28mm Miniatures for the First Anglo-Afghan War?

[Maichus]

Hi Guys,

Is anybody aware of a 28mm range for the First Anglo-Afghan War resp. which miniatures from other lines could be used?

Thanks in advance!

[traveller]

Afghans: Foundry, Old Glory, Askari

British: Foundry, Perry Carlist?

[Captain Blood]

Would Empress' new Maori Wars figures be any good? Round about the same time period, or am I getting the chronology of Victoria's small wars mixed up? 

[Arthur]

No proper range as such, I'm afraid : nobody really does 1840's British infantry in coatees (Paul Hicks, if you're reading this : mark my words ! ).

The Perry Carlist War British Legion infantry would do at a pinch, but they're not really ideal : the back packs were never carried in the field in India, being instead left with the regimental transports. The coatees also don't have any lace across the chest, meaning you'd have to paint it (not too difficult, admittedly). The Royal Marines would be more useful, although you'd have to tweak their double-breasted coatees to convert them into proper single-breasted ones. The artillery and lancers would be perfect though, as are the BAL infantry in shell jackets and peaked caps (British infantry in Indian often retained their greatcoats and carried them rolled on their backs).

The Foundry Sikh war range provides HEIC sepoys in peakless belltop shakos - or rather it did until the bright people at Foundry HQ decided to retire most of the range due to their "clearance" sale. The Sikh Wars British light dragoons could be pressed into service, but you'd have to do head swaps to give them bell top shakos intead of their forage caps or later cylindrical shakos. The old China range does feature some British infantry in shell jacket and belltop shako, but they unfortunately have back packs.

The Empress Maori Wars range has some very useful figures indeed : the British infantry in shell jackets and broad crowned forage caps are spot on for the 13th foot at Jellallabad (Paul Hicks even did a pack in shirtsleeves for those who want that 'sortie' look).    

  

[Anderson Collection]

If you can live with the back packs

[Major Weenie]

Didn't Foundry used to make a line of Sikh War British?

Or, could you start with Center Company Perry plastic Napoleonics and 'trim a little' and change the hats/heads ?

Just wondering,
MW

[Arthur]

Didn't Foundry used to make a line of Sikh War British?

They did, and most (though not all) of the figures are still available at the usual Foundry prices. The problem is that all the British infantry in the range are sculpted in shell jackets which were worn to some extent during the Afghan war (especially during the hot season) but were by no means universal. Peaked caps were also occasionally worn, but most period pictures show British infantrymen in bell top shakos, usually with a white cotton or oilskin cover. And the figures in Albert shako would obviously be anachronistic for the Afghan war. I tried my hand at doing headswaps with the Opium War Brits in shako with satisfactory results, but doing five or six regiments of these might prove somewhat tedious - not to mention quite expensive since it takes two figures to make one.

Or, could you start with Center Company Perry plastic Napoleonics and 'trim a little' and change the hats/heads ?

That would be a possibility and a viable option if you are prepared to do 120 or 150 such conversions. Using either the Perry of Victrix figs, you'd need to file off the pack straps and replace the headgear, which in itself is quite feasible. The rub is to find an appropriate supply of bell top shakos : I wouldn't recommend using French Napoleonic ones as the shape isn't quite right, and I can't think of any manufacturer who does the right type as separate heads.   

I think persuading a good sculptor to tackle the subject in metal remains the best solution, even though we're obviously talking about a niche period (Mr Hicks, please ? Pretty please ?)

[carlos marighela]

Well I did start a Eureka 100 club request some years ago for British in belltops and coatees. For all I know it's still on the site, it garnered no interest even though I would have bought 1oo of them myself. Arthur is spot on regarding the available options and their respective shortcomings.

There is a famous Cunliffe painting of the Ox & Bucks skirmishing that shows them in a mix of shirtsleeves, shells and forage caps, so some of the Empress Maori Wars would be ideal.

[ARKOUDAKI]

Arthur is spot on the details and the difficulty of doing such a project for British Infantry for the 1st Afghan War using existing metals and/or plastics. I have it on my list to try using the Perry's British Nap plastics but they will require a bit of work. Still, it is plastic, and as such a very good medium for making such conversions. The point about the belltop shako is a pain, as these need to be made from scratch or use the ones done by Michael Perry for the China / Afghan War that Foundry stocks. I have decided to just make up a bunch of my own using the Perry's British Nap heads as a base with putty added to make the belltop shako. I then plan to cast the heads in resin to get the numbers needed. I am thinking of doing the same with the bodies, as Arthur rightly pointed out that a lot of conversion work needs to be done, removing straps, adding length to tails on coat, etc. Hence, I am thinking of just using the Perry's plastic as dollies and working from there. Of course, this is all subject to time, as this project is 2/3 in line on the workbench: finishing off Perry Nap Rifle conversions, Reb Zouave conversions, and/or finally getting to some Perry French Hussars...or Sudanese.. So much plastic and so little time!   I will keep you posted of the results....fingers crossed!

[Maichus]

Thanks very much for all the suggestions!!!