Showing posts with label Figure Size Comparison. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Figure Size Comparison. Show all posts

Thursday, 27 September 2012

Chariot Wheel Size Comparison

I'm constructing a fleet of chariots for my Ancient British, and I though others might like to see some of the wheels that are out there.

Firstly, this is the ideal I'm aiming towards; a wheel of similar size and proportion to those on the below chariot reconstruction.  You'll notice that the rim is pretty thin... this isn't a feature on many of the models out there!


Below are the wheels from the models I've collected so far.  Isn't it astonishing how varied the size and shapes are? 


The smallest wheel is from Black Tree Designs; at 12mm diameter, it would suit a 15mm model better than a 28mm!  Laughable.

The second, is from the more recent Foundry range.  It is in my opinion too small, and has a very ugly thick rim; looks like it should be on a wheelbarrow.

The third, from Newline Designs, is rather elegant, if a little on the small side for me (I guess it is true 28mm).  It doesn't have a raised hub, though, which is a pity.

The fourth, from Relic Miniatures, arrived today from Canada and is lovely (thanks Mike!).  It is a good size and very elegant.  It is ready drilled on the back to take an axle, too.  Absolutely my favourite wheel; it is beautifully modelled and cast.

The sixth, from Renegade Miniatures, I quite like, even though it has a thickish rim.  If I didn't have Relics, I'd certainly look at these.

Finally, the Wargames Factory wheel is the largest by around a millimetre.  Again, I was planning to use these, until Relic's lovely pieces arrived.  I now intend to save these and use them as waggon wheels for a projected baggage train.


I'll do a picture review of the very nice Relic model in a few days time.

Sunday, 16 January 2011

Tin Soldier vs Black Tree Design Romans

Someone was asking on TMP whether BTD Romans fit with Tin Soldier's.  I have a few Tin Soldiers and have shot a couple above (2&4) next to some BTDs (1&3). 

I think one could just about get away with it, although I find the Tin Soldiers crude by comparison with the BTDs (big heads and stocky legs; something of the dwarf about them.  And that horn!).  Having said that, I have 6, they are painted and I might just base them up.

Saturday, 23 October 2010

Ancient Horse Miniatures Size Comparison Shot

Mike of Relic and Keith at Aventine have recently each sent me some of their Tarantine cavalry figures, and I thought it an opportune moment to take a picture of some of the various ancient horses I've been accumulating.  I'd also like the thank Hank at Gorgon, A&A and 1st Corps who sent horses, previously. The below pic is clickable.


Regarding the two latest arrivals, I'd heard tfrom Mike that the Relic horse (which is I believe is on an eBob master) was smallish, but am pleasently surprised to find that it isn't much smaller than the Aventine Tarentine horse, to the extent that I think one could probably get away with mixing them within a unit.  Which I may do.  It is interesting to note that all the horses are smaller than the Foundry WotG horse, which is now looking very leggy, and I'm thinking that, in the future, I'll reserve those for heavy cavalry. 

In terms of style, the Aventine horse has bigger hooves and a slightly larger head than the Relic and 1stCorps steeds.  I rather like this look.  OTOH the Gorgon and Relic horses are bigger in the chest than the others, which feels right to me.

Depending on how fussy one is, several of the horses "breeds" could be mixed within a unit.  In particular  I think that the 1st Corps and Relic would be a fine match for size, and the Gorgon and Aventine would also pair up nicely. 

I also have some of the larger Relic Horses that come with Mike's leader figures; these are very nice and I'll take some shots of them, later. 

In other news I am dusting off (literally!) some 1980's Platoon20 miniatures with a view to restoring/expanding my old French Indochina units; more anon.  Oh, and I've started a Twitter feed.

Tuesday, 22 December 2009

Polemarch Cavalry- First Impressions!

I dipped a toe in the water last week, and treated to myself to a few packs of the new Polemarch cavalry, from Gripping Beast.  These have fought their way through the snow and landed on my mat this afternoon.  For a change, I've reviewed them against a seasonal red background!

I bought some of the neo-Tarantines, and also ome of the Antigonid Companion Troopers .  I'm not going to dwell on the historical aspects of the figures, other than to say they seem well-researched according to my (rather limited) knowledge.  I gather they are very closely based on the Montverts, which can't be bad.  Instead I shall concentrate on the figures, which can't be made out very clearly on the photos on the GB site.

First, here are the horses:-



I cautiously like these, with one reservation; the necks on two of the horses (the outer ones) appear fairly short to me.  I would not claim to be an expert judge of horseflesh but these are unusually proportioned, IMHO. 



Here is a Polemarch horse (centre) between an Aventine Horse (left) and a Foundry WotG horse, also by Steve Saleh (right).  The two Saleh horses have longer legs; the Aventine is broader in the belly.  In general the three would work together, but especially the latter two.



Above is the Antigonid Companion.  I've not attached his shield, but did establish that it would fit correctly.  A nice feature is that the shield hand is drilled out to take a javelin.  Less ideal is the fit of the rider to the horse; as JJ surmised on TMP, the cloak does not fit on the horse's rump and a certain amount of filing will be required if the rider is not to be pushed forward, as in the photo.  Moreover, the rider's legs appear to have been designed for a broader horse, and don't grip the mount as they should; there is quite a gap, in fact.  I will need to build up the saddle with greenstuff. 



Above is the Antigonid Companion from the side, showing how the cloak pushes the figure forwards.  It also shows an unfortunate mould line!  There is, unfortunately, a bit of flash and some mould lines visible on these models. 



Above is the neo-Tarantine.  Again the fit isn't perfect on the horse.  The left hand is held a bit close in to the horse which will make it difficult to position the shield, and will probably prevent the figure from carrying spare javelins, which I'd have liked.  The rider figure is nice, though.



Above is the neo-Tarantine from the side, leaning forwards because of the cloak.  I really do like this rider, despite the slight flaws mentioned above.

So in summary; the riders are rather fine, the horses I don't rate quite so highly but will certainly use.  The riders will fit on the horses but will need some work if you want them to sit properly.  The minis will need some preparation to remove mould lines.

Lest I give the impression that the cup is half empty, I should say that although I grumble, it is only because I care.  I am terrifically grateful that the range has come out, because it fills a huge gap in the bigger 28mm miniatures field.  I will certainly be buying more of these, and painting them, after Salute, and I await the arrival of the cataphracts with considerable anticipation!

Friday, 11 December 2009

Nellie Fever

I'm very frustrated that I have picked up no less than 6 elephants in the last few months, and don't have the time to paint any of them because of my preparations to the Zama game!  To ease the pain, I've treated myself to a couple of nights off Zama to at least stick a few together, even though I know I won't be able to paint them until May.


First (above) is the excellent Aventine Pyrrhic Indian elephant. This is a fine beast; very expressive with his raised trunk.  It went together very cleanly, with just a little greenstuff at the seams.  As with other Aventine minis, there was no flash or mould lines.  I was very impressed with the two part Howdah; so impressed in fact...
                                     

...that I used a spare Aventine howdah on the female Indian elephant from TimeLine, shown above .  I will be using Aventine crewmen, too.  Aventine sell howdahs and crewmen seperately, which is a valuable facility.  I still need to add some ropes in greenstuff to this model.  I wanted at least one female elephant in my elephant "brigade".

        

Finally, above I have a most unusual beast (above).  Mario of Empire Models very kindly sent me one of his African elephants.  I felt it was rather too large a model for an African beast, but couldn't resist the magnificently sculpted armour and so have given it an Indian head donated by Barry at Timeline.  I should say Keith of Aventine also very kindly sent me a spare head (thanks!), but the Timeline head was slightly larger and more closely fitted the large, broader frame of the Empire torso.  I've had to trim the neck of the torso to get the head to look OK; in due course I'll add a crest so that it matches the other Empire elephants I own.  I damaged the crenellations on the howdah, and took them off.  Again, it'll probably have Aventine crewmen.

Other elephants I have not shown here include one each Aventine Sassanind Royal, Pyrrhic and Seleucid.  I'll try to put the Seleucid together next week.

Finally here are the three together; they match surprisingly well in size.  The Empire in the centre is larger, but not unbearably so. 

                

Roll on May...

Tuesday, 17 November 2009

Timeline Miniatures Indian Elephant

I met Barry from Timeline Miniatures at the weekend.  He very kindly showed me some samples of his 15mm and 28mm Indian elephants, and has very kindly left me one to paint.  His elephants are intended for Siam and Burma, but he is thinking about developing some other ancient ranges using them.

Here's a painted Timeline female elephant.  You don't see a lot of female elephants.  If I recall correctly they were used in war, so it is nice to see one!  I particularly like the head of this elephant.  The model is a very solid one-piece metal casting, but Barry has plans to produce them in resin at a later stage.

The same female with elephants from Timeline's 15mm range.  I have plans for one of those...


And finally here's a different Timeline female (left) alongside an Aventine royal elephant (right: thanks Keith!) for size comparison purposes (n.b. the Aventine isn't fully assembled, and comes with trunk, tusks, King of Persia etc.  Well worth a look if you've not seen it).  The Timeline is very similar to the Aventine in terms of overall size.  Barry left me the unpainted figure above left; I have a plan forming for what I shall do with it...  

Barry hasn't got any of the 28mm elephants cast for sale at the moment, but says to watch his website for developments.  I'm happy to relay news, here, about them.

As we speak, I have two more Aventine elephants (Pyrrhics) in the post; it's going to be like "The Jungle Book" around here!  I may take a very quick break from Zama at Xmas to paint up one of the new Aventines and the Timeline.

Monday, 16 November 2009

Successor and Parthian Cavalry Size Comparison Shots

For some time I've been toying with building a successor army.  Recently several manufacturers have very kindly sent me samples of their ranges, and I thought it would be useful to compare the size of the different miniatures.  I'll re-shoot these when Polemarch come out with relevant additions to their range.


The 1stCorps mounts are in the lower row, above.  They are slightly smaller than, say, Foundry Saleh horses (middle of top row), but not unduly; whilst I wouldn't mix within a unit I would within an army.  They are very crisply cast and highly animated.

A&A kindly sent me one of their Parthian cataphract horses.  I've included this as Parthians could be found within a Seleucid army.  The A&A horse is a not dissimilar size to the 1st Corps, but rather more heavily built, with thicker legs, and being rather broader in the body.

The final mount, top right, is from Empire Models.  I hesitated to include it as as far as I'm aware it isn't in production at the moment; but is is a fine, large mount, by far the largest of the horses, a veritable Nisean charger and I couldn't resist!  One of the forelegs seems just a little short to me, but I do love it; I'll be buying some when they come to the market, if only for the splendid transverse plume.



Above is the Empire steed, left, and a 1stCorps mount, right.  They look similar in size above, but that is foreshortening; these two certainly wouldn't work together in the same unit (NB the Empire model isn't yet in production).



Finally, we have the riders.  Please note, the Empire rider has a separate head (not included).  The  A&A and Empire riders are larger than the 1stCorps, but would probably work in different units.  Thanks very much to 1stCorps, A&A and Empire for the sample miniatures. 

Once Zama is out of the way, I'll hopefully be building an Eastern army and I'd be happy to use any of the above miniatures.

Thursday, 8 October 2009

Aventine and Empire Models Elephant Size Comparison

Mithridates on TMP was asking how the Aventine http://www.aventineminiatures.co.uk/catalog/ and Empire elephants compare sizewise. 

Accordingly, I've bluetacked the Aventine Royal elephant together, sans trunk and tusks.  It is supposed to be rearing, but I've put all 4 feet on the ground for comparison purposes; it is the unpainted model at the front.



From the above view, you'll see that they are both pretty well the same size to the shoulder; roughly 53mm.



The build of the two elephants torsoes is not dissimilar.  The legs and feet are similar sizes.  The Empire body is rather longer, at 58mm to the Aventine's 49mm.

The big difference between the two is in the heads.  The volume of the Empire head is perhaps twice that of the Aventine, largely because is is very much broader, with a bigger forehead and eyes set wider (perhaps rather too wide) apart.  The elephant has a very large helmet and crest on the beast.  I prefer the smaller Aventine head, but can live with the bigger head on the Empire model because it is such an imposing beast overall, with excellently depicted armour.

Broadly speaking, the two elephants would work well together.  I'll be adding Aventine elephants to my Seleucid elephant corp as soon as they can sculpt them, and I can get around to painting them!

Tuesday, 15 September 2009

Aventine meets Gorgon

Hank at Gorgon Miniatures in the USA http://www.gorgon-studios.com/?page_id=2 has very kindly sent me a few more samples; this time of the new Etruscan range.  I thought it might be useful to post a couple of shots next to the recent Aventine range http://www.aventineminiatures.co.uk/


Above are two of the Gorgon "second class citizen spearmen" Etruscans, flanked by two of the Aventine Volscians.  I still know relatively little about this period, but what is apparent to me is that, as I had hoped, the two ranges are an excellent match for height and build.  Indeed, at one stage, I got the minis mixed up and couldn't tell which range they came from!  They come with a tidy rectangular shield (not shown), and are finely sculpted with very little flash, indeed.


Above are two hoplites and a phalangite; from left to right Foundry, Gorgon and Crusader (I couldn't lay my hands on a Crusader hoplite).  It is a pity that the light was poor because I couldn't catch all the detail on the Gorgon Etruscan 1st Class hoplite figure.  If you click, you still should be able to see the trim around the cheek plates on the helmet, and the scales on the composite cuirass are fantastic; the detail on this mini is exceptional.  These figures can also be used as Greek Hoplites.

So I'm delighted with my new minis; thanks Hank! It's likely that the next year (post-Zama) I'll paint up some units of mixed Aventine and Gorgon minis.

Sunday, 23 August 2009

A Tale of Two Salehs

I've picked up a number of character figures by Steve Saleh recently, and thought it might be useful to do some comparison shots. I should apologise that some of the bases aren't perfectly lined up; this was challenging as some of the minis are rather "deep" and wouldn't stay in place.

The first 3, below, are the less satisfactory in my view.

I was particularly disappointed by Caesar, which I'd hoped would be a splendid mini; unfortunately he just doesn't look like the portraits of the general that I've seen. There is something I don't quite like about the legs, either, and he is the ghastliest sword I've ever seen on a historical miniature. That'll have to come off if I paint him. Overall I don't think it's as nice as Copplestone's Tribunes in the Foundry range; he's just not imposing.

The Arminius figure I like rather more, but does he look like a 25 year old Roman Equestrian and Auxiliary commander? I think not. Even if depicts the General later in life, I can't see why he'd be so scruffy and poorly dressed. He is, however, in other respects a rather nice figure that I will use, but not as a general.

I'm also rather unconvinced by the Antigonus One-Eye/Mercenary General figure in the middle. That is, again, a massive sword by Macedonian standards, and his stance is very wide. I think Antigonus would be better depicted by a mounted figure, so I'll do a conversion or see what Polemarch come up with for mounted minis. And BTW where have those Polemarch cavalry got to? They seem to have deserted Antigonus, rahter like his son's horse did at Ipsus.

The minis in the second picture are, IMHO, much better. Marcus Calvinus is quite the finest Centurion I have seen; he'll be Primus Pilus for my EIR legion. The figure is beutifully detailed and very imperious.

The Persian I reviewed early this month; he's a great mini.

Finally Babastus is a figure full of character. My only (mild) reservations about him are his slightly strange stance, and the rather crude scythe, which could have been done better; couldn't cut much mistletoe with that! I may give him a spear, instead.

All three of the above are available from http://www.gorgon-studios.com/?page_id=2

Sooo... I reckon from the six sculpts there are three really great minis, and three somewhat flawed ones. Steve is an excellent sculptor, but it seems to me that he approaches some tasks with more passion than others, and tends to give the less successful ones big swords. That Centurion is bloody marvellous, though!

Thursday, 6 August 2009

Saleh Persian from Gorgon Miniatures

Hank at Gorgon Miniatures ( http://www.gorgon-studios.com/?page_id=2 ) in the US was kind enough to send me some samples from their range of Steve Saleh-designed Spartans that were formerly sold through Amazon, and a Saleh Persian miniature that I believe is a giveaway with orders (rather than a precursor to a new range).

Now I've previously seen images of the excellent Spartans (I may do a size comparison shot, later) and one of the painted Persian, but not a size comparison photo of the Persian, so here he is sandwiched between an OOP Foundry Persian and a Polemarch Successor phalangite, also both sculpted by Saleh. I'm not particularly knowledgeable about Persian equipment so I won't comment on that; but the hand is designed to be drilled out for a spear, which marks a major improvement over the previous Persian, whose spear appears far too thick!

The Persian is a delightful figure, full of character. The detail is really crisp and, anatomically, it is superior to the previous Persian, IMHO. The height matches his other, larger 28mm ranges.

There were rumours, a year or so ago, that Steve was going to do a Persian range to complement the Spartans. Having seen this mini, it would be really great if he did! But I hope to see the Polemarch Successor range and the Gorgon early Etruscans finished first, especially the latter as I'm becoming very interested in the early Italina armies.

Friday, 3 July 2009

Elephant Size Comparison Shots

I promise that this is the final post featuring elephants for the time being! I'm going to compare the Empire Models (Indian) elephant, on the right in each photo, with three African elephants from other ranges, in part to convey the sheer mass of the former. Indian elephants should be much larger than African forest elephants, and Empire's certainly is!  All photos are clickable.

The African elephants will all feature at the Society of Ancients Zama game, next year.First (above) we have the Gripping Beast Carthaginian elephant http://www.grippingbeast.com/shop.php?CatID=154 . This would convert very well to become a Ptolemaic elephant at Raphia; it is very much smaller than Empire's Indian, but then it should be! The bulk of the Indian elephants at Raphia apparently gave them a considerable advantage.The second elephant (above) is an African from Essex http://www.essexminiatures.co.uk/frames25mmcont.html . I feel this is the least satisfactory of my Africans, and won't be buying more; it doesn't look much like I think an African Forest Elephant should appear. It is very plump and rounded, with 'orrible thickish legs.Finally, we have a heavily converted Renegade elephant http://www.renegademiniatures.com/numidian.htm
. The basic Renegade elephant is an unhappy composite between an Indian and an African elephant, with features of each; however, extensive work with greenstuff makes it into a rather satisfactory African Forest nellie, in my view at least, and it is my favourite African at the moment (not least because it was the cheapest, at £6).

Altogether we will field 11 elephants for the Society of Ancients Zama game next April; my six, another 4 from my mate Dr Simon, and one that still needs to be sourced. In our first game trialling the battle, they managed to inflict a surprising amount of damage against their Roman foes; rather more, in fact, than they should have!

Sunday, 14 June 2009

Late Roman Figure Size Comparison Shots

Diocletian was asking, on TMP, how the various larger Late Roman ranges compare.

First I should apologise for a little distortion in the photo; on the table, all the figures were lined up with the bottom of their bases parallel. Also I don't have any of the Crusader http://www.crusaderminiatures.com/list.php?cat=13&sub=29&page=1 Late Roman figures, yet, which I would certainly want to look at, if I was considering building a Late Roman army in the near future.

There is clearly quite a wide variation in figure height. The Gripping Beast Range http://www.grippingbeast.com/shop.php is the tallest, perhaps 4mm taller than the Foundry http://www.wargamesfoundry.com/main.asp . Black Tree http://www.blacktreedesign.com/home.html are interesting, because there is some variation in the height of the range; the middle figure is at least a millimetre taller than the 4th figure along, and more heavily built. I briefly wondered whether it was from GB and had got into the wrong bag. On the other hand, the 4th figure from BTD is only around 3mm taller than the Foundry on the right and feels to me like it would work with the Foundry range (as Allen showed in his heritage photos of Dave Imrie's units, where Foundry and BTD are successfully mixed).

My personal feeling is that whilst I'd mix most (but not all) BTD minis with Foundry, and certainly mix BTD and GB, I certainly wouldn't mix GB and Foundry. And the BTD horses, of course, are pretty ghastly...

Friday, 12 June 2009

Etruscan/Polybian Roman size-comparison shots

Keith at Aventine very kindly sent me some samples of their new Etruscan/North Italian range, which I will be reviewing and painting in a few weeks time. In the meanwhile, I thought people might find it useful to see how they compare with some other manufacturers ranges, and also to see how their horses compare with other manufacturers. All pictures are clickable.

I should at this point apologise that I don't have any figures from the marginally smaller ranges, such as 1stCorps or Gripping Beast; here at the BigRedBatCave, we only stock bigger 28s!


The largest figure of the four is the Renegade http://www.renegademiniatures.com/regrom.htm on the left; it would probably be even taller, if it was standing fully erect. The Aventine http://www.aventineminiatures.co.uk/ is the next tallest; I measure 27mm from the feet to the eyes; 30mm to where the top of the head would be. Marginally smaller is the Crusader mini http://www.crusaderminiatures.com/list.php?cat=13&sub=29&page=1 . The anachronistic Foundry Caesarian is a broadly similar size, and I've included it because the range will be familiar to many viewers.

I'd judge that sizewise Aventine, Crusader and Foundry would match each other well, however the Renegade miniature is in a class of its own, being both taller and different in style (the limbs are very awkwardly posed).

Horse wise, the Aventine mount is slighly lower in the hindquarters than a Foundry World of the Greeks horse, but slighly fuller in the body. At the same time it is not quite as rounded as the A&A horse. In fact it feels to me like a sort of average between Foundry and A&A... and would work well with either range. I really like it...

I'll conduct a proper review later on but would say now that my initial impressions of the Aventine miniatures are very favourable. Here's a link to Aventine in case you should want to see more... http://www.aventineminiatures.co.uk/ranges.html