So, on the face of it, nothing to do all day but laze a round and keep busy doing nothing. This is propaganda put about by employers who want to reduce headcount. I've been so busy I wonder how I had the time to go to work!
Anyway, turns out Crouchie didn't want the mercs after all as they were for a long ago project (no reflection on my memory or the time it take me to get around to doing things!). So, his loss is my gain, so to speak. In fact I have no plans to use them for the foreseeable future, so they'll languish in a box in the loft with other stalled and almost forgotten projects. Next (in about an hour or so) I'm under instructions from Gray to get my 15 mil Napoleonics finished. It's like being at bloody work!
In the meantime, here's a selection of the mercs - not the best, just the ones least badly photographed. The 'uniforms are taken from photos on the web, along with information from a 'Mad' Mike Hoare book (bit 'Boys Own' really and no lack of ego). They're Mongrel Miniatures and, to be truthful, not very well cast. Several have deep undercuts filled and the mould's slipped in a few cases. I'd give 'em a wide berth to be honest. :O(
Very, very nice
ReplyDeleteYes, those do look nice. Quite a surprise too; I didn't know Paul Hicks did moderns.
ReplyDeleteNot sure he does anymore. The sculpts for these would have been done about 18months - 2 years ago for Mongrel. He did quite a few of their sculpts before Frank Hammond sold off the outfit (Soapy did the first of the Mongrel range).
ReplyDeleteIt's a damn shame because those are nice figures, but they've been badly let down by the caster/mound maker. I can't see that it was griffin Moulds because their work is top notch (lots of companies use them). As far as I know, Frank still uses them for his Minden collection.
By the way, have you seen Paul's new 'Mutton Chop' range? They're superb figures.
Gaz
Excellent painting. You must have worked hard on cleaning up the figures if there were casting problems as there is nothing obvious
ReplyDeleteWhat the eye doesn't see . . .
ReplyDeleteSeveral of the figures have the area between the left arm and the weapon blocked in completely. It's common with moulds to have a bit of flash there and older moulds tend to leave a thin veil of metal there which is easily removed with a knife. However, these really needed to be drilled and reamed out and I couldn't be bothered. I just gave the area a thin wash of black and you can't notice it. BUT these were originally some of the first figures run off the production moulds and so should've been near perfect. There are still mould lines on some of them you only notice when you're painting.
I have some older Mongrel figures (Soviet Paras etc) which are clean as a whistle. Anyway, enough of me moaning.
Thanks for the comments on the painting chaps.
really nice job they look great
ReplyDeleteReal Dogs of War but nicely painted.
ReplyDeleteNice figures and very well painted!!!
ReplyDelete