Friday 6 May 2016

More Indians

I've been reviving a Vendel Miniatures Ancient Indian army I purchased second hand. That's meant I've had to use replacement figures since Vendel are no longer available here in the UK. They are now owned by Sgt Major in the US, but I'm still waiting for a reply to an email I sent a month or so ago, so I started to look elsewhere.

The Miniature Company make a range of Indians designed very much with compatibility with the Vendel sculpts in mind. I'd seen some pictures of these on the Lead Adventure Forum and decided these would be the best replacements for the cavalry I need. 

The figures arrived last week, nice clean castings. Tall and robust they certainly fit with Vendel in terms of size, but they are a little more rounded than the square built figures from that manufacturer. 

I was a little disappointed with the horses however. I know they probably should be pony sized, but the big rider looks a little too large for the beast. You can see from the pic that the rider is taller then the horse. The pose of the rider and construction of the horse possibly doesn't help - it comes as a two part casting - much like some of the plastic horses out there.  The sculpt itself isn't bad, don't get me wrong, I'm just not comfortable with it for my own picky purposes. 



I decided I would give something else a try and went for the horses available separately from Conquest games. These are not huge beasts but are a little taller and better proportioned, IMHO. 



Overall I am happier with these and will get some undercoated this weekend. I've also remounted my few Vendel cavalrymen on them as well and together they make a nicely varied unit .

I will be using The Miniature Company again, service was excellent and I think I'll probably use the original horses for my chariots which need something to draw them. 

Whist these guys are drying I shall be returning to my SYW Russians - time those Hussars got a lick of paint.