Waterloo in 20mm

Monday, 8 August 2016

A Question of Scale

In response to M S Foy's recent comment, which prompted me to think a little more about scale, I have written the following.

This blog is dedicated to recreating the Battle of Waterloo in 20mm figures. A simple enough proposition, one might think.

Most figures come sized at 15mm (often linked to 18mm) and 25mm (often linked to 28mm). Yes, there are plenty of outliers in smaller and some bigger scales, but these two are seen as the 'industry' standards.

Somehow, 20mm sits uncomfortably in the middle - a bit old fashioned, or a bit plastic (given the connection to 1/72). So why do I like 20mm?

To answer this, does anyone mind a bit of controversy?! To my taste, I find some metal 25/28mm figures too mannered, with over-sized hands, cartoonish faces and, frankly, some unsoldierly physiques. Even a cursory knowledge of the Napoleonic Wars indicates that a route march of twenty miles a day, coupled with the simplest of rations, did not give rise to either obesity or old age.

This slim look was exacerbated by the cut of many of their uniforms: tailoring in the early 19th Century was tight and anyone who has seen an authentic uniform from the period knows that they will often only fit a modern child mannequin.

Part of this problem is the same as the one that marks the difference between period re-enactors and real soldiers. The first are interested in uniforms, but have no real experience of soldiering. Compare and contrast the difference in these two photographs:

Spot the real soldier!

Vintage metal 20mm figures tend to avoid the lumpen characteristics of their 25mm counterparts. They are also more sparing in their representation of the human form, allowing the painter the chance to use his skill to insert missing detail. And plastic somehow lends itself as a material to more delicate representations.

I think there are some exceptional modern craftsmen working in metal in all scales, but on the whole, I find the 25/28mm figures less pleasing to the eye. It's a personal opinion, and I stand ready to be roundly criticised! Granted, all these arguments can be countered in one way or another: plastic figures can suffer from sculpting challenges and bending and there are plenty of metal manufacturers who avoid the grotesque.

There is also the simple question of cost: to recreate Waterloo entirely in metal figures would require a small fortune - the joy of plastic figures is that they provide mass at an affordable price, but can be supplemented by metal figures. There is also the fun of conversions - you can (and I do) convert metal figures, but plastic is a lot easier.

So I am a 20mm fan and the aim of this post is to explore how these different plastic and metal manufacturers can fit together. The question of scale has troubled model makers over the years, with some heated discussions about what defines the scale.

Despite the lack of agreement about what constitutes 20mm, there is, paradoxically, quite widespread agreement about which manufacturers fit the 20mm category.

That said, some collectors are very specific about the range they will work in; because my diorama is set to be quite large, this gives me more freedom to incorporate figures across the 20mm spectrum.

So with all this in mind, this post shows how I prefer to group my figures so that there aren’t too many glaring clashes in scale.

I have divided them into the boxing weight divisions:

Flyweight

Atlantic
Newline
Some Call To Arms
RSM
Battalionfeur

Bantamweight

Airfix
Rose
Scruby
Esci
Franznap
Italieri 1^st series
Revell
Waterloo 1815
Other Call To Arms

Lightweight

Kennington
Hinton Hunt
Alberken
Imex
Hat

Welterweight

Zvezda
Kamar
Art Miniaturen
NapoleoN
Hagen
Falcata
Les Higgins

Middleweight

Italieri 2^nd series
Strelets

Heavyweight

Lamming
Minifigs S Range

In future posts I will try to explore some of the differences between each of these makes - each has its own character - some work well together, some don't.

2nd Battalion 95th Rifles

Of the two Green Jacket regiments in the British Army (60th and 95th) only the 95th was at Waterloo, but elements of all three battalions of what would the next year be renamed The Rifle Brigade were present. Six companies of the 1st/95th, six companies of the 2nd/95th and two companies of the 3rd/95th took part in the battle. There were of course other Rifle units in the Allied Army, all Hanoverian, but today's post focuses on 2/95th.

Riflemen of the 60th and 95th:

Because the traditional role of rifles units was as skirmishers, most attention focuses on the 1st Battalion, which fought around the sandpit. Surprisingly, the second battalion fought for much of the battle in square, which is how they are shown in this post.

2/95th under Amos Norcott and 3/95th under John Ross formed part of Adam's 3rd Brigade in Clinton's 2nd Division (Clinton was also Colonel of the 60th).

Amos Godsell Northcutt some years later:

The casualties sustained by the companies of the 95th Rifles at Waterloo were substantial:
 1st/95th: 21 killed, 138 wounded from a total of 549 (29%)
 2nd/95th: 34 killed, 193 wounded, 20 missing from a total of 585 (42%)
 3rd/95th: 4 killed, 40 wounded and 7 missing from a total of 188 (27%)

The figures are a mixture of the Revell set, Hinton Hunt, New Line and RSM, along with a great many conversions.

Three General Staff shelter in the square, their red coats stand out nicely against the green

I like this wounded Great War conversion.

Bugles Platoon

Colonel Northcott gives the orders:

More of the buglers

Converted Esci RHA officer with telescope:

The whole square:

It's nice to have completed one that isn't red!

Monday, 1 August 2016

1/71st Highland Light Infantry

It's been a while since I completed a square - I've been away on holiday so apologies for the lack of posts. 1/71st were part of what was, in effect, a Light Brigade under General Adam (see below).

With the exception of the 73rd Highlanders (of which more another time), The HLI were differently attired from the other Highland regiments at Waterloo in that they did not wear the kilt or feather bonnets.

Instead, they wore a stovepipe shako with dicing. Whether one would call this a Kilmarnock Bonnet, I am less sure, as later versions were much flatter. I've seen evidence that they were blue not black, but this example looks distinctly black to me. As an aside, I think modellers tend to show much lighter colours than were in fact the case. The British blue was so dark as to look virtually black.

The 71st lost their Colours in the ill-fated Buenos Aires expedition of 1807 and were reissued new ones on return. This set have "Waterloo" inscribed on them and therefore can't have been the set at Waterloo.

The figures are at the small end of the scale - mostly the first Hat Light Infantry set - not as good as the one that came later, but passable and a good match with the other figures in this unit, which are mostly New Line, RSM and some Revell. To fill out the numbers and to add variety, there are also the usual number of conversions.

Above is a corner of the square - you can see that they are mounted on a triple base of aluminium foil, which can detach from the temporary base. These are mostly New Line.

Another corner. The wounded figure is Qualicast.