Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Interwar => Topic started by: Red Orc on January 04, 2015, 10:01:50 PM
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I'm planning on adding some more lead to the pile and decided what I really need to do is get serious with the VBCW project I've been toying with (see what I did there?) for about 5 years now.
I have the VBCW figure guide bookmarked. I do consult it. But...
What I'm looking at is putting together a Blackshorts contigent. So I'm looking for a suitable Spode mini, and a bunch of armed and uniformed minis in shorts for his followers. I think the usual way of doing this is to use soldiers in Tropical kit and give them different headgear? I seem to remember that there was some talk of Gripping Beast doing such a thing but I can't find it on their site. Any help (and any suggestions for Roderick Spode, if possible) would be gratefully accepted.
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Their woodbine ww1 heads may be place to look
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Maybe the ANZAC or Australian figures from Brigade Games...
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Here's one LAF-er's take on some blackshorts: http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=70216.0
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Thanks for the suggestions.
Lowtardog - Thanks: looking at those I've finally worked out where I need to go to find the things I'm looking for. Going to 'Section Packs' on the Gripping Beast site reveals a whole load of 10-man sections in shorts with different kinds of headgear. I hadn't spotted that when I was fumbling my way round yesterday. Perhaps that's where I hould start - with a 10-man section in either Brodies or maybe Glengarries (as the other troops I'm planning to use as Fascists have them).
Stepman3 - Thanks for the suggestion. I should probably have said that I'm in the UK. Northstar - who carry some of the Brigade range here - don't seem to have anything suitable. But thanks anyway, I'll take a look at the Brigade US site and see if there any things there that tickle my fancy.
FramFramson - The Perry plastics - I presume these are the 'Desert Rats' on the Perry site? Somewhat confusingly, their code is WW1... but they are in shorts and shirts. Pappa Midnight's certainly look spiffing, I do remember looking at the some time ago and thinking he'd done a really great job with them, so thanks for reminding me of them!
Now... is there a good 'Not-Spode' about anywhere that anyone knows about?
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I have used the following for Blackshorts...
Gripping Beast WW1 Brits in shorts with bare heads.
Westwind 8th Army.
Perry 8th Army.
The occasional Artizan and Copplestone chappie in shorts, plus the LAF Plynkes mini.
You could also try some of the Pulp Minis tropical figures, and if you can get hold of one, there's a brutish looking Brownshirt in the old Blazeaway range.
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Thanks for the suggestions. As noted above Gripping Beast and the Perry 8th Army are high on the list, but I'll have a look at Westwind too. Haven't been able to find the Blaze Away mini you suggested, a search of the Lancashire site isn't showing anything suitable. Can't find anything tht grabs me from Artizan or Pulp Minis either.
There's a 'Jolly Good chap' from Copplestone (unfortunately holding what looks like a Wolseley helmet) that might fit the bill for a Spode, but if anyone has a better suggestion, I'd gladly hear it.
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There's a 'Jolly Good chap' from Copplestone (unfortunately holding what looks like a Wolseley helmet) that might fit the bill for a Spode, but if anyone has a better suggestion, I'd gladly hear it.
After much sawing, filing and swearing I managed to replace the Wolsey with a tin helmet.
Here are some pics of my Blackshorts (note, I've redone the bases since I took these shots)
(http://i973.photobucket.com/albums/ae220/jp1885_photos/IMG_3603.jpg)
Gripping beast with an Artizan officer and SMG (headswap). Copplestone Lewis gunner (headswap)
(http://i973.photobucket.com/albums/ae220/jp1885_photos/IMG_3745.jpg)
Largely Westwind.
(http://i973.photobucket.com/albums/ae220/jp1885_photos/BlackshortSkater4_zps3efc72ff.jpg)
Blackshort roller skate messenger - converted Perry.
(http://i973.photobucket.com/albums/ae220/jp1885_photos/Blackshortspotter1_zpse7281913.jpg)
Artillery observer - Artizan Italian.
(http://i973.photobucket.com/albums/ae220/jp1885_photos/IMG_3783.jpg)
Copplestone 'Jolly Good Chap' with tin hat.
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How big are the west wind compared to the rest?, I quite like the look of those chaps.
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You could consider looking at Black Tree Designs. They have 50% off infantry at the moment- less than £1 a mini!
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You could consider looking at Black Tree Designs. They have 50% off infantry at the moment- less than £1 a mini!
The 8th army and africa korps has a few men in shorts that could be useful.
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How big are the west wind compared to the rest?, I quite like the look of those chaps.
IMHO they scale up well with Gripping Beast and Artizan. Copplestone are as always a little bigger (but not enough to stop me mixing the ranges - in fact I have some Copplestone figs with West Wind heads), while The Perrys' 8th Army stuff is a little smaller.
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Thanks for all the advice. Plenty to go on between producers of 8th Army figures and British WWI tropical kit.
But as for Spode, the best seems to be the Copplestone 'Jolly Good Chap'. He looks a little like him in the Copplestone pic (less so in JP's posted above, but then again that's not Spode's hair-colour, at least not going by the TV adaptation).
Anyone got any better/other suggestions? this is pretty much the crucial question I suppose. If I can get Spode nailed down, the rest is just 'detail' (ie, I have to pick which set of WWI tropical/8th Army makes most sense).
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In my little made-up world, the figure in question represents one Eustace Spode - Roderick's nephew :D
Looks like you might have to do a headswap to get a Roderick Spode lookalike - maybe a little putty for a moustache?
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To be honest JP, the one on the Copplestone site looks fairly Spodey - the dark hair helps, though Spode is a bit beefier in the Fry & Laurie series (I don't know of any other TV or film portrayals).
It never occurred to make my fascist commander a relative. I guess I could make anyone 'Horace' Spode - Eustace's brother, probably, and commander of another Blackshort regiment.
There was a couple on Emmerdale a few years ago called Vincent (who's a vicar) & Sally Spode - I don't know what they might have to do with the thing but never mind: it does suggest that some of the Spode progeny might have survived.