Redcoats& Bluecoats (1 Viewer)

[jrsteel]

Here is 1841 US infantry. Usually I find American uniforms dull but these look really sharp.
Hopefully Britains will continue the Redcoats line at some point.

 

[BHogan]

I am a big fan of this range, especially William Britains' treatment of the War of 1812. I have all the Redcoats and Bluecoats from the era, and I am hoping to see more.
My favourites are their figures of the 8th (The King's) Regiment of Foot, which fought at many of the big battles during the War of 1812.
Cheers,
Brendan

 

[jrsteel]

Very nice, those flags are great.

 

[WBritain]

As some of you already know, 'Redcoats', 'Redcoats & Bluecoats in the French and Indian War ' and the 'Bluecoats' ranges have all been consolidated into 'Regiments'.
The summer catalog will have several new figures for this combined range unveiled with several more to be released later in the year also.
Hopefully you will be pleased with the selections!
All the best,
Ken

 

[jrsteel]

As some of you already know, 'Redcoats', 'Redcoats & Bluecoats in the French and Indian War ' and the 'Bluecoats' ranges have all been consolidated into 'Regiments'.
The summer catalog will have several new figures for this combined range unveiled with several more to be released later in the year also.
Hopefully you will be pleased with the selections!
All the best,
Ken

Can't wait to see them. Thanks Ken.

 

[BHogan]

As some of you already know, 'Redcoats', 'Redcoats & Bluecoats in the French and Indian War ' and the 'Bluecoats' ranges have all been consolidated into 'Regiments'.
The summer catalog will have several new figures for this combined range unveiled with several more to be released later in the year also.
Hopefully you will be pleased with the selections!
All the best,
Ken

Thanks for sharing this with us Ken! I wasn't aware of this change.
Cheers,
Brendan

 

[Malcolm Britain]

This was the series that got me into 54mm. I am glad that they are continuing . The series title is irrelevant - glossy and red is vital^&grin.

I hope the Regiments series might achieve a few things that past issues have not. It is my only quibble really.

Take the 45th Regiment of Foot Seven Years War series. Here we had a mounted officer ( two varieties), a set of grenadier company figures standing at ease, a grenadier at the ready and a firing grenadier. There was a set of battalion company figures also at ease plus two command sets containing two standard bearers, drummer, fifer, pioneer, drum major, foot officer and sergeant all standing / at ease. Quite a range for a single regiment.

If you wanted a display of a single regiment at let's say a ratio of 1:30 then you would need, say, 20 to 30 figures to give it some real impact. A regiment would either be at rest or in action so to make a convincing display I would suggest that you would need all the models to be in the same or compatible positions. So here you could make a display of the 45th at rest with a nice selection of command figures to choose from and grenadier and hat men from the sets. Only quibble here is that having maybe 16- 20 hatmen in exactly the same pose is ..well..rather dull.

So here is the suggestion. Make a Regiment. Make all the poses for that issue either standing, marching or fighting / firing line. In addition ensure that the figures are compatible - e.g. all in parade dress or fighting dress. So for a firing line you might need firing, reloading/preparing to fire or at the ready poses. Standing command figures would fit here (but an officer using his pistol might be a nice pose to add in ). So with an officer, drummer, sergeant and two ensigns for the colours , 3 poses for each of the grenadier company and three for other companies then you have 10 different figures giving the potential for a varied and impactful display. I would rather have this than 10 poses spread across 3 or 4 regiments.

Just a few thoughts and no doubt others will have their own.

Regards

Malcolm

 

[WBritain]

When we started this range after 1st Gear purchased the brand there wasn't a clear concept of where it could or should go. The feedback on any new concept has to be considered carefully and it is easy to go off track.
As a designer and sculptor I naturally wanted all of the components to represent a regiment as it might be drawn up for inspection. This would include (for earlier periods) enlisted men, NCOs, Music, Pioneers, Ensigns, company officers and a colonel. We did achieve something close to that with a few subjects, but then there was outside pressure to finish a "history" of uniforms so we committed almost two years of releases to fill in missing periods. The real problem is that many of these new sculpts were not useful in numbers so they did not make sense to use in formation.

The newer additions have returned to the concept of multiple figures for one regiment. The 1790s Dragoons and the 1790s club and event offerings of the 6th Regiment of Foot are just that, with a larger investment in that concept for 2018.
As many figures as I sculpt a year, I only display Redcoats at home. I suppose it is an acquired taste these days, but the display well with some of the other items I collect.

All the best,
Ken

 

[Malcolm Britain]

Ken

I saw the new 1795 Dragoons in the flesh today in a real shop. His Majesty was also on display.

I have to say they were really good and made a beautiful display. You could certainly make a Regimental display from those. Perhaps it is easier with cavalry - a couple of troopers that fit two different horses and hey presto 4 different figures. Not so easy with 18th century infantry maybe?

Anyway whatever the rebooted range brings forward I am sure they will be more than welcomed by all us Magpies that are attracted to shiny things .

Maybe one day someone will make French cavalry from the SYW era?

Thanks for the reply and information. Wishing you and WB all the very best

M

PS the shop display had reduced from my previous visit albeit 18 months ago. Down from 15 cabinets to 10 and down to 3 manufacturers from what I think was 5 or 6 before. Of these only one cabinet contained glossies and those occupied four of the 6 available shelves. A sign of the times and recent-ish trends.

 

[thanasis67]

Without any doubt the Redcoats & Bluecoats is one of the best series of W.B. I do not know what will be the future of the series no matter its name but I strongly believe that highly quality gloss sets must be part of Britain's catalogue. For now it seems that the series is decline. 6-7 mounted figures is nothing. Let's see what will follow. But what I was expected from W.B. is gloss sets. And I mean not just single figures but sets which the collector will open their box and see 6 to 13 marching figures, take them out one by one and place them the usual way (something reminiscent of the 88 series of the 90's or the W. M. Hocker series etc). For example the various WWI centenaries were a great opportunity for gloss marching Germans, British, Austrians etc. Anyway, the company must believe and invest to gloss among the matte figures. There are two different types but collectors like them both.
I am posting some photos of my Redcoats etc collection.

 

[Malcolm Britain]

Great display there. Your Foot Guards and 45th Regiment of Foot show how good the figures look en masse. It would be great if all the Regiments for which figures ( or a figure) have been made were expanded so that's similar displays were possible with all of them ( repeating myself here).

The 45th hat men and grenadiers were issued in boxes of 4 if I recall correctly but I think that was it. The hatmen can still be picked up for around £55 for four (new in box) on eBay. I am not sure how well they sold but I think they would have been better to have matched the poses of the Grenadier company with similar poses for the battalion company men.

Despite that us 18th century glossy lovers appreciate them greatly as the sculpts are mostly very neat with good proportions and the painting standard generally very neat even if some of the colours used can be a little odd at times (the grenadier mitre badge on the Foot Guards for instance).

Am not a matte fan - partly because of those ghastly sculpted bases which detract from the figure - but the those new clash of empires / Bushy Run figures of Highlanders and their enemies are top class and perfect for diorama lovers despite the figure bases.

Viva the glossies!

M

 

[Der Alte Fritz]

Does anyone have ONE 21st Lancers for the Sudan period? I have 19 of them and only need one more to get a full regiment of 20 troopers.

Jim

 

[PolarBear]

Without any doubt the Redcoats & Bluecoats is one of the best series of W.B. I do not know what will be the future of the series no matter its name but I strongly believe that highly quality gloss sets must be part of Britain's catalogue. For now it seems that the series is decline. 6-7 mounted figures is nothing. Let's see what will follow. But what I was expected from W.B. is gloss sets. And I mean not just single figures but sets which the collector will open their box and see 6 to 13 marching figures, take them out one by one and place them the usual way (something reminiscent of the 88 series of the 90's or the W. M. Hocker series etc). For example the various WWI centenaries were a great opportunity for gloss marching Germans, British, Austrians etc. Anyway, the company must believe and invest to gloss among the matte figures. There are two different types but collectors like them both.
I am posting some photos of my Redcoats etc collection.

I agree that this was a great series and would love to see it continued. There were lots of single figures that had no others related to them. For example the 19th C British Colonial Wars. Yes one could buy multiples of a marching figure but there were no officers, sergeants or musicians in many cases. The only Colonial subject with a wider range was the Zulu War and that was left unfinished. I would like to have seen this for the Sudan or Northwest Frontier. I always felt that WB's Redcoats and Bluecoats were the most realistic glossies on the market.

 

[LT.Col.Vann]

Really nice. Love this range as well.

 

[Barkmann]

Really nice range, only W Britains range i now collect, gloss, do not pick up that many, as have got a little pricey for me, in comparason with other matt stuff i collect, remember buying the first one for £9.99.

The ones i am missing are in my book which i take to every show and still pick up the odd one, just counted and i have 143, included the US range and the Frech Indian war range, all gloss.