Sunday, August 26, 2012

Seven Years War - 54mm Plastic



As I needed a break from the flats, Mark Dudley's very nice HaT Prussians painted as Saxon infantry inspired me to have a go at a box of my own. http://ilkleyoldschool.blogspot.com/2012/08/132-syw-and-some-re-basing.html

Here they are, painted imaginatively as...er, Prussians.

IR13 - Itzenplitz



So far HaT has produced three sets, the first being the marching infantry in two poses as shown here. With 18 figures per box, throw in a 20% discount at Classic Toy Soldiers and @ about $0.60 a figure, they have to be one of the great toy soldier bargains.  The command figure box is also out, or will be soon. The action pose set is more like AIP or Barzso with multiple poses per box.

Who do they fight then ?   Of course, the simple approach of painting these same figures in white coats and calling them Austrians will suffice for some and there's certainly no shame in that. After all, AIP been selling the same sets molded in different colors for years.  Blue plastic ?  Prussians !  Green plastic ? Russians !  Red Plastic ?  British, of course !   But plausible enemies do already exist, Barzso's F&I War French.  I undercoat with Rustoleum Plastic Primer, painted with acrylics.


Penny-pinching Minister of War, curse you for these useless tiny swords !

So where am I going with this ?  Upon further reflection, nowhere.   For one thing, the lack of appropriate cavalry in this scale is problematic.  To my eyes, the Peipp 45mm 7YW Prussian cavalry won't look too badly out of scale as they run large, but @ 12.60 euros a figure, I really can't justify the expense. Not when I have plenty of Prince August molds in the garage and can just pick up where I left off with the 40mm vs. starting yet another project from scratch. 

But I must say, as toy soldiers go, these new HaTs are a good value for your money and quite appealing figures.

10 comments:

  1. They look very nice, would be fun to game with a bunch of those. Nicely painted!

    Cheers, Simon

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  2. Thanks for the kind feedback, Simon. Looks like you're going great on the Romans over at the Bat Cave.

    Regards,
    Steve

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  3. Thanks, I'm very pleased that the last units are on their bases. I still have a lot to do, but it should be all downhill from here!

    Cheers, Simon

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  4. Hi

    Your Prussians have come up very nicely indeed.

    BTW The command box is out.

    Mark

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  5. Thanks, Mark. I look forward to seeing your Saxons when you finish the unit.

    Regards,
    Steve

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  6. Steve;

    Your paint jobs are excellent, as always! These figures also work very well as Hessians, Brunswickers, etc. for the AWI alongside Ken's ATKM metal figures. I actually like these figures better than Ken's Hessians; better detail and obviously lower cost. They can be painted with gaiters or, with just a bit of craft knife work, done up in leggings. I just received the Command set as well, and they are lovely figures.

    Now, if only someone would do some proper cavalry!

    Bill

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  7. Thanks, Bill. Good to hear from you.

    Yes, I agree about the cavalry. Have you seen these stellar conversions of HaT Napoleonic French Dragoons to 7YW cavalry, done by Mr. Luis Alegria ?
    http://www.hat72.com/Conv/Alegria.html

    Amazingly good, but looks like a lot of work.

    Regards,
    Steve

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  8. Irregular Miniatures do 54mm SYW cavalry @£9.75 which is quite pricey but cheaper than some 28mm fantasy figures...

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  9. Will you be selling your 54MM figures, including any unpainted? Thank you.

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    1. Hi Rahway. Yes, most all the 54mm plastic can go. Please e-mail me at "cpl_trimATyahooDOTcom" and we can discuss offline.

      Cheers,
      Steve

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