Hinchliffe figures from the 70s showing left to right, a Renaissance Landsknecht pikeman, a Napoleonic Russian grenadier, an English Civil War drummer, and an English Civil War general on horseback.A fairly elaborate impression on the base of old Hinchliffe figures showing the catalog ID, the Hinchliffe logo, and a copyright without a year.
At the time I started buying figures in earnest (1975 or thereabouts), Hinchliffe seemed to me the best, well detailed and well sculpted covering an interesting range. There was a serious quality about the figures as if meant for display in a museum set piece. I was surprised to discover they are still available in England.
Hinchliffe as a company began in 1967 producing larger scale artillery and equipment. These were often monstrous heavy cast metal kits that required a fair amount of assembly. At some point, figure sculptor Peter Gilder recently of Miniature Figurines came on board and began the range of historical figures in 25mm apparently meant to look imposing against the then current HO/OO scale figures put out by Airfix which are about 22mm.
The company expanded, became involved with Heritage Models down in Texas, and was eventually sold and sold again. They used to be the quality standard but tastes and standard scales seem to always be changing.
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.
The Royal Guardsman appears to have been the primary agent for Heritage and the various lines of miniatures from Duke Seifried as well as Hinchliffe figures. Custom Cast put out their own catalog as did Hinchliffe so perhaps this was aligned most closely with Heritage figures.
