Studio miniatures lancers

[Unclebuck]

Hi all,
Need a bit of help trying to find how to paint studio miniatures lancer Anglo Afghan war models. Been looking around but if someone can either suggest a book or link would most appreciate it ,cheers

[Umra Khan]

Which Regiment ?

[italwars]

as you mentioned 2nd Afghan War and cause it’s probably your first foray in to the period .,if I was you I would chose the simplest and idle way (or should say coward way?😀) that is: go to the excellent blog “maiwand day” (who also belongs to a very helpful and skilled member of this forum ) look for pictures depicting any lance armed Indian cavalry casting and just copy the painting style and color choices  😏🤫..you cannot go wrong.

http://maiwandday.blogspot.com/?m=1

[Will Bailie]

The website britishempire.co.uk has illustrations of the uniforms of many regiments.  You can look through the pages on Indian Cavalry and see what strikes your fancy:
https://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armyunits/indiancavalry/indiancavalry1903.htm

[Mad Guru]

First off, my humble thanks to Italwars for Kindly and generously posting a link to my Maiwandday blog.

Unclebuck, as briefly discussed above, not sure if you are looking for First or Second Afghan War British Lancers (I know Studio Minis make the First Afghan War version, didn't think they made the later, but my knowledge may well be out of date!) or maybe you're looking for info on Indian Lancers, which would likely be for the 2nd Afghan War.

If you are indeed looking for Indian lance armed cavalry -- iconically known as "Bengal Lancers" -- then I suggest following Will Bailie's advice and visiting the great link he posted above!

On the other hand, if you're looking for First Afghan War British Lancers, which are a bit more obscure and could be more difficult to track down online, here are a couple of illustrations.  They show the 16th Lancers uniformed and equipped for the First Sikh War of 1845-1846, but the same regiment was present at the 1839 Battle of Ghuznee during the First Afghan War, I believe uniformed and equipped in similar fashion:





Lastly, if you're looking for uniform info on the sole British Lancer regiment that served in the Second Afghan War, here's a LINK to results from a Google search for "9th Lancers Afghan War 1880 -- IMAGES":

https://www.google.com/search?q=9th+lancers+afghan+war+1880&client=safari&rls=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwidgOeP65rxAhXN454KHZGKCJgQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1633&bih=917

[Plynkes]

Guru has it right. We're talking about British Army lancers from the 1830s-40s, available in Studio's 1st Afghan War/Sikh Wars ranges (the same figures are listed in both ranges). They don't do any lancers in their later NWF range.

Follow the Mad Guru on this one (a good policy generally).


I have a good book on the First Afghan War that I read years ago, but I'm buggered if I can remember the name of it, who wrote it, or where I put it. The Osprey Campaign book has a couple of nice colour plates, though.

[Mad Guru]

Thanks, Plynkes, very kind of you to say!  RE: your First Afghan War title, could it be, “Beyond the Khyber Pass” by John H. Waller, or… “The Fierce Pawns” by Patrick Macrory? 

[Plynkes]

It could be the first one, that sounds a bit familiar.


Of course, there is always the first Flashman book. Won't give you much, if any, uniform info, but it will give you a good taste of the campaign, and is a rollicking fun read.

[Unclebuck]

Yes sorry, I’m after British lancer 1st Afghan war. Been reading flashman novels and he mentions dark blue but can’t find any pictures.
Cheers for the help so far

[Plynkes]

William IV seems to have had a bit of a fetish for scarlet jackets for line cavalry. Consequently in 1828, all the cavalry regiments who weren't already dressed that way (except for the Hussars for some reason - who were now renamed Light Dragoons) adopted the colour. In 1840 all the lancer regiments reverted to dark blue, EXCEPT the 16th, who retained their red coats. So for the 1st Afghan War, red is definitely correct, as they were the only lancers on that campaign (I believe), and if there were others, it seems unlikely (though possible) that they would have received a change of uniform in the middle of the campaign.





Edited for spelling mistakes.

[Unclebuck]

Ok thanks will go with the red . Cheers for the help