Brewer Besieged

Some great modelling work by Bill Brewer. I think the town buildings are particularly attractive, and despite being constructed over 30 years ago (where, in general, there wasn't the abundance of materials, parts and tools we have now) i reckon they knock the socks off much of what is available today.

Again the majority of figures featured are the wonderfully characterful Hinchliffe Landsknechts.

I've always been fascinated by sieges (i'm not really sure why....certainly from a wargaming perspective they are a great excuse to build stuff, and then knock it down with lots of artillery) so this article was always going to fire my imagination. Maybe an AWI or ECW siege could be on the cards soon.

Bill Brewer

Bill Brewer was another master modeller and painter who is sadly no longer with us. Founder member of the South London Warlords, proprietor of the Rye Stamp and Hobby Shop, and paintbrush for hire, the quality of Bill's painting and scratch building was inspirational.

As far as i know Bill's work first gained (inter)national exposure through the pages of Battle - from which the above scans were taken. All 3 images are of the same Renaissance game staged during a club meeting in 1977. The first 2 illustrated an article on the Warlords ('With the Warlords', June 1977).

The majority of the figures in use are, of course, Hinchliffe.

Duncan MacFarlane seems to have been a fan as Bill's work featured frequently in the pages of Miniature Wargaming and Wargames Illustrated.

More on Bill Brewer shortly.

The Talented Mr Swales

Whilst i'm on the subject of the Hinchliffe Handbook i thought i'd post a couple of pages of Norman Swales illustrations (of which the Handbook must contain a few hundred). Swales' illustrations could also be found in various other Hinchliffe publications, Quarrie's Napoleon's Campaigns in Miniature, and Humbrol Authenticards (and no doubt elsewhere too). A fine illustrator and sculptor/designer...don't you just hate multi-talented people....8-)

Whilst Swales' illustrations were a pleasure to look at, and useful as an approximation of the subject figure, i must admit i would have preferred Hinchliffe to have used photographs of the actual models more often (which is one area where Minifigs scored top marks).

I wonder - did PG sculpt based on Swales' illustrations, or did Swales' drawings come afterwards? I have always assumed the latter....?

Pete's Elastic Ruler

I came across this in the Hinchliffe Handbook and it made me chuckle. Did no one tell Mr Gilder that his figures were supposed to be 25mm to the top of the head, or did he use an elastic ruler to measure them? Hinchliffe 25s varied from about 22mm up to 30mm - this inconsistency could be frustrating (why did i always end up with midget officers leading my Napoleonic battalions?)......... but you couldn't knock their style.

An Old Chestnut

OK, i know it's a dun, but painting horses is one of those issues that seems to have troubled wargamers since prehistoric times. I'm currently contemplating painting some cavalry next so i had a look through the vintage ranks - looking for inspiration and tips from the 'great masters'. I came across this Hinchliffe ECW officer by Phil Robinson and, although in general i find his horses a bit garish, i do like the effect he's achieved here. The horse has been washed in a tan colour, most of which has been wiped off, and then shadows have been applied in a mid grey. Details have been lined in brown ink (since unfortunately aged to black) in the usual Robinson style.

A funny thing is how my photography just doesn't do the Robinson figures justice - this isn't just down to my ineptitude as usually my own figures actually come out looking better then they really are....very odd...

Where i think i go wrong with horses is in not being bold enough - they benefit from a bit of drama in just the same way as human figures. With that in mind we'll see how i do with the next batch i smear paint onto (ETA Christmas - judging by my current workload).

All Roads Lead To....

Donald Featherstone (at least as far as post-war UK wargaming is concerned).

I was one of probably many who were drawn into the hobby during the 1970s and 80s by pictures of Peter Gilder's wargames, and, as PG himself told us, he was introduced to wargaming by Featherstone - so in the end we are all children of The Don, so to speak....

The above scan comes from Wargamers Newsletter 146 May 1974 and i suspect the two photos will be known to you already having been published in various books and magazines over the years. They were taken during one of Don Featherstone's visits to Peter Gilder's home in Norfolk in the early months of 1964. The game depicted is ACW - and this is before Airfix released their ACW range, so most of the 20mm figures will be conversions.

Again this comes to us via Clive - who has contributed so much content recently that i may have to start paying him a salary... BTW, i welcome any and all relevant content (pictures, scans, anecdotes..whatever) as inevitably your stuff will be far more interesting than my stuff. I can be contacted via the email address in my Blogger Profile.

You Can't Get The Staff

Well, you can, but with the Hinchliffe range you have to be prepared to do a bit of hacking in order to add a bit of variety.

Inspired by the recent Bill Gaskin postings i knocked these out recently - they may not be to the same standard but i'm fairly pleased with them. They are all Hinchliffe figures (apart from the grey which is a Steve Hezzlewood designed RSM piece) converted to some degree (e.g. the bloke on the grey started life as Thomas Picton...talk about coming down in the world...).