Tag Archives: 28mm

Splintered Light Miniatures

A contingent of mice from the 28mm Hedgerows and Heroes collection from Splintered Light Miniatures.

A manufacturer in Georgia of all places. Mostly fantasy figures and those primarily in 15mm/18mm. There is also a range of 15mm figures from the Dark Ages and a couple of fantasy rule sets.

the figures are easy to paint with detail at a reasonable level and well set off. If you are looking for the elusive army of squirrels or ducks, they have it.

Confederate Infantry

I have gone for economy and speed in assembling a force of larger scale ACW Confederate figures opting for hard plastic. The price is low especially if you can find someone discarding sets. Painting is as fast as I can make it si is somewhat rough.

A bunch of Perry miniatures from their Civil War infantry set painted as CSA infantry. These miniatures are hard plastic without the nice undercuts of metal miniatures but lighter and cheaper. Assembly is needed, attaching hats and occasionally arms. The figures are lighter and cheaper than metal and a few boxes provide a reasonable number of figures. I have yet to attach flags.
A closer view of some of the Perry figures including a piece from the Civil War artillery set. The barrel of the gun is not attached and can be exchanged for other barrels provided.

Hinchliffe 25mm English Civil War Cavalry

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In its time, Hinchliffe produced some of the best historical ranges of figures available. Here are 2 rows of cavalry figures, medium cavalry in back, dragoons in the front. With cavalry, Hinchliffe offered a choice of horses, heavy or light, standing or running. Facial detail is limited but proportions are reasonable. By current standards, a bit toy like but still impressive.

These were painted around the time that acrylic paints began to replace enamels and oils. One of the most noticeable differences is the brilliance of the acrylics. The figures are now over 30 years old with decaying matt board bases and chips and bends but the brilliance of the original paint still shows through.

Warhammer 40K

Here are some old figures from the Rogue Trader era. The Space Orcs had a curious Nazi biker quality to them. Citadel’s earlier use of metal figures as opposed to plastic seemed to allow a scope to added personality that seems lost now. The newer plastic figures draw variety from interchangeable heads and arms.
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Perhaps even more interesting are the Squats. There used to be a nice range of these figures, cleverly sculpted with lots of personality. However, Games Workshop decided to shelve the Squats apparently because they did not mesh with the 40K world and possibly because they gave the game the appearance of a light work-over of the original Warhammer universe now simply dressed up in spacesuits.
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Union Infantry

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A mix of figures from Old Glory and Foundry all appearing to be 28mm. Old Glory sculptors seem to revel in off-balance poses and dramatic expressions while the Foundry figures seem more nicely detailed and better proportioned. Except for a handful of Zouaves in the back row, all the figures are painted with acrylics on a black primed surface. The Zouaves in the back row are part of a large set of figures I bought, some of which were already painted. I did not have the heart to repaint the figures and though they are different from my style, I think they fit it well enough. They appear to be primed gray and painted with enamels.

Renaissance Knights

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Large flamboyant figures in 28mm by Foundry, a group of Renaissance-era knights. The online Foundry site shows the armor brightly painted and I have not hesitated to follow suit.

People seem unduly impressed by the candy-stripe lances though the technique is pretty simple. Paint the pike the base color then cut a thin strip of masking tape and wrap it around the lance from base to point. Paint a nice contrasting color, let it dry, and remove the tape. Masking with tape is not too difficult and rather helpful with more intricate patterns on figures this large.

One helpful thing to keep in mind is that horse armor in the period was crafted in both leather and metal. These could be distinguished by the cords used to lace leather armor together, cords absent on metal armor. While metal armor was usually some metallic shade, leather armor was frequently painted in flamboyant colors. It is helpful to be able to spot the difference when painting horse armor from this era.