*Update 8: painted continentals* WGF AWI range!

[Furt]

I suspect that people will do a lot of cool things with these, not just straight AWI. I personally am leaning more toward 'Sleepy Hollow' in what I plan to do. I think with some head swaps some of the militia will do for revolting Haitians and other spin offs.

Totally agree - some great potential here all-round. Zombies in uniform even...

I think the Front Rank pistols may be slightly too big, picture is of the Front Rank 18C weapon sprue and Perry plastic French Dragoon sprue.

Thanks Mindenbrush - that's a great comparison shot! Sorry to railroad but which exact Front Rank weapon sprue is that? I thought they came in multiples of a single weapon type only ie all swords, pistols etc.

[Dr Mathias]

I've painted only the sculpted part of the white tape on the tricorn and added a strap for the canteen.
I can now start with the rest of them 

Looks like a good compromise to me, nice work. I'd be interested in seeing another view on the canteen strap.

[nic-e]

these look like classic tin soldiers given an update, which for some reason really appeals to me despite me not playing historical games i may get some of these just for the fun of painting them

[Mindenbrush]

[Thanks Mindenbrush - that's a great comparison shot! Sorry to railroad but which exact Front Rank weapon sprue is that? I thought they came in multiples of a single weapon type only ie all swords, pistols etc.
[/quote]

That is one from the SYW British light dragoons, you do get a pack of 8 pistols EQ28. Look under 18 Century Equipment, Guns and Civilians using the drop down menu of the lh side of their page.

[General Lee]

North Star Military Miniatures now sells the Continental infantry at a reduced price http://www.northstarfigures.com/prod.php?prod=6407

[WatchfuliStudio]

Hello everyone. I have found the posts in this topic to be very interesting for many different reasons. The first reason, is I was the one who confronted WGF about designing a range of miniatures to coincide with a rulebook that I was writing and they felt like it was a great opportunity to release several box sets for one particular war. After several discussions we felt that AWI would see more interest than the other wars that were being covered in the book (F&I, AWI, and War of 1812).

I worked with them initially on the types of historical 'stances' they could create while keeping with their action pose philosophy. (Personally, I love soldiers marching during the linear warfare periods but was more than willing to compromise on poses considering the fact that WGF was designing them, creating them, taking all the risk, and obviously making all the money).

Are there design flaws? Yes, but to be honest it would not deter me from purchasing these miniatures even if I didn't have any involvement in the project.

I fall into the trap of wanting all my toy soldiers to be 'clones' with no variety in body types including height, width, etc. I fell hook, line, and sinker into the concept that all my toy soldiers should the same body type because it looks odd on the table otherwise. Well, at least for me it does. We do forget that real people are all different shapes and sizes so the comments about any toy soldiers being broad shouldered, burly, skinny, lanky, tall, short, etc. can be easily excused from my point of view.

I personally have thoroughly enjoyed painting the WGF militia, British and Continentals because there are tons of folds and clearly defined details that are enjoyable to shade and highlight. Toy soldiers are different that the real thing mainly because our eye perceives things very different on the miniature battlefield. We as hobbyists often ignore historical accuracy or change things to make the look of our toy soldiers more appealing. In the end painting toy soldiers is an art and we have to consider things like color balance and 'black lining' to differentiate particular aspects on a toy soldier. Let's face there are things we do with miniatures to make them look good that do not and cannot exist in reality.

Hell, I am not an expert and even if I had a PhD and wrote a dozen books on the period I don't think I would call myself an expert so these are just my thoughts. I have to laugh at myself because even after 12 years of reenacting, teaching myself the fife and drum, and reading several books on the time period I still managed to glue my first three drums upside on my miniatures. How awesome is that?

In conclusion, I love plastic and I am truly enjoying building historical armies in almost all plastic miniatures so I am a little more forgiving on minor errors. As I have been building my stuff and starting to see 50, 60, 100 soldiers all ranked up I am not so concerned about missing straps, broad shoulders, or even upside down drums. They look like American Revolution soldiers and when I run my demo games in the future I will be incredibly proud of my collection and excited to see it all come together.

So, my comments are so long but thanks for letting me express my thoughts. Happy Gaming.....

Joe

[Dr Mathias]

...and reading several books on the time period I still managed to glue my first three drums upside on my miniatures. How awesome is that?

You're not the only one .

I caught my error when the figures were about 90% finished :p