiment.  Maybe the glue I was using wasn't the best.  The plug in arms on the Exp Force models I find more satisfactory.

Dave

I think think you are right about the glue.  For a long time I used Evo-stick Multi Purpose Impact which seemed to work well enough for gluing HAT backpacks and arms to figures etc.  Otherwise I have moved on to Loctite 60 Sec. which is thinner and sets quicker and can be applied more sparingly and effectively.  The Loctite worked especially well for me with the assembly of the Victrix 54mm Napoleonics.  It works less well in gluing the bases of Exp Force horses to their feet where there is more need to keep re-applying pressure to the joint to get it to successfully stay together.  It's all about trial and error and finding what works best.  So it is always good to hear what the learning is from others.  Thanks for your suggestions. With superglues the tubes always seem so small and you can get through glue fairly quickly.

Paul

Hi,
How do the size of the Helmet Figures compare to other...lets say CTA British or Expeditionary force Brits? Any place in US carry Helmet?

Ref Ex Force sizing: The brits and Scots Inf are certainly larger than CTA Brits and a bit larger than Hat French sets. But the Hat French sets are pretty close to Ex Force French. In other words, the Ex Force Brit castings are minimally larger than their french inf sets.

Ex Force mounted Dragoons significantly larger than Italeri Dragoons. So different, you Cannot swop horses with riders. Ex Force much more detail and look better with seperate arm castings etc. I have some beautiful Italeri Dragoons but they cannot compare with Ex Force.
There is alot of size difference even among same manufacturers. Italeri Hussar horses bigger than Dragoon Horses. Horses with Italeri allied cmd set larger than Ital French cmd set.

Ex Force sets have wide and tall bases. I remove the bases completely from kneeling figures and reduce 50% of height and they loo a bit better next to smaller figures. I have several Ex Force Brit and French Cavalry, and the figures are near identical in size. I really like Ex Force sets and have built and painted many. Paint Adhesion is wonderful...nothing compares to it. Ex Force is working on Old Guard Inf.

For Napoleonic cavalry, AIP makes some great hussars, light dragoons, and Czapka lancers in a variety of colours. The Classic Toy Soldiers Helmeted Dragoon Cavalry (offered in blue, red, and light blue) can work for several Napoleonic (and beyond) units. I believe half the set represents cuirassiers and the other half can double as British Life Guards, French line lancers, Austrian Chevauleger, etc. depending on if they are equipped with swords or lances... Timpo also made some cavalry figures that are still available albeit in limited numbers. Italeri had some excellent French hussars and decent Dragoons. The HAT French dragoons work as well but they are on the smaller scale of 54mm. Great for conversions though! There is also ACTA and some vintage plastics like Reamsa...

Until LOD Enterprises releases their AWI cavalry, 17th-18th century 54mm cavalry would be limited to AIP and Replicants for tricorns without converting figures from what I can think of off the top of my head...

They had pictures of masters on display online - I think it was the "virtual OTSN" back in September. They looked great!  So far Ken Ciak, who bought out Barzo and launched his own line has been pretty prolific in his 54-60mm output. I had half-expected/hoped the AWI cavalry to be available by Christmas.

Hi - currently assembled three French cavalry using Helmet parts - painting them as the French 30th Chasseurs / 9th Lancers 1813-14 period in very colourful lancer uniform: green kurtka with yellow facings (collar/plastron/skirts); red button overalls with yellow outer seam stripes and black leather leg reinforcements and red lancer czapzka. All carrying metal lances with yellow over white pennons plus sabre and slung carbine.
These troops originated in Hamburg and taken into French line then converted by name to lancers. They were one of the more unusual outfits. Hoping to do a trumpeter and an officer next.
thankyou