Monday 1 February 2016

Peninsular War: Ladies

I have added a couple of civilian ladies to my collection of Peninsular War figures. Finding suitable civilian models for the Napoleonic period is a nightmare, and these two fall into the 'well it will do' category as they are not ideal. 
The lady in the lilac dress was bought on ebay, and comes form a range of Napoleonic ladies (many of whom are in Napoleonic era army uniforms for no apparent reason). They also do a female gun crew and a guerilla leader that might be useful. This one is described as an officers wife. She is carrying a small pistol. I would have preferred if she was unarmed, but there you go. She is also rather on the tall side, towering over my Spaniards. In some scenarios she could be a spy- perhaps 'she' could even be a man in drag?
Her costume is quite authentic for the period although the details on the pistol are very soft and unconvincing. I would consider getting another one and converting it to a civilian by changing the pistol to something else- a parasol perhaps. I would also consider grinding down the thick base and making her a few millimetres smaller. 



The second lady was from West Wind and was found in a box of old figures Pulp citizen gave me. It's not right on so many levels- the sculpt is odd (as many West Wing models tend to be), and her figure is very peculiar, with a tiny waste and big shoulders and the dress is completely wrong for the period (and any period as fas as I can tell). her gloves look like they would be good for welding or handling hazardous waste. On the plus side- this figure didn't cost me anything and she isn't armed- so that's good. She will make a suitable model for some damsel to be rescued by a dashing Royal Navy Officer or a grim rough and ready Rifleman. 


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Front Rank Figurines have just produced a set of Napoleonic civilians, including ladies, in 28mm. None are armed, and their costume looks right to me. Hope this helps.

Rob Bresnen said...

They look very nice. From rank tend to be a bit heavy set compared to other manufacturers but they look so nice they might be worth a go. I also found some in Casting Room Miniatures Portuguese range (of all places) that look very nice.

Barks said...

That first one looks straight out of Jane Austen, plus a firearm! The second one is a bit off, maybe the forehead...?

Vladgothic said...

Check the Foundry range too, they have some civilians in the revolutionary range, plus they may have some suitable across other ranges, most poor country folk wouldn't have kept up with cutting edge fashion of course.

I quite agree about the first one, spy in drag, 'she'looks quite masculine and the second is very heavily corsetted :-D