Tuesday 24 March 2009

Kirkwood's Delawares


One of the favourite units in my AWI collection - my version of Kirkwood's famous Delaware light infantry company c.1781 was the first unit i completed for my new AWI collection, always fights well (as befits its' elite status) and looks rather attractive too in the classic Continental combo of blue faced red.

Standard Hinchliffe castings in my favourite marching pose.

4 comments:

Stryker said...

Beautifully painted - a fine tribute to these great figures!

Ian

johnpreece said...

I do like that pose, I have a couple of battalions myself. The shiny varnish does look good with that style of painting. I am starting to be tempted.

I think the drummer is a Steve Hezzlewood figure? from their X range as I remember.

A very nice unit indeed

Anonymous said...

Astonishing! I love that painting style. I have been looking at the Hinchliffe ranges again myself! (Remember when they used to come in those neat boxes and the figures were all tissue wrapped? back in the Seventies). Would you say the casting today is as crisp as it used to be? I'm very tempted to try this myself, been searching for inspiration for a good while now.

Beautiful unit.

DC said...

Gents,

Thanks for the comments. That unit was the first i painted in that style (after a gap of 25 years) and i like to think i've got the hang of it a little better now. That said, i lack the artistic flare of the real masters (Peter Gilder, Bill Brewer, John Blanche, etc.) - my efforts are rather workmanlike in comparison.

Anon,

On the whole the quality of Hinchliffe figures is not what it used to be - some of the moulds have deteriorated badly. If you are interested in Napoleonics then you are in luck as many of the basic types have been remoulded from original masters (and, last time i heard, plans were afoot to remould the equipment and SYW ranges). The figures that are available in discounted packs are the ones that have been remoulded.

I suggest contacting Ian Hinds at Hinchliffe to discuss your interest, and order a few samples. I would caution against a large order until you've checked out the figures in the flesh. I must admit to collecting most of my figures (mostly vintage castings) via eBay and other collectors that i know. It pays to be unfashionable - Hinchliffe figures don't generally command high prices on eBay.

There are a few other vintage ranges available today that i rate highly - Garrison and Tradition 25s are the two i use in my AWI armies. I can't fault the casting quality of either.