Fort William Henry (1 Viewer)

[kogu]

This question is for Ken,

sometime last year there was a discussion going on about the Britains FIW range within their "Classics" and at one point scenic items were mentioned.
I can't recall the particular thread.
That time I suggested a modular system of scenics to assemble a large wooden Fort of the FIW era, for example Fort William Henry.
Kind of like making walls, towers, gate, quarters, storage houses and such as single pieces, so the collectors would have the option to pick a piece as a support for a vignette of a few figures or go for the whole offerings to assemble a complete 18th century wooden fortification where even the governor would have spent a night.
The comment I remember from you was "That is something to think about".
Is there any chance of something like that in the future?
While I am at it, all the FIW figures from your "Classics" series are very nice one by one and so far they are designed and meant to be displayed individually. How about some Hand-To-Hand Sets (French vs. British, British vs. Indian, Indian vs. French) or some sets of camp life (Indians, Rangers, British, French or Provincial troops and followers) or ....
The scale, paint and detail on the current Britains glossy "Classics" line is absolutely perfect and it would be great to see plenty of possibilities for display with a combined variation of scenics, single figures, vignettes and ...

I don't think I ever wrote a long post like that and so that's it for now. If fellow members like to support or extend the mentioned ideas, it would be greatly appreciated.

Konrad

 

[plasmapulse]

If fellow members like to support or extend the mentioned ideas, it would be greatly appreciated.

Konrad

In that case; hand to hand sets are always a great idea for any period. The FIW would lend itself perfectly for such sets. H2h sets are usually good sellers (at least they seem popular among collectors). I agree that the line could use some more action.

It would be nice if WB would consider the same h2h sets for the AZW gloss line. Along the lines of Trophy.

We should start a WB glossy h2h set poll

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

Hello All!
This is an interesting post on a couple of points, and the first thing I would like to do is to thank you for bringing this up.
On a personal note, I feel that W. Britain is not always considered when folks are making suggestions about wanting this or that new product... at least in the recent past.
I am truly hoping that this is changing and I would encourage you to continue this discussion. Richard and I always read the posts on the various forums and we consider the comments we see in our ongoing discussions.

Scenics:
As far as scenics are concerned I think we have been bringing some useful items to the market over the past few years that should work with almost anything you collect from 54mm to 62mm. We will continue to do this so collectors can create interesting displays.

The Eighteenth century is finally getting some long deserved attention from collectors and several companies. W. Britain along with others are now bringing good products to market, and I am sure that this trend will continue.

Fortifications and other structures are being considered here and the main issue might be size. Some of these components may make it into the W. Britain line in the not too distant future.

Combat poses:
This is always considered here and as you can see with the AZW collection, I have designed four sets after we established some critical mass to the basic collection. Additional sets are on our list for this range.

Will this be developed with other lines? Most likely we will, but again with well established lines at first.

Gloss vs Matte...
This is always a tough one. I think the wise decision is the one that we have made already with the Classic Gloss Redcoats and Bluecoats.
Go back and visit various units and create the needed poses and subjects for collectors to build displays and formations in gloss.
You will notice that the last few catalogs have included this so we can develop sets like we did with the 45th Regt of Foot.
Now that standing figures are fully developed in the collection, we will do the same with marching. After that the firing poses, ect.

Matte figures cry out for action poses and the current market also fully supports this.
Is the Seven Years War and the conflicts spilling over into India, the Caribbean and North America on our radar? Of course it is, but we must mange the lines we have started rather than do a little here and a little there making no one happy.

The key here are the offerings in the Museum Series. As we develop new series we will consider spin offs as we did the the Black Watch for Waterloo.

Sorry for the long post all, and hopefully this will give you an idea of how we are thinking about new product development.

All the Best!
Ken

 

[Russell]

Kogu, your long post stretched the limits of my attention span but I made it. I agree with you and I especially would like to see

some sets of camp life (Indians, Rangers, British, French or Provincial troops and followers)

especially the Indians.

As to forts and such Barzo could help us out. Maybe Ken, if size is a factor, you might consider a facade with little depth and with a watercolour scene to complete the background à la Mignot. Or maybe a modular approach where we're all free to make it as big or as small as we like.

Maybe my history is weak but it seems to me that many of the French-Indian War figures, especially the British could do double duty and be used with Frederick, King of Prussia, ready to fight the Austrians and such.

Ken, I've said it before on other threads, but thank you for keeping us posted. Some might say it's good business. Still, it's good. Along with Richard you've made Britains much better than it has been in a long, long time.

 

[aujj65]

On a personal note, I feel that W. Britain is not always considered when folks are making suggestions about wanting this or that new product... at least in the recent past.
I am truly hoping that this is changing and I would encourage you to continue this discussion.

Matte figures cry out for action poses

The key here are the offerings in the Museum Series. As we develop new series we will consider spin offs
All the Best!
Ken

Ken, I was hoping we were doing the right thing then, when the campaign for the Sudan was kicked off last week.

Thanks

Jeff

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

Hi Jeff!
This is exactly the kind of input we wish to hear. Almost every phone call and meeting between Richard an I include discussions about possible future developments. Often this is spurred by requests from the general public and shop owners, in addition to our own wants
The range of ideas are huge and there is always the temptation to head off and do something because it seems colourful or exciting.
In most cases we stay pretty grounded to avoid some of the issues that the last owner of W.B. seemed to have following up certain releases.
The FIW, Seven Years War, The Sudan and a couple of other subjects seem to come up again and again so we are interested in hearing from the collectors on what they would really like to see.

Thanks for your input!
Ken Osen

 

[marco55]

I would love to see a Ft.Henry type fort if it was in matte.
Mark

 

[jomartvr]

Hi Ken,

I would love to see more FIW matte or gloss. THe latter is not a problem as I spray them with a matt finish. I would like to see more Indians and more british light infantry.

Concerning the Museum series I would like to see a parallal line of figures called Enemies of the British Empire. THis series could feature the enemy forces that fought the 42nd Highlanders.

I would also love to see "facade with little depth" and painted background. Barzo's Fort is great but it is too large and too expensive for me.

ALso how about some suggestions for displaying FIW figures. The problem is that much of the conflict took place in woods and it is hard to sett up a good display. This is more a reflection of my limited skills.

Lastly, and a rather off beat question, however, is Firstgearreplicas an American or British owned company. Just curious.

Best wishes,
Benjamin

 

[kogu]

Gloss vs Matte...
This is always a tough one. I think the wise decision is the one that we have made already with the Classic Gloss Redcoats and Bluecoats.
Go back and visit various units and create the needed poses and subjects for collectors to build displays and formations in gloss.
You will notice that the last few catalogs have included this so we can develop sets like we did with the 45th Regt of Foot.
Now that standing figures are fully developed in the collection, we will do the same with marching. After that the firing poses, ect.

All the Best!
Ken

That sounds very good. Looking forward to the various poses for some Regiments. Just make sure please, that the firing poses have opponents to shoot at
Konrad

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

Hi Benjamin!
First Gear is an American owned and operated company primarily producing high quality die cast trucks and other vehicles in Peosta Iowa.
It has a full engineering, sales, art and warehouse staff at that location.
There is also a small UK office and warehouse.

In September of 2995 First Gear acquired W. Britain with the first catalog released in January of 2006.
This catalog had some products produced while W. Britain was still owned by RC2 and new products designed and developed by First Gear/W. Britain.
This caused some minor confusion in some ways but that now seems like ancient history.
Ken

 

[wadepat]

Hi Benjamin!
First Gear is an American owned and operated company primarily producing high quality die cast trucks and other vehicles in Peosta Iowa.
It has a full engineering, sales, art and warehouse staff at that location.
There is also a small UK office and warehouse.

In September of 2995 First Gear acquired W. Britain with the first catalog released in January of 2006.
This catalog had some products produced while W. Britain was still owned by RC2 and new products designed and developed by First Gear/W. Britain.
This caused some minor confusion in some ways but that now seems like ancient history.
Ken

Hi Ken,

I think I see a typo. Don't you mean, "In September of 1995 First Gear acquired W. Britain with the first catalog released in January of 1996?"

Warmest personal regards,

Pat

 

[kogu]

Hi Ken, hi Pat,
I think I see two typos
I believe while both of you meant 2005, one said 2995 and the other said 1995

 

[wadepat]

Hi Ken, hi Pat,
I think I see two typos
I believe while both of you meant 2005, one said 2995 and the other said 1995

Hi Konrad,

Ha! You are only partially correct! Actually there are three typos: 2005, 1995, and 1996! Anyone want to look for four? Given the fact that I have a typing disability, I should know better than to ever attempt to correct someone else's typing skills!

My apologies for my mistake.

Warmest personal regards,

Pat

 

[Russell]

Actually I liked the original typo. It added a sort of Back to the Future flavour to the post.

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

Boy! I really need to go to bed at a decent time I guess...It should have read:

First Gear is an American owned and operated company primarily producing high quality die cast trucks and other vehicles in Peosta Iowa.
It has a full engineering, sales, art and warehouse staff at that location.
There is also a small UK office and warehouse.

In September of 2005 First Gear acquired W. Britain with the first catalog released in January of 2006. (2006 First Half Collection)
This catalog had some products produced while W. Britain was still owned by RC2, in addition to new products designed and developed by First Gear/W. Britain.
This caused some minor confusion in some ways but that now seems like ancient history.

As a side note I did do some sculpting work for W. Britain during the sort time it was owned by Ertle in the late 1990s, but I never worked with RC2.

Again sorry for the typo!
Ken

 

[Spanish soldier]

Hello, I would like the future fort can also be used for my US Cavalry in the Indian War.Best regards

 

[HistoryfortheAges]

The corner section of Fort William Henry would be nice for a diorama with a couple of British cannon sets and some French cannon and mortar sets pounding that section. Don't know of any mortar sets for that period in the marketplace... Some Hurons and French troops firing on the Fort would help too, to make the diorama interesting. Other than that, another subject that I have yet to collect is the Sudan with General Chinese Gordon. Haven't seen this series in matte.

 

[kogu]

The corner section of Fort William Henry would be nice for a diorama with a couple of British cannon sets and some French cannon and mortar sets pounding that section. Don't know of any mortar sets for that period in the marketplace... Some Hurons and French troops firing on the Fort would help too, to make the diorama interesting. Other than that, another subject that I have yet to collect is the Sudan with General Chinese Gordon. Haven't seen this series in matte.

I love that scenario. Thanks for the suggestion and hopefully ...
Konrad

 

[Aleš]

Yes i am also interested in FORT,but i am even more interested in Plains Indians(like Sioux,Crows,Kiowa,blackfoot,soshone,....) because no one produce them.And this can be something like Zulu War,only american native indians fighting with blue jackets,like General Custer(little big Horn),or indians war between Sioux and Crows like in the movie dances with wolves,or Indians attacking a pioners,or the railroad,or the mine,....and you can also make some buildings like farm,mine,railroad,....and this can also be used for Civil War.
You can start whole new range called WILD WEST! and because no one make Indians,you can also sale indians to King and Country fans,Conte,....
Well i will like to see the WILD WEST,with indians,buffalos,towns,farms,sherif office,blue jacket soldiers,fort,pioners,mines,railroad,.....it is a big project and if you start it with this you will get a lot of new fans,new customers,and you will have work for the next 20 years if you wannt to produce all that i write now

 

[SteveDavid]

I would sign for a WILD WEST series with both hands...

Unfortunately nobody seems to be interested in producing such figures. Del Prado had a series, but I don't like their quality, or rather lack of quality - at least in my eyes.