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Miniatures Adventure => Colonial Adventures => Topic started by: OB on 31 January 2023, 12:04:39 PM
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I have managed to secure a bunch of out of production Falcon 15mm Malays and Dayaks. They haven't arrived yet so I don't know how big they are. Fifteen mill' is an elastic scale in my experience. The idea is to do a small Men Who Would be Kings project. A sort of Flashman's Lady thing.
Obviously I need to buy the opposition too. If the Falcon fellows are small I can use Minifigs. If they a big 15s I'm stuck. Any info' on bigger 15mm Sailors and Marines would be a big help.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
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Long time since I was a 15mm colonial gamer, but Irregular used to do sailors.
They looked like they were meant for the Boxer rebellion, being covered in bandoleers, though, which would make them unsuitable for the time period of Flashman's Lady. You'd have to decide if that bothered you enough to put you off..
I seem to remember Essex doing some too, in their Zulu War range. Guns would be wrong, but again, it might not bother you, especially in 15mm.
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Stonewall have the Capitan 15mm Napoleonic naval figures, if they are any use?
https://www.stonewallfigures.co.uk/product-category/capitan-15mm-naval-crews/
For example
(https://i1.wp.com/www.stonewallfigures.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/download-6.jpg?fit=275%2C183&ssl=1)(https://i1.wp.com/www.stonewallfigures.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/images-8-1.jpg?fit=464%2C108&ssl=1)(https://i2.wp.com/www.stonewallfigures.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/images-12.jpg?fit=448%2C112&ssl=1)(https://i0.wp.com/www.stonewallfigures.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/images-21.jpg?fit=225%2C225&ssl=1)
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Thinking about it, Napoleonic sailors would be more suitable (even though their fashion would be somewhat out of date), as Flashman's Lady is set in the mid 1840s, before there were any uniform regulations for ordinary sailors, only ones for officers (that is if we're talking about the British Royal Navy, I seem to remember the French get involved in the finale of Flashman's Lady too).
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There are loads of options out there but not sure how useful they might be. Bluemoon Manufacturing (via Old Glory 25s) has sailors in the Boxer range, but also check out the ACW range. ACW range across many manufacturers will have sailors, Stone Mountain for instance. Of course, if you are going for the 1840's that might be a bit more difficult to find. And Plynke's statement about Napoleonic sailors is a good pointer. Men Who Would Be Kings, for me, suggests the later period. Might have an extensive look through the QRF Freikorps ranges. Perhaps figures meant for the Mexican American War (not a period I have an interest in) might turn up some sailors of the right time frame. Not sure if they are still around, but Thoroughbred used to make some 1814 sailors that would be fairly adaptable.
For more Malay and Dayak type figures, might want to check into Grumpy Miniatures (I know Eureka in Australia has) if you need more.
As mentioned, there can be considerable difference in size within 15 mm (same as in 25/28/32 whatever it is this week 'scale'). Irregular, Blue Moon both tend larger. Peter Pig tends to be smallest. Most other ranges are midway. I find using the middle ranges with either of the large or small okay but not the small with the large. But I still mix them at times - just not, normally, in the same units.
Of course, since it is 15 mm, sometimes just using the right paint job is good enough to use otherwise inappropriate figures if the goal is the game and not a carefully button counted figure. There is also the case to be made that sailors were pretty much sailors until the advent of the steam engine - at least for the 19th century - though obviously not the case of uniformed sailors, just working sailors.
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If there are any Maori Wars or Indian Mutiny ranges that have Naval Brigade figures in the 15mm sphere, they would be a bit more suitable than your Zulu/Sudan/Boxer types. I'd have to leave the recommendations to 15s Away though, as my knowledge of what is available in this scale is pretty thin, and his is rather extensive.
Edit: Stretching my mind back many, many years, I seem to recall Dixon did an Indian Mutiny range that had a couple of sailor codes in it.
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Thanks everyone. All useful suggestions. The key thing is going to be the size of the Falcon figures. I'll report back once I have them.
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Wow. The hivemond always astonished me. Bever knew there would be so many options. :o
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Dixon does, indeed, make a 15 mm Indian Mutiny range that is still listed on their website and there is a naval officer figure that would work well. There is also a pack of sailors. Officer comes in 5 pack, infantry in 10 pack, all the same pose in each pack. These figures would be in the middle range size wise. Nice figures.
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Now the fun starts. The Falcon figures have arrived. They come in two sizes big 15mm and standard 15mm. Same range, two different sizes. It happens.
I could equalise them out with different thickness bases, maybe.
FifteensAway makes an interesting suggestion. The Dixon Mutiny Sailors match the big Falcons. Not only that but they also match ERM's British Marines. The latter are for the 1840s. But, would the sailors look right? They are uniformed. I don't know when other ranks naval uniforms came in.
The little Falcon's are a good match for Minifigs and Grumpy! Going that route would mean abandoning the big Falcon's. Could they be re purposed as Indian tribesmen for the Mutiny? Maybe.
I'll take some pic's for general interest and post them here.
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Yes, scale comparison shots are always appreciated!
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I was going to suggest ERM, but it would seem you have some of them.
There used to be a Maori wars range in New Zealand, from an outfit called Battleine.
Sadly they aren't answering any emails anymore.
They would have been good as they had Naval gun crews and militia for the 1840's to the 18'60's.
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Yeah, I have the ERM. I got them for the First Carlist War but they can now revert to type as Marines.
A Naval gun and crew would be great. I'm scouring the internet. As ever the trick is to get stuff of approximately the same size.
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Not sure if they're still available, but I got a large pack of misc. sailors/marines in 15/18mm from Old glory a few years ago. A mix of flat caps, straw hats, berets. The ones that were in sun helmets (both covered and uncovered) were in tunics, and so probably marines. Also a good selection of officers. Cheers, Jeff
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I forgot to mention these from https://www.thevirtualarmchairgeneral.com/511-Send-Gunboat-2.html#SAGN-1
This page has links to 15mm naval guns and ship fittings, south seas native guns and junks, dhows, etc. Also some Dayaks, Chinese, Malays and more.(These figs are not top quality, but they are cheap!) The Europeans in this range are more mid-1800's. Also, a "Perdicarus Alive or Risouli Dead!" range from "The Wind and the Lion" film. (Again not great, but you can see painted examples. Cheers, Jeff
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Thanks Jeff. I've found a couple of naval guns suprisingly easily. Crews too.
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Even before the regulation of uniforms for sailors many RN captains attempted a degree of uniformity in the purchase of clothing for the ships company. On larger vessels this could be most pronounced in the crews for senior officers' boat crews who were often kitted out in a distinctive uniform livery.
I'd say take what you can find and any variation you seek can be accommodated by way of a paint brush and the occasional head swap. I have 28mm sailors for the 1830s/40s and mine are kitted out in blue jackets and a mix of white or off white trousers.
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Thanks Carlos. That will suit me nicely.
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I thought some pic's might be of interest. As you can see the Malays come in two sizes. In fact I'm fairly sure that the figure with turban spear and shield is an Indian. His bow armed fellow maybe too. The latter though might work as in the service of a Malay Hindu Raja.
For comparison I've lined up two single Minifigs a QRF Maharatta and a stand of ERM 1840s British. There are also two Stands of Ward's fellows (Mini Figs) from my Tai Ping collection.
I'm still deliberating but, it's looking like Minifigs.