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Tuesday 21 August 2018

Cavalry - any feedback?

The Cuirassiers have now been released for over a month now, so hopefully some of you have taken the plunge to buy the moulds, cast and assemble some figures. It would be interesting to get some feedback before PA progress to the dragoons, which are hopefully later this year.

Size



PA have accepted that there has been an issue with 'scale creep' with the cuirassier riders, and intend to correct this with the dragoons. The current plan is to make the dragoons about 7% smaller in all directions, this will:
  • Reduce the rider to about 42mm tall, so he will tie in with the infantry (he is currently too tall).
  • Reduce the horse to about 15 hands - which is correct for a dragoon horse (it is correct for a 16 hand cuirassier horse).
  • Reduce the assembled weight by about 20%. (My assembled troopers weigh in at 90g each, compared with 60g for the K-931 cavalryman - that is 50% more bulk. If they are reduced by 20% they should weigh in at about 72g, so should a nice size.)

Multi Part?


With the figures that I cast there were a few of issues with the assembly (note that I had a set of 'test moulds', so slightly different from the ones that went into production):
  • On some castings the torso was narrow relative to the horse, so was difficult to align (I do however use a variety of metals from old figures, so can tend to come out different sizes as they shrink differently). This could be easily rectified by just making the torso wider, so that there is always an overlap.
  • I had difficulty fitting the right arm, particularly on the trooper. The problem was that the peg often ended up too large for the socket. I fixed that by shaving down the peg, and understand that this was modified before they went into production.
I know that PA are considering whether or not to continue with the multi part route so your feedback would be appreciated. (My preference is to continue multi part, but make them such that fit is less critical).

6 comments:

  1. The exchangeable heads are a great idea.

    I find the separate hands fiddly and prone to coming loose if rattled (or dropped) during transit or a game. Its a nice idea to be able to swap sword for musket say but not worth the hassle and the figures where the arm is separate but made in such a way that they can't be swapped out. They would be better done in one piece. Of course I'm still grumpy about yet more 18thC figures and the phony march attack but as long as they have a market that's fine. Haven't even painted up a gun and crew yet but did use the wheels for a WW1 conversion. I'm waiting for spare cash for Cuirassiers, hopefully for Christmas but it may take me a couple of years to paint more than a sample figure. (I can't fit all my existing cavalry on table at once and Charge! treats all heavy cavalry the same.

    Hopefully there are enough SYW enthusiasts out there to make the line worthwhile.

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  2. I do love the look of these, even if I find the thought of casting them myself intimidating!

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  3. I admit: I am no fan of multipart figures. In most cases they do not really fit perfectly, and it is not possible to cover the gap completely. But I must also admit: I do not use the figures for wargaming, so I have no need for multiple positions of arms, legs or weapons.
    The basic question is how to put the rider onto the horse. I think the solution to make the legs of the rider part of the horse figure and the saddle a part of the rider figure is not very good. Why not make a real rider which I can put on different horses (standing, trotting, galloping)? I made positive experiences with moulds of German company Schildkroet, which produced in the 1970s and 1980s 40mm figures of the Army of the Deutsche Reich (pre-WWI). The links show examples of the lancier und hussar figures and the corresponding horses:
    http://zinnbrigade.de/images/zinnbrigade/husarenoverview/4053.jpg
    http://zinnbrigade.de/images/zinnbrigade/preussenoverview/10050.jpg
    http://zinnbrigade.de/images/zinnbrigade/preussenoverview/10051.jpg
    http://zinnbrigade.de/images/zinnbrigade/husarenoverview/4055.jpg
    http://zinnbrigade.de/images/zinnbrigade/husarenoverview/4054.jpg
    The ingates of the riders are at the boots of the figures:
    https://www.ebay.de/itm/Giessform-Zinnbrigade-von-Schildkroet-Nr-4053-mit-Orginal-Malvorlage-/142838550826?nma=true&si=KiCIwR49HrZTlyIQlfuJs%252BYdV1M%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
    Maybe a consideration?

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    Replies
    1. Armand

      I have the Zinnbrigade moulds - however these figures are 'semi-flat', so are too narrow to have a rider sit astride the horse - the rider would be too fragile.

      The plan was that the riders could sit on/in different horses in the same way as you are suggesting (the 4 cuirassier riders all fit the same horse).

      Steve

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  4. Out of curiosity, as the uniforms of the 7 war are new to me, would the Austrian cuirassiers be usable to represent similar troops from other nations, perhaps with a head swap from the other ranges?

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    Replies
    1. The figures have separate heads, so it is really a matter of what troops had similar uniforms - you really need to decide how close you want to get.

      They would not be very good for troops such as Prussians who wore their armour over their waistcoat, so the coat tails would be much shorter.

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